 With the short week, what's the challenge in trying to get Ryan available and does he need to practice it all to be available? I don't know if that necessarily is the case that he's got a great grasp of what we're trying to do this short week. We're trying to not make it as short with what we're trying to do today as far as working and just trying to come in and get back and get going. It'll be somewhat of a short week just because the turnaround and what we feel like we can do today and then we'll continue to add as we move through the week, but we'll still, I think, have the same amount of time and the preparation and meetings. We'll get going here in a little bit, a lot of these guys that get some rest and then get some treatment. How's the injury list overall going to look like? Well, we'll see kind of what guys can do on a walk-through basis and try to add some, you know, individual. And again, now, that'll probably look a little bit better later in the week, just being here not even 48 hours from the time of the game. So, you know, we'll have to make sure that everybody prepares as a starter and that they're ready to go on the game plan. Kathleen, like, see Brian Tennell come back into the game after he gets hurt, but what happens after that? Well, I think there's a lot of, you know, I think that that's probably a really interesting question. You know, where you see guys kind of come back and finish and, you know, there's adrenaline and there's a lot of things that go into trying to get back out there and allowing a player to finish. And then I think that there's a lot of trauma that that happens whether you're talking about a shoulder or a hand or a wrist or there's even things that guys may leave the game. And then the next day or they're like, wake up and they're like, holy, you know, I mean, like that, I didn't really feel that and didn't know. So we've had cases of that that have happened. So I mean, I think that there's, you know, for those three hours, you know, every athlete, especially football players put their bodies through a lot. And, you know, sometimes those injuries come to light, you know, maybe a day or two after, but especially the ones that have something happen and then kind of go back in. And, you know, we do monitor, I'm very confident that we monitor, you know, the ability not to make, you know, an injury worse or put the player at jeopardy, hopeful that they can, you know, protect themselves very aware of that when we make those decisions. And then we kind of go from there. The last four weeks, what are some of the common threads that you're seeing, you know, show up on game data that's keeping you guys from winning? Well, we went, you know, two games without creating a turnover on defense. You know, we didn't turn the ball over on offense, which, you know, again, Philly just, you know, wasn't good enough in all phases. The turnovers against Jacksonville critical. And then, you know, the offensive penalties last week and then defensively, the, you know, situational football at the end of the game, allowing them to run it in, you know, in the red zone last week, you know, were probably things that contributed to that game in general. So I mean, I don't think there's one specific thing, you know, whether we weren't able to run the ball against, you know, Cincinnati or Philly to kind of get things going. Jacksonville felt like we moved the ball well. Like, you know, we, we don't really, you know, we have to focus on this week and how we pulled all together, you know, and try to combine all the good stuff, you know, that we've done and, you know, find a way to prepare and find a way to win. What's the balance between game planning for the Texans and preparing for potential impact of the weather? Well, I mean, I think it could be windy. It'll be cold. I mean, I think the impact that the kicking game, I think that, you know, we would have had to prepare to return kicks against the Texans. Anyways, they're a very good special teams unit, very good kickoff. I think they're, you know, first or second in kickoffs inside the 20 yard line. You know, so even in the dome, they're, they're, you know, fairbearance kicking them up there. They're covering them extremely well. So we would have had to kick return, you know, kickoffs and be really good in that phase from a special teams standpoint. You know, maybe just ball security, you know, understanding that, you know, how critical it is here late, late in the year when, when you're dealing with, with weather, and if it snows, it snows. If it rains or freezes, you know, they'll be, you know, the same for everybody. Coldest game ever here, but you guys have played colder games before, so it really shouldn't make that big of a difference, shouldn't it? Well, I hope it, you know, it never makes a difference. I mean, we've played in the rain, we've played in the snow and, you know, you kind of go through a lot of these things and we'll, we'll get some work inside today and then we'll, you know, work our way outside as, as the week goes along and then everybody will have to just be prepared in, in their own way. Whether that's the, the footing or the shoes that we wear, you know, all the other things that go along with, with playing in, in weather games. You try not to ask players to do more than they're capable of. When you're as depleted as you are, does that become more difficult? Well, I think the challenge that we've always talked about is do you try to do more, right, and try to come up with some magic scheme or do you try to do less and try to focus on execution? And I think there's a balance somewhere in between, you know, some plays that, you know, maybe we thought or some defensive scheme, maybe that we thought that, hey, let's do that. And then, you know, it didn't, didn't go very well or we didn't execute it. You know, I think that there's always a really great ability to execute your scheme, you know, meaning what you've practiced in the bread and butter and, you know, mixing in a couple of tweaks in the red zone and maybe on third down defensively, I think trying to have a core of what we do so that these parts that are these players that, you know, whether it's John Reed last week, for example, or Jack Gibbons that maybe haven't been out there as much or, you know, when Monty Rice was working his way back in and different, you know, Andrew Adams, and now the volumes for some of these guys have picked up because they kind of know it. So I think early on, you probably are better off doing less than you are, you know, a whole lot. Zach, back in the mix? Well, he'll do some stuff. And again, he'll have to do some stuff creatively. You know, these these IR rules, you know, something that, you know, hopefully that we can talk about just for the, you know, in the offseason for, you know, helping the player, you know, get some confidence to, you know, return to play. And you can't put pads on a on a guy that's, you know, on IR, you have to, you know, take him off and Zach is in a return to play. And so we're at a point in the season now where pads isn't really an option. So just trying to be able to see where he is with his arm and how he can use it and, you know, make sure that he can protect himself and do some things. So we'll see kind of where he's at. I don't know if today will tell us much. But, you know, hopefully as we, you know, just to get some guys ready, you know, whether that's Zach or, you know, anybody else. You know, it's been a couple of weeks. How is he doing and progressing through the whole process? Well, good. I mean, it's just, yeah, I think for the player, I don't want to speak for them. It's just they have to remain patient. They have to do everything that, you know, is in the protocol and and be honest with the doctors and the trainers and the independent, you know, doctors and with the impact testing and everything that goes along. So, you know, hopefully, we'll get them out there today and get Trey out there today. And then they can continue to work themselves through that process as it goes along. Instance where guys can clear concussion protocol, but still the decision is kept that may to maybe keep them out. I, you know, I don't know if we've necessarily had that happen. I think you're referring probably to the Denver. I just can't, you know, since I've been here, I don't think they've ever said somebody was cleared. I know we didn't feel like, you know, they could play. That just says in something to happen. I'm sure it obviously did. But we just haven't had that, you know, situation come up. Texans have lost peers. It looks like they're bouncing quarterbacks around somehow. How have they been so competitive the last two years? Good, because, you know, I mean, they have some really good veteran players that have played, you know, other places that now, you know, Malik Collins has been there, they got some good youth. But they have, you know, Jerry Hughes is a player that I've always had respect for plays hard. You know, they've been able to work lately with these tight ends. You know, it seems like they're really looking at them in the red zone have had success. The O lines played well, was protected the quarterback. And they've used the, you know, kind of, you know, the quarterback system to kind of force you to play a couple different looks and be prepared for a lot of things. And that's something that we'll have to be prepared for is, you know, the game starts and it works his way through like whether they're going on the ball or they're unbalanced or there's two quarterbacks are in the game. How has that just kind of been the M.O. and worked so well every time? You know, I've just been able to try to get him into his, you know, the second level, you know, it's a penetrating front and it puts a lot of stress on you from that regard. They move and move and they attack and pressure and, you know, it'll be another huge challenge this week to try to limit that penetration or disruption that they like to create. Having the same number of guys in the box or different run blitzes that you've seen consistently from team to team. When you've had the success like that against a team before and now you play in the second time, do you have to sort of guess what they might do differently or try and anticipate the adjustment? Well, I think we're always trying to do that. And I think sometimes whether that occurs during the game and you have to come over and be prepared for a to change things to make sure that, hey, you know, we're going to block it differently. We're going to maybe look at this play as opposed to something else. And I think you just have to make sure that you're using your rules and making sure that everybody's communicating, you know, the front that it is or the pressure, you know, the indicator, whatever it may be. But there'll be things that they've shown or not shown that we'll have to be ready for. Responded last week returning to practice. I know he kind of joked with us. I'm full speed all the time. Clearly, you can't do that when you're returning kind of pacing yourself. But do you feel like he can do anything this week to be ready? Saturday? And I think he did exactly what you would want to do in the return to play go out there. Practice to do some stuff on the show team, ramp up the individual, find out where there's setbacks, find out how you feel, find out how you respond, and then, you know, transition. And we didn't feel like he was at a level to come back to the get, you know, ready for the game. So maybe this week we can kind of see where that goes and hopefully try to get him back. Think of a challenge is it for we've at this point in his young career going after the quarterback and keeping containment at the same time? You know, I think that's the decisions that you have to, you know, entrust in the players that they're making great decisions of trying to affect the quarterback, but also understanding what the quarterback's ability is, his ability to break contain or not. So it's they're all kind of left with decisions, split second decisions coming underneath the defender running a route, making a cut, you know, blocking, you know, giving them a shell shove instead of pulling on his jersey or tugging on them. All these decisions that we try to coach and teach happen in a split second. So that would be another example of that. Kind of knowing, you know, when you can go in there, when you can't, when it's coordinated. That's always a challenge for pass rushers. Live, I guess, for your old two, would you say to say a lot of uncertainty maybe on what your line looked like? Yeah, I mean, there'll be some moving parts that we'll see where it's out here later in the week. But, you know, Daniel and Bo were guys that we have targeted. Daniel's been here, Bo can, you know, pull it and play guard. So, you know, they're getting here this morning and we'll see how they do. As you see how Ryan's progressing throughout the week, how much of a help, I guess, is it for Malik's game prep that it's a defense he's seen before as a starter? I think that that's fair. I think that that not only that, just, you know, the comfort level of having been out there. I think we talked about it after the game. He popped out there, you know, gave, you know, found Conley twice, you know, was decisive, pulled the ball, tucked it, made a move, got a first down, slid. So I think all those things, you know, can help and won't be any easier. But I think that those are all things that just as he continues to develop and get more comfortable. He's had weeks like this before. How have you kind of seen Malik handle the uncertainty when he doesn't know if he's going to be the guy? Well, we try to ask him all to prepare as a starter. And I know that that probably isn't always the case in the National Football League when there's a starting quarterback that's in place. But, you know, I think he really has done that. I've seen a lot of maturity and growth in the way that, you know, again, his reps are coming, you know, in that show team and trying to get him to, you know, act like a starting quarterback and lead that unit and communicate the, how our language for the call that's on the card, the operation, the snap count, the cadence, whether we go on the ball the next play, try all that look that we try to give him. I've seen a lot of maturity and growth in that regard. Chig and his special teams ability, but just as an offensive playmaker, emerging as one of your top guys, what do you make, like, what are your thoughts on how he's done that? I think he's taken advantage of his opportunities and, you know, he's been strong with football. He's made some contested catches, had some catching runs, you know, needs to continue to, you know, to help us when we run the football, like a lot of guys, but, you know, so he's, you know, pushing through and continue to improve. The role of, like, moving him to some of the fullback looks, was that something you guys originally thought of, or did that kind of come about as the year went along? You know, I think we always, you know, his contact courage and his willingness to, to, to go, whether it's across the line of scrimmage or from the backfield, we felt like was there and then that's, you know, kind of where we, you know, moved him off the ball and then kind of slid him back inside and just trying to put him in different places where we feel like can help us. No, they just were visiting their doctor. Free ride. Doctor to the stars. Have you ever seen anything like that before? Had you ever done anything like that before or did all this happen? I heard a play like that happen before on Oklahoma State, the same as that play happened, but I always imagined doing a play like that when I was young and at that moment I knew there was my chance to do it and I feel like Kalu was in the right spot for that to happen. I think at the end, maybe the Redskins game, there was a, maybe, I forget who was even involved in that, but it was on the back line where it looked like maybe somebody could have done it. Did that ever come up? Did y'all talk about that? Oh, he's my Christian, you know, that player Christian. Yeah, we told him, like, at the end, we watched Femme and everything. Like, he could have did it, but he could have caught the interception, too. Like, I feel like he was in position to catch the interception. In my situation, I went in his exact position to catch the interception, so I just gave it to Kalu. I did say he's keeping the ball, but it gives you credit for it. Is anyway, he's cut in half? Or what does he say? Nah, he can keep the ball. He can keep, you know, that's his first. I didn't know that was his first career. I mean, and I felt I'm picked. So I feel that's great. He can keep the ball. I got, I got to know the ball. Can't see it. I still like, look at that ball every day. But that was just, I feel like, that was just me being unselfish and I feel like it was great for both of us in that moment. So I'm happy for him that that was his first pick. Are you concerned at all, that there might be the chance of a, you know, a receiver coming down with the ball? Or are you pretty certain? You said, well, are you concerned at all that, OK? No, I wasn't concerned on him, because when the ball was coming, he wasn't looking. He was still, like, going down the field. So I knew there was my, like, is that chance to get a perfect catch without him describing me or anything. And that's when Kalu came. So I felt like it was great at the moment. Did the receiver say anything to you afterward? No, he didn't say nothing to me. He didn't have time. I started running in 7-Brain with the teammate and everything. So he couldn't for real. You threw that kind of rookie wall, you're past the college season at this point, and you just turned in one of your best games. How have you gotten over that? I would say the rookie wall. That's no joke right there. I did not know that was a thing for real until, like, that game. That's when I say it finally hit me. But I say, it's great, you know, that game there. I feel like my confidence came a little more higher because playing against a guy like Mike Williams and everything, I just feel like that game, I just got to learn from my mistakes because I felt like that was someplace I could have did better. But I just went on to the next game to try to get better. What is it feeling like when you are struggling, when you know your college season would have been over with them? Is it more of a fatigue factor? Legs feeling it? Where do you feel it the most when you were kind of trying to get past it? I say both physically and mentally. Just being tired mentally. I feel like I could be chilling right now in a college. They chilling right now and all that stuff. I'm still playing the lead. And just my body, it gets sore playing against guys, big guys, feels good every play throughout the whole game. So I feel like it's both mentally and physically. You had some tough plays down around the goal line. I think it might be like Cincinnati and, of course, the Jacksonville one too. What do you think you learned from those? And how did that help you? Maybe against the Chargers and going forward. Oh, yeah, obviously I did want some tough plays. I couldn't make. I can't go back from that. I just got to learn from my mistakes and I just got to get better. I just got to put that in the past and just try to get better in the future. Anything in particular from those plays that you did learn specifically from? I wouldn't say just from them plays. It's just they just wanted it more in that way. I could have caught the interception, the jab wars. I couldn't make it. They wanted more. I felt like Cincinnati, you know, T-Hitten caught the ball on me. I feel like he just wanted it more than me. I just got to play more stronger and I just got to know who I'm going against. In that phase, I feel like, but don't play it just in the past. I feel like I just got to go on and just keep pushing for my team. When you looked around on Sunday at the various packages you guys put out on the field in the secondary, it looked a lot different than it did at the beginning of the season. As one of the guys who's been relatively healthy and out there most weeks, do you take a pressure on that that you got to keep it up and kind of carry this unit right now? Oh, yeah, most definitely. I'm going into that game there. I knew that's going to throw the ball a lot and getting out of the season. We didn't start out good. And some guys are getting hurt and everything. So I feel like it's a little tough for us in the back end, but we've got new guys coming in and out. So I feel like we just got to like, it all starts with practice. We just got to work hard and just communicate and just try to get better every week throughout the practice and everything. And I felt like that builds up. We have guys like Jelf and David and he was here, but now he's hurt. Now we just have leaders like that who just help and push us every practice just try to get better throughout the whole season. But I feel like we still got to keep going and keep pushing, my bad. Most of the guys in that locker room never lost four games before. What's that? What's that? Mostly guys in that locker room have never lost four games in a row before. What's the mood like now compared to the beginning of the season? I never knew that. I didn't never know they lost four games. But just seeing how KB was after the game, you can tell they really like hurt him like how much he really wanted. And that's just like one thing about me that just really hurt me because you know, seeing older guys like that who like, who build a brand on his team