Standing in front his assigned road locker, Matt Schaub is ready for every question. His answers aren't rushed and the quarterback who enjoys holding court with the media about as much as Charles Barkley enjoys shutting up is clearly committed to this session for the long haul.

He waits for the first wave of reporters to back away and for a second one to appear.

This is the scene after the Houston Texans' crushing defeat to the New England Patriots. Schaub usually doesn't talk this much.

But the Texans lost. Big. So Schaub wants to make sure he shoulders his share of the load. He'll do his best to take some of the burden off his teammates. He won't leave anyone else to answer for any of his failings. (Whether they're even really completely his failings or not).

On the days he throws four touchdown passes and loses a piece of his ear? Schaub doesn't feel the need to talk a ton then.

It's disappointments — a 42-14 shellacking at the hands of the New England Patriots — that require his attention. In those moments, with the pain raw and the jeers fresh in everyone's ears, Schaub's a leader.

It's a fascinating sort of inside football thing to watch. Matt Schaub talks much more after losses than wins.

This is leadership.

You can bet Schaub's teammates notice it too. Everyone knows who's there at their locker when times are bad and who slips away.

It's something J.J. Watt would be wise to pay attention to as he begins the difficult climb to becoming The Face Of The Franchise. Watt arguably played his worst game of the season against the Patriots.

He was such an unexpected, nonfactor that the New England radio announcers actually had the gall to wonder if he quit on air. That's absurd. Watt never stopped trying, never stopped pushing. His chase down forced fumble in the fourth quarter is testament to that.

Sure, it made a crazy bounce and still ended up as a Patriots touchdown. But the max-out effort still rang through on the play.

Occasional bad games are going to happen. Especially when Bill Belichick dedicated his week to keeping you in check.

Watt might not be able to always control that. But he can control how he reacts.

And on a night when Schaub showed why he's such a beloved leader in his own locker room — a night when many prominent Texans stood up and took responsibility — No. 99 sped out of the locker room.

Watt was leaving by the time most of the media found their way in. A few reporters even tried to chase Watt down the Gillette Stadium tunnel, but he wanted none of that.

He'd be a virtual no show for the second time on a big night.

It's not the end of the world. It doesn't mean he's taken a step back as a player.

But it's not quite as inconsequential as one might first assume either.

It's not really about any responsibility to talk to the media. To be honest, the notion that an athlete needs to speak to reporters because they are the conduit to the fans is sort of outdated in this social media world.

Watt could tweet his thoughts and reach a good portion of his diehards. The audience isn't still quite the same, but there are other platforms.

It's not about reporters. It's about the message he sends to the rest of the team.

Watt is a captain now. He's a Defensive Player of the Year favorite. Heck, he should be in the running for MVP, would be if the award meant more than just which quarterback is the most popular.

When the Texans defense breaks down, that guy needs to be standing up and talking, just like Danieal Manning, Antonio Smith, Johnathan Joseph, Connor Barwin and Wade Phillips all were.

It's a show of strength. A show of resolve.

That's part of being a leader too.

Quarterback Believer

Go ahead and dismiss any notion of Schaub as an elite quarterback if you must after the New England debacle. It's a little absurd to make that snap judgment. Especially on a night when Kevin Walter and Lestar Jean both let big-moment catchable balls go through their hands. A night when the Texans couldn't even line up right on the first play.

"We didn't lose that game because of Matt," left tackle Duane Brown said in the New England gloom. "Not even close."

There's no doubt Schaub completely missed Arian Foster wide open underneath when he threw that interception into the end zone. Foster almost going completely missing from the passing game in general (with the exception of that Chicago win) is one of the great mysteries of this season in general.

But still . . . brand Schaub as forever not upper echelon enough now if you want. He never really coveted any of those titles anyway.

What no one can doubt is the Texans quarterback's leadership. That was on display in a downer of a night in New England full force.

It's something for Watt to take note of. It's probably not fair to expect Watt to be as good of a leader in his second season as the 31-year-old Schaub is. But no ever said life was fair for a Face Of The Franchise.

It is Watt's season, his time, his responsibility too.