Opening statement:
"Before we start today, I just want to say a couple of things about the passing of friend (Texans owner) Bob McNair. I just want to say on behalf of Dee and Jimmy Haslam and the entire Cleveland Browns organization, we want to offer our condolences to the Texans and the McNair family on the passing of Mr. McNair. We know it has been a tough week for the City of Houston. He loved football, he loved that city and he loved his family. Cleveland fans know far too well what it is like for a city to lose an NFL team and then get one back. What Mr. McNair did for that community of Houston by bringing an NFL football team back to the region was very noble, and the people of that city greatly appreciate what he did. The NFL will miss Mr. McNair. I was the head coach of the Bills when they came back to Houston, and I was on that staff and team that left Houston and had lived there for quite a while. I had two children of my own that were born there in Houston that means a lot to them, and I get a chance to see them this weekend when they come back into town for the game down there where they grew up, part of their family. It is never easy, but I wanted to make sure that the people of Houston and our city understood Mr. McNair will be missed."
On OL Austin Corbett not practicing and if he was injured during the last game:
"Yeah, he got hurt in the game and got stepped on. We are going through the evaluation process with that. Let's see how it moves throughout the rest of the week."
On the current backup C in practice today:
"Right now, I am trying to limit the reps with (offensive line coach) Bob Wylie (laughter), but we are moving other guys in there. Bob got a little fatigued today (laughter)."
On if Corbett's injury could be season ending:
"We are just going to take it day by day, and we will see."
On if he talks to QB Baker Mayfield about his social media activity and comments surrounding former Browns Head Coach and Bengals special assistant to the head coach Hue Jackson:
"As we talk about this right now, that game is over. If I did talk to him, that is between him and I and that stays in house and is not something we discuss here. That game is over, and now, we are on to the Texans."
On Mayfield's Instagram post after the game:
"Yeah, and we are on to the Texans today."
On the challenge of players talking on social media:
"It is never easy. It is never easy, and what we do is we have to get ready to roll each and every week. Those are things we have talked about before and we continue to talk about, but we have to get on to the Texans."
On Texans DE J.J. Watt and the Texans defensive line:
"It brings a smile to my face – I think about the arguments that sometime we were having about how good of a player he would have been on another staff – I really liked him really coming out [of the draft]. Some of the arguments we were having in the draft meetings about him and some of the arguments we were having in the draft meetings about (Texans DL Jadeveon) Clowney, and those guys have risen up and played really well. I think Romeo and that staff have done a good job on how they are utilizing those guys, and it is also good – you see J.J.'s brother (Steelers DE T.J. Watt) in our division. We thought a lot about him, too, when he was coming out on how we evaluated him on how well he is playing. Good gene pool."
On lessons since he was head coach of the Bills:
"I think I mentioned this last week even from moving from Buffalo on throughout the rest and prior to that, when you are in charge of a position area, you are in charge of a unit. You are in charge of the department. You are in charge as the head coach of that area, and you learn each and every day when you are providing leadership for other people other than just yourself. I think the biggest things is having the opportunity to be around some really good people since that time, too, and you take a look at how they handle situations. Sometimes, you accept those things and say that is a pretty good way of doing things. Other ways, you say you do not have to waste time thinking about that that did not work. There is less time searching and or overanalyzing things. You just have to be honest and understand what is really important to getting the guys ready to play and let them play on Sundays – really do."
On if he is different as a head coach now:
"I think that I do not spend as much time thinking about things that are not really relative to the actual performance in practice. I think this organization really, really, really strong behind the scenes on having a ton of people doing a lot of things that I had to help do when was up there outside of just coaching, and I am dedicated to just coaching here. That is what the head coach should do."
On if he could ever return to being a defensive coordinator:
"I love what I do, and in all honesty, if I was not head coaching or defensive coordinator, I would love to be special teams coordinator again. I loved that time there, even the position coach part of it. Then when I helped (Steelers offensive line coach) Mike Munchak being assistant head coach with him, too. Leadership, it is what it is. You have to be able to handle the responsibilities they are asking you to do, but I really do love the aspect of having the chance to be in charge of whatever responsibilities they give me. It is not just head coach. I enjoy the competition factor of competing at the NFL level."
