Everything Texans DC Matt Burke said ahead of Week 7 game vs Giants

Here's everything Houston Texans defensive coordinator Matt Burke said on Thursday ahead of Week 7's matchup against the New York Giants , including the game plan of slowing down Malik Nabers, the change at quarterback to J.J. McCarthy and the change of the defense in the past several weeks.

On New York Giants WR Malik Nabers and TE Isaiah Likely

"They're both really good, really productive players. I'll start with Nabers. Both of them, I think they're the top, most targeted duo in the league from just a two-man show. Nabers, I never have gone against them until we started looking at them this year, he has it all in his bag. The route tree's open for him. They do a lot in terms of getting him the ball in the RPO game and some of the screen game, the intermediate stuff, just the individual routes on the backside. Obviously, he's got a lot of down-the-field plays as well. Made a couple big catches last week. I think he's got 35 targets in the last two weeks. So obviously, someone that they're trying to feature, they're going to get him the ball in a lot of different ways and he can do it all. There's not any level of the route tree that's not open to him. It'll be a fun challenge. Then Likely, we've obviously matched up against Baltimore a lot since we've been here the last three, four years. Really seen him grow a lot. Just from where we've seen him and his role going against him the last few years, I think he's improved a lot since I've seen him. He's heavily involved, particularly in the third-down red zone, those types of areas. He's really getting a lot of work there. They're similar, again, they're running option routes and underneath stuff with him. You can see the sort of [Travis] Kelce, not comparing them, but just how they're using him from some Kansas City influence in terms of the way they're trying to get him open. He's become a really, really big weapon. They're two big challenges for us that we're looking forward to going against this week."

Q: On S M.J. Stewart in Week 6 vs. Jacksonville

"He did a great job for us. M.J.'s played a lot of ball for us, especially last year in particular. His journey coming back from that and having to come in on PUP and all that stuff. Just have a lot of trust in him and how he prepares. Probably asks the most questions of anybody in the meetings and stuff. He always wants to be on it. I think it shows up when he goes out and plays for us. So did a really good job. All those veteran guys that have come and stepped in for us. Tremon [Smith], another one. Both those guys did a really good job helping us win that ball game."

Burke: "Obviously, he came in, did a really good job sparking them to a little bit of a comeback and getting them back in that game last week. Another person who made a lot of big plays. Then just trying to go back a little bit just to see what he likes to do and what he's comfortable with and sort of what his strengths are just from generic tape. Obviously, not schematically. That's a little different from what they're doing in Minnesota. So yeah, we've gone back and tried to see just where we think there's always a little bit of projection. We always kind of go back to, let's make sure we're doing what we need to be doing. But really athletic, gets out, made a few plays with his legs, both scrambling and then obviously buying time in the pocket. That's another factor we've got to account for. Even early in the season in New York, they were putting them in some packages to run some quarterback runs and stuff. That's another thing that we're sort of trying to make sure we're on top of. We're trying to go back and just make sure we're crossing all our T's and dotting our I's to make sure we have a good sense of what we're about to face."

Q: On whether the five-man defensive front is to help DT Kayden McDonald see more game action

Burke: "I think that's sort of a byproduct of that. I think when we're scheming up how we want to do things, it has been good for us. We've done it since we've been here, just different versions of it. 'K-Mac's' done a really good job of kind of owning that role and trying to build out a little niche for him since he's been back. He's done a really good job in the two weeks he's been playing, just being stout, being square, making some plays in the run game, trying to eat up space. It was good to kind of get him going again, but it's not like an exclusive reason that we're doing that if we think that putting those guys out there. Teams have kind of gone back to some 13 and some extra tight end personnel groups and those sort of things. So, it's just week to week, if that's a tool that we think can help combat some of the things we're seeing in those personnel groupings, then we'll deploy that. We're fortunate that we've been able to play some more base too, having Henry [To'oTo'o]and Jake [Hansen] back and those guys. Now we've got some different groupings that we can kind of mix and match depending on how we feel is a good fit for what we're seeing."

Q: On the value of defensive tackles taking up space

Burke: "You're just trying to basically clog and run lanes, I guess you would say. Especially when you're going in those big personnel groupings and you're getting two tight ends and three tight ends and two tight ends and a full back and all those things, it's creating more, they're trying to create more gaps in there. They're extending the line by putting three tight ends out there or they're putting a full back in the backfield to create an extra gap wherever he's fitting. That's creating a second gap whenever he's running through a B-gap or whatnot. To combat that, when you have a guy like Kayden [McDonald], [Jaden] Crumedy done a really good job. Obviously, we know Tommy [Togiai] has always done that for us in terms of just sort of eating that space up and trying to close some of those windows down. We talk about filling up space and eating space, like you close some of those gaps down and it takes away some of that advantage from an offensive perspective. I think all of our interior guys have done a really good job of sort of understanding the run schemes that we're getting week to week and trying to sort of close some of those windows down a little bit."

Burke: "I think I would say our tackling, issues isn't the right word, but some of our tackling issues were, I would debate anybody that says we're not a physical team. I think like just a lot of it is getting to the right spots and your leaving feet behind, being behind a tackle where you're kind of swinging off and those sorts of things. In practice, I feel like the emphasis has been sort of getting in front and positionally. Not being on a side tackle or being behind, or again, not leaving your feet to go make the play because that's when you lose your power. I know we're not bringing guys down or really striking people out here, but I wouldn't say that's been our problem. Our problem has maybe been we have to take that extra step to get our body in front of somebody and not be on a side tackle or sort of swinging off. The emphasis has been sort of taking those extra steps, getting into positionally in the right spot to be able to tackle. Then I think that the physical nature will show up on Sundays."

Q: On facing an offense that utilizes the fullback position

Burke: "I'd say it's almost like a hybrid offense with Coach [Greg] Roman's influence and obviously Coach [Matt] Nagy. You've got some of the gap schemes and the two-back runs and those sorts of things. But then there are also some, I would say, Kansas City influence, RPOs and that sort of thing too. You try to sort of balance all that. They've had some different approaches in different games and sort of which way they're leaning on some of that stuff. Generically, anytime that you're playing a coordinator or a scheme or a head coach that you have a history with, you have to obviously go back and make sure that things that they've utilized against you in the past are sound and cleaned up from what we're seeing. This is probably a pretty diverse offense in that sense, in terms of making sure that we're checking off all our boxes."

Q: On how the defensive communication has changed with Head Coach DeMeco Ryans calling defensive plays

Burke: "Yeah, I don't know. We're 2-0. Hopefully that's something. On game days, it's really just been a back-and-forth street. You'd have to ask him from his point of view. There's a lot of communication, a lot of like, 'Hey, what do we think here? What about this?' I always try to just have my answers ready for him to provide the information that he might need to make his final decision. I think our communication has been really good. I think we're trying to streamline everything with the players and make sure that we're in the right spots."

Q: On whether he saw former Texan J.J. Watt working in broadcast

Burke: "Obviously, he's got into it pretty quickly after he was done playing. I keep in touch with J.J. a lot and talk to him fairly frequently. I think whatever J.J. chooses to do, he's going to excel at. I think when he commits himself to doing something, he's going to commit to greatness. I don't really get to watch a lot of his games because we're usually busy at the same time, but it doesn't surprise me that he's excelling and having success in whatever he's doing. A little shout-out: his son's birthday is tomorrow. Happy Birthday, Koa."