and all that stuff, I feel like I just got to be stronger in my end to just try to help them out even though we have guys banging it up and everything. So I feel like with my job, I feel I just got to do better for guys like him. How have you seen some of those leaders like keep that energy positive? And you, you know, as a newcomer, like how have you been able to keep that positive as well? Just first to start off with them, just keeping the positive, keeping that energy, keep going positive, just trying to get better throughout the whole week. It started with them because there'll be some players. I'll be, I'll be bad. I'll be down. I'll be like, damn, I'm messing up for the team. But like guys like him and the leaders, they'll keep that positive energy. Be like, this is one play. That's just that. Just keep pushing. We still got more room to play. It's just stuff like that, that positive energy and everybody's like that throughout the locker room. So I feel like as long as you keep that positive mindset and energy, I feel like we're going to be great at the end. Coach, you mentioned, you know, that you take some of the things that have happened, like very personally for you, like what's the key to kind of learning from her but also turning the page and rolling forward to another good play? I feel like with me, that's one of the hardest things with me because I'm always hard on myself. Even if it's a missed tackle and it got to a first down, I'm going to be hard on myself throughout the whole game with that. But it's just with me, I say to me personally, I just got to like move on to the next page and just try to like, try to like do good throughout the whole game would be better throughout the whole game because we still got more room to play in that game. So I just can't think about that. But with me personally, me, I feel like that's something I got to work on not trying to be so hard on myself but just turn to the next page. Texas play in two quarterbacks right now. Does that make it any more challenging to prepare for? I wouldn't say so. I feel like, I don't know exactly the two quarterbacks we're referring to, but I feel like that won't mean nothing or none of that because they got a great running back and they still got great receivers and everything but it's just like trying to learn to figure out who they're going to use a quarterback in different situations. And I feel like going into today, we just got to learn and how we're going to fit that. Roger, you don't like to play in cold weather. You've kind of made that clear. You've done it though this season, up in Green Bay. It's going to be pretty cold on Saturday. I heard. Single digits. How do you prepare for something like that mentally being like a guy who doesn't love that? Yeah, I heard it's going to be really cold but Green Bay, that was really the first big test right there because I never seen snow that much really but it was snowing so I felt like that was a good test for me. But this game right here, they said it's going to be real cold but really I say it's all mental and it's all in the head. So I feel like I'm going to be good at the end but yeah, it's going to be cold. I can already tell. Do you think it's all the extra things they get ready for a game like this? Like what particularly do you use? First, a heater. I got to be close to the heater. Them heaters on the sideline, that'd be working out good for me, I would say. But it's all mentally, I would say it's not like a big challenge for me. I feel like I paid the right. If I love sweats, extra sweats, extra long underwear maybe. I mean really, all I need is some Vaseline, some ice to hide on my arms and everything. My legs don't get cold really. It's just like really my arms. So once that good, I'm straight, I'm good for the game. Do you ever get used to that, the Vaseline? I mean just like greasing up before you go out there, it just seems kind of weird. You got to use it. You got to use that. I mean I'll step out there. At first I'll be like, oh no, I got to go up and inside. But like that really helped. I'm not going to lie, it's really helped. You play the ball, maybe a ball may slip through your grasp if you got on too much Vaseline. I got the gloves for that. I got the gloves. You put the gloves on, you're good. So I feel like I'm going to be scary. I feel like I got a little routine for this cold weather. What have you seen, Roger, from your fellow rookie Malik this season? You know, in practice, whether it's in running the scout team or whatever, what kind of progress have you seen him make? I'm going back to the positive energy. That's one of the guys I would say always have a positive energy. You know, when you go on the field, he try to be there for the team. Even though he make like some mistakes, have a positive energy. He just try to get better every day. I promise you, he's the one who picked me up because we've been like knowing each other since Arben days. So I feel like he is going to be good for him at the end because he pushed every day. He worked hard every day. And I feel like he's a great team leader. So many big days against this team. I know you've got a bull's eye on you every week, but I feel like you've got 53 bull's eyes on you this Saturday. I really thought that far. I mean, just preparing and trying to do the best I can to get everybody better and come out here and do what I need to do to get ready for Sunday. Dr. Roger, I mean, what's it been like kind of getting to know him as a rookie, even though he's an Auburn guy and what maybe impressed you the most about him? He's just all about his work, comes in and works hard, learns every day, he's grown as a player and plays hard and do whatever he can to help us win. Any conscious of the forecast? The cold game is usually pretty good for run-back. It's supposed to be really bad. The weather conditions can be the weather conditions. We used to go out there and play. Hot, cold, I mean, just football. You're out the last four weeks. Have you seen the energy of practice and, you know, transferring the game? Like, have you seen that consistent? And then is it the same, you know, as you guys came into the building this week to prepare for this game? Our energy is always going to be the same. We got to come to work. We got to get better. And I think that's been the main focus. I think guys have been positive and want to do whatever they can to, you know, get us better and, you know, help us, you know, guard there and get a win. And I think the guys have the same positive attitude this week. Where have you guys been since you've been here? Has that changed the mood in there? Has it changed the mood since I just said everybody has positive energy and nobody's going to be negative. I mean, that doesn't help anything. I mean, guys just come back, go to work and get better, try to go out a good way. Because the ability to run, you know, how does that help your game at all in terms of the option plays and things like that? I mean, just give us another asset. You can run with the ball. He's good in open field and, you know, he makes plays with his legs. So just another asset for offense. You've faced a lot of other boxes and run pressures, obviously, over the last few years. Do you think that they can do anything really different or that you haven't seen or is this just a game where it becomes kind of mono a mono again and you just got to be better than them up front? Yeah, I don't really think about all that. I just think that that's doing our job, executing, do what we need to do to put plays together to score points and eventually, you know, win a game. That needs to be the main focus, but, you know, it starts with us in these meeting rooms and we're out of practice and, you know, putting it all together and letting it, you know, happen in the game on Saturday. Sure, we force you to do anything differently in terms of your recovery or you're pretty confident Saturday you'll be fine either way. No, I'll be good. Derek, Ryan has dealt with, you know, ankle issues for both ankles. Now he gets hurt again, comes back out. What can you say about the way he's fought to make sure he's on the field as much as possible this year? You know, you can do whatever you can to help this team win and lead on this team and, you know, it serves the heart that he has to come out and, you know, play through, you know, the pain and, you know, it's finished the game like you did. David, I'll ask you about the short week. What is the challenge when you do have a short week and you come out for West Coast trip and, you know, Tuesday should be a day off for you instead of you're on the practice field. What do you have to do, I guess, mentally, physically as a team to get ready to play? Yes, prepare. I mean, you played on Thursday. Just play on Saturday, one day closer. So I don't think nothing changed as far as what we do or how we prepare. I understand you just got to be locked in the focus. In terms of staying positive, how much does it help that you guys still have a lot to play for and as a guy who knows how difficult it is to get to the playoffs and win there? Do you have to remind the young guys at all that you do have a real opportunity that doesn't come around the period? I think you just take it one week at a time. Don't get too overwhelmed, putting scenarios and things like that in your head. Continue to focus on improving and doing that by the way you work and, you know, being the leader of this team. And I think guys, you know, see that from the leaders on this team and, you know, how we want to play and what we need to do between the game. Some of the guys have said, like, is that gap between you and Jacksonville has closed a sense of urgency has increased for you? Would that be the case? Like, has your sense of urgency increased? I might say that on Sunday after the game that we need the urgency. And I think that's pretty obvious for everybody in the locker room, what we need to do and, you know, how we got to come out this week. Unmerciful place. Do you talk to the offensive line dentists about, I mean, they're under fire all the time. Tell them to tune that out or... About social media? Yeah, I mean, just, I mean, the fans have been pretty tough on them. I don't, I don't really call it the social media. I don't, I mean, it's not really something that I'm looking at or put into what I got going on. So I don't really know, I don't pay attention to it. Well, pass pro-protective, excuse me, perspective, do you feel like you've made, you know, an improvement to where you can be more involved in that third down package, you know, from a pass-protection standpoint? I'm just taking advantage of my opportunities when I get them and trying to do whatever I can and be available, you know, in the passing game and getting the most out of plays whenever I get opportunity.