http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/sports/fb/texansfront/6109134.html
assuming the transcript from the media session will be on the official site before long, so we can post w/o Manfull's interference.
Texans owner Bob McNair is talking only about the short-term these days. It's about the upcoming days, not weeks, for an owner becoming impatient with the Texans' lack of success.
With strong playoff hopes entering the season, McNair is disappointed with the Texans' 3-6 record. While he continues to offer his support, there are no long-term promises being made to Texans coach Gary Kubiak or his staff.
"Our responsibility, my responsibility is to try and get an organization to perform and to get people in place who are capable of performing," McNair said Wednesday after practice. "And I think we have people in place. As we go forward, are we going to tweak our roster? Yes. If we have a chance to upgrade our coaches, will we do that? Yes. We'll always do that."
McNair isn't an owner who likes to make major decisions during a season. When a move seemed likely in 2005 as the team sank to the bottom of the NFL with a 2-14 record, McNair waited until after the season finale to fire Dom Capers.
"We evaluate all of our people at the end of the year," McNair said. "This is just like a football game. You're in the game until the final whistle and you have to play it that way, and if you don't you're going to be surprised many times."
McNair is remaining optimistic with seven games remaining in the season. He talks to Kubiak almost daily, and is often around the team, either in practice or in the postgame locker room. He tries to gauge the atmosphere and the mood, and he still sees the players rallying around Kubiak.
The results in the upcoming weeks will not be determined by Kubiak's performance alone. McNair wants to see the players step up.
"He's a very capable coach," McNair said. "He's smart. He's hard-working. The players relate to him. They play hard for him. They respect him and he treats them fairly. And those are the things that players are looking for and really that's all you can ask of your coach.
"Beyond that, the players have to do it out on the field and they know that they're held accountable for that. So it's a difficult time for us because we all thought we'd be doing better than we are. So we just have to go out there, and our players have just got to play better."
A victory Sunday would be a franchise first against the Colts in Indianapolis, a place where the Texans' average margin of defeat is 19 points.
They need to win five of their next seven to equal last season's 8-8 finish. Only three of their final seven opponents currently boast winning records, but four of them were in the playoffs last season.
Four of their final seven games are also on the road, which doesn't bode well for a team that hasn't won away from home since they beat Oakland on Nov. 4 last season.
McNair wants to see that road drought end. And he hopes it happens Sunday.
"I'm impatient," McNair said. "I have been patient, but I'm impatient. I thought we would be doing better at this point in time and we're not and I'm disappointed about it. So then the next question is, what are you going to do?
"Well, the first thing you can do is go out and win this Sunday. That's what you can do. We're not playing anybody else but Indianapolis this Sunday. We're not playing the rest of our schedule. We're playing the Indianapolis Colts and that's what we have to focus on. And we know they're healthy, they're playing well and it's going to be a real challenge."
assuming the transcript from the media session will be on the official site before long, so we can post w/o Manfull's interference.