Here's everything Houston Texans offensive coordinatorNick Caley said Thursday ahead of Week 2's matchup against the Cincinnati Bengals, including his thoughts on the wide receiver room, the Bengals' defense and more.
Q: On the gameplan if WR Nico Collins potentially does not play in Week 2
Caley: "The good thing about the offense is we have a lot of guys that we have trust in. I would say this, that we go through our reads and the ball finds the open guys. C.J. [Stroud] does a good job distributing the football. I think you saw that last week. We have guys that have a lot of experience with them and have played a lot of football and we'll go through it like that."
Q: On WR Kayshon Boutte
Caley: "Consistency. He's really strong at the catch point.
Sharp; he goes out there, he's on point. He can affect the deep part of the field, the intermediate on the perimeter. You just see a steady guy. Goes about work professional, doesn't say a whole lot, but he's tapped in and he loves football. I have a lot of faith and confidence in him, really do."
Q: On the final offensive drive in Week 1 and if they should have run the ball a little more
Caley: "In hindsight, you sit there and ask that question. But quite honestly, I thought we were in good rhythm. I felt good with where we were. So no, not in the moment. I mean, I felt good about where we were and just have to do a better job of the role executing all of us, quite honestly."
Q: On the game-sealing fumble at the end of Week 1 and who is to blame
Caley: "It's an everybody thing. It's not cliche. You have to be able to protect. You have to be able to have two hands on the ball in a good place and stepping up in the pocket. You have to be able to work edges in the route running and stuff. I think turnovers and ball security really are an everybody thing. That's what we hit home again. We've been doing that ever since we started talking about it in the offseason, but it really is. There's plenty of things that we all can do to be better, to enhance that and that's what we have to continue to do."
Q: On RB Woody Marks' pass game threat potential
Caley: "Woody did a really good job and even the block he sprung and ended up gaining the blocker there, you just talked about an unselfish guy. He's where he's supposed to be when he's supposed to be there in the past game. He's a dependable guy. I just think he's going to continue to get better and better, which he has. He's made a lot of progress."
Q: On WR Kayshon Boutte's and WR Jaylin Noel's participation in Week 1
Caley: "We were mixing groupings. I think some weeks you're going to see that and some weeks I think the flow of the game will dictate some of those things. Whether there are multiple tight end groupings, more 11 with a bunch of different groupings that we can deploy to move those guys around so it switches their identity based on grouping. It's not just one 11 group. We could have a handful within a game so that it activates and switches the identity from Z to F to X, etc. So just the flow, nothing those guys have done. I've been pleased with the progress of the entire unit."
On the positives from the offense in Week 1
"I just thought there was a consistency. It's far from where we need to be. There are still penalties. We have to clean that up. We lost the third down. Obviously, we still had false starts. Those things, fumbles and stuff like that. I thought generally speaking from an operation standpoint, just the communication within the huddle, at the line of scrimmage. I thought how tapped in those guys were to come off the sideline. There was great communication on the sideline, players to coaches, coaches to players, etc. I just thought that it felt connected and we just have to continue to build off of that. I was pleased with that. I was pleased with the consistency across the board."
Q: On RB David Montgomery and RB Woody Marks performance in Week 1
Caley: "They made some tough yards. Those guys, you talk about the run game, both those guys had some really nice runs. 'DMo' keeping his legs turning on the short yardage in goal line situation. Then having the breakout, obviously. Then Woody, same thing. You get in there and you have some nice explosive runs there as well. I thought both of those guys saw it pretty well in the run game, were able to hit it and especially in situational football. Is it perfect? No, we'd like to get every short yardage. We talk about third and fourth and one. It was progress and we have to continue to learn from the miscues and we have to be able to enhance the things that we're doing. I thought they ran hard and I thought they competed. I thought they took care of the football. We just have to keep going on that path."
Q: On WR Jaylin Noel and TE Marlin Klein performances in Week 1
Caley: "I thought those guys came in and gave us good reps. I really did. Marlin's coming along and done a good job. We have a deep tight end room. We've got a lot of guys that were at the game. He'll continue to get better and continue to build and we're very pleased with that."
Q: On using OT Blake Fisher as an extra offensive lineman in certain formations
Caley: "There's some weeks, it depends. You take inventory when you're going, 'Okay, are we gaining an advantage here?' Because some weeks, you go into it like, 'Do we need it as much, do we not?' We'll make a call on that for reasons. There are reasons why we make a call. I thought Blake when he came in gave us some really quality reps. He's gotten better. I think he's more comfortable just in general. I thought he grew a lot last year. I thought it was a nice balance. Some weeks it might be less, some weeks it might be more. I think last year was a little different because there was a period of time where that was the second tight end, if you want to look at it. Whereas this year you have more options. He's still a valuable piece for us to what we do. I was pleased with him."
Q: On TE Marlin Klein's blocking ability
Caley: "I feel good where it's going. I think any time, again, I'm speaking for myself here, my experience with tight ends is this, there's a lot of development in terms of hand speed and physicality on the edges and it's a grown man's league. For that position, you come in and he's going to be a damn good blocker at the point of attack. I believe that, with everything in my being, I do. He's made a ton of progress. James [Ferentz] has worked his ass off with him, Foster, he's got a great group of guys he's with. What I would say is, it does take time. You have to have refined hands. You have wide hands at all, you're getting knocked back. It's just about continuing to get reps with him and he gets as good of a look every single week here at practice against our guys. I'm pleased with him. I'm pleased with where he's at. I just think we have to keep going and we have to keep moving in that direction."
Q: On the offensive line's performance in Week 1
Caley: "I was generally pleased with that entire group. I really was. I would say, you want to get all of the short yardage situations. There's still we can do better. That's the expectation, I'm not satisfied. We had chances to go do a better job and sustain drives and do those things and not have to punt the football and we had to punt the football. Obviously, you always want to be able to earn first downs. You'll always be able to do it. I think we're making progress and we're going to continue to and we just have to keep going. I think that group has done a good job of growing together. 'Pop's' [Offensive Line/Offensive Run Game Coordinator Cole Popovich] done a great job with them and we just have to keep on going."
Q: On G Ed Ingram
Caley: "Physicality, toughness. I think Ed's been pretty consistent with that. Ed doesn't say a whole lot, but he's tapped in. He loves football and I just think he brings a physicality that you saw last year that's carried over. Another year in the system has benefited him."
On Cincinnati Bengals defense
"I think [Cincinnati Bengals Defensive Coordinator] Al Golden does a great job. I think it all starts up front with these guys. They play, they turn the ball over, they force turnovers. They do a great job. Their interior, their front, it's stout, it's strong. It's the strength of a really good defense. I think their linebackers can attack. They can flow. They run to the football. They pursue. They punch. They're violent on contact when they arrive to the football. Then I think you look at guys in the back end. They do a really good job of keeping things in front of them, really being able to play the football when it's in the air. You have to win to the catch point. You have to sustain blocks. You have to be able to get a hat on a hat in a run game. They're a really good defense. Forced four turnovers last week, they're really good. We're going to have to go out and play clean. We're going to have to play physical and we're going to have to play our best football."
Q: On QB C.J. Stroud's confidence and leadership
Caley: "I think it's been great. I think he's definitely more comfortable, but it's just the leadership and the growth and just seeing him out in front and those guys following. I've seen a significant, steady build from last year's season and we then when we got back till now and it's just continued to stack days. He's got good command. He sees the game well. He's able to communicate with the linemen, he's able to get us into good situations. He has good rapport with our centers and he's just done a really nice job. He's worked his ass off. You're seeing a guy that's just been steady as hell. His process has been really clean and really good and I've enjoyed every step of the way with him."
Q: On preparing for an injury after a game rather than mid-week
Caley: "I think you always have to be willing to adjust and ready to adjust. I think the difference would be time, but I think the one thing you always try to do as coaches is you have to be able to transition fast because it happens in games too and then you go, six days worth of prep and now it's the third quarter and you have to change gears. I think having the mindset of being open-minded and being flexible is something that as an entire staff I think we all try to do and we all support each other in that. Just be ready to adjust when need be and try to put our guys in the best position possible."
Q: On WR Xavier Hutchinson and WR Jared Wayne
Caley: "Those guys work. They work so hard. They love football and they bring energy to the table. I love what they bring to our receiver room and our offense. I have a lot of confidence in them. Those guys are unselfish, they're great teammates. We have a lot of those guys and you value people like that. It's a hard game. When you have joy and you have guys that like to work and want to improve and take coaching, sign me up."
This article originally appeared on Texans Wire: Everything Texans OC Nick Caley said ahead of Week 2's matchup vs. Bengals
