HEAD COACH JEFF FISHER
(opening statement)
You know, this loss is unfortunately an example of just not being able to make the play at the end to close this game out, and that is exactly what happened. You get second and 25 and we have a chance, can't make it and get called for a foul, and then, just kind one of those deals.
You know, that is a good football team we played. I think we showed some improvements in some areas today. We didn't win the game. We had chances, we didn't get it done. I am very disappointed.
We had plays in all three phases that had they gone the other way, (or) we made a play (then) we would have had a chance to win this ballgame.
* (on if defense was worn down)*
The defense wasn't tired. That's a good offense. I thought the defense played well enough to win.
(on interference call)
I have to see it, his vision, the ball. But I don't know the route. I didn't see the routes that put him in that position.
(on the muffed kickoff return late in the game)
We are not looking to blame anything on anybody. That ball held up. Marc (Mariani) was lined up short. We moved our front line up. That ball got held up in the wind. There was a gust of wind and it actually went backwards, or stalled and came straight down. So, they got a unique bounce. It was one of those things that sums up the game today.
(on if he received an explanation on the Chris Johnson fumble)
He (referee Clete Blackman) couldn't overturn it because he didn't get an opposite look. I thought he was down, down by contact, but you have to have indisputable evidence and there was not a camera angle from the backside that would show the ball coming out and the knee down, so you could see the knee down, but you couldn't see the ball, so they left it as ruled on the field.
(on the lack of a running game hurting at the end)
It would have been nice to hand the ball off and get a few first downs and punt the ball away or keep the ball, but we didn't. We need to keep working on it. You know, we are rushing for a 100 yards a game but we are not satisfied with it.
(on adjusting to opponents stacking the box)
Well, we threw the ball today. We just didn't have the opportunities when it got down to the offense, a couple of three and outs. We started off early. Vince (Young) made good decisions. He handled things well, he made good throws, he was accurate. You know, we threw the ball well. You get a kickoff return for a touchdown, which is great, but your defense goes back on the field, and so we just didn't get the snaps.
(on keeping Chris Johnson's spirits up after today's game)
You know, C.J.'s fine. He's a team player. He's disappointed like the rest of his teammates are in the loss. That's the only issue that is of a concern right now. We'll get the run game going. We need to get some things done up front so we can create some other opportunities for ourselves.
(on his take on Sen'Derrick Marks' personal foul)
I thought the contact was in the thigh. I didn't think it was low enough to warrant the call.
(on if that kind of play should be looked at in the offseason)
They're going to protect the quarterbacks and you know, he said he thought he went to the knee area. That initial contact was in the thigh and the quarterback's going backwards, you're naturally going to fall down. It's kind of one of those things. We've made decisions to protect our quarterbacks and the officials are doing the best they possibly can to do so.
(on his first impressions of Alterraun Verner)
I thought he played hard, played well. That's a dynamic offense and they made some plays on him in play action but he was one-on-one. He was there to make the tackle and we expected that they were going to make some of those plays. He (Kyle Orton) made those against everybody but I thought he battled. I thought he was in the right place, doing the right things. This game is not, by no means, too big for him.
(on how he will get the players up after today's loss and do better for next week)
Well, our players are going to be just fine. We'll put this in perspective, look at the tape and get it corrected. They know we beat ourselves. We'll identify those areas and move on. We'll have them ready to practice and prepare for a very talented Cowboy team that's come off a bye week.
(on Justin Gage's injury and Damian Williams playing time as a result)
We were going to get Damian (Williams) in and then Gage had the issue and we played him (Damian Williams). We've got depth there and that's a good group. I don't know his status nor do I know the status of Derrick Morgan or Sen'Derrick (Marks).
QB VINCE YOUNG
(on being frustrated in passing game in the second half)
Not at all. Not at all.
(on tight ends making plays in the second half)
We just kind of changed it up a little bit. They went a little bit more zone; earlier in the game they went a lot of man and we felt like our tight ends can do a good job of winning us on the outside as well as on the linebacker. So, that was open at the beginning but they kind of switched it up a little bit in their coverages, got a little bit more zone, so, that's why we were hitting a lot more throws underneath because of what they were doing.
(on getting a good look on Chris Johnson's fumble)
Not at all…from the screen, yeah, definitely. But I didn't really…
(on whether or not Chris Johnson was down)
I'm going to leave that alone. Keep my mouth closed on that one.
