HOUSTON TEXANS VS. JACKSONVILLE JAGUARS
Sunday, September 15, 2019
POSTGAME QUOTES
Head Coach Bill O’Brien, WR DeAndre Hopkins, RB Carlos Hyde, OLB Whitney Mercilus, S Justin Reid, QB Deshaun Watson, DE J.J. Watt
Head Coach Doug Marrone, DL Calais Campbell, WR DJ Chark Jr.,
RB Leonard Fournette, QB Gardner Minshew II
HOUSTON TEXANS HEAD COACH BILL O’BRIEN (Transcribed by ASAP Sports)
Can you talk about what you saw from the tackle by Justin Reid there at the end and just kind of defending him there at the end of the game?
“Yeah, great play. He made a great play. I thought the defensive line got some penetration. He’s a very good tackler. Had a good game tackling last week. Had another good game here today relative to tackling. But, that was a really good defensive play right there. That was good. It was really good.”
Your thoughts on Carlos Hyde and the game he had?
“Yeah, he runs hard. He runs hard. He’s a smart guy. He’s learned the offense. He’s learned his role in the offense. Continue to build with him and Duke (Johnson). Just I think both those guys, they do a good job.”
Could you talk about Deshaun Watson’s day. Seemed like he had some trouble picking up blitzes.
“I don’t know. I have to watch him on film. Thought he played tough and managed the game really well. It was a tough game, hard game. Very good defense in Jacksonville, and I thought we tried to get the ball down, stretch the field a little bit, didn’t connect. Had a chance to connect a few times, didn’t connect. So we have to go back to work on some things, but we won, which was important.”
At the end of the first half, what was the strategy on your drive where you had to settle for the field goal?
“Again, we had a couple of plays there that we wanted to call. We called all three or four of them, I think, and we felt like we were in good shape there to have a chance to score a touchdown there on the catch by Kenny (Stills) down at the 2-yard line. He was a little short of where we thought maybe he would be. We had another good play there, good little red area play, just didn’t get the right coverage there and made a decision to kick the field goal.”
Bill, did you guys have to kick a field goal right there because you ran out of time?
“No, that was the strategy of the whole drive.”
The strategy of the drive was to kick a field goal?
“No, to score a touchdown. We felt like we were in good shape to score a touchdown, and at the end we didn’t get the touchdown. So, I decided with two seconds left to kick a field goal. Could have gone for it there, and we decided to kick the field goal.”
Should you have taken a time-out earlier in that drive?
“No, we had two plays there and just took a little time getting lined up on the two plays. No, I think you’re talking about (DeAndre) Hopkins’ catch, and then after that, yeah, we could have taken a time-out, but we had two plays. Took a little longer to get lined up than we thought, but we’ll work on that this week.”
Roderick Johnson got the start at right tackle. What did you see from him? Also, how did Tytus Howard do? Had some penalties, some moments there.
“We won. We won the game. I think everybody played hard, played tough. We’ll get back to work and try to correct — it’s a big division win. It’s a team that has a lot of good talent. Jacksonville, give them a lot of credit. They played tough, and we won by a point. I think that’s important. We’ll get in here and watch the tape and try to do better next time.”
How did T Roderick Johnson do today?
“I have to watch the tape.”
Can you talk about the decision to go with him to start today?
“Yeah, we felt like he had a good week of practice. We felt like he earned the start. He had a good training camp, had a good week of practice here. We felt like he had earned the opportunity to start.”
At this point, do you know how serious the ankle for Laremy Tunsil is?
“I don’t think it’s too bad. I don’t think it’s too bad. We’ll have to see tomorrow, but I don’t think it’s too bad.”
Obviously, so many games in the NFL come down to the last possession or two. Can you just go into what your defense is going through? They played a good game, but then all of a sudden, it seems like they’re reeling. “Yeah, they played a great game. They did. Those drives at the end, I mean, there were some tough plays. (Gardner) Minshew did a great job of scrambling around and making some plays. I think that in the NFL — I mean, you’ve been covering it for a long time. These games are tough. We didn’t do as well offensively as we want to do, and our defense picked us up. I think that was a really good team win. I just think that that’s a very important message from me to you is that that was a very, very important team win. We won that as a team. We went for it on fourth-and-one, and Deshaun (Watson) made a great play there. Then our defense stopped them on the two- point play. I think that’s really good complementary football, even though it wasn’t on back-to-back drives, but I thought that was really good complementary football, and our team — that was a really good team win.”
Bill, with the pass rush Zach Cunningham got there early in the game, Whitney Mercilus got there twice, knocked the ball loose. Were you pretty happy with the sack results and the pass rush overall today?
“Yeah, I thought RAC (Romeo Crennel) called a great game, and our players executed the plan really well. They played hard, played fast. I thought they mixed up the fronts, mixed up the looks. I think our guys rushed the passer hard. Whitney (Mercilus) and J.J. (Watt), and the guys inside, D.J. Reader, B. Mac (Benardrick McKinney) did a great job of moving around, Zach Cunningham. I thought our secondary hung in there. There’s some good receivers there. (Gardner) Minshew’s a good player. He’s a good football player. He hung in there, and we hit him, and he kept coming back. It was a good football game. We were really happy about the result.”
What did you think about Minshew?
“I just said, he’s a really good player. He’s accurate. He’s got really good poise. He can scramble. He can move. He’s an impressive quarterback.”
WR DEANDRE HOPKINS (Transcribed by Joseph Hooven)
What did you think of your battle with Jaguars CB Jalen Ramsey?
“Jalen is a great corner. That’s what you expect when you’re playing against a guy like that. I loved it, I loved the competition.”
How do you feel about getting the first win of the season?
“It feels good, that’s how you get the momentum going, and that’s what the team needed today. Just work on the things we need to work on and keep doing the good things that we did today.”
What did you think of the stop by S Justin Reid on the last play?
“The stop by Justin was great. Justin is a student of the game, he understands football very well. He knew that he (Leonard Fournette) was trying to make that reach out, and he was right there to stop it. So it was a great play.”
RB CARLOS HYDE (Transcribed by Joshua Barrientes)
What does that mean to play against a team you played for before?
“I definitely was amped up a little more, just knowing that I was there last year and how things went last season while I was there. So I was definitely amped up to see these guys, but it is what it is. I moved on from that. I’m on a new team, winning team, so just keep it going. “
Why are you having so much success so quickly?
“I’m hungry. I’m out there on a mission, like I told you, I’ve got a chip on my shoulder coming in this year. So I’m running angry, running mad, and it’s been paying off for me.”
You have been talking about that chip now for a couple weeks. How big is that chip?
“That chip growing. It’s a heavy chip. Chips are my favorite food, so at the end of the season I’m gonna eat that chip.”
What are a couple things you like about this offense?
“I love the run game part of it. I’m a running back so you know I love that part of it. Just allowing me to be myself while I’m out there. The run plays that we do call are downhill runs so that falls right into my game so I love the run game.”
OLB WHITNEY MERCILUS (Transcribed by ASAP Transcripts)
Talk about the Jaguars’ last drive of the game from the start of the drive to the last stop on the two-point conversion.
“Man, it was a hell of a play by the defense honestly. We knew we had to buck up. Let the quarterback get out a few times on that drive. He was making a couple plays downfield, throwing it, but when it really counted, defense came through. We got a critical stop right there just to win the game.”
Talk about how your role has changed since Jadeveon Clowney left and you moved back to your normal side.
“A few limited drops and what not. Now I get to go ahead and go out there and go tee it up. Do what I do best, get after the quarterback, cause turnovers, and all that. It’s been fun. It’s been fun. I enjoy it.”
Do you know this is the first time you’ve ever had three sacks in the first two games?
“Yeah, it’s good. I just got to keep it going. It’s week to week. Got to prove myself every day.”
What do you think about Jaguars QB Gardner Minshew II? What was the strategy for him? And what happened on the last drive?
“I was actually impressed by Minshew. He’s a hell of a player, for a rookie and all that. Pretty composed back there at times. Gashed us on the run and stuff like that when our rush lanes were compromised. Just the game plan, we wanted to get him off the spot and just really get him nervous, just moving around the line, blitzing him as well too just to get him nervous and get him to make some mistakes. But it was an up and down day. It was a hard fought battle at the end of the day.”
