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TITANS HEAD COACH KEN WHISENHUNT**
(on Jake Locker's status)
Jake (Locker) did some things in practice today, so he's progressing, which is good to see. He did more things in practice today. He took some snaps, he threw the ball, he participated on a limited basis. He's progressing. We'll see how it goes as it continues through the week.
(on his plan for Jake Locker this week)
It really depends on how he responds after today. I think we've got to see if it's sore or where he is from that standpoint.
(on if Jake Locker will play Sunday)
Right now it's early to say. We're preparing all of those guys like we do every week. We'll see how it progresses during the week.
(on the challenge of switching quarterbacks)
That happens in this game. Charlie (Whitehurst's) prepared. He's played well. Jake (Locker) has come back. It is what it is, I guess is the best way to say it.
(on if being injured hurts Jake Locker's ability to get in a groove with the offense)
I think it's always good when you get the reps. There are going to be times when you miss reps because you're nicked up. That happens with that position. I think getting more comfortable with this offense, the more reps you can get, the better it is. We have to assess where he is physically and where we are as far as the plan, as far as making that decision, that's all a factor in it.
(on shaping the offense with Jake Locker)
I think there are a lot of things that go into that. It's not so much just the quarterback. A lot of times you're designing, we have so many plays designed to go to Kendall (Wright), so many designed to go to Dexter (McCluster). You're always trying to create packages that are going to, for lack of a better word, feature certain guys. The quarterbacks understand that, and they understand the reads and the progressions in that. I think you're also going to have some plays that you feel like with a specific quarterback that are good for his skill set, whether it's move the pocket-type things or different features that he does well. I think we've got enough things offensively that we can proceed without any compromise or any problems, whoever's playing.
(on the offense shifting to Jake Locker's style of play)
I think our offense is flexible. We've done different things based on who the quarterback is and what you're trying to get accomplished offensively. You can even look at what we've done offensively this year. I know we haven't gotten to the point where we want to be yet, offensively, but we've had some chunk plays. We've had some good plays that have involved different facets. The Kendall (Wright) play is an example of that that went for 38 yards on the run or whatever it was. We're always trying to adapt what we do to fit our players. You have core principles, which is your style of run game, your style of protections, certain packages that you're always going to use, like our no-huddle package is going to always be a consistent thing. You're always trying to learn and grow and continue to evolve.
(on Redskins QB Kirk Cousins' high number of interceptions this season)
I think some of it's been just where the games have been. He's made some good plays. He's done some good things. Sometimes that happens with that position.
(on the challenge of becoming a play calling head coach)
That was a long time ago. I really don't remember that much about it. I'd had a lot of experience being a play caller. That part of it is the preparation that you do to call the game and your feel for the game. That's the fun part of it. That's really exciting. I think the big thing about it is not so much the calling the plays, it's the situational football that you have to stay on top of.
(on lowering the number of penalties in games)
I hope they stay low. We're trying to work on those things and doing better. Sometimes, it always seems that has a way of balancing itself out during the course of the year. We've had quite a few, so maybe we're getting on a little run here where we don't have as many.
(on the difficulty of keeping a starting quarterback healthy for the entire season)
I'm saying it purely from just a feeling, I don't think there are many teams that get through the whole season with their starting quarterback playing all the games. I think I've heard that before. I know there are a few that do that. If you think about it, there's not a number of quarterbacks that have those long starting streaks like maybe some of the other positions.
(on if quarterbacks staying healthy today is different from when he was a player)
The game has changed. There's more passing in the game, which lends itself to more blitzes and more pressures, chances for a quarterback to get hit more often, whereas many years ago there were more runs in the game, which limits those. That's probably fair to say that.
(on the attention that Jurrell Casey has drawn as an outside pass-rusher)
I have no question that they have concerns about Jurrell Casey if you asked somebody. If you've noticed, we've moved Jurrel around a couple of different spots, trying to keep people from being able to get a beat on him. He's gotten sacks from outside, from inside, from moving around, and that's consistent with what we said when we first got here that Jurrell was going to do that because we felt like he was a productive player.
(on talking with the team about winning the next two games)
Obviously, you look at where everybody else is in this league, and if we can get on a roll and win a couple of games, yeah, that's important to us. You can't look at it from the standpoint of assuming that you're going to win this one. You've got to focus on this game, and we're going against an opponent in a tough place to play that has a lot of talent. We've got to play a good football game. I think it's realistic to talk to your team about those type of goals, and that's one of the things that's important.
(on Redskins RB Alfred Morris)
He's a good running back. He's powerful, has good vision, hard to bring down. He's been a very productive running back.
(on the Redskins throwing deep balls)
You look at, I think the receivers have four catches of over 50 yards, so they obviously will throw the ball deep. They have some talent at that position, so I'm sure we will get tested at that. Hopefully we can continue to improve in that area, which we have. We've seen our guys make some plays on balls down the field. That's going to come up, we need to do that.
(on playing more zone against the Redskins)
I think that we've tried to mix things in as we've gone, defensively, just to try to keep offenses off-balance. Some of those things do help, so yeah, we will continue to mix them up.
(on the team having a more positive outlook this week after a win)
Obviously, the attitude and the feeling and practice is better on Wednesday after a win. It's been a while since we had one, so yeah, our guys were excited. They have worked hard. They've come out here and worked hard, regardless, and that's one of the things I respect about them. It's also one of the things that hurts the most, because you want our guys to have success because of the way they've worked. It's nice to see them have a little pep in their step. Hopefully, that will help us play better Sunday.
