As Peyton Manning toured America on his Great Free Agent Tour in the offseason, Houston Texans quarterback Matt Schaub received a text on his cell phone.

We need you to pick Peyton up at the airport and show him around town, it read. The sender? None other than Texans coach Gary Kubiak.

Schaub quickly texted back where he'd show Manning — right back out of town, according to a source close to the situation who detailed the exchange to CultureMap.

Our source tells us that Schaub knew Kubiak was joking from the instant he saw the text. Despite some wild speculation last March, the Texans never seriously considered making a major pitch at Manning. The organization always believed in Schaub even as some fans and members of the media urged them to turn to Peyton.

And while Kubiak will never be confused with Bill Parcells, the Texans coach needles his players more than most people realize. And he certainly got a friendly rise out of Schaub.

Kubiak jokes with his guys — and this little text exchange between the coach and his quarterback is a perfect example. Why not lighten the mood while sending a little subliminal motivation?

At the time Schaub received his coach's Peyton airport pickup text, he was a 30-year-old quarterback coming off Lisfranc surgery in the last year of his contract. Serious doubts accompanied his every ginger step.

Now? Schaub is the owner of a new four-year, $62-million contract that locks him in as the Texans quarterback of the present and the foreseeable future, having shredded any remaining questions in the preseason. A quarterback who happens to get to play against Peyton Manning and his new Denver Broncos team in one of the marquee games in the entire league this Sunday.

Think there's any extra motivation for Schaub in this one?

A Serious Man

The quarterback certainly looks intense as he makes his way through the locker room a few days before the game.

Texans defensive coordinator Wade Phillips jokes with reporters, noting that he "forgot" to use his line last week about Miami Dolphins guard Richie Incognito, who went unpunished even as Phillips' guy Antonio Smith was fined $21,000 for their tussle by the NFL. "Of course they didn't catch him," Phillips deadpans. "He's incognito." Smith himself goes into his Tonestradamus act, forecasting two sacks of Manning for linebacker Connor Barwin on Sunday even as nose guard Shaun Cody mocks him for never getting a single prediction right.

Everything is light in the Texans locker room — except for the cold-blooded stare on the quarterback's face.

Schaub's has little use for chit chat this week, little interest in stopping for much of anything besides film work.

And while his teammates won't go as far as saying that Schaub is different, they have noticed something from the most even keel of leaders.

"I don't think Matt's pumped up because of the quarterback we're going against," left tackle Duane Brown says. "I don't see much difference there. But I think he's driven to show he's an elite quarterback in his own right.

"It's about proving it himself more than going against a tough opponent. He's going to do big things this season. We can all see that."

Schaub's teammates clearly already think of him as an elite quarterback. General manager Rick Smith showed his own belief by finalizing that mega extension on the eve of the season when everyone assumed the Texans would force Schaub to play out his deal. But outplaying Manning with CBS's No. 1 team (Houston's own Jim Nantz and Phil Simms) in Denver, calling a Texans regular season game for the first time in forever . . . well, that might up No. 8's Q-rating a little around the league.

Not that Schaub himself would ever admit to any such thoughts.

"We don’t really think about that much — how we’re perceived out there," he says. "We just want to go out and win a football game. We want to get to 3-0 this week, and the only way to do that is to get ourselves prepared to go win on the road in a tough place to play.

"We’re just putting our head down and just charging forward and just finding a way to get our next win.”

That's Schaub in public. The private one who responded to Kubiak's Peyton text in such an emphatic manner . . . he'll have a little impact on Sunday's game as well.

"Matt's always focused," fullback James Casey says. "He's the last guy we ever have to worry about."

Don't be surprised if he turns into the Broncos' biggest worry. The Texans may have been carried by the running game last week, powered by 48 carries of Arian Foster, Ben Tate and Justin Forsett. But this is a new challenge, a completely different stage and a driven quarterback.

Kubiak is a better motivator than you think. A funnier guy too.