It's been a minute since you've gotten to start and play a game like that, what does it mean to you to step up today?
It has been a minute. It meant so much to me. I've said this a lot of times, and I haven't really thought about what I was going to say up here but wearing the name of Houston on the front of my jersey which I have done for a long time and to get to do it again and represent for our city, for our team, it means a lot. It really does. Second of all, this team, I love these guys. I love seven (C.J. Stroud) back at home. Love that guy. I love 10 (Davis Mills). Davis is one of the best human beings I know. A great dude. I said early on Saturday that this was a game for both of those cats, as well as the rest of the team because we got a lot of love in that locker room as you guys can see and probably it radiates. So, it's very special and what a gritty way to get it done.
What did you see on the 41-yard pass to Devin Singletary?
It was a little scramble drill. We were working kind of left to right there and just was able to escape up in the pocket and Devin (Singletary) was my check-down on the play basically, and he was able to break out of that and make a really good move with nobody on that side of the field. And I got him a ball where he can run, and he did a great job getting us in field goal range.
What do you think it says about the depth of this team that you guys were down so many players with backups having to step up into bigger and roles, as well as being down 13 to zero on top of all of that, and still pulling this out?
Well, I think it says a lot. I think from top-to-bottom, room-to-room, we've got some really talented guys. I think Nick's (Caserio) done a great job, DeMeco (Ryans) of putting this team together. We all have trust, and it doesn't matter who's out there, we trust that we're going to get the job done. And we did. We put ourselves in a hole early. You know, a big mistake by me. I pride myself in taking care of the football, and that was a really bad decision on a on a key play that didn't need to do that. There was—it was an easy read front side and got ahead of my feet a little bit. But man, our defense played incredible today. They did such a good job of keeping those guys, with DeAndre (Hopkins) and the big running back, man, those are tough guys to stop. They did a great job today keeping us in the game and then Ka'imi (Fairbairn) finishing it out. Awesome team win, an incredible team win. Hard to hard to win in this league. Hard to win in December when games matter in this league. And that one mattered a lot.
For you guys to be able to pull out this win, what does that say about this team and your ability to, no matter what's thrown at them, find ways to make things happen?
Yeah, I think it's a lot on the lines of the same thing I just said. I mean, overcoming adversity, I think that everybody on this team looks at adversity as opportunity, ready to overcome, ready to go on to the next play. And you need that in this type of league. If you're going to go and be a playoff contender, get to the dance, succeed in the dance, you got to be gritty. You have to be willing to stand up when you get punched in the face and get knocked down, get back up and go do it. And there was no blinking on that sideline. Nobody blinked. When I threw that pick came off, had everybody slap me on the back and say, 'That's alright. We'll go do it.' And we did. It was great. I'm just so happy for the McNairs, to hug them on the way out, Coach DeMeco (Ryans), this whole team, this whole squad, like I said, for the city, it's pretty special.
What allows you to be ready for these types of moments?
I'm built for this. I've been in a lot of situations. I've been in a lot of systems, been in a lot of different games. And God's made me who I am for this, for moments like this. And just trying to make sure that I'm ready when my number's called. I said it before, you don't have to get ready if you stay ready.
Obviously, the team win is the most important but are you able to appreciate the moment of not having started since week 17 of 2021, to now being able to come out and just perform like this today?
Yeah, I'm excited. I mean, there's always a lot of nerves and different feelings when you haven't strapped it up in a while and had some real live shots at it. So, to be able to get to get out there and succeed and really show my team what I can do, felt pretty good.
How important was Devin Singletary today?
Motors. Motors' my guy. I think I've said that maybe a hundred times. Probably a bunch to y'all. But man, he made some incredible moves. There's some moves, I don't know if anybody else has a view of what I do, while I probably should be carrying on my fake, but I tend to peek back and watch. He had little subtleties of movements that he sets up blocks and can make guys move around their blockers and then squirt through these little holes. Man, it's impressive to watch. He is an impressive guy and an awesome human being. Great family. His kid, Myles, he's a little Motor, mini-Motor. He might be a better running back than Motor will be one day. He's already running around the house. But I love Motor man. He's so crucial to this team and he's coming alive at an incredible time of the year. So, I'm excited by that.