Did not having a lot of film of Minshew cause much of an effect?
”Yeah, you’ve got to go back to his college days, watch a few of his clips, see what he does best and all that. The guy has pretty good speed on him. He’s a pretty strong kid as well. So we went back, watched that a little bit. But really just watching him in the KC (Kansas City) game they played last week, seeing how composed he was. It was pretty impressive as far as the stats and all that, so we understood that going into the game.”
At the end of the game when it’s a one-point game, as a defensive player, do you prefer they take the extra point and tie it up, or do you want them to go for two and see if you all can beat them?
“Good question. Do I really want to play five quarters of football? Not at all. The thing is I’ll take my chances with my defense for sure, man. All the guys, we just band together and just made a hell of a stop. So very impressed by that. Impressed by everybody. Just had to do our job, and that’s exactly what we did.”
It’s easy for a defense to get deflated when you’ve shut them down the entire game and then they score. What’s going on during a drive like that?
“Man, this is how this league is, doesn’t matter who the opponent is. You’ve got to have a next play mentality. They’re going to get some plays. We’re going to get some plays. But the thing is who is going to be the most composed? So we were very composed out there.”
S JUSTIN REID (Transcribed by Jenaia Alcantar)
Take us through that last tackle?
“Yeah that last play; the whole game came down to this one play. You know we all went into the huddle like the game is on the line right here. Everybody just do your job. Just pay attention. I was actually responsible for the back on that play. The front line, the D line did a great job pushing the pile, opening it up to where it was basically just me and him. Just had to bow up and make a play.”
When you see a play like that develop what is going on in your mind? Do you even have time to think?
“You know we train for this. We practice these type of plays. We know that we do goal line in training camp. All that practice and training comes down to games like this where we have to show up with it. So at that point you’re just playing ball; you let your instincts take over. I saw an opportunity. I saw him try to dive and make the line. I was in the right place at the right time and made a play.”
What did you think when you realized you had stopped him?
“Aww man, pure ecstasy. It was like excitement. I almost threw my arm out with how hard I punched the air. It was a great feeling. It feels good to get a win.”
QB DESHAUN WATSON (Transcribed by ASAP Sports)
How do you feel the offense is coming together and helping you guys out?
“They’re helping us out a lot, L.T. (Laremy Tunsil), Kenny (Stills), all the guys coming in and doing their job and just trying to find ways to try to get better. We’re still putting pieces together. It’s going to take a little time. The whole offseason we’ve been working with other guys. They just got in last week. Things are still clicking, and it’s going to hit once the timing is right.”
What did you think of the stop by Justin Reid?
“It was great. That’s what we practice. That’s what we preach. We stand up, we hold up, and that’s what they did. Impressive situation. We’ve got to be able to stand up and take advantage of those and never fold, and that’s what they didn’t do. Defense did a great job of holding them to 12 points. We did enough at the end to pull it off.”
Can you talk about the end of the first half and having to settle for a field goal when you obviously wanted a touchdown?
“Sure, we called a play with nine seconds, but that’s a situation what we call a take a look. Take a look, and if the touchdown is there, don’t force it, but try to get six points. If not, get rid of the ball and have a chance to kick a field goal to get points. Of course, we want points. We want a situation where we want to score, but at the end of the day, three points was good enough for today.”
Your thoughts on the Jaguars’ defense overall?
“They did a good job. They held their own. They did what they did. They covered. We made plays downfield. They disrupted some plays. It’s an in-division game. These guys, we know exactly what they want to do. They start up front, and their front did a good job with played with a lot of energy. Give them credit, but at the end of the day, we got the ‘W,’”
Do you feel like you left some points out there on the field?
“For sure. We felt like that last week. We felt like that this week. There’s opportunities out there we’ve got to take advantage of. We’ve got to get on the film, get on the practice field, and talk about it and get on the same page overall.”
How does it feel to get a win?
“It feels real good, especially on my birthday weekend. Definitely going to celebrate and rest up and have some fun with some family and friends.”
What are you getting for your birthday?
“Getting? I might get a Rolls Royce.”
Can you talk about the touchdown from start to finish.
