HOUSTONTEXANS CONFERENCE CALL
DE-GARY WALKER(on what the timeline is on building the franchise…you don't have forever to play) 12/8/04
"That's my urgency about it, but you know how this league is. Players have to make plays if they're around. I think everybody around here is starting to feel the sense of urgency to go ahead and get it done. As players, we know we have to do our part. There's a thin line between winning and losing. We can very well attest to that. We've had a lot of close games and just couldn't make the play at the end that the other teams made."
DE-GARY WALKER(on how he believes he has played this season) 12/8/04
"I think I've played solid, but I haven't played as well as I want to play. That's just the nature of it. You don't get a whole lot of the same blocks you used to get. You have to fight this double team, and when you're a 3-4 system, there is a lot of gap control. There's a variation of reasons, but I've mainly put it on myself that I just have to go out and play better."
DE-GARY WALKER(on if he is comfortable in the system there) 12/8/04
"As an older guy that's been in the league a while, you can grasp the system quickly. But when the younger guys come into the system, I've seen them struggle with it a little. It changes from week to week. That's just like everywhere you go. You can't remain the same because people will just tee off on you. That's the reason you have to change and do different things each week."
DE-GARY WALKER(on how it will be without the two signal callers this week in Marcus Coleman and Jay Foreman) 12/8/04
"Jason Simmons is a veteran guy. He just hasn't been a starter, but he's a guy that has a lot of experience and he's been in this defensive scheme his whole career coming from Pittsburghto here. And I tell you one guy that's been really, really well for us is Dunta Robinson. I was just looking in the paper today, something I rarely do, and he's No. 3 in the NFL in interceptions, and he's a rookie. Guys like that just give you hope for the future. For us, really, the future is now."
DE-GARY WALKER(on if some of the Texans were upset with the fourth quarter of the first meeting 11/14) 12/8/04
"Let me tell you this, they did exactly what I would do if I was a team. If you have somebody in the dirt, you bury them. That's the nature of this game. People can say what they want to say, but that's the attitude, in order to get to where you want to go, to the big dance, that's the attitude you have to have as a team. I don't know why they did it and don't really care. But the fact is, they did it, and so, go onto the next one."
DE-GARY WALKER(on if they use last game as motivation) 12/8/04
"It's a divisional game…that's motivation enough. Nobody's doing any talking, and nobody is looking at the last game. It's another divisional game. We have to play it, and if you need more than that to get motivated and go play, you're in the wrong business."
DE-GARY WALKER(on if he can appreciate what the Colts' offense is doing this season) 12/8/04
"It's amazing. We can appreciate it. These are the types of offenses you like to play against, because nobody has figured out how to slow them down yet. These are the types of games, as a defensive player, that you look forward to playing. They have a system where (Peyton) Manning is surrounded by some great players. And they take full advantage of it. One guy that's really stepped in and helped them out a lot is (Brandon) Stokley. He's been causing a lot of trouble for people. You have Stokley, (Marvin) Harrison, (Reggie) Wayne and then you have Edgerrin James and the two tight ends (Marcus Pollard and Dallas Clark). So, who can you go out there and concentrate on shutting down? They make you play disciplined and sound, the whole game."
DE-GARY WALKER(on if they are aware of Peyton Manning's TD pace) 12/8/04
"We hear about it. You can't help it but when you turn on ESPN, to hear about it. If he comes in here and gets four touchdowns and we get five, that's fine with me. Records, they're either going to break this year or next year or sometime. That's for people to sell more Peyton Manning jerseys and newspapers."
