TITANS HEAD COACH MIKE MULARKEY PRESS CONFERENCE TRANSCRIPT - July 30, 2017

(opening statement)

Before we start with the questions I just wanted to say on behalf of the Titans organization, we have sent our condolences to Mayor (Megan) Barry and her family on the passing of her son. We hope all of you please keep her and her family in your thoughts and in your prayers. We're going to do that as an organization. Players are all aware of it. She's a tremendous woman and it's a sad situation.

(on wide receiver Corey Davis' first day of camp)*

He had a good day. Obviously, he's been preparing. Like I said a couple of days ago, they've been throwing for a couple of weeks before camp started. It's obvious, you can see they've thrown some of these routes. They came out here and really I didn't see a lot of mistakes, and that may change when I watch the film, but he had a good day.

(on the strength and athleticism of quarterback Marcus Mariota)

He started to show that when he was healthy there at the end of the offseason program, and it carried on today. He still has a lot of work to do. He really does, we all do. But obviously, it was a good start.

(on the biggest challenge Corey Davis faces being a rookie wide receiver)

Just from the history of me - I have coached receivers in the league. The biggest deal is patience. The game speeds up in their mind. They think they need to do some things, and what happens is their depths, their alignments, everything goes faster than it should. The really good ones are the ones that can quickly adapt to the speed of the game and understand this timing. If they're where they're supposed to be then the ball will be there. This is the first practice really that I can be a judge on him whether he's doing that or not. If there's anything, that would be a concern, and I'm not saying it is yet.

(on their similar injuries bringing him closer to linebacker Kevin Dodd)

I feel for him. With your feet, it's pretty tough to get around. I'll say this about Kevin (Dodd), he had a good day yesterday. He did a couple of good things when I was watching the defensive side of things. I'm anxious to see the tape. I thought he had one of the better days for our defense yesterday. I think he's confident that it's over and moving forward. At least that's what it looks like, the way he's playing.

(on encouraging Dodd while he was rehabbing his injury)

We are very supportive of all of our players, especially with a guy who had a tough rookie year. He had a lot of pressure on him to come in here, was frustrated by the injury and couldn't get over that. The problem is a lot of the guys get more down on themselves than anyone else. Jon (Robinson) and I, our coaching staff, the support staff here, we're here for these guys. It's important that they're successful. I think they know that. I think he knows that better about us. With the situation he was put in with that foot, I think he knows us a lot better because of it.

(on the first day of full-pads practice approaching)

I like the first day of hitting. I do. I'm going to talk a little bit about it tonight in the team meeting - the anxiety, especially for the younger guys putting the pads on. Nothing's going to change as far as being smart out here, trying to protect each other. We don't want anyone to get hurt. After the first couple of hits, it's just the same game they've been playing since they were kids. They're going to have some nervous energy coming in here tomorrow.

(on the first big hit of full-pads practice)

It's really like a game. Once you get that first hit everything just flows. I see it being the same way.

(on the high level of competition at the wide receiver position)

We have competition at a lot of positions. Today the one-on-ones, it was pretty evident. Very competitive eight minutes that we had. Really the DBs and the receivers on one end. Very competitive. Much more than it's been since I've been here. On the other side too as well with the running backs, tight ends and linebackers. It's going to be a good camp. We're going to have a number of those one-on-one periods. That was a good start there, as well.

(on the few number of corrections given in practice)

No there was not. I told them, I said I hate to keep going over to the media and telling them that we had a very good practice, but I'm going to tell them like it is. We had a very good practice. There are some things that every day we need to clean up. The thing that was evident was the effort. The effort is unbelievable. Them flying around to the ball, back into the huddle, getting ready for the next play, conditioning themselves to play at the level that we want to play at that our opponents are unable to. That was a good start. We need to continue that with the pads on.

(on creating a game-like atmosphere for Marcus Mariota)

I want to make it as game-like as possible. He made some good decisions. He threw the ball out. That was one of his knocks a couple of years ago of trying to make some plays. He threw the ball out of bounds, we went on to the next down. He ran the ball today. We want to get as much game-type plays as we can with him.

(on Marcus Mariota's long run during practice)

I got to see it first hand when you guys did.

(on Marcus Mariota getting over the mental hurdle of running)

He's been running. He's been rolling out. He's been running, but not in a situation like this, in a team play.

(on having running backs DeMarco Murray and Derrick Henry on the field at the same time)

I'll say this, it depends on how we're going to attack the defense. It gives you some more options, but it also limits you to what defenses know you won't do. It works both ways. It's not Jalston Fowler in the backfield. You've got to be conscious of what the defense knows you can and cannot do when those two are in the game.

(on fullback Jalston Fowler's catch during practice)

He can catch the ball out of the backfield. Hopefully he can get some more opportunities.