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HEAD COACH MIKE MUNCHAK
(on if he has brought up to the players about how last year Denver came here in a similar situation and beat the Titans)
I already did, Wednesday when I talked about different things to get ready for this game I brought up the fact that it was a very similar situation. We had just come back from beating the New York. It was a good win for us in New York against the Giants and came back and had a home game and didn't play very well and still had a chance to win the game but didn't. It was a really tough loss for us last year. We know they are comfortable coming in here and playing at our place, they should, they won last year here. I'm big on history and knowing what happened and letting some of these guys who weren't here for that. I mentioned it, we won't dwell on it but we talked about it.
(on if he will talk about the tempers in the last meeting)
I don't think so. I don't think that those kinds of things carry over year to year as far as anything that happened within the game, it's more about the fact that we lost and they won, that was probably the biggest concern about last year. We know about our composure, we know it could cost us yards, it cost us a game, it could cost these guys money, so I think they are pretty smart on that.
(on the lessons learned from the game last year)
Just the obvious, I didn't go back and study it. They are playing a different defense right now, they are not playing the 3-4, they switched to a 4-3 and they have a different staff there so it's going to be a little different as far as how they attack us, I didn't study it a lot, I remember it well coaching the line at that time. I think it's just the fact that we gained some confidence from what we did last weekend and just because you won last week does not mean anything about this game. We have to prepare just like we did last week to come into this game and know that they are 1-1 just like we are and they still have high hopes like we do and it's going to be a great football game.
(on if he is happy with where Chris Johnson is mentally)
I think he has been handling it very well, I don't see him as being outwardly frustrated as far as you don't see him throwing the ball, you don't see him act up on the sidelines, which some people, especially skill positions, you see on other teams you see guys do. I think he has handled it well and there is no doubt he wants to have some big plays, there is no doubt he wants to help us win. The good thing is he is not selfish to the fact that we are winning and he is happy. I think sometime a lot of guys want their stats more than they want the win. I think he wants to win number one, he knows that that is what's most important, he knows that his contributions are going to have to be big for us to continue wining and we will just keep working of having that happen starting this week.
(on if Chris Johnson's soreness is expected because it has been his busiest day, and if he expects Chris Johnson to practice tomorrow)
We are hoping for tomorrow, and today we wanted him to be able to go full speed and if he couldn't then we didn't want him to feel like running three quarters is what we wanted him to do so we rested him today for that reason. Like you said, he carried the ball over 20 times and did a lot in that game and that's a lot of hits to take in that game so I think his body is still adjusting to that. We hope to have him out here tomorrow getting a good feel for what our plan is on Sunday.
(on why the talk with Chris Johnson was important)
I wanted to talk about other things also, I have been trying to speak with different players every week. I think it's good if they get feedback from me and not just Chris (Palmer) but guys on defense, offense, coaches. I like to just sit down and talk to them. Especially him, I didn't just call him in about the run game, it was just to talk about some other topics and then we just talked about having a good week of practice and going forward.
(on if he was surprised with Kenny Britt's production given his limits in the preseason)
I think he is doing exactly what we all hoped he would do. This I what you saw last year before he got hurt when we lost him for six or eight weeks which ended his chance of really growing last year into the position. The injury this year may have slowed down what you saw in preseason, and even if he was healthy he probably wouldn't have done a whole lot in preseason anyway, maybe a catch or two a game. We are thrilled where he is at obviously, we have a lot of football to play, and he has got to show he can stay healthy for 14 more weeks and hopefully the playoffs. It's a long season to go, but a great start from him.
(on NFL teams faking injuries)
I guess the game was the Monday night game and I really didn't see what they are referring to. I heard about it, but like you said, we don't do those things so we are not concerned about it.
(on if he saw teams in the past that have tried to do that)
Not just their timeouts, but more or less back when I played there were teams that were hurry-up. Back when I played it was Cincinnati, they had that little sugar huddle thing and I'm sure there were some questions over the years if certain guys were doing that but it's pretty hard to prove I think. You have to err on the side that the guy probably is hurt. I was surprised it came up, I didn't even know that it happened in the game or what triggered it so I would have to hear more about it.
(on how the secondary can disrupt the short passing game that hurt the Titans last year)
I think it's up front and the secondary, I think it's just dislodging it with hits, coming up with big hits like Cortland (Finnegan) and some of the guys had last week. He is very efficient with the ball, throws the ball well, they play-action well. He is a good quarterback, so when he throws the short ones we just have to punch receivers and try to get that ball out and start to let them worry about the hit they are going to take and not their yards after catch.
(on if it's tougher to prepare for Denver because of the number of guys they had injured that may be back this week)
It is because they had some great players missing and credit to them it was two home games and they found a way to win the one last week with some major guys out. A running back out, a safety out, (Elvis) Dumervil was out, so yeah I think we have to prepare like they will all be back but we will hear more as the week goes on. Their top receiver was out, so credit to them like I said that they did that. I think we will prepare like they are all going to be there, we are preparing for a scheme and what they like to do. There is still film from the other games where those guys were all playing, you play for them to be at their best and if they are not then you assume, just like we did last week with (Jordan) Babineaux going in for (Chris) Hope. They have guys that are going to fill in just fine so we can't be worrying about who doesn't play.
(on if they need to prepare for Tim Tebow to play slot receiver)
I think it's one of those things, just like anything, if you think people could do some trick plays you spend a little time on that but it's not something you dwell on by any means. Teams that are "wildcat" and things like that, you just prepare for the "what-ifs" at some point during the week of practice you don't spend that much time on things you haven't seen.
(on if Kyle Orton's name came up here in the offseason when the Titans were looking for a quarterback)
The rumors about all the different quarterbacks that were going to become available were hot thoughts, but we knew that with the lockout and all of that, that the chance of that happening were going to be slim. Like ended up happening, they kept him, the quarterback in Cincinnati that everyone thought was going to be playing somewhere else is retired. There is a lot of speculation but we talked about all the "what ifs" for sure, that's our job to do that just in case something did become available and of course we thought he was a special quarterback. I was surprised that they would do something that they would allow something like that and I assume that's why he is the guy because he is a good football player and we saw that first hand last year.
(on if Jurrell Casey has moved ahead of Sen'Derrick Marks on the depth chart)
I just think (Jurrell) Casey has had an opportunity to be here all year. With the shoulder, Sen'Derrick (Marks) didn't get in until that last preseason game. Again, and I say this happily, the defense didn't have as many reps. They were in the 50s which limited some of the D-linemen in the rotations because the guys were fresher so we didn't have to rotate quite as much. There are all those factors in there but they are all doing good and we have been rotating them.
