Texans 27, Patriots 20
Q. Romeo, could you talk about Watson's performance and also specifically in the second quarter on those back to back touchdowns how much him scrambling for yards helped the offense?
ROMEO CRENNEL: Well, I don't know the exact numbers, but just standing there on the sideline and watching him perform, he did a tremendous job. You know, he was able to find receivers, put the ball right on them, and then when he had to run, get out of trouble, he was able to get out of trouble and still make plays. And so those two scores, like you say, in that second quarter, that kind of gave the whole team momentum and put us ahead.
There have been times that we haven't been ahead, and so being ahead was a good feeling, and I think the guys rallied around that and continued to fight for the whole game.
Q. What was it like to see J.J. have kind of a vintage game, swatting down passes and doing some of the things he did today?
ROMEO CRENNEL: That was really good. I enjoy seeing that from J.J., and the thing that -- probably the most impact was to the opposing quarterback because when J.J. is on, they know he's coming, and he gets the quarterback off the spot and makes it tough for the quarterback to get his feet set and throw the ball down the field.
And so some of that occurred today, and J.J. is knocking balls down. I'm sure that there's one that he thought he was going to intercept that Cam knocked out of the way, and he was holding his head after the play.
But that's the competitor that he is, and it was good to have him out there.
Q. Your thoughts on Justin Reid? Justin has been tough on himself this year, and for him to have this kind of game, your thoughts on the way he played?
ROMEO CRENNEL: Well, sometimes the games kind of go up and down a little bit. Sometimes the ball comes your way, sometimes it doesn't. And Justin being the competitor he is, he wants to make plays all the time. And I tell him just make the plays you're supposed to make, and he was making plays today. He was down around the line of scrimmage and in the intermediate throwing areas, he was there tackling. He made a good contribution to the victory.
Q. Any update on Randall Cobb, and wanted to see what you thought about Keke Coutee, for him to get into the end zone today.
ROMEO CRENNEL: Well, Cobb has a good injury. They'll be looking at it and they'll let us know something tomorrow on that. Kenny has a leg injury, and they'll look at that, as well, and they'll let us know something. Coutee, I'll tell you what, you've got to take your hat off to the guy because he hasn't played since Baltimore, but he comes for practice every day. He works really hard, and then when he gets the opportunity to go in and play, he shows what his ability is and what he can bring to the team. And that's what I tell all of them, that when you're not in the game and if you are not there, you need to study, you need to know the game plan because we just don't know when we're going to call you up, when you're going to put you in the game, and when you go into the game you have to perform, and he performed very well.
Q. What does it say about Deshaun that he was able to play as well as he did today despite you guys having such little success on the ground?
ROMEO CRENNEL: Well, it says that he's a really good player. I mean, he's a really good player and he helps make our offense go. And so if -- sometimes when you've got a guy like that who can make the plays that he can make, sometimes you don't have to have a ground game. We were struggling a little bit with the running game in this game, and so we kind of relied on Deshaun in the passing game.
Q. What was different about you guys against the run today?
ROMEO CRENNEL: Well, you know, I tell you guys all the time, the consistency. Consistency of technique and guys doing their job and doing their job first and then trying to help out. A lot of times it comes to toughness and leverage, playing against double teams and not guessing, and so we did that today against a good running team, a team who's top of the league as far as the run goes. And then we were able to slow that down, then they started to throw the ball, and they hadn't been throwing it as well overall because they'd been running the ball. And so now you kind of put them out of their element a little bit, particularly when you've got J.J. coming off the edge and being disruptive the way he was, getting the quarterback off the spot. So that helped us a lot today.
Q. I also wanted to ask you about y'all's pass rush. Y'all had a couple of defensive back safety blitzes and Jonathan Greenard got his first sack of the year. What did you think about the pressure today?
ROMEO CRENNEL: Well, you know what, when you bring pressure you're hoping that it works or planning that it works, and so it was working today. And so we kept calling it a little bit. Because it was effective, sometimes that double-edged pressure you bring it and the quarterback has nowhere to go, and so now he gets a little antsy and doesn't know exactly where he wants to throw the ball, particularly if he had a D route called, so now he's got to look for the short outlet guy, and when you're able to get him to throw at no time to the short outlet guy if you don't get it on the ground then you rally up and make the tackle on those guys, so we were doing some of that today.
Q. Did you dance in the locker room?
ROMEO CRENNEL: A slow two-step.
Q. Can you give us an example?
ROMEO CRENNEL: Not right now. I used it all up in the locker room.
Q. Does it make it any more special that this win is over Bill Belichick and the Patriots?
ROMEO CRENNEL: Well, like I said, any time that you go against a guy that you've worked with and that you've coached against before, a win is a good feeling. So I feel good about that.
But I really feel good about the fact that we were able to win a home game. We hadn't done that, so winning a home game was a big plus, and so I know all those guys in the locker room, they feel good about the win and the way that they fought for the whole game, and I think that that will help us going forward into this short week that we've got coming.
Q. What was your message to the team after the game?
ROMEO CRENNEL: Hey, for one, give a shout out to John weeks because of what he accomplished by playing in the game today. Gave a shout-out to him, and then I told them what we've got a short week and we'd better get in the cold tub so you can regenerate and then get ready to work a couple days and then go travel and play on Thursday, and we need a win on Thursday.
Q. With Tunsil being out and the injury issues on the offensive line, how do you think the line played, specifically Roderick Johnson?
ROMEO CRENNEL: Well, I think Roderick did a good job. He was able to hold his man out on pass protection, and then he had a couple of hustle plays. On one screen, over toward their sideline, he was running -- for a big man he was really moving and able to cut the defender to get our screen guy started, and we were able to gain yards on the play. When you see that from a big man, you appreciate the effort. And so I thought he stepped in and did a really good job. I'm proud of him for the way he played.
Q. Do you expect Laremy to be able to play on Thursday? Do you feel like he's improving to a point where he could make it back out there in four days?
ROMEO CRENNEL: Well, I think we'll talk to the doctors and they'll let us know something tomorrow and see whether he can or not, and at this point I'm not sure.
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FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports