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TITANS HEAD COACH KEN WHISENHUNT
**
On the game:
"I am extremely disappointed in the outcome of today's game. We made way too many mistakes today. We hung in there and fought but it was too much to overcome. It is a very tough loss."
On the final defensive drive of the game:
"We didn't make enough plays at the end, unfortunately. We shouldn't have come to that position. Offensively, we had the ball back and we had run more time off the clock. We made a mistake and we made enough mistakes all day. It's hard to pin it on that last drive or on anything. We didn't do the job today and that's disappointing."
On how the offense played today:
"We were at first-and-20 I don't know how many times today and those are hard to overcome. I knew with the time on the clock and what our defense had done against these guys, I didn't want to make a mistake and give them field position. I felt like worst case scenario, we could get into their territory and have a chance, which we did because [punter] Brett Kern had a nice punt. But once again, we have a good run, then we get a penalty that moves it back and makes it tough."
On the Redskins' quarterback change during the game:
"Well in one play, that is what hurt us. Yeah, it is frustrating and disappointing."
On the overall play of the defense:
"We've had a number of guys struggle today. I'm not going to pin it on one guy. That's something that we have to get corrected. It's on me to get that done and I'm going to do that."
On how to prevent plays like the last play of the game:
"That guy is a good football player that he was up against. In that position, we are trying to stop the third down and we are trying to take a shot. Unfortunately, we got a penalty. Let's face it, we had way too many penalties today. You're not going to win if you have that many penalties."
On the pressure on quarterback Charlie Whitehurst:
"We'll look at it on the tape and I guess we'll have a better sense of that. It's hard to say anything about it right now."
On the drive where the Titans gained the lead:
"Charlie [Whitehurst] battled – made a good throw to [wide receiver] Derek [Hagan] on that play. He made a good throw to [wide receiver] Kendall [Wright] on the play before that. We put ourselves in tough situations all day and that's third and longs, first-and-20 and second-and-20. When you're on the road, you can't do that."
On quarterback Jake Locker's health:
"Jake's close, but his hand was sore after the practice and obviously you worry about turning the ball over and putting one on the ground if you miss a snap or do something with the ball handling. That's ultimately what made that decision."
On if Locker will play next week:
"I would expect him to be able to go next week, but until we get out and practice, I don't know that for sure."
On losing to a team that made numerous mistakes:
"Losses… They suck. You don't like it. I'm not worried about their team and what they are doing. I'm worried about what we are doing. We made too many mistakes today on the football field and we almost overcame it. That's what you have to do, but we didn't get that done today."
On offensive line struggles:
"I'll have to look at the tape and see. I don't know. That hasn't been something that's happened this much in a game before. That's what we'll do. We'll correct it and we'll move forward."
On running back Dexter McCluster's special teams impact:
"You'll have to ask him what he's thinking. I'm not going to put words in his mouth. Dexter is a good football player. It was an unfortunate play that happened today. We knew coming into this game that there was some potential for some short punts. We were trying to make a conscious effort to play him and that was a turnover that we can't have."
On getting back on track before the bye week:
"Every game is critical for us with where we are. The thing that we have to do is play better than we did today. Once again, we are on the road and we had a chance to win this game and we didn't get it done. We have to correct it and we have to improve. That's what we are trying to do."
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QB CHARLIE WHITEHURST
**
On the loss:
"It was a tough one. We had a few tough ones this year and this one is up there. We won a few weeks ago. We didn't make enough plays. It's on us. We can win these games. It just takes a few more plays and we can walk out here feeling a lot better."
On his feelings after taking the lead:
"It was nice to take the lead, but we didn't move it like we should have offensively throughout the game. We did put that [touchdown] in there late in the game, but it wasn't enough. We needed to do more than what we've been scoring."
On the touchdown to wide receiver Derek Hagan:
"It was good to see him run the ball down. We were in four verticals and the safety took [tight end] Delanie [Walker] and Derek made a good move behind him and we hit it."
On how tough it is to string first downs together despite so many penalties:
"It hurt us today, for sure. We're not able to overcome the first-and-20 consistently, and most teams aren't , so we have to clean that stuff up."
On the four-minute drive penalty:
"I don't know if we would have gotten the first down or not. It definitely puts you in a hole to start off, so it's tough. It's tough in that situation to get to twenty yards in that first down."
*On if the goal was to be more aggressive in play calling: *
"I'm not sure. I'm sure if we had a more manageable third down we could have called the pass for sure."
On the frustration of not taking advantage of the Redskins' mistakes on the field:
"I'm not sure. I look at it offensively for the most part. The defense plays hard, special teams play hard, but I worry about us offensively and there are some things we have to clean up on that side of the ball."
On his mindset after taking the two-point lead:
"The mindset was to take a knee six minutes from that. We weren't able to do it, but that's not an excuse. We weren't able to convert. We did it a few times with penalties earlier in the game. It puts you in a hole, but we got a chance to convert and we didn't."
On why it's never good to settle for three points:
"We never do that. Our goal is – especially in the red zone – to score seven every time we're down there and every time we possess the ball. If you score every time, you're going to win every game, so that's the goal. We haven't been as efficient in the red zone as we would have liked. These things happen."
On the difficulty of downfield throws:
"Yeah, we didn't hit a bunch of long ones. I think probably the longest one was the touchdown. There were reasons for that and we'll look at the film."
On whether or not he was going to be 'a go' based on Jake Locker's injury:
"I made my mind up early that I was going to go and that's the way I've done it the last couple of weeks when it became official."
On if he is going to prepare to be the starter unless told otherwise:
"I think so. That's the easiest way to do it. You're able to stay ready, if that's your mindset, so that's what I'll do."
On the opportunity to get back to even:
"You get 16 chances. We've had some winnable games that we didn't win. I think the way I've always thought about it was one week at a time. We're disappointed and we get another chance next week."
On if there is time to turn the season around:
"I think of it like I said just a second ago, it's just one game at a time. Our record is not satisfactory, it's not what we want it to be but it's not something I think about. It's one game at a time. Let's go with one game, let's go with one more and one more after that. That's the mental approach that I take and that's what I'll try to do next week."
On his rhythm with wide receiver Kendall Wright:
"Yeah, I guess he had one last week. He's obviously a talented guy; we've got to get him balls. We've got weapons, we really do. All across the board in every position, we've got to move the ball the best we can."* *
*On what happened when throwing the ball to tight end Chase Coffman: *
"We ended up scoring the next play but, I think it could have been a little bit better of a throw."
**
WR KENDALL WRIGHT
**
On what clicked for him today:
"For me, it was personal. I was playing [with quarterback] Robert Griffin III [at Baylor] and I'm coming off a week where I was only targeted once. I came in this week and went to work like I normally do. I wasn't really talking much. I just wanted to have a good day, and I did. It just wasn't enough because we didn't get the win. We just have to keep working hard, keep grinding and we have to limit the penalties. We have to limit the penalties. If we limit the penalties, we win that game bad."* *
On where all the penalties came from:
"I don't know. It was mostly self-inflicted. We just have to stay on the details. We talk about it every day. We just cannot have penalties. They always kill you as an offense. We had a few good drives and a lot of penalties set us back where we didn't get any points."
On where the team goes from here:
"We go back to work on Monday – tomorrow, I mean. We have to put it together. We have to figure it out. I know we will. We just have to go to work every day. No days off. Even if you aren't at work ,you have to find something work-related and keep it on your mind. Nobody likes losing.
On if the opposing team's penalties added to their frustration:
"It is frustrating when you see they're making penalties and we're also making penalties. I guess they didn't have as many as we did. It was a hard-fought game. We just have to limit those penalties. If we limit those penalties, we'll be fine. We'll be alright."
