NICK CASERIO: Appreciate everybody being here. Looking forward to next week. Just winding down here with some of our preparations relative to the draft. Number of things going on I would say organizationally in the building as well.
Kind of started actually looking ahead a little bit, so definitely excited to be a part of the Hall of Fame festivities relative to Andre's induction and involvement. So kind of shortens the off-season or shortens the training camp or shortens vacation over the summer, but to have an opportunity to be part of that, that week really, it's a week more than anything, I know the game is Thursday night, but to be there to support Andre and what he's done for the city of Houston and the organization and for us to be able to participate in the game, be a good opportunity for a number of players. So extra week, extra game, but certainly be remiss if we didn't mention that.
As far as the team is concerned, good to have everybody back in the building, most of team for the start of the off-season program. Really first opportunity for the team to get together, spend time really with the strength and conditioning staff.
And next week or the week after that, yeah, first week in May, kind of transition to phase two and start some of the on-field work with the coaches. The focus during the off-season is just improvement and work, and then once we're done here in the off-season, try to get right for training camp and get ready to go.
Probably have different players at different stages relative to development and what they'll do during the course of the spring, but good to have everybody in the building. Made some modifications to the building. Redoing the weight room, shifting offs, so we've had to adapt and adjust here a little bit.
I think that's emblematic of our program and what we're about, but I think some of the changes and adjustments that we're making in the building, appreciative of the support they've giving us making the resources available.
So when we come back for training camp, coach's office will be in a different spot. It's all designed to help the players and make ourselves accessible to the players, make the flow a lot easier on the players.
So just a number of things going on outside of the draft and outside of football.
As it pertains to the draft, certainly excited about the opportunity we have in front of us next week. We have nine picks, as of Thursday night. We'll see if that changes or stays static. Given our history it will probably change at some point.
But finished up some of the draft visits in terms of players in the building. Had a number of players in the building. Had some players in the building that we really didn't have in the building. I think that is the way it goes this time of year.
A lot of information that is floating around. Appreciative of the staff. I would say our entire football operation staff is really involved, from medical, strength conditioning, to player development, to scouting, to coaching, take part in those visits.
Really the goal behind that is to try to simulate as best we can what it's like to be a Houston Texan on a day-to-day basis, and the people you're going to interface with on a day-to-day basis have an opportunity to meet them and have an understanding what we're about and we understand what they're about. They can learn about us and we can learn about them.
Appreciative of the entire football operations staff. It's specifically -- can't say enough great things about the college scouting staff and work and effort they put in. We shifted some responsibilities around a little bit going into last year. We asked some guys to take on a little bit more responsibility.
Hate to single anybody out, but do it anyway. I think the work that, John Richard, Zeke Curtis, Brad Matthew, Tom Hayden, those guys put a tremendous amount of time and effort into the overall endeavor. We wouldn't be in this position right now in terms of our preparation for next week without the work they do.
Again, it's not just them. There is a number of other people. Area scouts are the boots on the ground and starts with them. They pour a lot into it. They give a significant amount of time, effort, and energy.
By the time we get to Thursday, we have as much information as we need. The our goal is make good decisions for the organization. I think the goal for next week is try to add the right people with the right mindset. I would say Will said it best the other day in terms of our program, what's it about. We're not for everybody. Everybody is not for us.
And it's okay.
We're just looking for the right people with the right mindset, right fit, that we think can help us win football games.
So not to oversimplify it, but that's the goal. So again, making progress. We've got a long way to go. I'm sure we'll get some questions here about the off-season and some of the things we've done. Frankly, it's kind of laughable. It's so early. We haven't done anything.
What happened last year has no bearing on this year, so we're focused on right now. We're focused on the present. We're focused on improvement. I think the players' focus is on their attitude, effort, and commitment to being a good player.
Outside of that, rest of it is just a bunch garbage. Our focus on just trying to improve and become a better team, see if we can make some progress here in the off-season, and get ourselves ready to go for training camp.
Hopefully we have improved the team. We really are not going to know if we have or not until training camp. I think the division, when you look at the other teams around us have done a great job, so hopefully we can keep pace with what's going on in the division as well.
So it's interesting. Going back to the league meetings, we were there in March and they provide a lot of information a lot of -- not just rules. There is some other information that's is made available.
But I want to say it was 70% of the games last year were within one score in the fourth quarter and 42% of the games were decided by six points or less. Really what it shows is how competitive this league is. Margins are very small. We have to do whatever we think we can do to put ourselves into position to at least have an opportunity, and even going back and looking at our team last year, nine or ten games were one score games.
So margins are very small. A lot of great players, a lot of the great coaches in this league, so we're just trying to put ourselves in position to compete. It's going to come down to how well we execute on Sundays and ultimately going to come down to the work and the effort that we put in.
So again, kind of where we are.
Take some questions.
Q. How do you feel about the things that you all have done in the off-season? I know you said you have to wait to play the games. From the outside looking in, it's almost like you're winning with the free agency and the trades you made.
NICK CASERIO: Generally speaking, our philosophy, going back to last year, is just try to put together a good team, put ourselves in position we feel we can be competitive.
By the same token, when you go into the draft, as best you can you want to put the team in a position where if you have to go out there and play a game today, like we would be able to put a team on the field.
We feel as we sit here today if we had to go out there and play a game, we would be able to put a team out there and not have to rely on the draft necessarily to add players.
Whoever we draft, hopefully they'll come in here and create a role and niche for themselves. Probably going to be hard to make this team or make a significant impact. Hopefully that's a good thing. There is a lot of things that are going to happen between now and September.
Overall composition of the team, who is available, injuries are a part of it. So that's all we can do, is just focus on where we are right now. Hopefully we've added players that can help our team in some capacity, and hopefully we can add to the team next week.
Like I said, we have nine picks, nine draft picks. I think right now we're at 73, 74 players. There is another 15 to 20 spots give or take. The big thing is trying to add the right people with the right mindset and right mentality that want to come in and work hard and do their job.
Again, try to create as competitive an environment and situation as possible, which DeMeco has talked about that. I think philosophically we believe in the same thing. Everybody is going to have to earn the role and opportunity. Hopefully the players we have brought in, we brought them for a reason, because we think they can help us.
By the same token, a lot of things can change and happen between now and the start of the season, whenever that is. Hopefully we're in a decent position. Certainly not guaranteed anything at this point.
Q. Some of chatter about the team, why do you feel that (indiscernible.)
NICK CASERIO: Yeah, I think anything that's said outside the building is just noise, so doesn't really affect our focus, our preparation. We're just focused on our team. Just focused on improvement and the work.
So it's kind of like the draft. We go through the weekend, we're going to have on Monday, right, or Sunday afternoon, draft grades. It's the most ridiculous concept that I've ever heard of. The players haven't even been in the building yet and we're making an assessment about their performance.
It's the same thing in the off-season. Nothing is won in the off-season. It's all on paper, all chatter. It's fun for you guys I'm sure to talk about, but our focus is in the building on the things we can control, which is the work and just continuing to improve.
So that's not going to change regardless of who is here and what's said outside the building. The focus is on the present and right now, just trying to do as good a job we can an a day-to-day basis, because it's about stacking days and weeks together, not about one move is going to make the difference between what happens between now and the start of the season.
Never approached it that way or never looked at it that way. As long as DeMeco and I are in a position to run the football team, that's going to be our philosophy and not going to change. The players have to come in and work. Starts with the players and their attitude and their performance.
In the end it's about how the players perform, and in the end it comes down to how well you execute on Sunday.
We can talk about it all we want, about what's going on, what the expectation is. Doesn't really matter. What matters is what goes on behind the scenes, and then go out there and hopefully we can execute and put ourselves in a position each week to put a good product out there.
Q. In what ways do you feel like this free agency you all were able to kind of secure some of the bigger names?
NICK CASERIO: Yeah, I mean, look, I don't really know what that means. I think when you put the team together you look at the opportunities presented in front of you. You have X number of dollars available to you and it's all about resource allocation.
So I mean, Devin Singletary, was that not a big enough name last year I guess. Looking for good football players with the right mindset to come in here and espouse our philosophy and go out there and perform and play football.
Q. Will Anderson said that a lot of the players at the Pro Bowl were like, hey, tell DeMeco, tell the Texans to come get us. To me that indicates a lot of people were interested. I was just wondering if you saw a lot more interest from free agencies or in what way did you see...
NICK CASERIO: Yeah, it's all about opportunity. Ultimately players are going to look at the situation and say, where do I have the best opportunity to perform? What's the situation?
And really, it starts with the people that are in that locker room down the hall, the players that are here are, a lot of the returning players. Honestly, it starts with the head coach. So, I mean, arguably -- look I'm biased but he's one of the best coaches in the league. I think players, people want to be around like-minded people with the right mindset that prioritize winning.
I think what we've tried to do is create an environment where people come here and be themselves. We're not trying to force feed anybody into being something they're not. Come in here and be yourself. Ultimately the most important thing that player has to do, and it's DeMeco's message to the team any time we get together, we don't have a lot of rules, but ultimately, protect the team is the most important thing.
So protect the team, and then outside of that, I mean there are some other things that factor into it. Players are going to make a decision based on where they feel they have the best opportunity. It's a credit to the guys in the locker room, in the bubble training.
So part of my job is to be a steward and figure out where the opportunities lie and make the right decisions for the organization and get the right people.
Finances are a part of it. I'm not ignorant. Finances are certainly going to be a part of it. Those are discussions we have with the agents and representatives. Just because a player is interested in us doesn't mean we're interested in that player.
Does he have the right fit? Do we foresee a role for him? Does he fit the system? Like Will said, we're not for everybody and everybody is not for us. It's schematically, it's certain players prioritize other things over others. That's part of our job and responsibility.
As it pertains it specifically like the draft we have control over the people that we bring in the building. Free agency to certain extent you have control, but you also don't have control because sometimes it's driven financially by the resources you're willing to allocate.
Hopefully we've identified the right people that can come in here and impact the program in a positive way. We'll get more information as we go during the spring and in training camp. I'm sure there are some players that are here right now that may or may not be here at the start of the season, and vice versa.
There are players that could end up here in November or October for some reason, like Derek Barnett did and a number of different players that came in at different points.
Try to take it one day at time, try to look at the opportunities in front of us, make good decisions, and the right decisions for the organization, and then go from there.
Q. What goes into discussions with another team trading for a player like Stefon Diggs? How do you arrive at that decision?
NICK CASERIO: Yeah, I would say we talked to -- I would say I talked to a lot of different teams at different points of the year.
So I think we're all open minded and just trying to look at opportunities that they may or may not exist. I would say that was something that like I don't think we really were anticipating, but I think had some conversations at different points, and ultimately was able to come to fruition.
We felt it made sense for us to pursue. So I would say we talked to a lot of teams about a lot of different things at different points.
You know, hopefully Stef can come in here and he's been a productive player, so hopefully can come in here and help our team in some capacity.
Q. Why did you think he was a good fit? You talk about noise outside. There is a label, people say he's a diva. The fact that we haven't heard from Stefon yet, is that a Stefon thing or is that football ops thing?
NICK CASERIO: Yeah, number one, I don't even know what that definition mean. Again, we're not worried about -- again, we're worried about what a player does when he walks in the building. We do our research and talk to players and other players all the time, our players.
As an example, a lot of guys that in the draft, we talk to those players, hey, what are your thoughts about so and so? What is your experience with him?
So we do our research and ultimately DeMeco and I sit and talk, and if we feel comfortable with the discussion we go ahead and make the decision. I think it's unfair to label until they have an opportunity to walk in the building.
Again, our environment is different than another environment, so we really don't know what's going on in 31 other buildings. We know what's going on in our building. We are excited to have Stef here. When he gets here, he'll be available, ample time for you all to visit with him.
Again, there is not too many people that have been available. Just started the off-season program. Like we're not -- signed a free agent, bringing a jersey up here and do a big pow-wow. That's not how we operate. We don't believe in that. That's just us philosophically. Other teams do it differently.
We do what we think is right, and we're pretty consistent on that. Will and CJ were available the other day. Other players will be available at different points during the spring. Excited to have Stef here, and hopefully can add to you are our team.
Q. To make moves when you feel the deal a right, what's the philosophy on that thinking, moving up or down to get maybe a position you're looking at, a type of player that you want?
NICK CASERIO: More draft-wise or general speak? Yeah, we've always been open minded and flexible and adaptable. Movement is contingent, really player driven. So it's supply and demand, what are the resources available. If you bypass a player at a certain level, what's the opportunity you could get an equivalent player at a different point. Do you have to move to secure the services of that player, and at what cost. So there is cost-benefit analysis that goes on continually.
The one thing we tried to do, and hopefully it's a good enough job in some respects, but just be open minded and flexible and willing to adjust and adapt to the circumstances. A lot of that is based on your preparation and the information that you have.
It's understanding the board top to bottom. It's knowing the players not only at the top, but at the bottom as well. There are probably some players we brought in for visits that we wouldn't draft, but that doesn't mean we wouldn't be interested in them.
So we're just trying to gather as much information along the way as possible. The draft ends ups being really about positioning and where do you think you have to move. You're not necessarily making it based on what other teams are doing.
But, again, you might not be looking at the same players other teams are looking at. Maybe there is a certain position. There is a little bit of strategy, some positioning involving, flexibility, adaptability, open minded. That's been our thought process and mindset since the we've been here and probably continue that moving forward.
Q. (Indiscernible.) What do you feel like you guys have given him in terms of versatility, all the things he can do. (Indiscernible.)
NICK CASERIO: You weren't there for that, were you?
Q. I was. I watched you. I thought you threw up.
NICK CASERIO: It's funny you bring that up. No, actually, I was there for that workout. Actually had an opportunity to meet with him after the workout as well as part of our process. I would say that information is probably more relevant than what information might be kind of floated around outside the building.
But as it pertains to him, look, he's an experienced player, been productive, instinctive, has good hands. Our system is maybe a little bit different than the system he was in in Buffalo. He was as productive as any player in the league.
So might be some things that we're doing that maybe are similar to maybe what he was doing in Minnesota. You know, good football player. We think he can help us which is why he's here.
Q. You said at times that draft can be a crapshoot. When you grab CJ Stroud you have high hopes, but don't know until he plays. You look at some like (indiscernible) two-year windows. How did his play and knowing you found a quarterback impact the moves you did this off-season and plans moving forward?
NICK CASERIO: Yeah, there is a lot there. Look, the draft it's not an exact science. When you add a player to your team, you add the player because you think at some point he's going to be able to impact you in a positive way.
Sometimes that's the way it goes, for a myriad of reasons, and sometimes doesn't work itself out. I would say we're not making decisions based off of one individual performance. We're making decisions based off what we feel is in the best interest of the organization.
I think and I know there has been some discussion about that comment, about window and some of the other things. I think really the right way to look at it is resource allocation, just from a financial standpoint.
So I would say from a salary cap standpoint you kind of have X number of dollars you're going to use in one year or whatever you don't use that year you roll into the next year. Once we get to '25 we'll look at '26. So it's just about distribution of resources. Ultimately you're not making decisions based on one individual thing.
There is a lot of different ways to put the team together, so we just have to put the team together in a way that we feel makes the most sense for us.
I think what you're looking for with younger players is improvement from one year to the next. That's the biggest challenge for younger players, especially players in their first year going into their second year.
It's about improvement and can you make some adjustments relative to your performance last year. What happened last year is great. Doesn't have any bearing on what goes on this year. Only going to be judged on how well you perform this year.
So, again, team building process, it's probably one of the most enjoyable aspects of my job. It's never one size fits all, so you have to be sort of open minded and kind of bob and weave a little bit, be willing to make decisions in real time and be willing to make adjustments in real time as well.
It goes back to preparation and information and understanding players and the league as best you can. Just trying to figure out how it's all going to fit together.
Q. How does the draft staff work with the coach and the assistants and the position coaches?
NICK CASERIO: Yeah, great question. It's very collaborative. We have a lot of discussions. From, call it August to December there is no heavy lifting for the coaches obviously. You have things that are more important.
So kind of set the table, and then when you transition into the off-season, really post All-Star game, combine is really the first opportunity where coaches have an opportunity it dive in. Try to give them a starting point. Try not to give them everybody.
We pared it down and we kind of put the players in a position from a grade standpoint where we think they're going to fall. Doesn't mean that's final. Just means based on the information we have, here is kind of how we see the player and project the player.
So our coaches all receive kind of a list of players for them to evaluate, both on the film and if they have an opportunity to visit with them at the combine in the informal interview process. The coordinators are part of that process, so come back from the combine and go through their evaluation, once they get through their evaluations, we meet as a staff.
The coaching staff kind of scouting staff to get their feedback and input about how they see the player. Does that match up with what we see on the scouting side. Is there a gap. If there is a gap maybe we go back and do a deeper dive and figure out where that discrepancy lies.
We're not trying to get to a point where we agree on everything, but get to a point where we see players similarly and envision the roles similarly. We're never going to force a player on a coach because it's unfair to really anybody involved. We're not going to make decisions in a vacuum. We're going to take all the information in and aggregate as much information as possible, and ultimately DeMeco and I will sit down and go through it and then figure out like what decision makes the most season.
Maybe it's, okay, if we have a group of four players, we're comfortable with one of the four, so then ultimately we're going to have to make a decision there. A lot of dialog and discussion back and forth; it's ongoing. We've actually had a couple follow up meetings once we got through the first wave.
Hey, take a look at this group, six or eight players. Hey, can you do an informal Zoom call with them? We're trying to get more information. Come back, how did it go. We had a question about this? What did you think?
So we are aggregating a lot of information and there is a lot of dialog. DeMeco is probably sick of me walking in his office every day, but we talk about players and the team on a day-to-day basis.
So it's all about communication. You can't over-communicate in situations like this. You're making big decisions on behalf of the organization. So I guess I'm just trying to steer it in the right direction and be a steward and be supportive and receptive of everybody's opinion.
You have to draw the line somewhere. Hopefully we are identifying the right people of the organization and see the vision and the role.
They're information and input is certainly valuable without question.
Q. After you guys traded for Stefon Diggs you guy voided the last three years of his contract. What went into that decision? Is there like any type of concern knowing this could be a one year...
NICK CASERIO: Every situation is different. I think we evaluate it case by case? You have discussions with the representation and the player. Ultimately you make a decision you feel was in the best interest of the team and the organization, everybody involved. That's why we ended up where we are.
Q. You traded for Joe Mixon as well this off-season. What went into the decision to give up that round pick, and also why was it important to extend him as soon as touched down?
NICK CASERIO: Yeah, the Joe situation is kind of interesting. I think I mentioned this when I was on with Sean and Seth a month or so back.
So any time a player gets released, he's available. So say the situation was similar to what we went through it Jason McCourty however many years back in New England. He was going to be released and was going to be in the waiver wire. Intercepted that release. Bill and I talked about, hey, this is a player we're interested in. All right, willing to give up the compensation associated with it.
We were able to gain Jason's services and Jason ended up being a huge contributor on a Super Bowl winning team. Different but similar in some respects with Joe. Joe was set to be released. Was a player that we evaluated and we thought could help our team in some capacity.
So the earlier question, get on the phone, talk to the team. Hey, we'd be interested. Would you guys be willing to give up a pick, or if we gave up a pick would you be interested. That's how the trade was consummated.
The commitment we made it Joe, Joe has been a consistent player, consistent player, and we think he can help our team. We're glad he's here hopefully for a few more years. That's how that all came together.
Q. I got to talk with him and Cal, they kind of admitted that when he first got here there was a lot of work to do, a lot more to bite off than he maybe knew from the outside. Just wondering how your role or mission statement has changed over the years?
NICK CASERIO: Haven't really thought about that. I think any time you take on a new job or challenge it's going to be difficult. Nothing is ever easy.
So I think you're just trying to be opportunistic and take advantage of the situation. Really just keep the focus short-term, kind of take it one day at a time.
I think philosophically we have always believed and I've always believed on trying to make good, sound decisions on behalf the organization. Our job is to put the organization in it the best position as possible and try to put together as good a team as possible.
I would say you're relying on a lot of people around you. Running a football team is a team endeavor. It's not about one person. I've always viewed my job as kind of a steward and supportive role and just try to navigate through the waters however choppy they are.
So the league is hard. You have to embrace that. It's also one of the enjoyable aspects of the job. Nothing is easy. Nothing you earn in life is ever easy. You have to be willing to embrace challenges and kind of see the silver lining and not worry about the things you can't control or are out of your control.
But try to take as positive an approach as possible, be pragmatic, be realistic about the opportunity and the situation, and then just try to make good decisions. If you're doing it with the right people and really what -- and I've said this from the beginning, you're just trying to put a team and organization in position where you have some degree of consistency and stability and you have a chance on a year to year basis to do something pretty cool.
Doesn't necessarily mean it's automatically going to translate to X number of wins and losses. The best teams are going to lose five or six games, going to face challenges every year. The challenge this year may be a little bit different than the challenges when we first took over.
That's okay. That's a fun part of the job. I would say I'm just grateful and thankful for the opportunity that I've been provided here over the last three years going into year four. I'm going to do the best job I can for the organization and help it as much as possible as long as they'll have me and make a positive impact on the organization and the team and community as much as possible.
So understanding that we're relying on a lot of people around us. I'm relying on a lot of people around me. You have a lot of trust. This business is about relationships, about people. So if we do it with the right people and the right mindset, hopefully put your in a position to be competitive year to year basis, and that's ultimately the goal.
Q. When you put together a draft evaluation of a prospect, how much goes into how can the guy help day one versus how can the guy help in November, December or in the years to come?
NICK CASERIO: It's a good question. It's kind of a moving target. Sometimes it's circumstantial. Sometimes it's contingent upon maybe some other players that are in the building already. Everybody gets the same opportunity and you don't want to pigeon hole a player and say he's not going to be ready until November. Maybe he expedites that because of his performance and shows the confidence and gets the confidence and faith of his teammates and the coaches around him.
So when people walk in the building, everybody kind of has the same opportunity. I would say just generally speaking, a lot of these players are behind just relative to their development, where they are physically. I would say for whatever reason this year, seems like more players are further behind.
Again, some of them have been advised after the combine basically don't do anything physically in lieu of they don't want them to get hurt.
Well, okay, you lose, call it four to six months of training, which means you come in the building in May you're behind physically. So maybe we think the player is going to be ready physically, but part our assessment is see where they are and get some baseline testing.
We're not going to put the player in a position and kind of force feed it. A player is ready when he's ready. I would say just going back to last year's group, I mean, other than I would say a player like Brandon Hill might be in a situation like you alluded to where other than Brandon, everybody else made a contribution to the team last year. Brandon really didn't because he got off to a slow start, was injured in rookie and OTAs and didn't have a training camp.
I would say the work that Brandon has put in to this point put himself in a position to have an opportunity. Excited about maybe his chances and what he can provide.
So it's case by case. Again, it's all about how do they perform. How much progress do they make. How much information can they absorb in a short period of time. We're not going to put a timetable on anybody. When they're ready they're ready. Sometimes it takes a year. Sometimes it takes two years.
After kind of that first iteration, draft, off-season program, training camp, in-season, off-season, you should have a decent idea of the player's ability and opportunity in front of him. Understanding there could be some things that derail that.
You're kind of weighing everything. Some players in this year's draft who physically might not be ready to contribute maybe early on in the season, so maybe you're drafting them for next year.
Okay, that's a decision you have to make and say, are we comfortable with that? Do we want to try to gain the player's services, understanding maybe he's in the ready.
Those are all discussions we're going to have. I think it's a pretty astute observation. Ever case is gonna be different and you have to treat each individual player kind of differently and not really force feed anything. Hopefully that answers the question.
Q. When you have your top 30 visits, what are some things you're looking for during that process? How crucial is that to whether maybe you select a player?
NICK CASERIO: It's interesting. I think like the top 30 notion is a little bit of a misnomer. It's really not the top 30 players. It's really 30 players that you have an opportunity to bring in your building to gain more information on.
So we have various checkpoints on players. The visit may be another check point. Maybe we're trying to find out something specifically.
So, again, we probably run the gamut of players, where they potentially could get drafted, what their role is, maybe we're just trying to verify a separate piece of information. Maybe when we walk out of the building we say, okay, case closed. Honestly, we're moving on from the player. That's okay, too.
So it's just whatever we need to do to get to a point where our questions are answered and we can make the right decision, we have the right information.
But I think that whole top 30 notion gets used loosely. We don't few you have view it as top 30. We view it as 30 opportunities. It's actually more than 30 because some players qualify as local visits who play in the 90 minute radius in certain colleges. So we probably get more than 30. We are not breaking any rules so the NFL is not going to come after us.
You're just trying to gain as much information as you can so you can make a good decision. If there is a loophole you need to close, this provides you an opportunity to do so.
Q. You mentioned earlier about protecting the team. You guys did a really good job keeping all that information tight and in-house.
NICK CASERIO: Is there another way we're supposed to do it?
Q. I'm asking how much do you think that helped and how have you guys been able to keep everything in-house? Those were two really big moves.
NICK CASERIO: Yeah, just communication, people understanding that the most important thing is to protect the organization and the team. Our job isn't to -- despite what everybody thinks, our job isn't to really publicize what we're doing. We just try to do what we think makes the most sense for our team.
Not everybody has all the information. The people that need the information have the information. Again, we're trying to do what's in the best interest of the Houston Texans first and foremost and not really worry about what we're doing and how that affects other teams.
There is probably some other teams that do a better job than we do and we can do a better job on our end certainly, and hopefully just look for our ways to continue to improve some of our processes.
Again, we're not trying to be different. I know that's what everybody thinks. We're just trying to do what we think makes the most sense for the organization and protect the organization and the team. Ultimately, that's what our responsibility is.
Q. (Indiscernible). When you look back, how do you feel about him, his rehab process? What were the conversations like?
NICK CASERIO: Yeah, working hard, made progress. Has an opportunity in front of him, so ultimately it's going to come down to the player and how well they prompt. KD is a good kid. Had a full off-season, which he hasn't had.
See how it goes here. Certainly has an opportunity in front of him. Nobody is guaranteed anything. Ultimately it's going to come down how you perform, you know, when you're on the field.
Q. Another big event coming up for the organization. Got a chance to see the uniforms, what did you think about them?
NICK CASERIO: Gave I seen the uniforms yet? I've sort of seen them. I would say I'm probably not the person to talk to about relative to fashion.
You guys have seen how I dress. So, no, I think it's great for the fans. So, again, a lot of other people that have talked about the uniforms. I'll let them handle it.
I'm more worried about how well they play than how they look on the field. I'm sure you guys can have some fun with that next week.
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports