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HEAD COACH MIKE MUNCHAK
(on if they suggested Kenny Britt should go see some specialists after the end of the season)
I think both. These guys will do their check-out physicals on Monday, and then you'll look at the guys that need surgery, that need some things done, and you'll get that going and get those scheduled as soon as possible. Then there will be guys that had nagging injuries, someone like Kenny (Britt) who has made it through the season, still adjusting to life after the ACL and his other knee. He's an example of a guy that needs to get thoroughly checked out, make sure there's nothing minor that needs to be done with him. You don't want to wait until March or April and decide, oh yeah, my knee is sore, so I'm going to get it scoped. A guy that has had issues or is just getting off a long season of rehab, that's kind of a normal procedure to get checked out, be confident, see if there is anything that needs to be done. If not, you just continue on with a nice program. No matter what he does, surgery or not, if it ends up being a minor procedure, which right now, we don't think he does, but we'll see how that works out. He needs to be taking care of himself. He can't take two months off and jump back in. Certain guys have to take a little bit of rest and get into some type of maintenance program, making sure when we get starting in April, May or June, that they're all ready to go.
(on if the Titans have been checking Kenny Britt's knee on a regular basis)
A lot of times, guys have things that are playing on them. You realize, well, if we do this, we can just go in there and clean something out. These days, that's not such a big deal anymore. A lot of players have things done in the year just for cleaning. Now in his case, hopefully no, he won't need anything done minor, even. I'm sure he's tired of all that, and hopes he needs nothing, and we don't think he does. It's just a matter now of what kind of maintenance program should he be on. Him and the other guys, obviously, we have a lot of injured guys. We have a lot of evaluating to do and a lot of programs to set up for them, so that when we get back to work, which we know is a long time from now, but you don't want to have all these nagging guys that can't partake in OTA's or they can't do this and they can't do that. You want to get rid of all of those limitations. That's a big part of us being ready to go next year, is having these guys healthy. Last year, we ended up having a lot of guys that weren't healthy at OTA's. A lot of the linemen weren't healthy. Kenny (Britt) wasn't healthy, obviously. We want to kind of limit as much of that as we can.
(on Kendall Wright and Damian Williams)
Kendall (Wright), obviously, has been the guy practicing, so we feel pretty good about that. Damian (Williams), it was the first time he did anything, so he's going to be more of a game-time decision on. Kendall looks pretty good.
(on if Damian Williams sprained his foot)
Yeah, his foot, he definitely sprained it when it happened. They thought it was worse at first, and the next day it was a lot better than we originally thought. That gave him a chance to play. Now, it's just a matter of seeing how he is on Sunday. Really, with the roster, with so many guys hurt, you'll probably have a chance to suit up some guys that you normally wouldn't suit up because they're healthier than the other guys. There are still possibilities for some of those guys suiting up at the end because of numbers.
(on Michael Griffin missing practice)
Just sick, just didn't feel well this morning. He should be OK tomorrow.
(on if he will have to make any roster moves)
Probably there, that would be the decision, at running back. There is probably a chance there that you move (Collin) Mooney up and have a healthy guy along with (Darius Reynaud). (Chris Johnson), he feels good about it, we kept him limited here so he didn't do too much because you're inside on this carpet, so that's makes it a little sore. We didn't want to push that too much. I think he feels like he's going to be ready to go and start on Sunday. That's how we feel about him. We'll probably have to be careful there because I think (Jamie) Harper is still dragging his, and we can't have two guys in that situation. Mooney will probably have an opportunity to get moved up this weekend.
(on how much game-planning he's done for Maurice Jones-Drew)
With his health, he's been out. They haven't changed much, we don't see them changing. They played well last week, they beat us last time throwing the ball quite a bit, mixing in the run and being successful, doing it that way. I would imagine we'll see a lot of the same.
(on the difference between going into this Sunday's game and the final game of 2011)
There's no doubt, you're having discussions during the week of different things. There's still going to be a lot of energy to play this football game because it's the last one, it doesn't matter what it's for. It's a different type of energy because obviously, if you're shooting for, like we were last year, if we won, we knew we still had a good chance to get in the playoffs. There was more pressure with the energy. This one is energy with, obviously, no pressure for those things. Again like I said, these guys are going to go out and play. I think you're going to see great effort on both sides of the ball. I think you're going to see a good football game. But yeah, it's no doubt different, knowing that, like I told the players, it's one of those games where I assume we're going to play very well, win this football game, and say, 'Man, why didn't we play like that all year.' I've been a part of that, it seems like there is going to be good energy I would think. It's the last time these guys are going to be together for a long time. It's the last time a lot of these guys will play with each other because you are going to have changes, you always do. I think that means a lot to these guys. I think you're going to see great effort. They want to win, they want to play well, but it's different when you know there is no chance of playing next weekend. It definitely is different.
(on if Jared Cook had surgery)
Yeah, he's been back. I think it wasn't as bad as they thought originally. I haven't talked to a doctor, that's what we were told. He's back here and he's been rehabbing here, so that's a good thing. I think his spirits are good that he got it done and he's moving forward. He's a guy on a list of guys that will be rehabbing. We won't have an empty building here, that's for sure, with guys trying to get healthy.
(on how long Jared Cook will be rehabbing)
I'm not sure of the months, I'd be guessing. I know originally, we all heard three to four months, but I don't know. Everyone rehabs differently and heals differently. There will be no hurry, but I would think he'd have a good chance when we start all that stuff with the OTA's and things in May and June, that he'll be fine for all of those things.
(on if he thinks Jared Cook will be a priority to bring back next season) I would think definitely. We've said that all along. I know they've talked to him like they have with (Jason) McCourty's agent and other agents along the way to see who you can get signed during the season. Sometimes you get some guys signed, sometimes you can't. Obviously, we're going to keep on that. We still think he's a huge part of this offense. If we're going to be as successful as we think we're capable of, he's going to be a part of that. I would think that we'll be doing everything we can to get him signed. The timetable, I don't know about all that. You want to get that done before free agency starts. That will be one of the many things to work on.
