Here is everything Houston Texans All-Pro defensive end Will Anderson Jr.said ahead of the Texans’ Week 3 matchup versus the Indianapolis Colts, including all the weapons the Colts have on offense even with receiver Alec Pierce getting injured, the attitude of the team this week and on the defense’s standard.
Question: On Indianapolis Colts RB Jonathan Taylor
Will Anderson Jr.: “I think he's a really great athlete, really great running back, one of the top running backs in this league. I think for him and the scheme that they run, he's very patient. He's a patient runner. If the hole looks clogged, he's just going to chop his feet, chop his feet and then bounce it outside. He's fast enough to get around a corner. He's fast enough to get around a defensive
end and outrun a linebacker. This game is going to be everybody really just having to be in their gaps, knocking back, having great extension, playing with great eyes, great feet and great hands.”
Q: On the attitude of the team this week
Anderson: “It's been great. From Training Camp to now, seeing how the team was, I think everybody coming in today and just looking at themselves in the mirror and just like, we have to get back to our standard of who we want to be. I thought today we responded the right way. We responded in a way that's who we are. Everybody was flying around, connecting with each other, laughing, playing, not moping around, being sad and just having joy. I think joy has been the key word that we've been using and DeMeco [Ryans] been putting up and me and Coach Rod [Wright], we've been using it as well, just joyful intensity. Being joyful in everything that you do, not happiness, because joy is sustained. Where happiness, if something happens, then your happiness goes away. With joy, you're stable through it all. I think that's one thing with what we've been trying to attack. Everything you do, have joy with what you do here. We get to do this. You get paid to do this. It's fun, so enjoy it. Really just do it for your brothers. We talked today, it's like, there's a lot of guys in here who may have not been to the playoffs before, a lot of guys that's probably going to be their last year of playing. How can we help these guys make it to the Super Bowl and leave their legacy in a good way? We had a really good talk today and the guys responded the right way to the talk.”
Q: On whether not playing in preseason causes players to need time to find a groove
Anderson: “To me, there's really no excuse. It's the NFL. You have to be ready. But obviously not playing a game since January as well and then just having Training Camp practice, it's all great. That very first feel of you stepping onto the field, stepping with your shoulder pads and everything like that, you still get adjusted to those type of things. I thought we responded in a really great way the second game. I thought the energy was good. We didn't get the results that we wanted, but I felt like the energy was better. Like, ‘We have a game today.’ Going into this week, it's the same thing. This wasn't what it felt like last year and I think we all felt that. It's like, ‘This one feels a little different and we have to go ahead and nip this in the bud right now so that we can get to where we want to be at.’ It’s just the way we started. Last year, I felt like we had really great energy in everything like that. I feel like this year, we just didn't have that energy piece. I think now guys are starting to realize that we're here. We worked hard all Training Camp, blood, sweat, and tears. We put so much into what we want to accomplish. Now it's time to show up and play. I think we're starting to trend upward of where we want to go.”
Q: On Indianapolis Colts WR Alec Pierce being injured
Anderson: “For us, it's just all about us. They still have weapons. They still have Josh Downs over there. They still have Jonathan Taylor, #84 [Tyler Warren], he's been really good for them. He's a weapon for them. They have a lot of players that they can use other than just Alec. For us, it's really just about doing our job to the best of our ability and playing to our standard. I think that's one thing that we talked about today is, ‘If everybody just does their job, we can be a really great team.’ It doesn't matter what they have or what they're going to do. If we line up, get set and all 11 guys are on the same page, we're a really great group.”
Q: On the connection to his teammates off the field
Anderson: “It's really big, connecting with each other. I said something today. I was like, ‘Be uncomfortable with doing something you've never done before.’ If you've never went to the offensive side of the ball and went in and talked to somebody over there, go do that. If we're at practice, do something you never did at practice today. I think it's really big, especially when we go out. Go hang out with somebody that you usually don't hang out with. Of course, everybody has somebody that they're closer to, they have cliques. But be uncomfortable meeting and talking to somebody new today or hanging out with them outside of here. But we do a lot of activities just as far as going out. ‘Rank’ [Sheldon Rankins], he cooks for us at his house sometimes. Azeez [Al-Shaair] will come through and he plays linebacker. All the different things. I had a birthday party and some of the guys came from the offense, ‘X’ [Xavier Hutchinson] and some other them. The more that we can connect outside the building, I think we will be closer inside the building.”
Q: On Indianapolis Colts QB Daniel Jones
Anderson: “He's tough. He's really tough. He kind of reminds me of [Cincinnati Bengals QB] Joe Burrow in a sense. If you disrespect the pocket, he'll take off on you. He wants to stand in the pocket and he wants to show that he's a quarterback. I think he's been doing a really good job of that. We have a ton of respect for him. It's going to be a great challenge for us. Him and Joe Burrow really remind me a lot of each other. It's going to be good for us.”
Q: On how he has navigated being a leader this season
Anderson: “I had a defensive meeting today with just the defense. I was kind of thinking about it all night. Then I got here in the morning, I'm walking in the building and one thing for me, I always ask God like, ‘God give me the right words to say.’ I just don't want to fly off the realm and just start saying anything. Also talking to Azeez about how to approach guys. For me, I was telling them, this is not a panic meeting. This is not a meeting where we're trying to figure out, ‘Oh my goodness, what's going on.’ This was a reset meeting for us. This was a let's recenter, realign, restore, get our minds right and remember who we are. For me, just telling everybody this is who we are. This is our standard. This is the culture that we've built. We have to continue to connect with each other to get to where we want to be. Everybody received it in the right way. I thought today at practice, guys were flying around, swarming, having fun. I think they received it in a really great way.”
Q: On whether he struggled to sleep before today’s meeting
Anderson: “Not really struggle going to sleep. I think as being a young leader and talking to a group of guys, there’s always a little nervousness because you don't want to say the wrong thing. I think as I've been able to have this seat on my chest and wear it proudly and have the guys respect me, but also have older vets like ‘Rank’ and Azeez to be able to come to and talk to about things that I might say, they correct me like, ‘No, don't say it like this. You might want to say it like that. They may receive it better like this.’ Having those guys that are older than me that have been in the league to help me has allowed me to speak freely but in a way that everybody gets it in the room.”
Q: On whether he tells defensive coaches to make adjustments
Anderson: “Yeah, most definitely. I think that's what I love about this team so much and the coaching staff and just us as players and coaches is that, they want feedback. They want to know, ‘Hey, what's going on out there?’ Because obviously they're not out there playing. For us, it's like, ‘Hey coach, they slid this way. They are picking up on this game, so let's get into something else.’ And they'll do it. For instance, that play that me and ‘Rank’ had when he got the sack. When I went to the move, you're like, that was a me and ‘Rank’ thing. [Defensive Coordinator Matt] Burke was like, ‘I'm good with that. I'm fine with that. If they don't want to pick it up a certain way, if they all see something differently, let me know and I can put the call in.’ I think they do a really good job of wanting our feedback and changing things up. That's what the league is. I most definitely think, obviously going into this year, teams have been preparing for us differently. Or when we watch tape, they do have a different game plan for us. I think the best thing that we have and continue to do is how fast can we adjust to that on the fly, on the field. I think they've been doing a really good job of that. We just have to keep trending upward.”
Q: On what the defense’s standard is
Anderson: “I would just say it's S.W.A.R.M. [Special Work Ethic and Relentless Mindset]. That's who we are. Everybody wants to get in a frenzy of like, ‘They're losing it.’ No, that's who we are. Win, lose, or draw, we're S.W.A.R.M. and that's our standard. It doesn't matter what anybody on the outside says. That's who we are. In this building, we're S.W.A.R.M. That's our foundation. That's who we are and that's what we have to continue to be.”
Q: On S Reed Blankenship
Anderson: "I think it's just giving grace. To your point, even in the meeting today, schematically I can't speak to any of those things because I'm not in your meeting rooms, I don't play defensive back, so I can't speak to any of those things with the other position groups. But what I can say is, 'When you look at yourself, are you getting to the ball? Are you swarming?' He's new here, and the best thing that we can continue to do is we have to do our job so he can be able to do his job. That's why I said, man, as long as you do your job, your brother's going to feed off you. If we're all in the right place, if he's messed up, if I mess up, if anybody messes up, somebody's going to make us right because that's how this defense works. So for me, when I look at Reed, I'm like, he's new. Give him grace. That was only the second game he's played with us. Love him, I'm glad he's here. He's going to continue to ball for us. He's going to continue to be a good player for us and we're going to continue to rally behind him. That's the reason he's here because he's a special player and this is a special team."
Q: On trying to upkeep the standard on defense and how they are looking to get back to it
Anderson: "Probably a bunch of things. I told the guys, I said, 'Look, sometimes when you have success you can get a little bit of comfortability.' As athletes and even in your regular job sometimes, when you elevate sometimes and you keep expecting to keep elevating, sometimes it is that sense of comfortability that you get where you stop doing the little things. You stop being detailed in your work. You stop reporting like how you start reporting, you stop writing. So for me, that's how I look at football. You maybe stop getting in the cold tub some days because you're like this is going to come, my body is going to be fine. You have to go through your process every single day. Like I said, I think the guys really responded to it in the right way. It's just getting back to what we do. Do the little things right. Run off the field. Get to meetings on time. I'm not saying that anybody is getting to meetings on time. I'm just giving examples. Get to meetings on time, watch a little bit more film. Do all the necessary things that you need to do to be best at your craft so when Sunday comes you can go ball out, have fun with your brothers, and you don't have to worry about anything."
Q: On if the offensive line and defensive line coordinate together to point out tips
Anderson: "Yeah, sometimes in a sense. I think DeMeco has been doing a really good job of that. He'll put a reminder play of this is who you are on the tape. Just as a confidence boost. That's what we all need. We all need somebody to continue to remind us this is the player that you are. I think for us as players, sometimes we don't get to see everything that the offense does. What I can say, if I can ever see 'Tae' [T Aireontae Ersery] feeling down or somebody feeling down, we always try to go and check on them like, 'Hey, man, keep your head up. This is what the league is. You're doing a fantastic job.' I always remind 'Tae' you're here for a reason. You've been hand-picked, hand-chosen to be here. You're going to continue to do great things. One bad play doesn't define you. One bad game doesn't define you. The challenge is how do you respond to that next play, that next game. I think he's been doing a really good job of responding."
This article originally appeared on Texans Wire: What did Texans DE Will Anderson say ahead of Week 3 matchup vs Colts?
