(On where Vince Young will watch the game)

I haven't decided yet, no. I welcome all your input and then I'll decide. Whatever you guys think is best for Vince is what we'll do. No, I haven't decided.

(On LenDale White's status)

Everybody's good. Everybody practiced full speed with the exception of Vince [Young] and Vince threw much better today and was moving around. It looks like we'll be a healthy ball club going into the ball game.

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(On Justin McCareins' status)

He practiced and didn't have any problem with it.

(On Justin Gage's status)

Yeah, Justin practiced. Both Justins practiced. Everybody practiced except for Vince [Young] and LenDale [White] was limited so we're in good shape.

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(On his assessment of the Vikings)

They have good players on offense, an exceptional defense and they're very well coached and dynamic on special teams. This is a team that was a couple plays away from being 3-0. They're very, very talented.

(On how to stop Adrian Peterson)

Well, we're going to have to get a lot of body on him and commit to it and I don't know if it's a situation where you stop him. He's that talented and they're so well-coached up front. They're going to create the mismatches and create the opportunities in the creases and you just have to minimize gains. This will be one of our bigger challenges, I think, in a long time in the run defense.

(On if Albert Haynesworth is not yet 100%)

No, Albert came back. He missed a week of practice prior to the Cincinnati game. He got a full week of practice last week, he came back and he played fine. He's healthy and we expect him to even improve ever so slightly and more importantly, we need him.

(On what makes Adrian Peterson so good)

He's got terrific vision as a runner and balance and he's strong and he's very, very quick. He has acceleration and wants no part of the sideline. He's going to stay in bounds and get whatever he can.

(On the similarities between the two teams)

There's similarities there. Both teams are fond of their run games and committed to stopping the run on defense and have good speed. It's unique in that it's an unfamiliar opponent, that's what I think brings a sense of uniqueness. We've not played them in years. It's going to be a huge challenge for us.

(On what it would mean to go 4-0)

It would mean working as hard as we possibly could to go 5-0.

(On how different the Vikings are with Gus Frerotte instead of Tavaris Jackson)

Well, the offense is a little different but Gus [Frerotte] moved around in the pocket very well. The Panthers pressured him, he slid in the pocket, stepped up, he made throws down field. He also did some similar things that Kerry [Collins] did on the edge. The offense is a little bit different. I think he'll handle a little bit better than the younger quarterback and that's particularly why they backed him down, just to give him a break and let him get caught up. Gus [Frerotte] is experienced, he's just like Kerry [Collins], I mean he's seen everything and it's just a matter of making the right decisions.

(On being undefeated after the first quarter of the season)

Well, why don't we talk about it on Monday. Everything we're doing here is trying to win the next game. If we were to win, then yeah it would be a good start and we'd be working on number five. Again, this is quite a challenge for us. This team could have beat the Packers, they should have beat the Colts and they beat the Panthers. It's a much-improved team.

(On preparing to face a team that they haven't played in a long time)

Well, you have to spend the time on the individual matchups. If we played Jacksonville or Houston, our guys are pretty much familiar with their guys. They understand the individual matchups on the offensive line, the defensive line, and the receivers and the corners. But we haven't played them so you have to spend time on the individual matchups and getting to know your opponent. Then you have a different scheme. We have a unique defensive scheme that we haven't faced. Coach [Leslie] Frazier's a very good coach who comes from Philadelphia, he spent some time at Indianapolis, he coordinated in Cincinnati and now he has an array of things to pull from and they've put it together pretty well.

(On if Adrian Peterson is one of the most talented players he's seen in the NFL)

Yes he is, without question. You don't have to look very far at any game to watch a big run. The number of plus 50-yard runs he had last year was incredible.

(On if Adrian Peterson reminds him of any past running backs)

Not in particular, no. He's special.

(On if the game is more exciting for coaches and players since they haven't seen Minnesota in some time)

The players are excited because it's just the next game and it's another opportunity and it's going to require a great deal of focus. I don't think you'll see the coaches sleeping very much this week. It's like Jimmy [Jim Schwartz] said, "You can play the run nine out of ten times right and miss it one and give up a touchdown." That's the thing that's a concern.

(On what he attributes the successful record against teams making their first trip to LP Field to)

Well, it's a tough place to play. We have great support and get noise when we need it. Hopefully it will be nice and warm and we like to play at home.

(On the team's success in the red zone)

Well, yeah we're 8-8 [overall], 7-1 [touchdowns to field goals]. It's all well and good but we need to get down there more. If I had anything to say along those lines [it would be] we should be in there, after three games, maybe 12-14 times. But the good thing is we're getting points. We're protecting the football for the most part. The other side of the ball is the defense yesterday was exceptional in the red zone. But we're getting down too often, our punter is getting down in the red zone too often. So I'd like to see the offensive opportunities go up and the defensive opportunities go down.

(On if the team is veteran enough to handle the 3-0 hype)

All you really have to do is put a couple series of Minnesota on tape and that's all. That takes care of itself. Their offense is very explosive obviously with the running back and now the quarterback change. They got the ball down the field and their defense is very, very talented so just put the tape on. We're playing an unfamiliar opponent and that creates all sorts of challenges for us.

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HEAD COACH JEFF FISHER

(opening statements)

I want to start off by complimenting the entire Texans organization, the players, staff and administration, everybody associated with the organization for the job that they did really going back to as late as this past Tuesday. After visiting with a number of the coaches and some of the players before the game, it is hard to imagine what they went through. It is hard to imagine for us to imagine what basically the population has gone through there in south Texas.

And for them to pull together like they did and to fight to the very end I think the whole organization, players, coaches, staff and their fans should be commended for it. It was a tremendous effort. They are one of us. I just think, I want this to get out that they did one heck of a job today.

As far as the game is concerned, I think you saw that our defense, somebody told our defense that the field was five yards long, not a 100 yards long to assess our play inside the 5-yard line.

The defense made the plays when we needed to make the plays .We got the points, we got the turnaround. We didn't play the game I thought we were going to play. But, we will take the win.

The turnovers, those types of things have a direct effect on the ballgame and they did today. Our offense was in a hole the second half. We couldn't get going with the difficult field position. But overall I think we took a step forward. I think we got a little better, but we have a lot of things to correct.

(on Kerry Collins' performance)

We expect Kerry to do well. He didn't start out the way he wanted to start out but he settled right back down. That's the experience that he has. He made a bad throw and the defense made a play for him and held them to three points. We got on a roll, so he was able to just brush that off. He did a nice job. He put the ball where it needed to be put. They're a good defense and I thought we did a nice job protecting for him. We kept his jersey somewhat clean and he made good reads and good decisions.

(on the rushing attempts by Kerry Collins)

I don't think they anticipated him doing that. That's why we had it in the game plan. But yeah, he can still get it for an old man. He lost a lot of weight in the off-season. He runs around in practice. In the future it helps keep the edges honest.

(on being able to rely on the defense to help when turnovers occur)

What's important is the experience itself. You can talk in front of a defense and say, ‘Hey look regardless of what happens, if there is a field position shift what-have-you, you guys need to go make the play.' Now they know they are capable of doing it and getting use to it. It was the longest interception return in franchise history. That's a great way to finish the game.

(on if he was surprised about the fourth down decisions made by the Houston Texans)

You know, I'm never going to second guess another coach. Gary (Kubiak) has information over there that we don't have. They don't call plays not thinking that they're going to work. I thought they did a great job with their play calling and you could see the chunks that they were picking up throughout the game. We had to play defense too and our guys made the plays.

(on if Jevon Kearse is hurt)

No, he's fine. We didn't really have any injuries this week other than just minor bumps and bruises.

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(On Chris Johnson and LenDale White's carries being split almost exactly 50/50)

Well, we were 15 a piece last week. We're not counting them but you just get a feel. They're unselfishly rotating and there are times we'd prefer to have one in the game other than the other but hopefully that will continue.

(On if a rhythm develops in the running back rotation process)

Yeah, well there is. What's hard to do is go in for one play and come out. So you typically go a series or three or four plays or at least the first and second downs, and then first, second and one will come in on third down. That's kind of how the rotation has evolved.

(On his sense of how Houston has used Steve Slaton and Chris Taylor)

We just have one game. 30 [Ahman Green] had some injury issues and then [Steve] Slaton goes in and he played and played well so I can't really get a feel for what they're doing. Typically speaking, the offense that they're using is going to rotate backs and keep backs fresh so that's what we expect.

(On if they prepare to face Sage Rosenfels at all after Matt Schaub was injured against the Titans last year)

We're familiar with both of them, what they can do. One's just slightly more mobile than the other and [Matt] Schaub really does a good job. You go back and look at what they did the preseason and like I said, it was promising. He's going to get rid of the ball on time, he's going to not get hit. That's how they protect their quarterback, they disperse everybody very evenly and they get the ball out. It's the design of the offense. It's a different Houston Texan offense than it has been in the past.

(On Albert Haynesworth's suggestion that the Titans should run a two-quarterback system)

You know, we'll obviously begin to sit down and we'll consult with him once a week on decisions that we make.

(On Kerry Collins physical shape)

Oh, he's in great shape. He's probably where he was in college, I mean he's lost a lot of weight and he's running around. He's moving the pocket well. He made a great play, a play that he may not have made last year, in the ball game. [He got] flushed out to his left and threw across his body. So he can get out of trouble and make a play.

(On if he asked Kerry Collins to lose weight last year or if it was done by Collins himself)

No, he did it on his own. He was productive for us last year and effective. He worked hard.

(On his thoughts on Kerry Collins and his longevity and his ability to still play quarterback at a high level)

Yeah, we went through that with Neil [O'Donnell]. Neil had been a few places and came in and still did it well for us and that's the same with Kerry [Collins]. His numbers are quite impressive if you really think about what he's done. He's in great shape and loves to practice, enjoys the game plan. We'll see how well he plays.

(On if he likes Kerry Collins proclaiming that he wants to make the Titans his team now that he's starting)

That's what should come out of the quarterback position, regardless of who's playing the position. When you play quarterback you've automatically been anointed the leader and so it's the nature of the position. You expect him to say that.

(On if he addressed the team on Roger Goodell's announcement today about player safety)

We discussed it, I discussed it with them. It's just a reminder that player's safety is first and foremost on Sundays, that players will be penalized if things get out of hand or if there are some egregious hits. The officials are told to err on the side of caution. If they think it's a helmet-to-helmet then let it fly, and if it's not, so be it. But just try to keep the unnecessary hits out of the game.

(opening remarks)

Yesterday afternoon we had three or four players leave the game that did not return. None of them appear to be too serious and I'll have more detailed injury information for you later on in the week. As far as the game is concerned, we saw on tape exactly what we saw yesterday. We saw three units that I thought did a very good job adjusting to the weather conditions, all three phases. I was very, very pleased. Difficult set of circumstances. We should have had a false start on the last play of the game because we had two players nearly blown over before the snap. The wind was that significant. Kerry [Collins] did a great job managing the game. I think he was 7-10 in the second half. Most of his passes took place in the third quarter. We had one pass attempt in the fourth quarter. We just handed the ball off, that's kind of how the game went. As I said yesterday, our game plan was significantly reduced on offense. There were things that neither offense were able to even attempt to try because of the conditions. As you would expect in your second game, still a lot of room for improvement. For example, we had some difficulty with communication on defense. Now whether that was because they couldn't hear because the wind was whistling inside their helmets, that could have been part of the reason but we had some communication breakdowns. I'm still not pleased with our coverage units yet, we need to cover better on [special] teams. Other than that we just had the little things that you try to continue to improve upon as you continue to try and build wins. If you keep improving you should win more games and that's pretty much where we are.

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(On Chris Simms' progression)

He's getting a feel for it. We'll have a sufficient enough package for him. He's got a good enough feel for it.

(On Kerry Collins getting a full week of practice as the starting quarterback)

Well, the last time he did was at Houston last year. We didn't score touchdowns but we got ourselves in scoring position many, many times throughout the ballgame. We moved the football well. He didn't make any mistakes and won the game for us at the end. He feels good. He's veteran enough that even though he doesn't get the actual reps, he's prepared every week so he'll have a better sense and feel for what he's doing. He's had a really good week of practice.

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(On Albert Haynesworth’s status)

He’s doing better. When you have the mild concussion symptoms you have to not put him in any situations where he’d be involved in any collisions for a few days, so we’re waiting. But he’s been conditioning inside and he should be fine.

(On being as cautious with Albert Haynesworth and they were with Nick Harper when he suffered a concussion)

Each case is different. Each case is unique based on our baseline studies so you have to vary it. We do evaluations and we’re constantly evaluating them.

(On the impact of Albert Haynesworth on the defense)

Obviously, he’s a very important part of our defense and we’re hoping we have him available for Sunday.

(On if Albert Haynesworth could convince team doctors he’s ready to play when he may not be)

No, that’s not possible. He actually was the other way after the ballgame. The doctors were realistic and very practical, cautious, and for some reason he didn’t remember, at least claimed he didn’t remember much. So we have a protocol that we follow and it’s been working.

(On if the team has returned to normal after the events of the past few days)

Everything that goes on inside and outside is normal, and it’s been normal. Today was a great practice, I was really proud and it didn’t have anything to do with what happened the last couple days, it had to do with execution and preparation.

(On if he anticipates more of a pass rush with Kerry Collins being less mobile than Vince Young)

You have to be prepared for everything and Kerry is actually pretty good at that. He understands that, he sees it, he makes good decisions, he can throw the ball. Some quarterbacks can beat the blitz with their legs sometimes, many of them can beat it with their arm. If I was on the other side, I would be cautious because of his experience.

(On how important it is to put pressure on Carson Palmer)

Obviously, our defensive line has to be able to collapse the pocket quickly and we can’t let him hold on to it. If he holds on to it, he can wait until things happen. He can make big plays down the field.

(On if he senses any extra motivation after last year’s game against the Bengals)

No, they’re motivated because it’s week 2, it’s our next game. You correct what happened last year, we did that following the game. We made adjustments in the game plan and now we’re just going to go try to win this one.

(On if he feels teams will start to adjust to Chris Johnson after his week 1 performance)

We are. We also are prepared to expand. That’s why he’s here and what we have to do is do different things. If you get an adjustment here than we have to be ready to counter with it.

(Opening remarks)

Well, Cincinnati went to Baltimore and everybody has high expectations for the opener and Baltimore found a way to win the ballgame. Cincinnati comes off this game, I think, a little disappointed and we expect them to be much improved over last week and ready for this upcoming game.

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