Houston Texans 30, Jacksonville Jaguars 16
Q. David, could you give us your general impressions of the game? And, also, it was a one-score game until the end of the first half when you all scored with 21 seconds left. Talk about the overall game and that particular series at the end of the first half, please.
DAVID CULLEY: I thought offensively and defensively to that point that we were doing the things that we wanted to do. We were taking care of the ball on offense. We had some consistency. We made some throws. We had some runs that kept the pressure off of us when we did want to throw the ball.
I thought defensively they did a nice job of keeping them out of the end zone there. They had the one drive there. But I thought the consistency is probably as good a consistent first half as we've had, especially I thought it was very important that our offense get off to a good start. I know this team, Jacksonvill, has been going through some stuff. And obviously I know they'd be kind of really, really up with all of the changes and whatnot. And I thought it important we get off to a fast start. And I thought we did that.
Q. What about the end of the first half, those 21 seconds?
DAVID CULLEY: Well, that was a nice job of being able to, you know, navigate that and, you know, use our time outs and put us in position to get that. I thought, John, that was a big momentum change for us to be able to get that field goal.
Q. The impact of the special teams what they did with the kicking game and Tremon's return. What did you see from what Frank Ross's guys did? And from your vantage point, what did you see on Tremon's return?
DAVID CULLEY: We had been talking about all year long about scoring, not just on offense which we hadn't done a bunch of, but scoring on defense and also scoring on special teams at some point during this year. And it was just nice to see.
And Tremon -- he is so explosive back there. And he's been close before. And our special teams this week did a nice job of preparation from the standpoint of understanding that if we took care of our business and we block well and gave our returners, punt returner and kick off returner, an opportunity to get through the hole there that there's a chance to score. And they did a really nice job of that.
Q. David, you had five starters out today on defense. What did you see from the replacements that were in there and how they played throughout this game?
DAVID CULLEY: Brooks, it's always in this league the next man up. I thought those guys all went in and did a good job. They did what we asked them to do. I don't know exactly how they played. Obviously, they played well enough. I'm sure there are some things we'd like to correct. But they went in and did a really nice job of filling in and doing what we needed to do to get the win today.
Q. If you were giving out game balls, would you have enough game balls to go around?
DAVID CULLEY: No. This whole team would get a game ball today. This whole organization would get a game ball today.
Q. This was another game where Davis got off to a hot start, but I think he was only 6/15 in the second half. What was the difference for him today, first, second half?
DAVID CULLEY: Well, in the second half, he had a throw there that we needed to get back that put us in a tough situation there. But I tell you what he did do. He made the throws in the second half when we needed to make the throws.
He got us in the end zone, which is what his job is, in the second half. We had a couple of series right there where we stalled a little bit. But I thought in the end, he did what we needed to do for us to win the football and get a touchdown. And I was happy to see him do that.
Q. John asked earlier about the end of the first half. You guys did a masterful job there. I'd like to know the thoughts, just how you've grown making decisions like that in certain situations? And also how satisfying was it to overcome everything that had gone on this week with not only you and then the extra emotion from your opponent to get this win on the road?
DAVID CULLEY: Well, Matt, the big thing was the focus. I thought our football team focused really, really good, extra focused on what we were doing, not what was happening in Jacksonville because we know how that's a distraction. They kept hearing it all the time. But every time we got in the building, it was just about us.
And again, you know, as far as decision making. I mean, I'm growing as it goes. And I've got a lot of help upstairs with Nick and Romeo. And when those decisions come up, we go over a whole bunch of those things with the game management meetings on every Saturday morning. And, you know, I just feel more comfortable doing those kinds of things. And we're growing as we go.
Q. David, what do you think about the job your defense did for the second time this season against Trevor Lawrence?
DAVID CULLEY: Well, the thing that we wanted to make sure we did, John, was we didn't want him to get comfortable because when he gets comfortable back there and he's got time to look and see what to do, he can make all the throws.
And the big thing was going into this game -- and it happened the first game. Obviously, it was his first game as an NFL starter, you know. And this game we knew that when he had been comfortable a couple of wins that they'd had, he had made the throws, gotten them in the end zone, gotten a couple of wins for them. And the big thing was not let him get comfortable. And I thought our defense did a nice job of showing him some things and changing the look and not letting him get comfortable.
Q. I wanted to ask you one more thing about Mills. Earlier on they blitzed. And it looked like not only did he get the ball out quicker on the blitz for completions, he hit the 33 yarder. Talk about his improvement against the blitz please.
DAVID CULLEY: Well, we've been had by the blitz a few times this year. And we've spent a lot of time, Tim and our offensive staff has spent a lot of time on knowing that people are going to do that, especially with a rookie quarterback.
And he did a really nice job today of we knew when it was coming. We knew they were going to do it to him. We knew they were going to get pressure. Especially in the second half, we knew they was going to put pressure on him. And he did a nice job of getting his hots, getting the ball to the guys that were hot on plays and did a really, really good job of doing that. When you hit those things when playing zero coverage, the only way you stop them from doing it is to get a completion. And he did a nice job of doing that.
Q. Just to follow up, if you don't mind a little more on Mills, follow up on what John asked, how he read the blitz today. But in general with the reps he's now getting out there, what other areas are standing out to you that you're seeing progress out of him?
DAVID CULLEY: Other than the one bad throw today, his decision making. He's making quick decisions. He's not back there holding the ball. And when he is holding the ball, he's stepping up in the pocket and finding his check downs.
That's something he wasn't doing as well earlier when he was playing. And we made a conscious effort to make sure we get that ball out of his hands. And if he feels -- there's a clock when that guy's back there on the drop back game. And when that clock goes off, that ball has got to get out of your hand. His clock is starting to tick a lot better now than it was earlier in the year.
Q. (No microphone) -- some yards to be able to put the game away.
DAVID CULLEY: You know, just ball control. I mean, being able to keep the clock running and being able to do that. And I think too we need to set an example with our up front people of being tough and physical. And the only way to do that -- it's not about so much how many yards you get. It's the fact you're going to do it.
And, obviously, when you do that, you know, our offensive line feels good about doing that. And when we're doing it and we're getting those yards, it just makes everything go for us, Aaron.
Q. Follow up. When you have guys that are making plays like Garret Wallow, Jonathan Owens. What did you see from a couple of those guys in terms of filling in, particularly Garret?
DAVID CULLEY: Well, the thing that I saw they did today, they did their job. They did what their coaches asked them to do. There wasn't a bunch of mistakes. Guys were right where they needed to be. They kept the ball in front of them.
And, basically, when you do that and you use your eyes and play the game the right way, good things happen. And I thought those guys are learning. The more time they're getting on the field, they're getting better and better at that. And it's helping us defensively be able to do that.
Q. Brandin Cooks went through a period this season in the middle of the season where he was less productive than you guys are used to in part because of the way the offense was struggling. What did you see from him and his growth during that time that leads to a game like he had today?
DAVID CULLEY: Sara, it goes back -- you kind of answered the question a little bit earlier when you talked about our offense not being consistent. And the fact that there's been games where he's had pretty good games and he's been involved and then there's games where he hasn't been.
And I think that's a product of our consistency on offense, not so much for him. He's been the same guy from the start to the finish. And, you know, obviously, when he was making a lot of plays for us, people started trying to take him out of the game and other guys had to come up and make plays.
Today, we happened to put him in a situation in that last play we called on that touchdown. There was nobody that was going to touch the ball but him because of the confidence we have in him.
Q. Tytus Howard has been a guy that's been willing to move around as you guys need on the offensive line. How willing was he in this situation? What was that conversation like for this game? And how did you think he played there and the offensive line as a whole?
DAVID CULLEY: It looks like, Brooks, that he played pretty well. As far as him moving around, I mean, that guy will do whatever you want done. And as I mentioned earlier, he's gifted enough as an offensive lineman, skilled enough to play a multi positions. And he's been nothing but just consistency for us and asking him to do what we want done. He has been team-team-team for us.
Q. David, how big a weapon has Ka'imi become?
DAVID CULLEY: I tell you what, people ask me sometimes about some of the kicks that we hadn't made and misses. Let me tell you something. He's our kicker. He's going to be our kicker. We have the utmost confidence in him. And, basically, you know, we going to kick him until his leg can't kick anymore. Thank you.
DraftScripts by ASAP Sports
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports