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QUARTERBACK BLAINE GABBERT
(on playing as a rookie)
The biggest thing is you get playing experience and that is valuable. Whenever you can get live reps week in and week out in big-time games it is only going to help you throughout your career. Yeah, it has been tough. The NFL is a tough league. There has been a lot of ups and downs. Of course, we would have all liked to have won more games, but that is just the way it goes sometimes. We have to keep fighting, coming to work every day with the right attitude and just keep chipping away.
(on if it has been a tougher transition than expected)
You know what you are going to get coming into the NFL. It's the best athletes in the world playing a tough sport, so you are going to have those ups and downs and nobody can be perfect week in and week out, but it is how you respond to those things, how you get better from your mistakes, just learning from them, and using that week-to-week as part of your preparation.
(on if he expected to start as quickly as he has)
Being a competitive guy you always want to start, but early on from what it looked like to me it was going to be a process where I would learn and just keep working. Things turned around pretty quickly, and I had the opportunity to start very early on this season. I was happy. I'm a competitive guy and I wanted to play early. That was my goal coming into the season, but it just turned out differently than a lot of people thought. That is out of our control and we had to go. We still had a season to play.
(on the play of Maurice Jones-Drew)
He is a phenomenal running back. In my eyes, he is the best running back in the NFL, just what he can do when the football is in his hands and even more important when it is not, in pass protection. Just his presence on the field is felt by everybody.
(on the change of ownership and the head coaching change)
We have a great group of guys in our locker room. We have been enthusiastic all year long and Coach (Mel) Tucker brought that energy, that enthusiasm back to us. He has done a great job. We talked to our new owner early on this week and he is a very energetic guy, very business-oriented, so with those new guys up here, we are feeding off their energy and wanting to play good football for them.
(on knocking the Titans out of the playoffs)
It is going to be a competitive game regardless, being a division rival it is always a competitive game. Guys in the NFL never really lay down. We are all competitive athletes and never want to get embarrassed out there. We are just looking forward to going out there and having a great game. I know this is going to mean a lot to the Titans because they are still in the race for the playoffs.
(on coming off a tough loss)
It just shows that we work on things. We need not to turn the ball over, so we definitely took that into practice so far this week. We are working on correcting our mistakes.
(on how John Abraham was able to create pressure last week)
They have a good defense. They have a good front seven and he is a Pro Bowl guy. That is really about it.
(on if he was holding the ball too long)
Quarterbacks are going to get sacked in this league. It is my job to get the ball out and try to limit those.
(on facing a lot of pass rush recently)
Like I said, that is on me. It is my job to get the ball out quickly and get it in our receivers' hands.
(on his relationship with Jake Locker)
We met through the Combine and through all that pre- and post-draft stuff during the lockout. We had a couple of chances to hang out.
(on what it would have been like to wait to play like Locker)
He is learning and that is a good deal. He has had some opportunities to play throughout the season and he has done a great job. I know he is working hard, picking up the offense and waiting for his chance to start.
(on Locker as a player)
He is a great guy and even a better player. He is a real competitive person and he is going to do a great job when he gets his chance.
(on the Titans' defense, especially the defensive line)
They all play well together. That means their whole front seven. They have a great secondary starting with Cortland Finnegan, so they have a good group of guys and have been playing well together.
(on if he knows Karl Klug)
I had a chance to play against him in the bowl game and I believe he is the leading sack guy on their defense right now, so he is playing good football. He is a high motor, physical guy. He has 6.5 sacks on the year, so he is doing a good job for them.
(on what has changed with the coaching change)
Well, nothing really from my standpoint. We still have the same offensive coordinator, though our quarterbacks coach went to receivers, it has stayed pretty consistent. Just the head guy of our team is changing. Coach Tuck (Mel Tucker), like I said, has done a great job since he got named the head coach and has brought a lot of enthusiasm and energy to both sides of the football.
(on preparing for a new coordinator and system next year)
I'm not worried about that right now. We still have two games left in the year and whatever happens after the season, decisions will be made and that is way out of my control.
(on his comfort level with some of the young receivers)
It is just a constant process. We are working hard every week getting it down because we have had some injuries and some people getting swapped around. So we are still working at it and those guys are doing a great job of picking up new positions and new route concepts.
(on the interest the Titans showed in him through the draft process)
I talked with everybody throughout the draft process and that is how a lot of the guys were coming out. You never know really who is going to draft you and it really doesn't matter. When you get drafted that is where you are going to be and so I did talk to them but I also talked to 31 other teams.
(on what is the number one thing he has learned as a rookie)
The NFL boils down to execution. The team that executes the best is going to win games.
(on his thoughts about the Titans selecting Locker with him on the board)
You always want to go as high as possible, but each team needs to make their own respective decision for their needs, for their team. You can't really hold grudges. Where you end up is where you end up and you have to go play well for that team.
(on Missouri moving to the SEC)
It is business driven and it is a great opportunity for our university moving into a great football conference. I know they are excited and I know our basketball team is excited too.