On messages to the team about playing meaningful football games in December:
"This is another thing that we have talked about in here, and I hope it becomes more realized, you guys have asked about winning and the importance of preparation and stuff. The routine of doing it every day, the routine of winning every meeting, the routine of taking a look at clip after clip after clip after clip of execution and then those things become habit, and then hopefully, Sundays become habit and it is not a shock factor that you are doing the right thing come Sunday because of how you have done things during the course of the week. I think the league is pretty evenly based now, even to the point where I first started many, many years ago before free agency when teams were extremely dominant and keeping their players a lot longer. With the even base, you have to go out there every single week and be on your top game. Any team can beat you. Any team can play. Our guys have done a very good job of realizing and capturing the moment, capturing the meeting and changing from walkthrough attitude to practice attitude and then from practice attitude to game attitude. Then the execution, each and every space has to be faster and better. I have been pleased with them. I thought today was another really good step."
On how Texans QB Deshaun Watson has improved from last year:
"You can see that the game is probably slowing down some for him, the pace of the game, and moving from the style of play that he had in college to the style of play that is in the NFL. I think (Texans Head Coach) Bill O'Brian and that group of guys have done a good job of doing some of the things that you see us doing with Baker here too is what they have done with him there. Then him battling through that injury, it shows you the toughness that he has. He already had one of those earlier in his career, and then coming off the ACL, you can see that as the season has gone on he has gotten more and more confident that everything is OK. You start the year at it, it takes a while for you all of a sudden to get whacked on the same leg or whatever and get through it from a mental preparation and a speed and reaction preparation. He is a really gifted athlete. You can tell that he is a very smart leader and the guys really appreciate playing with him and for him. I think he has grown quite a bit in a short of time."
On Watson not throwing and running as much as last year:
"They have been able to run the football. They have been able to minimize some of the stress that you do put on a quarterback position, and I think that they have done a very good job of coaching the game in a real complementary fashion to what was needed in the game. They have been playing dominant on defense in a lot of different areas. They have shortened the game in some areas there, too, but he still has the ability at any point in time and he is still scrambling, he is still able to extend plays and he has the big arm. When he extends the play, the play is never dead. He will find (Texans WR) DeAndre (Hopkins) some place 100 yards down the field. We have to understand that even though he is extending the play, he has a big enough arm to go find him no matter how deep he is."
On how demoralizing it can be for defenses when a quarterback scrambles for a long run:
"You have to plan for it. There are enough mobile quarterbacks in the league. There have been enough mobile quarterbacks in my career that we have had to plan for. That style of play has to come into it, and you do need to be accountable to that. When I say accountable to that, just go back to (Panthers QB) Cam Newton, (Seahawks QB) Russell Wilson and even tons of other ones in the different division guys have been on is that it is almost like you are covering them as a man. They are in coverage, too because they can extend it. It might be a pass play, but they are the one that is open. You have to understand if they are the one who is open, do you have him covered? It can be with four defensive linemen, and it can be with extra person here or there, but you do have to have a plan for that and he forces you into that."
On if Watson surprised him in last year's game:
"Yes, I thought he was more relaxed than what I saw on film. Until you are on the field with him and you get that feel, that instinctive feel, you can see panic in guys eyes or you can see panic in their body and stuff. I never saw that [with Watson]. He showed early on, really quickly early on that he belongs in the league and that he was belonging for his team. His team saw that, too."
On if he has sensed a mood shift with the team since taking over as head coach, given some of the players' confidence and swagger:
"I think it would be better coming from them. No matter where I have been, it has been this way. Even when I have been here of the last year and a half, it has been that way in the area that I have been in and in the rooms that I have been in. We talk a lot and enjoy competing. We enjoy competing in arguments. We enjoy competing in who has the last word. That is all about the process. It has been fun seeing it go back and forth between the offense, defense and special teams. That kind of stuff, too. That has been fun, but I think that would be a good question to ask them."
On if the team's Week 13 performance will be a strong indication of the team's progress this season:
"Every week is an interview. Every week is an evaluation and taking the next step. We are more concerned about us taking the next step in how we execute and how we continue to improve. In that point of view, we are more concerned and/or attentive to how we are doing, not the opponent."
On the Texans defense as a test for the Browns offense, given Cleveland has not surrendered a sack in back-to-back weeks:
"It has been pretty good. We have our work cut out for us. I think it will be a good competition factor to see us take the next step on playing against some really good individual rushers in that respect, but schematically, (Texans defensive coordinator) Romeo (Crennel) does a very good job in what they ask them to do. We have our work cut out for us, yes."
