Texans 27, Patriots 20
Q. What do you feel like was the key to the defense playing better today, not just the defense overall but your performance? What were some of the emotions for you to play this way after what happened in Cleveland?
JUSTIN REID: We all had a chip on our shoulder. That Cleveland game got away from us at the end of the game. Feel like we could have won it. Me myself, I felt like I had a lot to prove today. The defense as a whole, and it showed throughout practice, we really banded together and we came together and really believed in the system and the scheme that Coach Weave had put up. We knew we had to stop the run today, and felt like we did a pretty good job of that.
Q. The blitz pressure, how key do you think that was to keep Cam from getting too comfortable back there in the pocket?
JUSTIN REID: Man, I love it. It allowed me to get my first NFL sack of my career. You know, those exotic pressures that Coach Weave comes up with have been paying dividends for us. It was very important to make Cam uncomfortable, not allow him to just sit in the pocket and have some pressure in his face.
Q. Did you expect Cam to run the ball more than he did?
JUSTIN REID: Yeah. Watching the tape, I felt like his legs were a huge issue for a lot of teams, so we know that the quarterback run was going to come up at some point, so we were ready for it. Didn't run it as much as we thought, but we were prepared.
Q. Justin, can you take us through the 4th down stop where you and Lonnie got him, which essentially won the game?
JUSTIN REID: Yeah. Come down, same double-edged pressure. Beware of the evil twins, man. They were really focusing on blocking me or Lonnie and one of us was coming free every time. Lonnie initially came free, was able to get him off the mark, and then I had got off my block off a chip release, and then we both came together and made the tackle on him. So it's definitely one of our favorite pressures from the safety position.
Q. You referred to your first sack. What was it like to get your first sack?
JUSTIN REID: Man, that was awesome. That was awesome. It took three years in the making for me to finally get it, but it was an incredible feeling to finally get it, and it was at a crucial point in the game, so it felt really good to do that for my team, help us get a win.
Q. You mentioned those safety blitzes. How much has that been called before today?
JUSTIN REID: Not a whole lot. We started putting it on a little bit, but today was a big statement about it. Like I said, man, evil twins coming on both edge is something to watch out for.
Q. Were you guys inspired by the way Anthony came out in such a fiery manner this week defending you guys on defense?
JUSTIN REID: Yeah. Yeah. I'll tell you what, man. There's one thing about Coach Weave is he has the respect of the entire team, especially the defensive side of the ball, man. We all really believe in what he coaches and preaches and he has our back the same way we have his back. We believe in what he says, and he's done a great job, know what I mean? We've just got to keep knocking down these wins and keep improving the defense, have his back as well, too.
Q. Did you feel like a lot of the calls that he was making and a lot of the film work you put in you were seeing what you wanted and you were able to just go out there and play and thus make the plays?
JUSTIN REID: Yeah, yeah. I think that was a big part of it is he really just started playing to guys' strengths, simplified things, and just allowed us to go play football, fast, free, loose, and like I said, physical, and it's made a difference.
Q. And did you also feel like you got everything from each level? You had guys up front batting passes down, you were helping on the pass rush and things like that? All levels were working today?
JUSTIN REID: Yeah, we had a huge emphasis on everybody contributing to stopping the run and plays were made on all three levels, on the D-line, linebackers and in the back end, too. It was a team effort to really do what we did today, and it paid off.
Q. You've been really hard on yourself this season; what did this game kind of do for your confidence?
JUSTIN REID: Yeah, I've been hard on myself because I care a lot. I care about the success of the team. I care about the success of my teammates. I care about the success of myself personally, too. So it meant a lot to go out and get another home win against somebody other than Jacksonville. So it did feel good.
Q. Maybe a question along those lines. You've been very up front on social media and otherwise kind of meeting criticism head on. How have you kind of used that as fuel to kind of make this performance possible, and what can you do with this kind of performance personally for the rest of your season?
JUSTIN REID: Yeah, I'm an emotional player. I feed off my emotions when I play on the field, so I took it as a challenge, the criticism, and today stepped up to it, and plan to continue to use that as fuel for the future, man.
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FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports