Head Coach Raheem Morris

(Opening comments) The end of preseason here. Obviously tomorrow we have to make our tough decisions. You wish you could keep them all because of the effort, how good of men they were throughout the whole process. How well they did. They did everything I asked. I cant complain about that. Tonight, I got to see the young quarterbacks come out a little bit. I got a chance to see the young guy go out there, Josh Freeman. A little nervous in the beginning. Started the game. Started to pick it up. Started to get some drives. Looked like a running back a little bit out there having to scramble around with the young offensive line. Had him out there looking like Josh Johnson a little bit, running around. He got some productive runs going on there and also threw a couple good balls at the end of the drive there, end of the half there with a touchdown throw. And then Josh Johnson came in a little nervous as well. He made a check, threw a bad throw, got it picked off, but then he fought back through it, came back down, led a couple drives there as well. So its always good to see the young guys and see themselves get better. There was nothing progressively worse for either one of the guys. Thats always fun to see when they come out and they get better and better as they play. And thats what you like to see.

(On any young players on the bubble that stood out) You know, its hard to say right now. I have to look at the tape. A lot of the guys were talking about are up front. Its harder to see that stuff right there live. I cant wait to go watch that young offensive line on tape. I cant wait to watch that young defensive line on tape. Our first team defense went out there. I wanted to play those guys a series because they had so little time in the preseason and I told them, I said, you guys go out there and get a series. They went out there and got a turnover in two plays. But I had already put my foot in my mouth so I couldnt send them back out there. The young guys got a chance to go out there and play. Ive got to go out and evaluate these guys tomorrow. Ive got to look at everything up close, you know, the lines, the young lines, both sides of the ball. Ive got to look at my wide receivers, the routes they ran. Weve got to go look at them and check it out right now and look at details.

(On if Josh Johnson proved that hes one of your best 53) Thats kind of what we were talking about the whole time. We want to keep the best 53 and Josh went out tonight again and proved he could move the football and when hes out there he can be productive and he can learn and he can go without a whole bunch of reps. Thats big time quality in this league when you have a guy like that. That makes him special and thats a special quality I believe. A Jason Garrett type of quality. A guy that can back up Troy Aikman for 12 years, or whatever it was, and go in a game and when they need him he wins football games. When he gets his opportunity to go play, he plays well and then he fights his way to the top. Thats what this team is what I want to be built on, what I want to be made on. Thats fun to go watch.

(On second team defense) Weve got to play better on second team defense. Weve got to play better all around. Thats the part of having a young team. A lot of the guys that were our backups, our depth, last year became starters. The Quincy Blacks. The Geno Hayes. Those guys are the front run guys now. Youve got to find out who Adam Hayward is, and he didnt play tonight obviously. Youve got to find out who Matt McCoy is. Youve got to find out who Bo Ruud is. Youve got to find out some of those guys. Then youve got some guys up front: the Louis Holmes, the Dre Moores and those types of people. Youve got to find out who they are and what they can do. So they had a chance to go out there and prove that they can be backups, valuable backups, like we talked about and see if they deserve a spot on the 45-man roster. See if they deserve a spot on the 53-man roster. See if theyre developmental guys getting ready to try to attack your team the following year or attack your team at some point during the season when you need them. So its always fun to watch those guys. You see mistakes. When you talk about those guys, you cant talk about mistakes, youve got to talk about effort. Youve got to talk about how fast they played, how quickly they played. How much they want it. Theres a little bit more to it when you talk about that second and third team defense.

FB B.J. Askew

(On the quarterbacks performances) Sometimes you have to go through the game, maybe get one or two pass plays. But when they got moving, they were looking good. I tip my hat off to both of them.

(On offensive coordinator change) I dont know. I cant say its more up to speed right now. I mean its just only been a day, so I just cant come out and say yeah, everythings different, everythings all so much better. You know this is just another one of those decisions that you have to make and I didnt see it coming. Coach [Jeff] Jagodzinski, I liked him personally, but I just work here like everybody else. Things happen and we all understand that and we just got to keep moving forward.

WR Brian Clark

(On his forced fumble) I didnt strip it. I was just able to hold up the defender and our C [Rob] Bruggeman came in and knocked the guy and got the ball loose. I was just trying to keep him up so one of the other 10 guys could come and try to get the ball loose because defensive players arent used to holding on to the ball.

(On his great catch in the second half) It was basically a stop route. They ran a three zone, linebacker came out to the curl flat area, hit the ball up and I saw the opportunity to grab it and I was able to make the play and try to get out of bounds as fast as possible.

QB Josh Freeman

(On his performance) I definitely started out slow. Aside from that first drive, we started with great field position and really didnt get anything going until that last drive there. We had a lot of guys make big plays for us on the last drive. The offensive line was doing a good job. There were a couple of times when a deflected ball got caught but we kept battling. We were able to get it down and Cortez Hankton ran that great route and I was able to put it on him for a touchdown.

(On whether or not Hankton was the primary option) Thats a play where everybody is going. It was a deal when time was running down, it was a third down and we were trying to push it down and make something happen. It was kind of, if we miss it well take a shot, if not just dont throw an interception, well kick the field goal. It was cover 2 and I just wanted to work the inside guys. I wanted to work left at first, and then I wanted to work right. The safety was sitting on top of me so I decided to take the outside like I did the first time. He started running outside and then we had the one-on-one with Hankton. Great route, I put it on him, touchdown!

WR Cortez Hankton

(On how the camp has gone and the challenges of making this football team) Its always challenging. Professional football is challenging without a doubt. The offense is just like any offense, as long as you study you pick it up and just go out and make plays.

(On how you pass the time while waiting to find out if you made the team) Theres nothing that you can really do. Time waits for no man. You just have to wait and see.

(On his touchdown) QB Josh [Freeman] definitely put it on the spot. Like there was no other spot he could have put it in. It was definitely an NFL caliber throw. He put it right where it was supposed to be.

QB Josh Johnson

(On his performance) I played pretty well but you cant have turnovers. Thats the first thing. To come out and start off with a turnover wasnt good. We bounced back pretty well on offense. We drove the ball down the field. Unfortunately we werent able to come out with a win but we had a chance at it in the end.

(On what the coaches said to him after throwing an interception coming out of the half) They just said to do what I do. Normally I would just get it to the back because they covered the play pretty well, I just have to get the check downs. They were just like, youre alright. Just go out there and lead the offense like youve been doing. Thats what I went out and tried to do.

(On the touchdown pass to TE Ryan Purvis) He just ran an over route and they covered my primary read. I got to Purvis on my second read. Nobody was covering him well in the zone and I was able to put it over the back of him.

(On leading the team down the field late in the game) We just executed. We ran a lot of two minutes, it was situational football. I ran a lot of two minutes during training camp and I knew how to get it done in that situation. Our goal was to go score. Unfortunately we were unable to do that but it was good work for us and good things to learn from.

(On the third down play on the final drive when he tried to get the ball to WR Mario Urrutia) That was my primary option. They blitzed us and the guy hit my hand so the ball came out a little low. We tried to come back on the same thing again a couple of plays after that but there were some miscommunications.

(On having experience now in his second year) It helps out a lot. Its a comfort factor because youve been there. You expand, you know what to do and how to prepare for a game, how to get ready for training camp. Its just game experience and Ive grown a lot since last year. I tried to show that on the field this preseason.

(On what Doug Williams said to him after the game) He said to just got out and throw it. Thats one thing Doug stresses to me. He is one of my worst critics because he stays on me and I appreciate the toughness that he keeps on me because it makes me work even harder. I take a lot of advice from him because I look up to him a lot. Hes a big help and has been a big help in my career already and will be a big help in my career in the end.

T Donald Penn

(On the offensive production) You know were excited to show the world what weve been working on so hard. You know I think we have a great offense and we just tried to come out and show everybody what weve been doing.

(On Offensive Coordinator Greg Olson taking the team to the next level in Week One) You have to really ask Greg that but I think that were not really going to change that much. Gregs a great guy. Hes a great coach.

DE/DT Jimmy Wilkerson

(On the Dallas Cowboys coming in for the home opener) Its very big. Theyre still Americas team. We got to strap it on and be on our game.

(On getting the starting defense out of the game early) Considering we were only going to be on a series, we want to do our best to keep it under three snaps.

(On what its like to watch the young players on the team) Its exciting at times but at the same time its frustrating. Taking it back to last year, you want the best for those guys and having them take a step back and say, hey, you need to correct this or you need to get off better. They keep working on it. You just have to tell the guys.

HOUSTON TEXANS

Head Coach Gary Kubiak

(On QB Rex Grossman) I was very impressed. You just see signs of that during camp whenever he was working that first seven or eight days. Kyle [Shanahan] and I were excited to watch him play during preseason and of course he has a problem. Obviously, he knows what this leagues about. He knows how to make plays. He was ready to play.

(On if QB Rex Grossman will make the team based on his performance) I dont know. The cuts are tomorrow.

(On what QB Rex Grossman must do to make the team) Well, we got to go look at a lot of things. Its a tough process that 53 situation, so well see. It sure as heck helped him.

(On WR Jacoby Jones) He played very well. He made a big play. He had a little heat issue, had to leave the game but came back the second half, played some more in the second half and obviously hes capable of making plays. I think hes had a good preseason and I think hes ready to go.

(On S John Busing) Well, he had a chance for another pick too, didnt he? He had the one on the sidelines, but hes kind of made plays throughout camp and hes done some good things for Joe [Marciano] and obviously he helped himself again tonight also.

DE Connor Barwin

(On the play of the Buccaneers offense) The quarterbacks are pretty elusive that we saw, Josh Freeman and the other guy, number 11 [Josh Johnson]. They are guys that can feel the pressure and are hard to sack once you get back there.

(On how he feels about the team coming out of the preseason) I think we are pretty good. As a team, I think we are really happy that we finished the preseason with a win. I think that was important. Things are falling into place and I think we will be ready for the Jets.

TE James Casey

(On his touchdown play) Well, I jumped offside the play before. It was third and short and we were going to run a running play. So obviously I felt terrible about that but it ended up working out because then we ran a pass play. It was a double move play and the safety bit on it, I was open, and Rex [Grossman] threw a great pass and the offensive line did a great job blocking. So it couldnt have been any better to get that first touchdown. Even though it was the preseason it always feels good to be in the end zone. It was just a great experience.

(On how he felt he did as a lead blocker) I thought I did really well. Its tough to tell before you watch the film, but out there, I felt good about it. I wasnt just out there getting run over or anything like that. I felt like I was doing a great job. We will see on film what it looks like but I thought I did a great job at fullback and at tight end with the blocking stuff. Now that training camp is over you can look back at everything youve done. Ive gotten a lot better and Ive done a really great job blocking. Its out of my control now.

(On if he is worried about making the team) Its pretty stressful; its really stressful. I felt like I did the best I could and I dont have any regrets about it. Well see what happens.

RB Arian Foster

(On going against the Buccaneers defense) They didnt really try to bring much or confuse us. They really just tried to play base. Schematically it wasnt confusing and I think that was by design.

(On his performance) I put my heart out on the field and chips are going to fall where they may. Whatever happens, happens. I felt like I gave it everything I could.

QB Rex Grossman

(On his performance) I felt good about it. We were able to make plays and won the game. The defense played great and put us in great situations. When the play was called, and we had the right defense on for that play we usually made it so that was encouraging. I knocked some of the dust off because I really havent played since November of last year.

(On if he felt like he got into a rhythm right away) Yeah the long touchdown pass definitely made it easier to start feeling good and calm down. As soon as that play happened everything was good.

(On his chances with cutdown day looming) I am not sure. I just know I put a pretty good audition out there and I hope everything goes well tomorrow and see what happens.

WR Jacoby Jones

(On if he thought he made the team tonight) Hopefully, but if not, thats a hard thing not to do after 3 catches for 148 yards.

(On if he thought he made the Texans coaches choice a lot easier) I hope so. I just had the mind frame to come out and make plays when they call my number.

(On if he was concerned going into the game that he wouldnt make the team) I wasnt really worried at all. I mean, I put it in Gods hand, then all I have to do is come out and be consistent and make the plays.

(On his touchdown) Kyle [Shanahan] thought up a nice call. It was the right defense so Rex [Grossman] made a heck of a throw and I just did what God gave me to docatch and run.

(On what goes through your mind when you are open deep) First I had to find it and once I found it I just thought catch the ball, it hit my hand and I just thought Im not getting caught, dont get caught.

QB Dan Orlovsky

(On his performance) I felt that we did a good job as a team. We capitalized on some turnovers and ultimately got the win.

(On the Buccaneers defense) Its a good defense. It has odd dynamics because it has some really good veteran leaders but it has some youth. Whenever you have a guy like Ronde [Barber] on your defense, you know your defense is probably going to be pretty solid. Barrett Ruud is becoming one of the better backers in the league and those two ends of [Jimmy] Wilkerson and Gaines [Adams] are pretty good too. I think that defensive coordinator is going to be aggressive and let those guys make some plays. I think it was a good job for us offensively to go and make some plays against this team and prepare. We are most likely going to see some of that defensive scheme because that is what the NFL seems to be morphing to a little bit. It was a good job of us executing.