TITANS HEAD COACH MIKE MULARKEY MEDIA AVAILABILITY - Oct. 25, 2016

(on the injury report)

Today, we didn't practice Perrish Cox, Quinton Spain and Rashad Johnson did not practice. Limited was (Kevin) Dodd, Tajae Sharpe and DeMarco (Murray).

(on why DeMarco was limited)

Just giving him some time really just to try to rest him.

(on if he is optimistic the injured players will be ready to play Thursday)*

We're going to wait with a couple of them tomorrow, see how they're doing—Tajae (Sharpe) and (Kevin) Dodd.

(on if Delanie Walker is OK)

Yes. 

(on how the short week is going)

It's going good. We had about a 40-play walk through last night, 20-minute special teams, about the same time we're going to play. It was a nice night. Guys like being out under the lights. Pretty good practice. Today was like a Wednesday-Thursday combination, and they were flying around. There was a lot of energy for a Tuesday. They played less than 48 hours ago and a lot of good energy. We'll come back tomorrow and work short-yardage, goal line—more of a walk through type tomorrow.

(on if a decision has been made about who will play left guard)

Yes, it will be (Brian) Schwenke. It will be him.

(on why Brian Schwenke will start at left guard)

More play time. I mean, he's got more experience. Even that time, even last week as much as he got, it's just the experience.

(on who will start at cornerback if Perrish Cox cannot play)

We are talking about that still. Whoever it is, it will be a rotation, too.

(on how to guard against sloppy play on a short week)*

Well, you've got to be careful you don't create a whole new set of ideas where there's more learning. Almost every week, it's similar things that you're doing, but you've just got to be careful of how you're formationing, people that are doing it. I mean, we're careful with it. We're smart with it. We know what our guys can retain. I mean, it's evident out here today in practice. The walk through helps. Walk throughs are great for learning, so they'll be ready on Thursday night.

(on how quickly Marcus Mariota can implement mechanical corrections during the week)

I think, hopefully, quickly with the Thursday night game. There's multitudes of drills that Jason Michael puts him through. Things that he needs to work on, they'll work on it more. That's everybody. When you see something in a game, that's the beauty of game film. What do I need to get better at the next week? They'll press that more than anything.

(on if Tajae Sharpe was more precise in his routes last week)

Somewhat. There's still some in that game—you saw a ball sail behind him out of bounds. It looks like Marcus (Mariota) was off of his throw, and really it was that we were two yards deep. If we're right on the mark, that ball's going to hit Tajae (Sharpe) right in the face. Those are things that, as a young player, he's got to continue work at. It's important to him. It's really important to him. They'll understand eventually that that's where the ball's going to be, and they'll catch a whole lot more if they are that way. That's not just him.

(on how Jalen Ramsey has played this season)

He's playing well. They're matching him up with some of the team's No. 1 receivers. I think he's playing well. You can tell he's smart. It's the same thing you saw on tape when he was coming out—very instinctive, he's a physical player. He's a big corner. He's impressive to watch.

(on if Jalen Ramsey looks like the type of player he expected him to be)

He's starting that way, yeah. For a rookie to come out, and he's playing well. At least for the first half the season, he's doing some good things.

(on the opportunity to win a division game)

Well, it helped last night with the loss with Houston. Again, there's a lot of teams that are all sitting here all clumped together. Somebody's going to come out of it. There's going to be probably more than one come out of this thing at some point and win a bunch of games. This is important. Every game is important, obviously, but this one's another one. We've got to win a division game and stay in the pack and hopefully come out of it at some point.

(on playing a prime time game)

Yeah, I think your peers are watching you. I know coaching staffs, that's really the first time they get to get home to be with their families usually right about game time on Thursday nights, so I know that's popular. That's a popular game. Hopefully, we're going to put on a good show for everybody.

(on the importance of starting fast and not playing from behind)

Well, I thought we started quick last week. We took the opening drive, scored a touchdown, missed an extra point. To me, that was momentum, if you look at it. Again, if you don't think that matters, it does matter, those little things like that. And then, the very next kickoff, we have the guy pinned down inside the 10-yard line and they return it to the 28, so you've got back-to-back plays that take a little momentum away from you. When we get the momentum, we need to keep the momentum. That's the one thing we have failed to do early if that's what you're speaking of. Fast starts are always important.