Texans 19, Bears 13
DeMECO RYANS: Exciting one, huh?
Q. You turned up the pressure on Caleb Williams. What was the basis behind that? How did you see that affect the game?
DeMECO RYANS: It starts up front with our defensive line. Will, Danielle, Mario, all the guys. The way they were rushing together, the way we were covering in the back end, that really set things apart for us.
Credit to Sting and Kamari for the way they cover, allowing those guys to get the pressure. You don't get pressure unless the coverage is tight. Those guys covered well and allowed the rush to get there.
Q. What were they doing do shut down your run?
DeMECO RYANS: Yeah, they did a really nice job. Their defense, I mean, Matt has had a great defense in this league for a long time. For us, they were moving a lot. A lot of stunts up front, a lot of movement, causing a little chaos up front for us. They had a lot of penetration. We weren't able to have the lanes we had the previous weeks.
Something we have to clean up on the offensive side and make sure we just continue to get a head on the hat no matter what they show us.
Q. Is that what you were doing to shut down their run?
DeMECO RYANS: Our guys did a great job of setting the edge. They tried to run the ball outside a lot. Our guys set the edge. They just swarmed inside-out to the ball. We had a little movement up front. The way our guys tackled was really nice.
Q. What did you see, what are your thoughts on the play with Joe?
DeMECO RYANS: Joe got rolled up. The guy's weight definitely came down on his ankle. Didn't look good from my view. We'll evaluate Joe throughout the week. Hopefully he's okay. Have to see the film, see was it really a hip drop tackle. Have to see the film to see if it was really that.
Q. (Question about penalties.)
DeMECO RYANS: That's definitely the attention grabber. I mean, we cannot play that way. 12 penalties, undisciplined football. That's not what we're about. We have to clean that up all across the board. Offense, defense, special teams, every phase had penalties. We allowed them to stay in the game because we helped them, right? We have to pick that up.
Q. How much can a game like this help you all moving forward, getting a gritty, tough win?
DeMECO RYANS: It's just about winning, right, one week at a time. They're not always going to be pretty, but you just have to find a way to win. That's what I'm most proud about with our guys.
No matter what happened there at the end, we found a way to win. With all the penalties, all of the negative plays, we were able to gut out a win. That's what this league is about.
Q. (Question regarding Pitre and To'oTo'o.)
DeMECO RYANS: Guys were flying around sideline to sideline. Pitre definitely jumped off. He's playing physical, right? He was active. He was around the ball a lot. A couple big hits there. That's what we're about, physical defense. Pitre put it on tape. If you're going to play us, it's going to be a physical brand of football. Excited where Pitre is.
Q. What has having a kicker like Ka'ime done for your team so far this season?
DeMECO RYANS: Nobody talks about it enough. 'Imi is the reason why we won these two games. That's been the player of the game. For him to hit, I don't know how many, six 50-yard field goals, I don't think that's been done before. It's very special for 'Imi. He's been consistent. He's on it. He's the reason, like, why we're standing here. We talk a lot about offense, defense. The kicking game is the reason why we won this game today.
Q. How do you explain it, because he never kicked this far this consistently in his eight years here?
DeMECO RYANS: It's the right time now (smiling). He's kicking it at the right time now.
'Imi, he puts a lot of work in. Just to see his confidence, he knows we're behind him. Everything he's showing, he's proving to his teammates. He's been consistent, he's confident. Our operation has been flawless.
Q. C.J., having a whole off-season, a couple games in, what have you noticed growth-wise, biggest difference compared to last year?
DeMECO RYANS: C.J. has been the same. The command, the play-making ability, all the same. Proud of him. Young player. Second year. He's continued to put the team on his back when we need him most, making some outstanding plays for us.
Q. Nico had another great game. Diggs... What can you do to get Tank going so you have all three clicking?
DeMECO RYANS: I don't think it's a matter of getting guys going. Like I said before, whoever is open and they're making plays, they'll get the ball, right? It's not a lack of trying to get those guys the ball. Nico has just shown up these first two weeks and made some big-time plays for us.
The other guys are playing really well, as well. I mean, Tank and Diggs are playing well, too.
Q. Without reviewing the tape, with the naked eye, what did you see from the O-line?
DeMECO RYANS: I think when you look at it, again, I said they had a lot of movement up front. They caused a lot of chaos for us up front. We'll run it better. We'll be fine.
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports