NASHVILLE – The Titans lost to the Texans 22-13 on Sunday at Nissan Stadium.
On Monday, Titans head coach Mike Vrabel talked with reporters at Saint Thomas Sports Park.
Here's a look at the hot topics from the presser, as the Titans will now turn their attention to the New England Patriots, who they'll face on Sunday in Foxborough, Massachusetts.
-Vrabel said the Titans didn't lose because of a lack of effort. "I think they fought," Vrabel said of his team. "It's just unfortunate that we made the mistakes that we made. If somebody wants to look up and see what scores are when teams have five turnovers, (get intercepted) four times, tell me what those scores are in the history, at least in the last 10 years in the NFL. So, the fact that we were in that game, fighting, swinging, tells me a lot about our football team, our character. Nobody wants to be in that type of position, but I'm proud of the effort. We just have to be better."
- Since the start of the 2013 season, NFL teams are 0-34 in games with a minus-5 in the turnover margin. The Titans turned the ball over 5 times on Sunday vs the Texans, who didn't turn the ball over. "We have to learn from it," Vrabel said. "You turn the ball over as many times as we did, and you're careless with the football – those are things that we preach every single day, and we didn't do a good enough job of handling the elements clearly. But we have to move on."
-Vrabel said he was encouraged by what he saw in the run game on Sunday after the team ran for 103 yards and averaged 4.1 yards per carry. Running backs Adrian Peterson (9-41), Dontrell Hilliard (7-35) and D'Onte Foreman (7-25) all got carries. "There were some good clips in the run game, and some good production," Vrabel said. "I think there were some encouraging things in the run game. I felt like the run game was headed in the right direction." Vrabel acknowledged the Titans made mistakes in the run game as he said the team couldn't run it more in the second half because of the deficit. Vrabel said Foreman had some good carries, but he admitted he also went the wrong way on a play.
-Vrabel had high praise for the Patriots, who are now 7-4, with a five-game winning streak. "They have created 13 turnovers in five games, and obviously they have won five games in a row. The No.1 scoring defense in the league, offense has been very efficient, No.6 scoring offense. They are not turning it over, they are not doing things to beat themselves. Obviously they have done a great job of taking advantage of bad football. (They're) well-coached, they are running the football, they are playing physical. It will be a huge challenge."
-Vrabel made it clear this game isn't about him facing Patriots coach Bill Belichick, his former coach when he played for New England. "Bill and I won't be squaring off to determine this game," Vrabel said. "This game will be won, like it always is, with the players."
-The Titans suffered another batch of injuries on Sunday. Receivers A.J. Brown (chest) and Marcus Johnson (hamstring) left the game and did not return, and defensive lineman Teair Tart was also carted off late. Several others were also banged up in the contest. "We'll find out who is available, and who wants to help us win," Vrabel said of the injury list. "We need a few days to kind of let the dust settle, and we'll see if there's guys here that could help us, and there's always guys that we could bring in from other places."
