A look at what the Houston Texans are saying ahead of their game against the New England Patriots.
On playing the Patriots...
"I think every week in this league is a big challenge, and then when you play the Patriots, it's no different. It's a big challenge. They're a very well-coached team, they don't beat themselves, and defensively they're doing such a great job in a lot of different areas. I mean, they're taking the ball away at a historic rate, they play really good technique in the secondary, and upfront they've got a lot of really good players. And offensively they're doing a really good job of running the football, and they're very, very tough with their matchups. You know, Julian Edelman, Phillip Dorsett, and then obviously with Tom [Brady] running the offense with Josh, it's very, very challenging. And then special teams, they have what I would call professional special teams players led by Matt Slater. I mean, they just do a great job. They know how to cover kicks, they know how to block in the return game, they don't beat themselves and I think they've blocked three punts. It's an excellent football team and that's why they're 10-1, and it's a big challenge for us."
- Texans Head Coach Bill O'Brien
"They're a great team. They're proven that year in and year out. They disciplined. They take advantage of your mistakes. We just need to be as disciplined."
- Texans Center Nick Martin
"We've struggled against the Patriots in past years, but this is a different year. Every year's different. Our team's different, their team's a little bit different, and we just have to go out there on Sunday night and we've got to play a clean game. We've got to play hard, we've got to be competitive for 60 minutes and see what happens."
- Texans Head Coach Bill O'Brien
"We're both 0-0 and we're both trying to be 1-0 Sunday night."
- Texans Quarterback Deshaun Watson
"I haven't beaten those guys yet since I've been in the NFL. And this is a great team."
- Texans wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins
On the Patriots offense...
"I think that their offense, just like every year, they just do a great job of doing what they believe they need to do to move the ball relative to who they're playing, where they're playing – bad weather, indoors, doesn't matter. I mean, they're running the ball real well, they're very efficient in the passing game, they're very, very tough up front and they're good on third down. They do a lot of things really, really well. So, I think at the end of the day, again, like I said earlier to the other question – just overall, just a very challenging game for us. And we've got to go out there and play clean, and play as well as we can relative to what we do, and then understand that it's a 60-minute game and see what happens."
- Texans Head Coach Bill O'Brien
On Tom Brady...
"I think everybody in the league respects Tom Brady as a great quarterback. As one of the greatest players to play this game. So, you know, it just puts that much more pressure on us to prepare this week and go out there and execute."
- Texans outside linebacker Brennan Scarlett
"He's seen everything. He takes care of his body. But, what makes him a champion is he demands a lot out of his guys."
- Texans outside linebacker Whitney Mercilus
"It's a team effort. Just got to get in there and get after the quarterback anyway we can. We have to close the pocket and get there within a timely manner and hitting Brady as much as we can. Just getting him frustrated."
- Texans outside linebacker Whitney Mercilus
"Just everything, how he carries himself, how his off-the-field tactics are, how he takes care of his body, business side. And then, on the field, just his leadership and how precise and smart and how he kind of leads that team to win a whole bunch of games and get to where they want to get to."
- Texans Quarterback Deshaun Watson
On the Patriots secondary...
"There are a lot of veteran players back there that have played together for a long time. They're very competitive, and then they've mixed in some younger players that are really, really well-coached and they do an excellent job of understanding what the coverage is, how they want to play the personnel they see, the formation that they see. They're rarely out of position, they tackle well, they cover well, and that's why they're the No. 1 defense, No. 1 pass defense in the league. I mean, they're very, very, very good at what they do and very challenging to go against."
- Texans Head Coach Bill O'Brien
On Julian Edelman...
"He always has a knack for getting the extra four or five yards. He's one of my favorite receivers in the NFL because of that. Because he keeps the chains moving."
- Texans wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins
