Texans HC Romeo Crennel conference call (11.11.20)
Texans Head Coach Romeo Crennel conference call:
On challenges RB Nick Chubb presents to the Texans run defense:
“He is a strong runner. He is great going in conjunction with (RB Kareem) Hunt. That is a great one-two punch that you guys have there. Now with him back, it is doubly difficult to try to figure out how they are going to try to attack us because offensively, you have a good offensive line and they are doing a lot of things well. We know we have our hands full, but we have to try to load up on the run as best we can, and knowing that if you load up on the run, that opens some things up on the back end. We have a lot of things that we have to work out.”
On QB Baker Mayfield:
“I think Baker has done a good job of understanding the offensive system that is in place there. He is operating it very well. He fits into it. He can make the throws. Plus, he has a running game. He is protected in the passing game. I think that they do a good job of balance with the run-pass balance. The play-action passes are difficult. It is kind of like the whole package that he has available to him and that he is able to use, and as a result of it, they are 5-3. Some good things are happening.”
On Texans QB Deshaun Watson’s performance this season:
“The quarterback position in the NFL is one of the key positions. Deshaun is a good player for us in the fact that he has had some success these last couple games that has helped us win the two that we have won. Hopefully, that success will continue and then maybe we can win in one or two more.”
On if the caliber of the Texans’ opponents has been a major factor in their record:
“I would like to say that, but you know in this business, you have to line up and play every Sunday and who you play really does not matter. Either you win or you lose. We have been losing and have not won enough. We have to try to see if we can win some on the back end of the schedule.”
On holding the best single-season record as a Browns coach in the expansion era:
“That was a great season. To have the best record, the thing that I remember about that record is we did not make the playoffs, and that was the most disappointing thing. You win 10 games, and generally, you are supposed to make the playoffs when you win 10. We won 10, and we lost the tiebreaker situation. The thing that I remember about that season is we went to Cincinnati in a game, and if we beat Cincinnati in the game down there, then we would have made the playoffs, but they beat us in a windy, cold game. I think maybe it was about seven points or something like that, which then put us into the tiebreaker scenario at the end of the season where we had to depend on other guys to help us get to the playoffs. They did not care about us (laughter) and so they took care of themselves and then we were sitting at home.”
On the importance of having ‘enough QB play’ to make a playoff push, referring to the 2007 Browns season:
“For sure. I think you can see that in the NFL today. The teams that are winning have really good quarterbacks. Whether that guy is enough or not, you really do not know until the end of the year, but the guys whose quarterbacks are playing at a high level, they are the ones that are winning games and you see that. I think everybody realizes that.”
On being mentioned in reference to Pro Football Hall of Fame Coach George Halas as the oldest head coach in NFL history and how meaningful that is to him and his daughters:
“I do not think my daughters know who Coach Hallas is (laughter), but I know and I appreciate just being in the conversation with him because he was a great coach. Just to have my name mentioned in the same breath is special. I have been around a while – I do not know if you have noticed or not – but to be able to be around that long and still be able to function I think is good.”
On how a challenging season like 2020 impacts him as a long-tenured head coach:
“For sure, it is tough. Losing is tough. When we get into this game, we know that there are going to be wins and there are going to be losses so you work to try to win and to try to put your team in the best position to win. That is really all-consuming. We won last week which was good and we felt good about it, but now you have to get ready for the next opponent because if you do not get ready for the next opponent, then you won’t win and then you are going to feel really bad. We try to play them one at a time and keep the kids focused – you. notice I call them kids – on the task at hand and see if we can come out and have a great performance on Sunday.”
On the special chemistry between former Browns QB Derek Anderson and WR Braylon Edwards during the 2007:
“Yeah, and that is part of great teams, the quarterback-wide receiver chemistry that they develop, and they know that they can depend on each other. Derek kind of knew when Braylon was going to make his break or how he was going to run the route and that allowed them to connect. That was a big part of us being able to win 10 that year.”
On if Texans RB Duke Johnson Jr. will be the Texans’ No. 1 RB this weekend and if he expects Johnson to carry a chip into this game as a former Brown:
“I think anytime a player, a coach or whoever goes back to a team that they were at one point, they want to put their best foot forward. I think that that is what it will be. He will want to put his best foot forward. Whether it is a chip or not, I do not know. I would not necessarily say that, but I think that he will feel it as an opportunity to show what he is about and what he can get done on the football field.”
On how Johnson has been playing this season:
“You look at last Sunday, he was really good. It was really good. I expect that from him again. Anytime you have two good running backs, sometimes there are not equal carries for those guys. Duke has been a great teammate and not complaining about the number of carries that he gets. He is just trying to make a contribution to the team. Then last week, he got an opportunity to make a tremendous contribution, and he showed up.”
On Texans DE J.J. Watt’s performance this season, given Watt’s lower sack total this year:
“J.J. is an ultimate professional in the classroom, in the practice field and on the game field. I could not ask any more from a player. He wants to win. He works to win. He would like to have sacks. He has 100 of them in his career now. Sometimes teams, they realize who he is also and so they try to do things to slow him down and sometimes he has two on him, sometimes the slide goes to him, sometimes three on him and he has to work through all of that. Quarterbacks sometimes they get rid of the ball a little bit faster and do not hold it as long. All of that comes into play, but I would venture to say if I could get him one on one more consistently, then his sack total would go up.”
On if Watt playing on the same field as DE Myles Garrett brings extra juice for each player and his impressions of Garrett this season:
“Sure, a player across the field playing your position and trying to do the same thing that you do, there will be more juice, and I think Myles will have more juice as a result of it because of what J.J. has been able to accomplish in his career. I like Myles a lot from what I see. He has good length, he has good quickness off the ball, he has flexibility and he doggedly pursues the quarterback. Generally, that means sacks.”
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