Odds and ends
Quotes from today's 35-10 Chargers victory ...
From Antonio Gates, on the team's ability to focus during a difficult week:
"I don't think it was a surprise. I think it was a mindset. I think it started from the preparation. The distractions tried to occur. We maintained our poise and maintained our focus. Ultimately, you prepare to play a certain way and we were able to come out and play that way."
From Luis Castillo, on the same subject:
"You know, you look at Monday and Tuesday, and I can guarantee you that nobody on this team was thinking about football. The guys that were evacuated, the guys that weren’t were just worried about the guys who had to leave their homes.
"But the biggest thing for us was just coming together. Especially after a bye week, when we hadn’t seen each other for a few days. But coming together Tuesday night, getting the chance to go to Arizona and to come together as a team, the moment we started talking football on Wednesday, the moment we got abck on the field, things started meshing again. You saw that focus, you saw that intensity. And the biggest thing, the key to this victory, is that we practiced, we prepared the right way. We had that focus we needed to have a great win."
Castillo on the inclusion of firefighters in the entry onto the field and the pre-game coin toss:
"Obviously as players we have a tough job, and it’s a physical job and there’s injuries. But you look at what they do. I got a chance to see some pictures last night and see these firefighters in the middle of these fires, these flames. As tough a job as they have, for us to be able to give a tribute to them, it was special for us. They mean a lot."
Shawne Merriman on the air quality in the area, where the smoky haze still lingers:
"You could smell it coming out in the stadium. As I walked into the stadium, you can smell it. You know it’s there. It smells like a bunch of wood and fireplace. I’m from the East Coast, so I smell those fireplaces. That’s what it kinda, sorta smelled like when we came in. (But) It’s no worse than playing in Denver. You play in Denver, you play in what’s going on out here, it’s pretty much the same."
Houston backup quarterback Sage Rosenfels, who came in after starter Matt Schaub took a pretty good hit from Stephen Cooper on Antonio Cromartie's second interception in the second quarter:
"I didn't even see the play. I just saw him when he was down. I just needed to get ready to go in. It's happened three weeks in a row now, and I'm the backup quarterback and I enjoy playing, but you don't like seeing your buddy and your starting quarterabck out there on the ground hurting. And it's very upsetting."
Houston coach Gary Kubiak on his team's play:
"We're a very sloppy football team right now. We are doing a lot of things to hurt ourselves. Whether it's busting coverage, busting a snap, throwing an interception or just turning the ball over, you can't win in this league that way. I've been saying that for over a month now. When you play a good team like this you can really get your butt kicked."
Chargers coach Norv Turner on the aftermath of this game:
"My feeling inside on how our guys handled this is, you can have something like this and everyone is so focused and then have a letdown after the fact. That's the biggest thing on my mind already and I hate to admit it. Now we have to get back into our normal routine and we're playing a team (Minnesota next week at Minneapolis) that is playing well. I watched them during the bye week, Minnesota vs. Dallas, and it was a very physical, close and competitive game. We're going on the road to play them. Unfortunately, when you stand up here (at the podium), that's where your mind shifts to."