Gary Kubiak Press Conference After Texans' Preseason Opener Against Vikings

Here's a link to the full transcript from Kubes' press conference yesterday. The highlights from what the Head BattleFighter had to say:

(on if they had any injuries) “I have not talked to Kap (head athletic trainer Geoff Kaplan). Obviously, we got in real late. It looks like we’re okay. I think we’re fine. We came out of the game pretty good. Actually, Shane Lechler, his plant leg was bothering him a little bit when we went out to warm ups. That’s why we, just as a precaution, we did not let him punt in the game. We had planned to let him punt. Other than that, I think we came out okay.”

(on if there is a chance he will bring QB Case Keenum off the bench first before QB T.J. Yates in the next preseason game) “We’re going to talk about that this week. What I’m trying to do is get him and T.J. in the exact same situations as players with pretty much equal reps, so that’s something that may be a topic this week. They will continue to both play a great deal. It’s a very good battle going on and they both did a good job last night.”

(on how important it is to determine who is the No. 2 quarterback and who is the No. 3) “Well they are two good football players, so it’s a nice problem for us. I think Case (Keenum) has come a long way. That has nothing to do with T.J. (Yates) not doing something. I think T.J. is having a dang good camp. He’s a better player than he was the last couple of years. It’s just a very competitive situation for us right now and it’s going to make our team better. It’s making both of those guys better. It will help them in their careers, but it’s definitely making our team better. There is a lot of confidence with our team, when they see either guy come in the huddle we can still move the football. That’s a big plus.”

(on what the main takeaway was from last night’s game in Minnesota) “It was encouraging. We had a lot of young players do good stuff. When you start defensively with (NT) Earl Mitchell and how positive it was. (NT Terrell) McClain, we’re looking for a backup nose to Earl. Somebody that can be a rotational player for us and help and we thought he did some really good things. (CB A.J.) Bouye, the corner who has had a really good camp. Some of the guys that have been doing it here for the last two weeks continue to do it in the games, so that was encouraging. (T David) Quessenberry is a very positive thing going on with our team right now with the way he’s playing. Of course, the two young quarterbacks. A lot of opportunities for them and boy they took advantage of it, so hopefully we keep stepping forward.”

(on K Randy Bullock) “He did fine. He kicked off pretty good except for the last one. The one field goal that he missed, we were just looking at it before I came down here, but he actually hits the ground and behind the ball. I think Randy is in a growth process. He’s a very young player, but he’s very talented. The thing that I like about Randy is he has a lot of confidence in that when something does not go right, he comes right back and he’s okay the next rep. It doesn’t linger, so far, so good. I thought our young punter, boy he took advantage of his opportunity. He had no idea he was going to put and goes out there and punted the way he did. He did a heck of a job.”

(on what he said to RB Cierre Wood when he talked to him on the sideline) “Oh, you have rules on how you coach and how you approach things as a football team. We want our guys to get everything they can get, just teaching the lessons. That guy’s learning, but he did some good things in the game, had a chance to play for (special teams coordinator) Joe (Marciano). He’s going to have to play good for Joe if he’s going to make this team. Offensively, I think he can look at himself last night and say, ‘I took a step forward, and special teams I’m going to have to do more.’”

(on RB Deji Karim looking the best out of the young running backs) “Yeah, he’s probably the back that’s the furthest ahead from a special teams standpoint. So if you put all those young guys in a group right now, he’d be ahead from that standpoint. Some of those other guys have some special running skills, but really, whether you keep three, whether you keep four, normally you’re going to always keep three, but whether you keep four, it always depends on whether or not those guys will line up and start for (special teams coordinator) Joe (Marciano) so we will see how that pans out.”

(on WR Lestar Jean needing to work on being more consistent) “Yeah I think so; he had some opportunities to make. The thing I did like, when he missed plays he came back and made plays so you’re always looking for that in players. Yeah, Lestar has a lot of talent. I think his confidence level is growing every time he touches the ball. Obviously, he’s sitting there staring at (WR) DeAndre (Hopkins) coming on this team, so he’s got to sit there and battle to find another roster spot. I think that can be a positive for Lestar. He’s had a good camp and he could have walked out of there last night with a 100-yard night, so I know that’s encouraging for him to know ‘hey I played good, but I could have played a lot better.’”

Anything to add what Kubes had to say? Leave your thoughts in the Comments.