HOUSTON – Texans quarterback Matt Schaub will start Sunday against the St. Louis Rams, a decision coach Gary Kubiak said Wednesday he did not come to lightly.

"Tough decision," he said. "Real tough. I feel like it's the best thing for our football team this weekend and so there was a lot of thought put into it, a lot of evaluations."

On Sunday against the San Francisco 49ers, Schaub threw three interceptions, including one that was returned for a touchdown. He became the first player in NFL history to throw interceptions that were returned for scores in four straight games.

The Texans (2-3) have lost three in a row after winning in Weeks 1 and 2.

"I need to be better and I'll be the first to admit that, so I can understand why he was torn in that decision," Schaub said. "But I have confidence in my abilities and him deciding to start me this week, let's go play ball."

Schaub was 19 of 35 for 173 yards in the 34-3 loss to San Francisco. He was benched for the final quarter in favor of third-year backup T.J. Yates.

"I've worked really hard to be in this position, to be the quarterback of this team," Schaub said. "So my focus is to go out and give my team a chance to win on Sunday."

Yates, a fifth-round draft pick in 2011, made five starts, including two playoff games at the end of the 2011 season. Schaub suffered a Lisfranc injury that year and was replaced by backup Matt Leinart, who promptly suffered an injury in his first start.

Yates finished that game against the Jacksonville Jaguars and then started the rest of the season. He threw for three touchdowns, three interceptions, was sacked 15 times and had a rating of 80.7.

After the loss in San Francisco, Kubiak said Schaub was still the starter. The coach also said he would see where things went during the week.

On Wednesday, he echoed those thoughts.

"We talked to him about my process and what I go through to look at things so he understands where I'm coming from," Kubiak said. "We had a good meeting. I told him what I'm going to do and we moved forward."

Texans offensive coordinator Rick Dennison paused when asked if Schaub appears to have put Sunday's game behind him.

"My meetings with him he's been fine," Dennison said. "We installed the offense, he understands what we're trying to do. It's business kind of as usual. Everybody's kind of in their routine. … We're behind it, we're ready to go."