On if he talked to Griffin III after today's game:
"I talked to him before and after the game – nothing noteworthy. I was just checking on him to see how his ankle is and when he'll be back. He said 'hopefully soon.' He said he's grinding. You play with him for so long, people don't really see what you can do. Just as a statement, I can play football, too. I'm not just tired."
On the frustration of walking off the field with a field goal:
"Us, as receivers and playmakers, we don't like getting three. We like getting down there and putting seven on the board. That's our main thing. I mean, three is good, but seven is better."
On his mindset:
"It's real daunting, but we have a lot of games left that we can win. I mean, we can win all of them. All we have to do is detail everything up. No penalties like we've been having. That's killing us. Just go out there and play hard like we've been doing."
On narrowing the gap each week:
"I think we're real close. We just have to do it all the time, not sometimes. We just have to put a bunch of complete games together and help us get where we're trying to go."
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CB JASON McCOURTY**
On the game:
"It was tough just the way this game went – a game we felt like we should of won, we could have won. To not make enough plays down the stretch to win the game, that hurts."
On having a record of 2-5 instead of 3-4:
"You hate it. We prepare all week and all offseason to win games, so whenever you fall short of that, it's disappointing. Right now, it sucks. There's nobody in this locker room that feels good. We have to deal with that and be able to move forward and try to get a win next week."
On if this should have been an easy win:
"I don't know if I'll ever call a win an easy win in this league, but we felt like we had enough opportunities to win the game and we didn't take advantage of them."
On the frustration he felt today:
"You said it. I mean, I don't know what else to say. We come out of the game, there's always going to be some plays I definitely would like to redo – a few of them. But you have to step up in the moment and make those plays."
On Redskins quarterback Colt McCoy coming into the game:
"I don't know what was going through our heads as far as that. It's just a new quarterback in the game. We talk about his strengths and weaknesses. We know he's a mobile quarterback, but other than that I don't think we were thinking about anything else other than trying to execute our defense being able to make plays and get off the field."
BISHOP SANKEY
On going three and out at the end of the game:
"It is really frustrating. It was our most crucial situation of the game up to that point and we weren't able to close it out, weren't able to get that first down running the ball. It definitely hurts."
On not getting a rhythm going running the ball because of penalties:
"We had that first penalty in that last drive trying to close it out. We just weren't able to move the ball on the ground at the end of the game. [We] just gotta go back and look at film and try to work on some things to get better at."
On losing close games the past two weeks:
"Today, [Head] Coach [Ken Whisenhunt] stressed we had too many penalties and again, playing right in those crucial situations. Just making plays in those situations and just focusing on the details."
**
WR DEREK HAGAN**
On the drive that helped the Titans take the lead:
"It felt good but it's just one play. Obviously, if the outcome was different it would've been great but we lost the game. So that is what it really comes down too. We worked so hard and put a lot of time and effort to win games and we let one slip away again."
On his first touchdown in a while and if the ball felt like it was in the air a long time:
"Yeah, the ball was up there. When you're that wide open, it's one of those that you really have to concentrate on the ball. I am just waiting hoping it comes down. You know you are wide open and that is what being a pro is all about – making those plays when the ball comes to you. I made the play and we are up but [we] still lost the game."
On going three and out in the fourth quarter:
"It is very frustrating. It is just one of those days. We felt coming in that we were able to move the ball up and down on the [Washington] Redskins but we didn't do that today. We had too many mistakes on offense and it really cost us. We know we should've a whole lot more points up on the board but we didn't. We are 2-5 and we have one next weekend, gotta keep working."
On why the Titans are penalty laden:
"That is just a mental thing. If you're not mentally tough, you're gonna make those mistakes. The team just gotta get tougher mentally. Penalties are a part of the game but if you can take away those negative plays and penalties, we would be just fine, we wouldn't be here sitting where we're at right here at 2-5."
