Bill O'Brien Press Conference: Cowboys, Arian Foster, And Playing With Faster Tempo

On what the Houston-Dallas game means to the state of Texas…

"Well, I know it means a lot. Start here in this organization, I know that this game means a lot to Mr. McNair and this Texans organization. Go to the city and I know it means a lot to the city of Houston. Houston vs Dallas. Texas is such a great football state and Houston and Dallas are fantastic football cities and it means a lot for the fans of Houston to go out there and play well and win the game. We understand that. It’s a big challenge, like I said. Dallas has an excellent football team lead by a really, really good head coach, Coach Garrett, who I have a lot of respect for…so it’s a big challenge but we realize how important it is to the fans and to us."

On DeMarco Murray…

"He’s a dynamic player. He’s a big back. He’s a downhill runner. He’s able to get it down hill and also bounce. He’s just a really, really good football player and just on the film that I’ve watched so far, and we have more to grind through.  He’s meant a lot to their football team and it’s a big challenge."

On the Texans' poor run defense going up against DeMarco Murray…

"I think we played pretty good run defense yesterday. I think they were held to 96 yards rushing and those were two good backs and a really good offensive line, so it definitely improved yesterday. We had better gap discipline, more guys flying to the ball, but we can do better. We can definitely do better.

Dallas is an excellent football team that is hot right now, very well coached by a great coaching staff, really top notch players on both sides of the ball – Murray, Romo, Dez Bryant, Jason Witten, the offensive line, so it’s a big challenge. It’s a huge challenge for our football team. It’s on the road and playing on the road is very difficult, so our guys have to understand that challenge and be up to that challenge."

On special teams and Shane Lechler…

"Start with Shane. Shane Lechler’s a great example for young players. Here’s a guy that was basically banged up all week, didn't do much during the week on the practice field ,but was in there every day for extra treatment morning, noon, and night. He paid attention in the game plan meetings, did a great job in his player’s special teams meeting that he has on Saturday morning – got the guys ready to go in that regard – and then went out there and had some big kicks. He was able to pin Buffalo deep, flip the field a few times, and that’s what being a pro is all about. Shane’s a very professional guy and a great punter."

On Arian Foster’s health status…

"I would say Arian and a number of other guys are in that day-to-day category and that’s what we’ll do. We’ll talk to him every day and see how he feels and if he’s able to go, he’ll go."

On if the no huddle offense is making progress…

"I think that in the first year of this system there are certain parts of this offensive system that are a process. There are certain things that you can pick up right away because maybe there’s carry over – maybe certain plays that we run that these guys have run in the past – certain modes of how we play the game are more difficult to pick up right away and that’s one of them. We need to play faster and at a better rhythm, and what I mean by faster doesn’t necessarily mean no huddle, it just means we’ve got to get into a better tempo. We’ve got to get in and out of the huddle faster and get to the line of scrimmage faster, just all those things have to get a better tempo and I think that starts with me. With coaching. We’ve got to coach that better and figure out a better way to explain to these guys like or show them like this is what we’re looking for."

You can watch Bill O'Brien's entire Monday presser on the Mothership by clicking this link.

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