 Erica, Ben was saying yesterday in the locker room that just after a game, you'll be the first to pick his brain, you know, what can I do better? It just, what is that relationship like with you guys and a guy like that who's clearly puts it out on the line every day too? Ben's a smart guy. We've seen a lot of football and knows a lot of football and, you know, won't lose on his team. So anytime I, you know, I want to get advice from my one pick his brain about something I'll always ask. That's how he's always been since he's been here. You know, giving that early morning text to Ryan on Monday and how much do you kind of keep an eye on him? Wondering about his status for Sunday. Yeah, us in the text and, you know, he said he was feeling better than what he thought. And, you know, just hopefully he's able to play, you know, you know, I'm sure he's working through everything he needs to do to be ready. But, you know, I can't speak for Ryan just, you know, the best for him. And hopefully he's out there. That's some big games against Houston. Does it, you get a little juiced knowing, you know, when you start studying them knowing what you've done in the past? Every year is different. I really don't try to live in the past, you know, have some good games, but, you know, every year is different. So I can't go out there expecting anything. Just take it day by day and get ready for Sunday. You've had success against divisional opponents for a long time. Why is that? I guess he's played well as a team. And that's all I can think of. And me just trying to go out there and do my job, and everybody doing their job well. 36 games for you. I know you said every year is different, but from a recovery standpoint, is it still the same and what are some of the things you're doing to be able to bounce back after, you know, like a 30-carry game like you had? I always do my same routine. I don't really do anything different. It's always the same. I don't really change out too much. How much have you been able to work with him out here since then? Whenever we get a chance to, you know, he gets in on offense. We do exchange before practice, you know, things like that. And yeah, pretty much. I feel like you guys are kind of building some momentum in the running game, three straight 100-yard games for you, and it seems like you're having maybe more success each passing week. Yeah, this mindset just continuing to improve, build off the good, and how the mindset of wanting to get better every day, and that's all you can hope for. That's what my mindset is. I know as many as anybody else's mindset, just every day is getting better until Sunday and letting it all pay off. When you guys are playing the style that you want to play and you're getting carry after carry in the fourth quarter to finish off an opponent, do you get a sense of when that breaking point happens for that defense, or you just keep handling the ball and doing your thing? Yeah, I mean, I'm not really worried about, you know, the defense and just worried about what I can do and how we play and how we execute a play and the efficiency of it and just try to guard there and make another play. So, you know, just focus on what we do and not take much on the defense. Derek, you worked with a lot of coaches. What is it that Tony brings to you in the running backs room and how's that relationship been since you've been with him? Yeah, you know, he's always on me the little details, all the fundamentals, the techniques and everything that, you know, I need to focus on to be better, to be a great back in this league and, you know, we work on them every day in the meeting room and out here, just focus on getting better. You know, you never arrive and I feel like that's his mindset and placing, always stay hungry and come out here with a growth mindset to want to get better and be the best player you can be. But, you know, just being a great leader and have the will to want to work and get better every day. How much would another rushing title mean to you? I'm not thinking about that right now. It's week eight. You put it on the list though, me. Yeah, I'm not thinking about that. I think you know the answer to that when you answer that question. I'm not thinking about that. Going back to Tony, Titans sent him and Brian to, you know, session this off season to, you know, try to help, you know, raise his visibility, you know, potentially maybe as a head coaching candidate down the road. Is that something that you see him as maybe having that kind of personality fit? Is that a job you think he could handle easily? Yeah, definitely. I mean, I pray that's in his future. I mean, I can't predict the future. And hopefully he can stay with me as long as he can until then. But I think he has all the traits. He's a great coach. He's a great leader of men. And you know, he, you know, wants us to get better. He's always honest about wanting to get better in the meet room. And, you know, it's never too much work put in, you know, whenever you're on the field and at work. So, What stands out about Houston's defense? I'm going to do a lot of moving things. They play with a lot of energy, put a lot of effort. The guys are always around the ball and I think they play well together on defense. You and Don Trell on the field together. How much you feel like that's been effective and how much does it make teams have to prepare for something else from you guys? Oh yeah, it's been fun to have us both out there. You know, I know Don Trell likes it and just other ways to get guys to ball and you know, just go out there and execute and do what we need to do to make a play happen. Stoney is doing something that hadn't really been done in the NFL. You know, six straight games, 52 yard gross average minimum for each game. What, I mean, obviously you knew he had a strong leg. What is allowing him to have continued success now that he's getting a few games under his belt? Sure. I don't know that stat until Robbie just told me about it, which obviously is great for Ryan and the team. But you know, I think what Ryan does really best is he just works to a skill set and he understands that he's going to try to hit it as far as he can and not really worry about, you know, hey, I'm not worried about this line or that line, I'm going to just try to hit it as far as I possibly can. And it's right now it's worked out for us and we'll continue to try to help him out as much as we can because we know his skill set and really proud of how he goes out there and works and does some good stuff on the field for us. And how about Randy Bullock? He hit the 202 now, but what can you say about him, those four field goals put him at that mark? That's obviously big for us. Anytime that we can help the team win, he had two really big kicks obviously in the fourth quarter for us, especially the 48 yarder to put us up by two scores. I'm just really excited for him, happy for him because, you know, he's worked really hard and it's always fun to watch a player who's worked really hard, has success out there and him going four for four to help out this team win was big for us. How's Ryan doing when he needs the short iron so to speak, a 40, 45 yard punt? Yeah, you know, and really he hasn't had to use that short iron much. And that's the thing that, you know, when we went and watched him at Colorado State, that was something that we had to work with him a lot on and it was kind of difficult for him at first because he's got such a strong leg. How does he go back and go to a nine iron instead of hitting his driver all the time? But he's worked really hard at it and once he gets those opportunities, you know, we really try to tell him, hey, we're going to play pitch and catch with that returner, which they end up usually lining up at the eight yard line anyway. So, you know, if we go and just hit it to the returner, that hopefully helps him out too, where he doesn't need to feel like he has to hit it inside the five yard line all the time. You know, we're not looking to do that. We're trying to get it inside the 10 as much as we possibly can and if it's pitch and catch with the returner, great. But, you know, when he gets that opportunity to go out there, I'm sure he'll do fine. How consistent has he been with his hang time? So, yeah, obviously the past couple of games hasn't been as consistent as we would like and that's a lot of different things. You know, we had pressure on the very first one, which is not what we want and he had to kind of adjust a little bit to it and didn't hit a ball that, you know, he's capable of hitting. So, you know, obviously that's a big thing for us as long as getting distance, but also getting the proper hang time with that because we're not looking for a 60 yard punt with 4-0 hang time. We're still looking for a 55-60 yard punt with over 4-5 hang time. So, that's what we're going to work on again today with him is trying to get a little bit more consistent that he was earlier in the year with the hang time. Which we feel very confident he can do that. Happy with what you've seen from Manny in the first couple of games back and what's maybe he good at? Well, first thing that jumps out to us is his physicality and his energy. I think he ended up having to get an IV after he made that tackle inside the 20 because he ran about 30-40 yards to celebrate. But, you know, this guy is excited to come out there. Obviously he missed football when he was injured. So, he's raring to go. And, you know, that's the biggest thing about Manny. We've got to try to tell him to scale back a little bit because his energy is just through the roof right now. We've got to try to scale him back a little bit once he makes those plays that, hey, we can celebrate with our teammates and get moving on to the next play. But, we're happy to have him back. He did a really good job for us with that tackle inside the 20 and in our punt coverage he did a good job too. Morgan's on the injury report this week. Who's your backup snapper and how much work does that person get, typically? Yeah, usually what we end up doing is we have to have a backup snapper and we try to get multiple guys to do it, especially during the offseason and training camp. And Jeff Swame has worked on it. Kevin Rader, those guys, heck, we even had some offensive linemen during training camp work on it too for us. But, you know, we usually end up getting Jeff and a couple other guys some reps during the week. And it might be one or two, but we've got to be prepared at any point in time just in case Morgan goes down that we got a guy that can come in there and protect too. Why Swame and not like a system? Well, usually we want to try to cover afterwards too. That's a big part. If we can get a guy in here that's athletic enough, like a tight end, like a linebacker that can snap, you know, if he can snap it with some accuracy and then run down there and make a tackle, that's what we're looking for. If we had an offensive lineman in there, obviously it would be just for protection and we wouldn't expect much out of him in the coverage unit. So we want to try to get more of a big skill type guy to do that. And Morgan is not a guy we talk about a lot, which I guess is a good thing if you're a long snapper. I mean, what does he do so well that makes him so consistent? It's consistency. That's the biggest thing. And it's really helpful having a guy like Morgan Cox that can help out a young holder in Ryan Stonehouse just being really consistent with his ball that he throws back, where Ryan doesn't have to move the laces. He doesn't have to worry about the ball working it way over to the right or to the left or down low or up top. That ball is right to him. The laces are there all the time and what Ryan just needs to worry about is, hey, I'm going to put this thing down on the spot. Maybe have a different lean depending on the wind. But he's just a professional and does everything that we're looking for him to do. And he does it really well. How nice is it to be in the fourth quarter when you can keep handing the ball to Derek to try to put away a game? Yeah, it definitely was a great feeling to be able to call those runs in and watch those guys finish the game the way they did. Really proud of the offensive line, the way they battled through some things. That's a really talented front they went against. Obviously, we'd like to be able to make it a little less interesting there but very pleased with how Derek finished the game and how the line finished the game. Still several days from Sunday, how do you approach maybe Ryan through a week when maybe he's going to be limited in some practices and trying to get him ready for Sunday? Yeah, he's a pro. It's not as much about physically him having to go through those things. He's mentally prepared, he always is and he knows how to get himself ready to go from that standpoint. So we'll see how he progresses and I'm sure they'll let me know before we kick off. Do you spend extra play on Sunday? How valuable could it be for Malik to get to run the first team offense this week in practice? Yeah, I think experience is irreplaceable and Malik did a great job yesterday with the stuff we asked him to do and he's growing each and every day and he's learning what it's like to be a pro quarterback and so I think all that stuff's great for Malik. Is there a balance in preparing the offense with Ryan? Obviously a different skill set than Malik. Is there a balance you have to kind of walk with that when you're preparing for the week? Absolutely. Two different players with two different skill sets and so my job is always to put players in the best position to succeed and so that can mix and match some things but we try to run our offense here and have a foundation so there's certain elements that no matter who's under center, we expect a little bit of cooperation to flow a certain way and look a certain way. So there's definitely a balance there and as you're progressing through the week it's how much do you want to dabble in that would be there if it were one or the other but as we approach game day that picture will clear up a little bit more. Is there any way to be below 90% in the red zone now? Very frustrating to not help our team enjoy a fourth quarter with a little less stress. This is a prove it league and you have to do that weekend and week out. Tipped my cap to the Indianapolis staff but we expect to score every time we get down there. We got to see Malik in there and not just traditional quarterback role is that something that you're kind of bringing along like a package that you would like to present for him to have an additional impact? He's such a talented athlete and we all remember from the preseason I think he has the longest run to date preseason so looking for ways to have him on the field and then the first couple of times he was on the field it was make them say hey they got two quarterbacks out there and we were just running a bread and butter scheme so a little bit of a balance there and obviously had the exchange issue on the one it's a well blocked play Cody Hollister did a great job if we get that exchange I think we're talking about a pretty big play there so we'll see where that expands and how far we want to go with that. Do you look to other like you look at what the 49ers did with Kaepernick when he first came in Ravens with Lamar do you look at any of that and just kind of work to incorporate that into that package? I think there are some times in the offseason where you have time to kind of go back and study similar offenses or similar players skill sets and things like that and so you build a little bit of a bank that you can take a peek at a reference and then certainly things come up that you say hey that's a pretty cool scheme and see if it fits what you do so yeah I think there's an element of that you try to not get too far outside of who you are but maybe take a peek if there's something that works you pull out a new look Conley into the offense this weekend and what does he bring to this team coming in late? I've been very impressed with his study habits and how quickly he's shown a commitment to learn the offense I mean the second he got here with Rob Moore and working with Eric Frazier just getting the terminology down and kind of going Spanish to English on some things and so I've been very impressed with Chris we'll see where that goes what our numbers look like from an active standpoint that's always a decision that I'll hear from down the road but I think that he's worked very hard to be able to contribute if his number is called From a physical standpoint this may be size, strength and how he catches the ball Yeah he is an impressive physical on the hoof receiver so hopefully we can see him a little bit of speed work today and see what he's got and make decisions down the road Back to that little wrinkle with Malik or any trick play for that matter how often and how long do you execute something in practice before you actually implement it in a game Yeah I think there's a little bit of a sliding skill there right? Depends on how intricate it is that was a rather simple exchange sometimes you need things to marinate a little while and I remember we had this discussion after the first Colts game and the jig in the backfield roll pass that we did and that was only a couple of days and then we called it on Sunday so I think there's a balance there we felt good about it we obviously didn't execute well enough but it's not by lack of belief in the play There was obvious a little bit of a change and just draw up a play or is everything sort of tweaking this building on that sort of thing? Yeah I think there are always game plan designers based off of certain things that the defense is doing that start with kind of a clean slate you know and they got floor to ceiling grease boards in my office for a reason you know we sit in there and kind of get in the lab a little bit and see if there are some wrinkles that we can develop so that our guys can go play fast you know we don't want to put too much in that makes them think or remember oh yeah I'm supposed to do that on this we like to try to find that balance so the guys can go play fast One or two of those grease boards gets erased on a Monday? Yeah you talk about stuff that we liked and then decided hey we don't want to do it to start new for the next game plan? Oh yes absolutely yeah absolutely there's you know there's an opportunity to add in those wrinkles occasionally and you know a couple designers off of personnel groupings or tendencies we see yeah so there's opportunities to add new stuff each week The obvious challenges for you as you mentioned like Ryan there's some really different skill sets having the game plan and waiting to hear what Ryan's status is is there a time in the week for you as an offensive coordinator that might be like the ideal time to know just so you know what you have to bring on Sunday? You can bank as many reps as you can you know so certainly you don't want to get too far into practice without having at least an idea but the nice thing about where we're at is you know we're not a big volume offense there isn't going to be 8,000 different plays so if we can kind of add a couple of wrinkles here and say well if it's him then there are a couple things here or if it's Ryan a couple things here that's not stressing our guys too much from a volume standpoint so and I think our guys are committed to you know having whoever's back is under center. Dylan has done stepping in for last couple weeks. Yeah Dylan's fought you know Dylan's had his ups and downs and disappointments you know through the kind of stages of developing this starting offensive line but we knew you know back in training camp that his number was going to get called on at some point in some capacity and Dylan has been such a professional and a hard worker I was really happy for him to have some real good snaps out there on Sunday and again to be part of finishing the game the way we did that was cool for those guys and I really appreciate Dylan and the approach he's taken. What went into because I know the opportunities were limited but what went into him being able to have some impactful catches this past week. Yeah one of the things that we try to talk a lot about is you know don't count your chances just make your chances count you know and I think he's a perfect example of that. He's somebody who maybe his number didn't get called a lot the first couple weeks maybe it's coverage maybe it was situations whatever it is or we just didn't run enough plays to get to some of the stuff we had designed for him and on Sunday his number got called and a couple times in some you know kind of off schedule type situations right once to check down and once a quick game that Ryan kind of extended the play and and he made great plays you know three huge catches three huge catches two first downs one explosive I did a nice job adjusting to the ball so I think hoop is an example of taking advantage of your opportunities when the ball comes your way Shane what's been the key to maybe the defensive improvement since the you know over the last four games. Yeah I mean I think last week we we kindly finally got the X play and off our back a little bit I think they had one play for 20 yards and that was really it and I think our guys just have continued to fight like it hasn't been perfect by any means but ultimately I think early on the X plays overshadowed a lot of the good stuff we were doing so I mean I think when you eliminate those you got a chance to be really good and hopefully that trend continues for us. You went with Andrew I guess a deep safety and Imani and the nickel how do you think that combination went and what kind of went into that decision? Yeah I think just game plan based on the Colts I think it worked out well I think Hook did a good job in there communicating understanding what's going on obviously Adams has been here he's improved since he's been here so we'll see he'll be week to week kind of based on who we have available what we want to do at that nickel position. What's the biggest adjustment that Imani has to make going from deep safety to playing in the slot typical can that transition be? Yeah I mean I think there's a lot of similarities just in terms of our zone coverage and the run fits like we asked him to fit the run at safety like we do nickel at times I would say the biggest thing is probably some of the match man coverage type stuff right just understanding he's out there against receivers what their skill sets are where usually he's going up against tight ends as a safety for the most part. 2020 the third down every year you were almost at 52% dead last by a lot you're at 27 just under 28% now first by a lot. That's a huge flip. What's keyed the ability to flip? Yeah I think our guys are executing they're understanding the details of every call I think we've been good in coverage on third