TITANS HEAD COACH KEN WHISENHUNT PRESS CONFERENCE TRANSCRIPT - September 25, 2015 **
(on Jason McCourty's return to practice this week)
t was good. It was good to see him back on the field. That's always good. That's part of his rehab protocol and it was good to see him out there.
(on if the bye week break will make Jason McCourty's rehab process any more difficult)*
This is not one of those ones where you take that into consideration. Maybe there are situations where you do that, but not this one. He's had all that time, so his protocol for rehab has been pretty regimented and I don't think that has a bearing on it. **
(on the state of Jason McCourty's conditioning, given that he has not played since early August)
I know you guys have been out here and you've seen what he's been doing. The conditioning aspect of it, he's fine there because he's done a tremendous amount of running. What you want to see is him getting back into playing shape. The only way to do that is to practice, which he did this week. The initial soreness, all those things you have to work through, not so much from the injury perspective, but even the muscles that you haven't been using that way. But hopefully that's past that. I think we are. **
(on how Dexter McCluster has been performing)
He's got good vision. He certainly has good balance, especially point of contact balance. He knifes through those holes, so he did a nice job. It was nice to see him have that kind of production. I'm happy for Dexter (McCluster) and hopefully we'll be able to continue to use him in places we can let him make some plays like that. **
(on if Dexter McCluster's small size allows him to gain extra yards)
Probably, but you could probably work it the other way against you too, because if they do get their hands on you, that's a little tougher. But Dexter (McCluster), he plays big. He's done a nice job for us. I've been impressed with what he does. I've been saying that the whole camp. It was nice to see him be able to make some plays.
(on Dorial Green-Beckham's readiness and if he is in a position to get more snaps)
Everybody wants to say he gets more snaps. He's gotten quite a few snaps. It's just they all want to judge it based on when the ball is coming to you. So he's working, he's done a nice job. We were talking about that today. The difference in where he is now and where he was even a couple months ago is significant, just from the standpoint of how he's coming off the field. I'll say this: I think playing special teams has helped that. He'll be a better football player because of his experience doing that on special teams. So that's a good thing. You see him starting to progress, and he's still got a ways to go, but I'm pleased with how he's been progressing.
(on if Dorial Green-Beckham is an aggressive player in the way he attacks)
I think that when he knows what he's doing, he is. But there are times when he's not 100 percent sure and he doesn't play as fast. That's why we've been saying since early when he got here, we try to put him in positions where he can play fast, because he is definitely noticeable when he does.
(on how special teams play will help Dorial Green-Beckham improve as an offensive player)
You're playing. You're involved. You have a role, you have to prepare. It gets you used to the speed of the games and just being a part of something, so to me, I think that's going to make him a better football player. **
(on how Dorial Green-Beckham has taken to playing special teams, given that he has not played in such a role since middle school)
If he was as big as he is now in middle school, or if he was so much bigger, he probably would have killed it in middle school. There are things about it that he has to learn, but he did a nice job for us last week as a gunner on the punt team. I think as he gets more comfortable with that and more confidence, I think he'll continue to get better.
(on how Quinton Spain has impressed him)
Yeah, he just did a nice job. I wish we had him in the spring because maybe he'd even be further along than he is now. But he did a nice job of coming along. He's a powerful guy and has a little bit of guard/tackle flexibility. So he's been impressive, especially in the preseason games. If he had been able to go in the spring when we got him, he was a nice surprise. So hopefully that trend will continue with him. **
(on if a win before the bye week can earn the team additional time off, or if CBA regulations don't allow for that)
Well you get a pretty good bit of time off now. I don't think we're at the point, maybe if this was Week Nine or Week 10 or Week Seven or something like that, we could. But we're three weeks in, hopefully, we've got a division game, we don't need a carrot. It's one win.
(on if he can remember playing four home games in a row before)
I can't. I know that it is, but it doesn't seem like four games in a row because of the bye. Definitely different.
(on the opportunities that having home field advantage will present)
It hopefully will allow us to get better doing some of the things that we can do without having the problems associated with being on the road. If you really break it down that way, and we can continue to improve as a team, this allows us to do that over a stretch where you don't have to worry about noise, you don't have to worry about travel. If that can do it, if it does work that way, then maybe it will put us in a better positon when we do have to hit the road, because obviously with four in a row (at home), that means you're going to have to travel quite a bit over the next group. So maybe it comes at a good time for us, because I said this, starting two on the road is hard, especially for a young team. Some of the issues that you face as a team certainly popped up in the game against Cleveland. Not so much in Tampa because we got up to an early lead, but this can helps us. Hopefully that will be the case. **
(on if there are any players he can rule out for Sunday's game)
Yeah, guys we can rule out, 94 (Sammie Hill), 70 (Chance Warmack), 37 (Cody Riggs). The only one who is questionable is JMac (Jason McCourty). The rest of them are all probable.
