Gary Kubiak Monday Press Conference: After Texans Lose To Seahawks, Kubes Talks Schaub, Cushing, And More

Here's a link to the complete transcript of Gary Kubiak's press conference on this, the day after a 20-3 lead turned into a 23-20 loss at Reliant Stadium. I've taken the liberty of clipping a few of the money quotes below for your immediate review and reaction.

(on what he looks for in a quarterback like QB Matt Schaub to know if he’s losing confidence and what he can call to help him out) "When you’re evaluating everybody, you’re looking at the big picture. You’re looking at every play they played, not just a play. I’m looking at a big body of work. You asked me about confidence. I don’t see a lack of confidence. I see some poor decision-making situations, some that he has to handle and some that we can help him handle. But there are a lot of good things that are happening too, but the problem when you to play that position, if there’s three or four glaring mistakes, they can be the difference in winning and losing. So that’s what we’re working on right now."

(on QB Matt Schaub bouncing back from a tough outing against Baltimore initially yesterday and if that makes it more likely that he can bounce back from yesterday) "Well, I think every week’s a new week. We’ve got to go down and play a talented football team, very good defensive football team in San Francisco. The biggest thing today it trying to put today behind you, which is extremely hard, after as hard as our football team and as well as our football team played for a great portion of the day yesterday. That’s the focus right now before we move on, but I believe in him. He’s a strong kid. He’s been doing this a long time. He’s played good games. He’s been told he’s very, very good. He’s probably told he wasn’t so good. So this is a tough week. We’ve got to work through and get ready to go again."

(on if he can give updates about ILB Brian Cushing and T Duane Brown) "Cushing came out of the game with a concussion, like I told y’all. He’s feeling much better today, so he starts the protocol process. I couldn’t begin to tell you exactly where he’s at in that process. He was a part of the meetings. He was a part of everything that we were doing. Duane is upbeat, feeling very good today. I think Duane is still a day-to-day process as we work to the weekend and so we’ll see. We’ll know more as we get to Wednesday. The more time we get with Duane, the better."

(on the team’s expectations this season and how worried he is about the team putting themselves into too big of a hole) "I don’t get too consumed with where we are right now. I get consumed with how we’re playing and what we’re doing. I think, obviously, it could be worse right now. It could be better if we our game yesterday. But we’ve just got to stay focused on our play. It was very, very good for a good period of time yesterday, but not good enough when it was all said and done. I try to keep it in perspective. We’ve played a quarter of the season and obviously not where we want to be, but it’s a long, long way to go and we’re very, very capable football team. We know that. We’ve got to be a more consistent football team."

(on if there were any other injury issues) "I was talking to Kap (Head Athletic Trainer Geoff Kaplan) coming over here. We’ve got some bumps and bruises. I think we’ve probably got a little concern right now, Brandon Brooks has a toe (injury) coming out of the game a little concerned about. Bryan Braman is a little beat up. Antonio (Smith) and J.J. (Watt) are a little beat up on the injury report this morning, but I don’t think it’s anything that’s going to keep anybody from playing right now. Those are some of the names that were on it."

(on the play in which QB Matt Schaub was intercepted for a touchdown and if he had freedom to audible out of it) "No, once we called it, started the motion, it was game on. So we just had a very, very poor play like I told you."

(on how short of a leash QB Matt Schaub is on) "How short of a leash is he on? He’s our quarterback. Like I said, we’ve all got to do things a little better."

(on if the negativity from media and fans ever makes its way into the locker room and how you prevent it from becoming a distraction) "I think all guys are human. They hear reactions and they know what’s going on. That’s part of our jobs and what we do. Matt (Schaub) and I sat together for a long time after the game yesterday and talked. When you play that position, you get a lot of credit. You get a lot of blame. You have to be extremely tough, not only for yourself, but you have to be extremely tough for your teammates. He can handle that. Nobody wants to go through that, but he can handle it. That’s why he’s played as long as he’s played and that’s why he’s been a good player."

(on the emotion showed by Matt Schaub after the pick-six interception and how hard he took that mistake) "It’s extremely tough. I can’t explain it to you. When you battle that hard and your team battles that hard to win a game and something like that happens, emotions of the moment and what you go through is extremely difficult. I’m just glad that I do what I do and I can be there for players because I know what it’s like. I’ve been there for him when things have been really, really good and I promise I’ll be there for him when they’re not so good. We’re there for him right now. We’ve got to help him work through this."

(on what he says to Matt Schaub to help him clear his head and stay aggressive without pressing) "I think the biggest thing as a coach, whether you’re his position coach or when you’re in the position I’m in as the head coach, I think the biggest thing you want is you want players to know that you’re human. You know how they’re feeling. You know what they’ve just been through. I basically expressed to him exactly what I told y’all after the game. I felt really bad from my own standpoint with the position that I put him in. I’ve been coaching quarterbacks for a long time. I just try to talk through the situation while it’s fresh. I understand how our guy is feeling, what he’s fixing to go home to and what that evening is going to be like and start preparing for that right away and move forward. You just want him to know that you’re there for him more than anything."

(on if he is ready to give Arian Foster 20-25 carries a game) "I think he worked really well last week. Let me say this: I’ve got total confidence in Ben (Tate). I think Ben is playing extremely well. I don’t know if Ben got a carry after the fumble but it was not a reflection of that. I have total confidence in him. I talked to him today. I want Ben, on a given day, I want Ben to get his 12 to 15 in there and Arian to get his 25 if things are going that way. I think Arian has stepped forward. I think Ben has continuously done his job. What did he average? Six yards a carry yesterday. He played extremely well."

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