down we've been tight we've had our help in the right places you saw David with the interception last week as an underneath piece there I think our zones have been effective and then obviously the rush right rush is a big part of that the ability to be able to rush forward and affect the quarterback it opens a lot of things up for you coverage wise what you can do how you can delegate those seven pieces in the back but guys are out there they're executing they're executing as rushers together they're unselfish they're not in it for themselves and they know each of them is going to get theirs based on what the call is and what we're asking them to do and it comes down to those guys having a mentality of mindset they're going to do what they do to get off the field and I think our secondary has a lot of confidence in our rush and I think our rush has a lot of confidence in our secondary right now so there's an example when things are bad saying hey you know we can change stuff here in relatively short order yeah I mean I think it's week to week all the time don't get me wrong I do I think every single week you could be really great at something next week you could be pretty awful at something right so I think I think the mindset is each opportunity we get on third down we got to go out and execute and hopefully get off the field but it is something to build on I think culture wise from where we were to where we're at now defensively that's just an example of kind of the progress we've made Tietar he's kind of gone from being just a guy to being that guy up front for you what can you say about his growth over the past few yeah I think he's worked really hard in the off season I think he's understanding the game he's played a lot of football for us and I think he's realizing the fundamentals and the techniques and all the little things and the little tips you can get pre-snap based on what the offense has given you I think he's progressed in that sense so he's using that to his advantage he's always been an extremely strong powerful dude and he's now he's able with the technique and fundamentals it gets unleashed a little bit more and I've been impressed with his ability to rush I think that's where he's come a long way understanding who he is as a rusher power and then having some counters off of that but he has he's developed for us and hopefully it continues I don't know about that we'll kind of keep him rushing you guys have been huge obviously for you guys first part season I know it's something that very well harped on during the off season what's been the key to that getting so many takeaways lately yeah I think last week it came down to guys executing great adjustment by the players to get in that call on the pick six they were all on the same page they all got lined up in a timely manner and we were able to execute it and then obviously David as the rat piece being able now and then ultimately it's the techniques and fundamentals that we're preaching we're preaching the hammer the ball out like Mitch did at the end we're teaching the rake we're teaching the match the hand which has given us a lot of a lot of tip passes that whether you pick it or not but you're going to have opportunities to pick it off so I think the guys have taken ownership in that they work it we work it every single day and it's carrying over to Sunday force right now it's smart and as reliable as Kevin Byrd they're on the back and how much does that open up what you can do as a defensive play caller and what this defense can do yeah I think tremendously I mean it's I've said it before it's hard for for one guy to do everything out there communication wise I think the addition of hook Andrew getting up to speed a little bit more what's going on like those guys have to be our vocal communicators even our linebackers I think David's long long it's come a long way so you can do more the more they communicate and the more they can ultimately get on the same page and you need a ring later Kevin's a ring leader he he gets everything in order for us defensively but it takes more than just him but it does it opens up a little bit what you can do based on what you're seeing yeah I mean I think the I think Pierce is a hell of a back I think he is tough he runs hard he's got a jump cut ability stretches and cuts and he tries to finish runs like he is a physical physical runner and I think they're doing a good job up front I think to play physical and run game then the speed the speed on the outside obviously with cooks we all know about him they got some other guys that can stretch the defense so we gotta do a make we gotta do a good job make sure we're not getting letting those guys bias and I think the O-Lines done a good job protecting the quarterback quarterback's done a really good job not taking sacks not turning it over they're really playing the game the right way and not beating themselves right now coming in as a rookie and what the impact that he's had it's almost been quiet in a way for a kid to come in as a rookie and do what he's done how impressive has it been I'd be lying if I said I didn't expect it just from the spring and from training camp he's always been poised he's competitive he wants to be great he gets frustrated when it's not perfect I think last week he was down in dumps about one play in the logarithm I'm like what are you doing dude we just won that game and he's frustrated himself because he gave up a play so you got a mindset like that especially at that position it goes a long way but I've been extremely encouraged with him I think he's smart I think he understands what we're trying to get accomplished and all the different things that we do and he goes out there and challenges and competes