TITANS HEAD COACH MIKE MUNCHAK
(on how good to finish the season with win)
I am just proud of the group, I mean it's tough when you go through…you know every team has expectations to be playing past the regular season. Obviously, for a few weeks we knew we are not going to be in that group. I think these guys, we talked about staying focused, staying on task. It was important for us to win, play well, get better. We have shown that with the Cardinal game here, the game last week at Jacksonville and finish up with two divisional wins, that's what we need to do, win a game at home which we hadn't been doing. We have had quite a few here at home, close games. So I am just proud of how well they have handled themselves, how hard we have worked, how important it was to finish with the wins we did, and play hard. And this group has great character, been saying that all year. I think we do things a lot better than we did a year ago, so it's a great way to finish at home being able run the ball. C.J. (Chris Johnson) having the big day running the football, proud of him. We kicked the ball well, we just did a lot of things well today. (We) beat a team that you know we needed to beat.
(on how he will present his case to CEO Tommy Smith and what will be involved)
You know, obviously you want to get the season over with first which is today and finish with the wins, and not have the distractions for me. All I can do is find ways to get this team, keep them ready to play, keep them into it which they were, which was easy to do with the guys we have on this football team. But for now, that stage (is) starting tonight. Once I get a timetable exactly on how they want to precede then I will have an opportunity to sit down and talk about this football team and how I see going forward. A lot of things I have already talked about publicly and how I feel about what we are doing and we are 7-9 and we wanted it to be much better. Obviously, we want to be better, every team does, but we have to be realistic about what we did or didn't do and how we can get better from here.
(on if he had any indication on when he will meet with Tommy Smith on moving forward)
No. I saw Tommy today and I talked to him more that way about this game more than what we needed to do now, finishing strong, finishing with wins which was important to us, winning a game at home like we did. So, it is going to be this week, I just don't know when.
(on if he has a timetable for the future)
It hasn't been either or. It's not like anything has been said to me where I am concerned for anything. It's just more or less we need to get together and just talk in general about the whole big picture with this football team and how we are going to get this thing done. So, now I feel good about this thing going in. Obviously, I feel very confident in what I will have to say, what I feel for this football team and we'll see how it goes.
(on if he has received any assurances)
We just got to win football games. You know, we did win the last two and that's all we can do at this point once we didn't win enough earlier and lost a lot of close games earlier and lost even games by one score. So we'll see. I feel real good about this team, how we have grown as a team throughout the year. I see it first-hand every day. I see the tape. I see what we are doing. I think I have a great feel for what we need as we continue to get better. Again, I will say it again, I don't think we are that far off I mean I think you saw that in the way we played this year. I don't think you saw a team that last year we had a hard time hanging in games. This year, we were right there. We just got to find, get a few closures. We just need to find a few more guys to help us close out games and we'll be in great shape.
(on if he would have done anything different as a head coach this season)
I will have to take a look at that. That's something as far as what I can do, there's a lot of things. You have to look at so many different levels at that question. Is it scheduling, is it how you practiced. You have to go back and see what you do in the offseason. You can keep an eye on yourself during the season looking at a situation during the games. Did I handle the timeouts right, did I get the challenges right. What could I have done differently? You watch other games you try to learn from that too. If that happened, what would I have done? I think you go through games like that and like today's game, did I handle the stuff before halftime well to get the three points, the things I can control as a head coach, game time. There's a lot of things for a head coach to look at to see how you can get better. The more you do something, the better you get at it there's no doubt about it. I feel much more comfortable that I did in my first or second year, the same way I did as a player, the same way I did as a line coach. I have a good feel of what is expected of a head coach. I feel I am getting better at it in a lot of areas. I have areas to improve upon, but I am excited about going forward and being the head coach. We'll just have to see how it works out.
* (on if Justin Hunter's injury limited the offense with only three active receivers remaining)*
Last week we had five up. We didn't need them, and because of the weather, we were concerned. This week, we went with four because we thought we'd be OK with four, and then all of a sudden, one gets hurt. The good thing is it turned into a game where we want to run the football. We didn't feel they'd score a lot of points on us. It was more of us being smart. We wanted to win the game. We weren't going to take a lot of risks there in the second half anyway. We were going to take advantage of what was given to us and get the three points, get up by nine, manage the clock the right way. In too many games, we've lost in the fourth quarter. We were going to be smart about it. We weren't going to air it out too much anyway. Luckily, with the guys being nicked up a little bit, we were able to get the ball to CJ (Chris Johnson), and he ran hard. We told him after the game, I think he's one of six backs in NFL history to have 1,000 yards in their first six seasons. That's a great accomplishment for him, again, in a tough year. We thought it'd be more W's than it was, but we made the best of it, the finish. That's something to hang your hat on, I guess.
(on if Chris Johnson's success in recent games is related to improved blocking)
Again, it's going to be a combination of opportunities and both. He got more opportunities in these games. The games fell the right way, the score was in line, so we didn't have to get away from the run game, like we did with Arizona a little bit when we fell behind. This defense ranks seventh, top-10 defense in this league. The record to me doesn't matter. People go, 'Oh, they won two games.' You know what, their defense is the seventh best in football. We played a lot of good defenses this year. They were seventh, and Seattle, Kansas City, and Pittsburgh, the Jets. Especially early in the season, we played every top-10 defense, probably. It was good to see him run against a good defense. It was a battle, that's a good, physical group up front. They won some, we won some. He ran hard. It was fun to watch that the last two weeks. Again, that's what we hoped you would have seen more of throughout the season. It was hard. It was hard for a lot of reasons with some injuries up front, at the running back spot and playing against the type of teams we've had to play against. Sometimes you're going to have weeks where you can't run it as good as you want. Then you have weeks like the last two where you did it exactly how you hoped you would. That was a good challenge today, and I thought we answered well with that phase of the game.
(on his reaction to Houston not calling a timeout right before halftime)
I think I would have. It would have forced me to say, do you really want me to kick it from there? I thought he (Texans interim head coach Wade Phillips) would see if I would be willing to give him the ball there at the 50-yard line with 20 seconds left or whatever it was. I was happy he didn't because I wanted to give Rob (Bironas) a chance to hit a 55-yarder. That was a key part. That's a big three points before half, and it's a little confidence going in. Like I said, the big play there was we had the penalty that really hurt us, but we find a way to get seven yards on third down, knowing that we were going to try the long field goal. There were a lot of good things that happened there that we were smart with, I felt. He makes a great kick, which was good to see. It would have been hard to give them the ball there. All they need is 15 (yards), for them to do the same thing to us, so I was happy.
(on if they would have punted if a timeout had been called)
No, we would have definitely kicked it, now that I saw him boot it like that. That would have been tough. He (Rob Bironas) felt good about it, but that's a tough one there. That's what I'm saying, I'm glad he (Wade Phillips) didn't call a timeout, so I didn't have to think about it.
(on if there are any glaring needs for the team next season)
I figured there will be plenty of time for us to discuss some things that need to be done. I guess the encouraging thing for me, I have to say, is there is a lot less to be done than there was last year when I stood here. We brought a lot of good people to this football team this past year that really helped us in a lot of ways. A lot of them are going to be able to stay here, and then we need to add to that, which we will be able to do. Again, I think it's things that we can do. We have to make good decisions. We're there. There are a lot of good things going on. Yes, there's disappointment. Yes, there's things that we're not happy with, and all those things. We have to have faith that we'll do the right thing here, the organization will. This is going to be a team that's building for success. I've been here before when we did it this way. It took us four years, and all of a sudden, we went to the Super Bowl after 8-8 and 7-9 and all of those things. We got the right people in the building to win it. The same thing we did after that a couple of times. I've seen it work as a player and a coach. We're bringing in the right kind of people in here. These guys, it means a lot to them. They're just good workers and good leadership. We'll see. I think it's going to be a group that's good for a while.
(on hoping for a mutually agreeable situation with Titans management)
I'll have a chance to talk to you about that after, I guess. I have to think positively. I have to think that I have a great view of what's going on. I don't want to speak for them. We'll just have to wait and see. I feel good about everything that we're doing going forward. I think I know what needs to be corrected, I know how I'd go forward. You hope they share the vision with you.
(on winning a challenge on the incomplete pass)
That was good to get that one. That one was a tough call. You never know how they're going to go with those. Did he catch it? Did he not? We've lost some on that. I've had some reviews come back and they told me I should have won the reviews. I never look at those as being, we're too afraid, so that means we've made six bad decisions. It's more, which ones do we challenge? Was it smart to challenge them? What did it cost us by challenging? You take a risk. A lot of those things, that category to me is more, take a look inside the numbers and seeing which ones were a good decision or bad. I thought this was an easy decision to make, because I definitely don't think he caught it. It was a second-and-10, and gives him a first-and-10. I had a timeout to give up. There were all of these reasons why it made sense. Even if it looked like he caught it, I would have challenged that. People might have said, 'Oh, he caught that. Why is he doing that?' It's a chance to get third-and-10. We get off the field, now we get the ball back and get three points. I was happy that we finally got a call to go our way. Some of those, they come back with the old 'not enough evidence to overturn.' I was happy to win that because that tied in with getting the field goal, the three points at halftime. That may have stopped one of their drives, they had a first-and-10 at our 40. That worked out good. I was glad that they saw that right.
(on if Jurrell Casey was close to playing)
He doesn't need anything done. He couldn't practice by Friday. That's what concerned us that he couldn't practice. We didn't want to force something that didn't need to be forced for any reason. He wasn't quite ready. Next week, he'd have no problem. This week, I don't think would have been worth the risk that he would have had to take. He doesn't need surgery.
TITANS QB RYAN FITZPATRICK
(on how nice it was to finish at home with a win and a two-game win streak)
It's nice. I think it just shows a lot about the character and the professionalism in our locker room. I think it shows a lot about what guys think about Coach Munchak and just everybody continuing to play throughout the whole season even when the playoffs and that picture went away. Yeah, I think today was a good day for us just to go out there and enjoy playing the game of football. The guys up front and the defense really stepped up today and did a good job.
(on the season overall)
It'd probably take more than a brief press conference here but I think the next few days we'll get a chance to kind of reflect. I mean, obviously there were more lows than highs but it's nice to go out with a two-game win streak. It's nice to go out winning at home. There's a lot of things I think we learned about our team this year and particular players. I think it's important to keep in mind the progress that a lot of guys made. You know, Kendall Wright, I thought, had an unbelievable year and really came a long way, not only from last year to this year but really in the middle of this season. I felt like he really developed into a go-to guy and a guy that wanted the ball. I think there's a lot of parts here. There's a lot of good things that are going on, especially, you know, from what my focus is, which is on the offense. There's been a lot of disappointment this year, but there's been some bright spots as well.
(on Chris Johnson's runs today)
It was great to see. I knew Chris was going to come to play today. CJ did a great job all day. You know, some tough runs, some tough yards. Almost broke a few of them for the big home run but ran hard all day. You could just tell he wanted it. He wanted to make sure that we were going to go out with a win and really try to carry the offense today and did a good job of it.
(on how disappointed he would be if Munchak isn't back next year)
Well, I mean, this is my first year coming into the situation and I just, speaking from what I've had in the past and what I've experienced this year, I had a great time. I feel like it's a good coaching staff. I feel like there's a lot of good things going on in our building and so I guess that's what I can speak to right now.
(on what happened on his interception)
One of those big guys hit me. I was throwing deep to Kendall (Wright). He was kind of left-middle, ran a little double move. As I was throwing, I wasn't able to get my arm all the way through. That's a very helpless feeling, knowing that there's basically a punt in the air that you threw and waiting to see them come down with it. That was an unfortunate play for us but I was throwing to Kendall on the left side there.
TITANS RB CHRIS JOHNSON
(on how it felt rushing for 100 yards)
It felt good out there. It was very important to get the win, and we just knew if we were able to get the ball and keep our offensive line pushing those guys back like we did last week…we knew we would be pretty successful.
(on what the team is missing)
I'm not sure. We just have been working hard and playing hard out there on Sundays.
(on whether the team was playing for Coach Munchak's job)
I feel like everybody was playing for everybody's job. Nobody knows who's going to be here or somewhere else next year. Nobody knows who's even going to be playing football next year. The situation is that everybody was out there, and we knew what we had to do.
(on whether he thought this would be his final game)
I gave a thought to that even just running out of the tunnel about possibly being my last game in a Tennessee uniform. You know you give it thought, but at the end of the day, you can't let that affect how you play in the game. Only I could control the game today. I just put all my focus on that.
(on the team's blocking this season)
It was different things. A lot of times a lot of people weren't on the same page. It was a lot of little things. I feel like the offensive line this year has been better than the offensive line in the past years. In this situation, you're playing with two rookies, and you're playing with a new guy from free agency. A lot of situations and a lot of mistakes can make the offensive line not look good, but we stuck with it all year and continued to play hard.
(on yards after contact)
I don't think that's the case. If you can get going and get comfortable and get a momentum going and can stick your foot in the ground and be moving forward, it's much easier breaking tackles that way.
(on being pushed in the pile for a big-yard gain)
You can just tell the effort we were giving out there. We know we're not going to the playoffs and you can just tell we were not giving up and we really wanted to win that game.
(on whether the ball was spotted short on that play)
I'm not sure.
(on whether it was nice to recover a fumble)
Yeah, it was nice to see that. That was all God.
TITANS LB AKEEM AYERS
(on the season-ending Titans' win)
It's always good to end on a win. Whenever you win, it's always good, period. Nobody wants to lose despite that we knew we weren't going to the playoffs. The guys here still played tough and we still wanted to win. That's a good sign and a good feeling.
(on the play of Titans' linebackers today getting two turnovers)
It was huge. Whenever you've got a defense, with the linebackers creating turnovers or being disruptive, more times than not, the defense as a whole will have a lot of turnovers, and you perform well on the defensive side of the ball. So as a linebacker corps, we knew that was something that we knew we needed to do. We haven't always been consistent at it. But that's something we always focus on as a linebacker group.
We had a lot of guys injured this year. Everybody, especially in the linebacker group is playing different roles. That's something we didn't have last year. Everybody stayed the course and everybody stayed in their normal positions. We had the chance to get really comfortable at playing that. That didn't happen this year. That had a little to do with it (lower number of turnovers by linebackers), but as a linebacking group, I think we did pretty good filling-in and playing different positions, as people got hurt.
TITANS TE DELANIE WALKER
(on playing for Coach Munchak next year)
I don't know why he would be out. I feel like he did a great job and prepared us for games like he is supposed to do. He's a good coach. He's a good coach you want to play for. He's not the kind of coach who talks behind your back. If he has something to say, he tells you and then if he has to say it to the media, he'll go say it to the media. I'm behind him 100 percent, and I think everybody else here is. I wish the best for him. I hope he is coming back. I haven't heard any news about him not coming back. I'm looking forward to coming back and having another good year with him.
(on the Titans coming back from an early deficit to win today)
We started off slow, but picked it up when we needed to and our defense did a good job of stopping them. They only allowed 10 points. That's a good game. When the defense gives up an early touchdown and then they just stop them after that with a couple of interceptions, and the offense puts points on the board. I mean, that's what you ask for. That's how you win games. If you turn the ball over, you are bound to lose. We did a great job on controlling the ball, and our defense did a great job of taking it away.
