Houston Texans coaches and players comment on their upcoming game against the New England Patriots at Gillette Stadium.
On facing the Patriots...
"You're facing the best quarterback of all time and possibly the best coach of all time. I mean, they're incredible and everything that they've accomplished in their career speaks for itself. They've obviously done some phenomenal things and they deserve all the praise and the accolades that they get because of what they've accomplished. So you're facing that. You're facing guys with a ton of experience, a ton of knowledge, a lot of skill, a lot of talent and who work very hard. It's always a good challenge and so for us to open up the season against a team like that and a player like Tom, it's a great challenge right out the gate."
- Texans Defensive End J.J. Watt
"Against those guys you can't make too many mistakes. You have to capitalize on redzone points, score touchdowns rather than field goals and be able to play mistake-free as much as you can."
- Texans Quarterback DeShaun Watson
"I think the two teams know each other very well. I think it's just all about what we're doing right now, where we are right now and how do we do as good of a job to prepare for a team that was in the Super Bowl last year."
- Texans Head Coach Bill O'Brien
On Tom Brady...
"I think this guy is a great football player, he works so hard at all the different parts of his game relative to mechanics and knowledge of the game, knowledge of his teammates. He's always working at it. I can remember when I was there, phone calls in the offseason, you know, "What's happening here? Hey, I was thinking about this." You know, always thinking about football and how to get the edge and that's why he's the player he is and he's had the career that he's had and that's why he's still playing. Because he's found that edge and he continues to try to get better every single day."
- Texans Head Coach Bill O'Brien
"He's one of the greatest of all-time, honestly. It's just another quarterback that we've had to face in the past and it's another quarterback that we have an opportunity to go against. He's proven himself over his entire career. Obviously (he's) going to go down as one of the greatest of all-time. At the same time, we look at it as another opponent. Go into it with the same mindset, we know what our game plan is, we know what we're capable of and we just have to go out there on the field and just do what we know what we can do."
- Texans Defensive End Christian Covington
"He's the ultimate competitor. He understands how to win, and we have to understand the importance of getting him off the football field. Because any time we keep him on the football field, he can do some good things. So, we just have to go there, be ready, communicate well, tackle well."
- Texans Safety Tyrann Mathieu
On the Patriots offense...
"They've been at the top of the league in offense for a lot of years and it's a great scheme and it's a great philosophy and we just have to be ready to go and compete on Sunday."
- Texans Head Coach Bill O'Brien
On defending against Rob Gronkowski...
"Where do you want me to start? He's 6'7, 265 pounds, he's got excellent athletic ability, he can run like a wide receiver, he's got great flexibility, he's tough, everybody talks about his range, his ability to catch any ball that's throw to him. He's a really hard guy to match up against. He's a consistent performer. He's probably one of the best tight ends, obviously in the game right now, maybe in the history of the game."
- Texans Head Coach Bill O'Brien