“Yeah, just a bootleg, kind of misdirection. They covered it well. I just tried to make something happen. I know on the sideline they were probably having a heart attack, but at the end of the day, I’m trying to get in the box and score a touchdown and get the ‘W’.”
Can you tell us what Kenny Stills asked to your wide receiver corps?
“For sure. A lot of experience, another guy that can make plays, that’s played a lot of football. He brings a lot of energy. He’s always positive on the sidelines and on the field, and that’s another guy that has a lot of speed and great hands and can really help, not even just the young guys, but Will (Fuller V) and Hop (DeAndre Hopkins) and try to make plays for this team and continue to put up points.”
How do you feel you played compared to Monday night?
“I played decent. There were some throws that I missed. I had to kind of rush it up, but every game is different. Like I said, you’ve got to give them credit for disrupting us. At the end of the day, we got the ‘W.’ There’s always plays out there that I could have made and continued to get better. That’s what it’s about, especially for this long season. It’s a journey. You’ve got to continue to get better each and every week, and if you get better each and every week, weeks on towards the end, that’s when the pressure situation, when the playoffs come at the end of the year, you’ll be ready for it.”
DE J.J. WATT (Transcribed by ASAP Sports)
How big was that play where Whitney forced the fumble and you were able to grab it?
“It was huge. Great play by Whit (Whitney Mercilus). Obviously, got to find ways to get the ball, get turnovers, and to get a turnover like that in the red zone, give the offense a chance to score was huge. Whit’s obviously played a couple of great games for us. I think he’s shown what he can do when he gets off the edge.”
What did you think about Justin Reid stopping Fournette there to get the win?
“It’s obviously a win or lose play. It won us the football game. It’s huge. Justin’s (Reid) always willing to throw his body around and do whatever it takes. That’s another example of his great play.”
How do you feel the defense did overall?
“I think we played good most of the game. Obviously, the last drive, we would like to not let that happen, but to hold a team to 12 points, it’s tough to do in this league. It doesn’t matter what team it is. I thought we responded well. I’d like to have the last drive back, but other than that, I think all day long we had a pretty solid day. Still plenty of things to work on and correct, but overall we won.”
I know you haven’t looked at the tape yet, but how would you assess how you did this week?
“I thought I played better than last week for sure. There’s a couple of holding calls out there that it’s every week. The ref literally admitted to me that guy held me on one play, and he didn’t throw the flag. I don’t know what I’m supposed to do with that when after a play, I look over at the ref, and he says, yes, I saw him hold you, but I didn’t throw the flag. I mean, I’ll probably get fined for this, and that’s fine, but I don’t know what to do with that. There are other opportunities there, but overall the defense played well.”
I’m a little confused. You looked at — I’m also confused.
“I’m also very confused. I don’t know what to do there. It’s just part of the game. It’s something I’ve dealt with for a long time. I literally looked right over at him, and he said, I know, I saw it.”
Did it impact your game?
“I don’t know what to do with that, so I’ll just go out there and continue to play hard and try and get there. When you’re dealing with that, I don’t know what you’re supposed to do.”
Was that the one where he almost had you in a head lock?
“One of those, yeah.”
Has it ever happened before, the ref looked at you and said, yeah, yeah, I blew it?
“It’s not the first time. It was the most blatant ones. So, yeah, you just keep playing your game and try to do whatever you can.”
J.J., what’s it like for you to see the maturation of some of these young guys who have been in the system and getting more responsibilities put on them?
“We’ve got players all over the place. It’s a lot of fun. You never know where the play is going to come from. You have guys you can see their confidence growing and see their impact on the game. It’s really been — it’s fun to play in a defense with so many play makers.”
In general, what do you think of the job Whitney Mercilus is doing now?
“He’s great. We’ve always known Whitney (Mercilus) is a rusher. He’s great off the edge. He can do different things off the edge. He’s back in his natural position this year, and I think you’re seeing the results of when he’s in his proper place. Hopefully, he continues to do what he does. They have to chip and double somebody. It’s nice to see him get it done, and hopefully, he can have many, many sacks on the year.”
JACKSONVILLE JAGUARS
HEAD COACH DOUG MARRONE (Transcribed by ASAP Sports)
What went into the decision to go with Leonard Fournette up the middle when Fournette up the middle hadn’t had a lot of success during the game? What was the thinking there on that one?
“We had a bunch of different plays called. So in other words, we had a play for Cover 0, we had a play for Red 2. We had a play for single-high man, we had a play for bear man, and really at the end of the day, we were fine with either one. Again, you come up a couple inches short and we lost the game. It was a decision that I made prior to us getting the last possession. I said that if we returned the punt for touchdown with DD then I was probably going for go for the extra point. They said if we start driving this football and we score with a certain amount of time left, I said I’m going to go for two. “Immediately had the play in mind so we missed DJ (Chark) early; we missed (Leonard) Fournette. We had some poor holding penalties at really tough times during the game. Converted a first down. Got a hold, and took us out of field goal range. Obviously we got a hold on a big play and we got a sack fumble, which gives up points. Just kills you. You just got to keep working, and we have to do a better job coaching it and we have to do a better job of performing it. And then on that last drive, I mean, you could see the poise the kid has. Was able to go down the field and score. He’s never — I’ve told you guys before, he’s not a guy that gets rattled. He’s fine on the sideline. He understands what we’re trying to get accomplished, what we want to do. So, I couldn’t be happier with him.”
Can you explain what led to the disagreement between you and Jalen Ramsey?
“A lot of emotion in the game, I’m sure. I don’t know. I can’t recall.”
Was there a reason you didn’t challenge? Did Jalen Ramsey want you to challenge?
“We have a process. I think we’ve done a very good job since I’ve been the head coach. Obviously, we’re the best ones at winning them. We have a process that we have to confirm it, because timeouts are big, and we had no one that was able to confirm whether the ball was knocked out or not. I couldn’t see it, because he had his back to me.”
Was it an unusual amount of frustration from the players?
“I can’t even recall. It’s a lot of emotion on that field. We’re playing a division game.”
DJ Chark Jr., another strong performance for you. What kind of consistency is he starting to show?
“I think that’s the right word. I think it’s consistency. I think that’s what you’re using. He’s a guy that can go in there and make plays and someone that is going to keep getting better and better. Better he becomes, it’s going to open up things for everybody else. He’s a key player in what we’re trying to get done and he’s worked extremely hard.”
Is it good that this upcoming game is a Thursday night game after something as close as this?
“Every loss hurts. It’s hard to put a thing on it. You know, I’m not onto Thursday yet. I’m still on this thing.”
Can you just talk about the resiliency that your team showed in the last 10 minutes of that game?
“Yeah, they were able to move the ball, I think. I think they felt it. The difference sometimes when you’re playing and you like getting — when you don’t have anything and sometimes you’re like you’re so close and you can’t really make a play. You’re just trying to go ahead and make a play and get on a rhythm. I think that’s what our guys really believed. We can get into a rhythm and put some back-to-back plays together, that we’ll be able to move the ball and drive the ball. They all trust each other and they keep working. I think that they felt they can get back into it. I think the defense was playing well. They knew we were going to have opportunities. We made some plays and were able to get ourselves back in it with a chance to win on the last play offensively.”
Did every player on the sideline want to go for the two-point conversion?
“Yeah, honestly from the angles we saw we were celebrating on the field. We thought that was two points. Obviously, I know it has to be definitive and that’s just the nature of the game. You put it in the referees’ hands, and it could go either way. But we made a lot of mistakes and we didn’t play as good as we could’ve, but we still had a chance to win at the end. So, it’s something we can learn from. We’ll grade the tape, and we’ll try to just keep getting better one game at a time.”
Was it a return to what we expect from the Jaguars on the defensive side of the ball?
“Yeah, we still had opportunities that we didn’t capitalize on though. There’s plays out there that we could’ve made that we normally would make. So, we still got ways to go.”
How aggravated were you that you didn’t get that fumble recovery?
“Very. Very. That’s a play I make 99 percent of the time. It is what it is. I don’t even know how I missed it. But there’s a lot of plays out there that I would like to have back that I didn’t play to my standard. You’ve got to take your hats off to them because they fought and did enough to win. But in this game when you’re that close you have to find a way to get those, those tough wins, and I thought we did. It’s going to be painful, but we’ve got to bounce back, you know, 24-hour rule and then move on. This one isn’t even 24-hour rule because we’ve got a big game on Thursday, so another tough game. So, go out there and try to get a W.”
WR DJ CHARK JR. (Transcribed by Carrington Gilbert)
Did you like the call to go for two?
“Yeah. Because that’s the team we want to be. We don’t want to play it safe. We want to go get the win. Even after the call and the way it turned out, I still believe, like Myles (Jack) said, I believe that was a touchdown. I’m going to ride for my team, my coaches and Leonard (Fournette). And I think that we got that.”
DL CALAIS CAMPBELL (Transcribed by Raj Sheth)
Was there a feeling that the offense would get rolling?
“We always feel like that. I feel like you got two choices from the beginning of the game to the end of the game. You either, if things not going good you either lay it down or continue to fight. Either way you got to step on that field for the rest of the four quarters. So, you might as well give it all you got while you’re out there. And that’s what these guys did.”
How different does this feel than last week? Last week you lost your quarterback, this week you may have found yours, you know a guy that can really make something happen.
“Last week, we were in here knowing that we were better than that. This week we still believe that we are better than that. But we also know that we are fighters. We are not giving up. That’s a good team over there. We came out. We competed. We didn’t have some guys with us, but nobody second guessed it.”
RB LEONARD FOURNETTE (Transcribed by John Holt)
Can you talk about the last play, and from your vantage point did you think you got in the end zone?
“Yeah, I thought I got in when I reached the ball. But apparently, they (referees) thought otherwise.”
When you all decided to go for it I assume most of you guys were thinking ‘Let’s go, let’s win it now,’
“Yeah, we wanted to win. At the end of the day, that’s all this game is about is winning.”
What was the feeling on that final drive? The offense really started to click. Gardner Minshew II made a couple of throws.
“I think (Gardner) is doing a great job. He’s coming in, his first road start. It was a hectic environment. I think he handled it well. He did a great job. Our job is to help him out the best way we can.”
Did you all know earlier in the drive that you were going for two or was that something you guys found out in the end?
“It’s up to the Coach. He believed we that we could win it. We believed we could win it. It’s not just that play, but a lot of plays before that on both sides that kind of we could have sealed the game. But like I said, it’s football, things happen.”
QB GARNER MINSHEW II (Transcribed by ASAP Sports)
How were you able to get into a rhythm there on the final drive?
“Man, just credit to all our guys just staying with it. Keep fighting the whole time. They were a good defense and
just for us to keep battling. We made too many mistakes early. Us getting in our own way. You know what? The
encouraging thing is we didn’t play even close to what we should have and we were right there in the game and
could have won it, should have won it.”
How you did you see WR DJ Chark Jr. on the touchdown?
“I mean, from all the way across getting in my vision. Heck of a play by him just really hustling and just battling
to the end.”
Did you like the call to go for two?
“Yeah. Felt really good about the call. Had the right look. Leonard (Fournette) was close. I thought he got it.
That’s how it goes sometimes.
I bet ten times out of ten for him right there to get in there.”
Was the decision made earlier in the drive to go for two if you got the touchdown?
“I’m not sure. I don’t call the plays. I just play quarterback.”
What was it like in terms of just your first start?
“Not good because we lost. We lost. And that’s the moral of the story. Silver lining is we have some things we
can build on, some things that if we clean up we can be a really, really good team. That’s very encouraging.”
Were you happy you were able to use your legs there on the final drive?
“I was happy to help our team score. Whatever I have to do, if it’s giving the ball to Leonard 50 times, if it’s me
running, I don’t care. Whatever we got to do to score, to win, that’s what we’re going to do.”
Is that an element of your game that maybe goes under the radar? You had a couple pretty explosive runs.
“Yeah, I don’t know. That’s just — take what they give you, I guess.”
Is it encouraging that the offense was able to turn it on after three quarters?
“Yeah, absolutely. You see flashes what we could be and what we should be when we don’t get in our own way.
That’s what we’re fighting to get to you all the time. Fighting to get in that rhythm, find that rhythm, and stay in
it for four quarters and really just dominate people.”