TITANS WR NATE WASHINGTON
(on the team coming together at the end of the season)
As far as team-wise, I think we are putting a lot of good things together in this organization. The record, of course, is not what we anticipated. I think this corps of guys here right now, is the direction that we need to go. A lot of ups and downs, team-wise, but I think that at the end of the day, we're definitely pressing in the right direction that we need to.
The effort has never been in question, the whole year. The effort from the guys in this locker room was mandatory. We understood that at the end of the day, we fought too hard together in the spring. There were too many fights in OTAs for us to come out here, and to have two games left and not fight. It was something we finish strong. So that's what we wanted to do. It was something we pride ourselves in, as men in this locker room. We wanted to hold every guy accountable for what we did, and I think we did that the last two games and did everything our coaches expected of us.
(on if he will play the 'what if' game looking back on this Titans' season)
I've been playing the 'what if' game, since the first game we lost. Honestly, me personally, you look back at those games that you lose and you always reflect on the plays that you miss out on. I don't think it will be new for me personally, speaking personally, but it's definitely a little tough, looking back at those games where those plays just didn't come together.
TITANS FS MICHAEL GRIFFIN
(on looking back at the Titans' season)
It is bad, we're not going to the playoffs, and it's been a five-year streak right now, with us not going to the playoffs. But right now, with a win and overcoming that five-game (home) losing streak, I think us just getting a win is what matters. A win in our division, that's something we can go back and work on in the offseason, especially being the fact, the last two games we were able to go out there on defense with the lead, and during their drive, get a turnover, and win the game right there. That's something we can work on and work off of, right there.
(on pulling out the last two games for Titans victories)
That's something in the past that we haven't done. We allowed teams to get back in to it. Whether it was going to overtime, or whether we lost the game. The last two weeks we just went out there and did our job. That's something we haven't done in the past, with somebody trying to do something that's not their job. Everybody just did their job. When everybody does their job, everything works all together.
TEXANS INTERIM HEAD COACH WADE PHILLIPS
(opening statement)
We finished up just like the rest of our season basically. We headed into half time. I thought we were going to be able to shut them down, but we turned the ball over a quite bit. That's the difference in the ball game. Both teams played hard. Both teams were playing for, quote, nothing, and I think both teams played hard in this ball game. They came out on top.
(on the level of disappointment after starting 2-0)
It's very disappointing, and I think it is something that no one could foresee certainly. We got in a whirlwind, and it never ended. We have got some good players. I thought our guys, attitude wise, will come back next year. Guys coming back next year, we have got some injured coming back, so that should help this team next year.
(on his interest in staying with the team if he is not retained as head coach)
I really couldn't answer that right now. I just can't answer that. Sorry.
(on what was said to the team after the game)
I talked to them about the difference being discouraged and also being unhappy about the season, disillusioned about the season, and that they can come back. If they are not discouraged, they can come back. I think they will do that.
(on the team never quitting)
I don't think we quit. We made too many turnovers. We had a chance to win. I really thought we had shut them out that first half. After the first half, I thought they would have a hard time scoring on us, which they would have if we would not have turned the ball over.
(on whether it was frustrating for the defense to return to a short field after turnovers)
Well, it's still a team game. We had two balls on the ground. We had a chance to get a short field for our offense. It didn't bounce our way. We didn't quite make the play. We had a couple of those in the game, and it could've been the difference in the ball game.
(on the performance of RB Jonathan Grimes)
Yeah, I mean, for a guy that come out off the street, I thought he ran real hard. Unfortunately, he fumbled the ball. We had a chance to go up early on them in the ball game and maybe put them in a real bind, but he played hard. I thought he would. They hit him hard, and I thought he kept coming after them.
(on QB Matt Schaub)
He just can't get disheartened either. Matt's (Schaub) going to play somewhere. If not here, I think he'll play somewhere. He's certainly a talented player. He and the center, the quarterback exchange fumble was…that's inexplicable.
(on whether there was a statistic more telling than turnover ratio)
Well, the most important stat is how many you score and how many you give up on a single game basis. That's pretty much it. It's obviously a big key. It's the second most important thing, being able to score more than the other team. Being able to hold them less is certainly the first.
(on whether this season was the most frustrating/difficult as a coach)
Sure. I had some personal things to go through myself. It was a tough year that way and then the way our season went. I still believe the guys played hard. I didn't ask them to win every game. I asked them to play hard, and I thought they did that. TEXANS QB MATT SCHAUB
(on the season)
I'm just glad it's behind us and we can move forward. Nothing seemed to go right. We kept hurting ourselves and didn't play good football from start to finish. It is a tough thing to take knowing the type of guys that we have in that locker room and in that group. We are just looking to the next thing and to the future and how we can improve and be better.
(on the team never quitting)
Yeah, we didn't (quit). That goes to the leadership in the locker room and on the team. We just kept battling, and we just kept playing for each other. We just kept coming to work each day. We are the same team, the same guys, just going out with energy in practice, focusing in the meeting rooms, doing our jobs and it just happened we weren't getting it done on the field. That is the most frustrating thing because the work is there.
(on what went wrong in 2013)
Everything. Situational football, turning it over, giving teams opportunities, penalties, not staying on the field on third down, not getting off the field sometimes on third down, and just so many things. We did have some injuries, but those are part of the game and you have to overcome those. It is just a multitude of things that we have to go back and look at both as a team and as individuals.
(on his future and if he would like to return to Houston in 2014)
Yeah, because I love all of those guys in that locker room, every one of them. We fought tooth and nail, good, bad, and indifferent for years. I would do anything for those guys. To come back and play with that group of guys, absolutely, but I am also a realist and understand the nature of this business. We will see how it goes. There is a lot to take place here in the next few weeks, so we will just see what happens.
(on if there has been any discussion on his future in Houston) **
No. They are so focused on the next thing and just trying to dig our way out of this and end this on a good note. It is something that you don't worry about and you can't think about until it's all said and done. TEXANS RB JONATHAN GRIMES
(on if he asked for the ball after the touchdown in the first half)
Yeah, usually I just hand the ball to the ref. I told him, 'I usually hand it to you, but I want to keep this one.' It was my first one, and I wanted to bring that home to my pops.
(on if he had ever imagined the team would finish the year 2-14)
No, I don't think anyone saw that coming. Something that did stay the same about the team was that there was no quit. They fought hard all the way until the last play, and I definitely commend everyone for that.
(on if he felt like he could come in and be a spark plug for the team)
That was the plan. I just wanted to do whatever I could to help the team. I just wanted to help.
TEXANS WR ANDRE JOHNSON
(on if he is glad the season is over)
I'm just glad what we went through this season is over. I enjoy playing football, but what we went through this season as a team, I wouldn't wish that on anybody to experience it. I'm happy that part of it is over.
(on how he would describe what the team went through this season)
I don't really think there are words that can really describe it. It was just something you don't ever want to experience again. There wasn't anything fun about it. Like I said, I just hope I never have to experience it again.
(on if he is excited about a new coach coming in)
Well, when you get new coaches there are a lot of changes that are made. You just have to see what changes are made and what the whole process is going to be about. I don't know. We will see what happens.
(on if he wants to be back in Houston)
I would love to be back. I always said I wanted to finish my career as a Texan. That is my plan, and like I said, we will just see what happens with the whole process.
(on how tough it was to see things end the way they did for Matt Schaub on Sunday)
I love Matt (Schaub) like a brother. We don't know what the future holds. I spent eight seasons with him. He was very positive on my career, and I was very positive on his. We both meant a lot to each other throughout our careers. I don't know what is going to happen. When you go through a coaching change and all of that stuff, players will move, coaches will move. We just have to wait and see what happens.
TEXANS DE ANTONIO SMITH
(on getting better this offseason)
Whoever is on this team going into the offseason, you have to make a self-commitment to being greater than this, better than this because this is how you don't play football.
(on the team never giving up despite the bad record)
It's true. It's an overplayed record. You play hard and we fight ever week and this team never gave up and this team always had energy. Everyone was always putting it in, but the end of every game after week two we have been coming up losers. At the end of the day where there is no more fight and we don't get to play any more games, that's all there is. We lost the game. We played hard. We had a chance to win. I even would say we should have won. I saw a few plays out there that should have won us the game that didn't. At then the end of the game it was the same old ending.
(on the ball just not bouncing their direction)
There were a lot of pays out there that could have been made but everything seems to go their way. When something positive would happen for us, then something negative would happen. When a team gets into a rut like that, you have to fight your way back out of it. That's why I say that everyone needs to come into the offseason this year with a commitment, a commitment to not be what we were this year.
(on his feeling of not knowing what his future will bring)
It's definitely surreal. It's like a bad dream that I have been having all year. You would have never thought this would happen. I just want to wake up from it.
TEXANS OLB WHITNEY MERCILUS
(on what he can learn from this season going forward)
Whatever happened throughout the season, we can learn from everything. From turnovers, to getting turnovers and these changes are going to be happening pretty soon so basically what we have to do is look forward to the future and get better.
(on if Wade Phillips is the right guy for the head coaching position)
I wouldn't mind that, but it's up to whoever makes that decision and we will see what happens from there.
(on how he feels about his development in his second season)
I had huge inconsistences and things like that. It's something that I have to learn from and going through as a first time starter it's definitely something that I can build on for next season.
(on how well positioned this team is to turn around this record quickly)
We can turn it around. There is a lot of talent and you have to have guys who are hungry and can go out there and make plays. **
TEXANS S D.J. SWEARINGER**
(on where this team needs to get better to get back to winning ways)
First off, you have to find out who our coach is going to be. That's something that we are looking forward to, and we are looking forward to seeing who the complete team is going to be. I know there will be some changes whether it's coaches or whoever, so I am looking forward to seeing who our full team will be so we can start moving from there.
(on what he needs to improve on from year one to year two)
Just keep learning and working on all aspects of my game. Mostly I want to keep learning things. I am going to work on some personal goals like my range and get faster and just keep learning stuff. I am going to be hard on myself in the film room this offseason and learning the game and whatever I need to learn.
TEXANS DE J.J. WATT
(on his feeling now that the season is over)
It's the most frustrating season that I have ever personally been part of. I'm sure that a lot of guys in this room feel the same way. I'm sure that there are a lot of guys like me that are extremely ready to move on and get to work in the offseason and move on and put this behind us and never let anything like this happen again.
(on if this team is in position for a quick turnaround)
We can do it. We will put in the work and do things the right way and move forward.
(on if Wade Phillips is a good fit for the head coaching job)
Wade is a good football coach. I'm definitely not the guy to ask about any of that. I'm a football player and not a football coach or a GM. Wade is good football coach and he brought me to this town and so I will always be appreciative of that. I have no clue what they are going to do so that is a decision for people that are paid a lot more money than me.
(on if he is excited about the future)
Yeah, after this I am very excited about the future. I am ready to get to work to make sure that this never happens again.
(on how much the top pick in the draft can help)
I'm sure it will be good, but you can never count on a rookie to come in and do anything so it has to come from the guys that we have on our team and it has to come from our players, but obviously, we hope to pick up a great player.
(on potentially losing two of his starting defensive line teammates)
It would be tough because we have built a bond over the last couple of years. Those guys work hard and have become good friends. Obviously, you wish you could keep everybody, but you know it's a business at the end of the day.
(on if they are still the good team that they were to start the season or does there need to be much change)
I think I would be ignorant if I said after 13 losses that we are still the same team and we are still a good team. We had some major things go wrong this year and we had some major let-downs. When you lose this many in a row, you have to fix something. We have to find it. We have to find what to fix.