(on losing after out-playing Denver)
Yeah, somewhat. Definitely. But like Coach Fisher probably mentioned already, we hurt ourselves. There is some things that we have to continue to clean up. But overall the effort out of offense, defense and special teams, you can honestly say we played pretty hard. But like I said, they stole one, got one out of here. So now we just have to move on and get ready for another big game next week.
(on offense playing conservative in the second half)
I can't…you know, you got to talk to the offensive coordinator and Coach Fisher on that one. My job is to go out there and try to do whatever it takes, when the play is called, to execute it, get first downs and move the ball. So that's pretty much my job. We had some shots…we definitely had some shots but we didn't finish like we wanted to. So, like I said, our defense did a good job of getting us an opportunity, definitely to get a win; other than the pass interference…you know, crazy calls like that in the NFL happen a lot, so…But like I said, we put that in the past, now it's time for us to move on. We've got a big game this week again, Dallas Cowboys, I think it is. We've got to get ready for that one.
(on Denver's plan for Chris Johnson)
They played a little double, they tried to double him a little bit. They got a linebacker holding him as well, tried to rush the d-end and then if they see him flaring or doing anything, they are going to double him. Some things they did last week to Clark (Dallas), to Payton (Manning) and them, so at the same time that's where it opened up a lot of our other guys to make some plays when they did that. So, I feel like our offensive line did a great job; our guys – receivers and tight ends – did a great job pretty much in preparation of this week, getting ready to play. Like I said, we just didn't finish the game like we wanted to.
(on connection with Kenny Britt)
Yeah we are getting there. He's young, he's still working. I feel like I was in the same boat as he is, and more plays and more reps and things like that, Kenny is going to be one of them type of receivers in the league that everybody is going to have to start respecting. But our chemistry-wise right now, he's starting to listen, he's taking notes, he's doing all of the preparation to get his self ready to play and that's a good thing, just to see that as one of the leaders on the team.
(on how it affects the team when Chris Johnson is not going)
I feel like everything was pretty much good today. I wouldn't say that. That's probably from your eyes. But, I feel like CJ (Chris Johnson) did a great job, we was making plays down the field, catching the ball. I feel like it has to be both ways balanced in order for CJ to do the things that he's best at. So when you've got guys, eight or nine guys in the box, you've got to back him up and we did a good job with that with the tight ends like you said earlier…Guys making plays early in the game to back him up, for CJ to get some of these big runs. So we've got to continue to keep working, that's pretty much it, continue to keep working. Also, Ringer (Javon) did a great job coming in and making some plays as well.
(on Denver making defensive adjustments in the second half)
Somewhat. At the beginning of the game they were doing more man, and seeing Dawkins (Brian) on our tight ends and things like that. We felt like all week that we could take advantage of some things and in the second half they did a little bit more zone. So, that's pretty much what happened.
(on Javon Ringer's performance thus far)
Very talented guy; he has great vision, of letting the play develop and getting behind the big boys and making plays. I really feel like he's going to be real good for us. I said that at the beginning of preseason and things like that, and he continues to keep taking care of his responsibility, taking on his role of what he is. When he comes in, he get a chance and he always makes a play for us. I have a lot of respect for Ringer.
(on losing momentum in the second half)
It was definitely frustrating. I feel like we could have did some more things to help our defense as well as move the ball down the field. Like I said, things happen, our defense still did a good job of trying to stop them guys and we knew that them guys were going to throw the ball a whole lot like they did, but at the same time, as offense, get them first downs and keep that chain moving and keep them guys off the field like that.
(on preparing for Dallas)
Preparation and go back to work. I haven't watched these guys yet, so, it's pretty much preparation and play a great football team. That's pretty much it.
RB CHRIS JOHNSON
(on being double teamed)
It happens pretty much every play and just a thing we got to get used to, game plan for it and execute.
(on teams aiming towards stopping him)
Just trying to look for daylight. Just go with whatever plays coach is calling and try to execute. If it don't work, it gets frustrating and just keep playing the game
(on the fumble)
I think I was down. It showed that my knee was down, and things like that, but I'm not sure why it wasn't overturned.
(on beating frustration)
It's tough, it's very tough. The situation is we are not a good running team right now. We got work to do. With a little more practice we get, the better we can get.
(on out playing the other team in a loss)
Yea,h it hurts worse but at the end of the day, they made plays. We didn't make plays. Our defense played great but from an offensive standpoint, we didn't play as good as we can play.
(on playing up to the potential or did the Broncos do something different)
Not sure, got to look at the film and see what all happened. At the end of the day, no matter what another defense does or what kind of defense another defense plays, we have to execute our own plays. That is what we go to practice for.
* (on comparing running inside and outside and the productivity of running outside)*
I don't think that's the situation. I don't think every time I run outside I gain yardage. Some plays, no matter if it's inside or outside, I gain yards. Some plays I don't.
(on thoughts of breaking a big run with the play calls against the defense)
We do have a lot of plays like that but with so many people in the box, it looks like we are going to break one and then another guy comes so quick, so, it's just something we got to work on.
(on the three and outs in the fourth quarter)
The last two drives basically we got a four-minute offense. We're leading and they're going to put as much guys in the box because they know we are going to try to run the ball to run the clock out and they just made plays.
DE DAVE BALL
(on the Titans loss)
The worst way to lose in sports is in the end. Even worse is we lose at the end, after we beat ourselves. It's a terrible way to lose. I especially blame myself. There were a couple of plays where I was offsides. We can't do that. Once we get all that stuff ironed out, the sky is the limit. We played well. They got one touchdown on us. That pass interference call got them down to the one-yard line. I don't think we wore down. We run around practice like maniacs and we were ready for anything.
(on how he feels he played with 2.5 sacks, despite the penalties)
Anytime I'm out on the field is a good day. Anytime my kids are healthy is a good day. So it was a good day, relatively. I'm sure there's not a player in the NFL who gets a flag on them, that thinks it's a flag. In high school basketball I never committed one foul, but I fouled out about 75 percent of my games. Go figure.
SS CHRIS HOPE
(on the Titans loss)
Anytime you play at home, you want to win. If you want to be a playoff team, you definitely want to take care of your home-field advantage. I feel like we've given away two games at home this season and you don't get those games back. … We pretty much had this game in control the entire game, until the last drive.
I don't know how many snaps we played on defense, but say you play 70 snaps, you have to play a perfect 70 snaps. You never know what missed tackle, what slant that you missed, or the time you get out of a gap, what play is going to beat you, and that's tough to do, to be perfect. Every phase of this team had a hand in the loss. I feel as a defense we played pretty good and the offense played pretty good. But it's those miscues that came back to bite us.
(on his fourth quarter pass interference penalty that gave Denver the ball on the one-yard line)
I actually thought I got a great break. I can make that play eight out of 10 times, but sometimes it's pretty much in the offense's favor when you hang the ball up in the air that long. With the offense, and the way that play is called now, any offense can pretty-much throw a Hail Mary desperation pass.
You know, if you hang the ball up in the air long enough, it's going to be some tangling between the offensive and the defensive guy. We're taught to play the eyes of the receiver if we're not in position to catch the interception. I felt like I was in great position and he wasn't behind me. But the ball hung up in the air so long that he had a chance to draw the pass interference.
CB ALTERRAUN VERNER
(on Titans putting the loss behind them)
We're going to put this one to the side. It is what it is. We lost. It was a tough loss. We gave it our all, but you know, we've got Dallas next week and that's who we're going to focus on starting tomorrow. Actually, for me, it has already started right now.
It's a sting. We had them on the ropes, where we wanted them. I feel anytime we have the lead we should win the game. Defensively I'm just that confident in our defense that we can hold anybody. So it really hurts. It definitely stings, that we let them climb right back in. We'll learn from this mistake. Sometimes you need these stumbling blocks to make you a stronger team. We'll learn from it and get stronger.
WR NATE WASHINGTON
(on having the lead and letting the game slip away)
Yeah, this is definitely one that we should of won.
(on the loss being because of too many mistakes)
I think so. It's hard to tell right now. We still have to go in and watch film. I'm pretty sure there were a lot of things we could have done better but we didn't today. We didn't close it out so we'll have to do a better job of closing out next week.
*(on not being able to score on two possessions with a 20-16 lead) *
Yeah, we definitely did. I don't know what to say about that right now but that's what happened. Our offense stalled and we've got to go back and assess this game right here.
(on there being enough down-the-field passing)
Right now, it's not my call. Like I said before, it's not my decision to make. It's not my personal decision to put out there in the media. I'm not worried about that right now. Whatever is called, we've got to run it and that's what we'll go with.
(on there being any confusion on offense)
No, we're not confused. Just running the plays that are called. We've got to do a better job of running them.
(on trying to get some consistency from a win in New York to a lost today)
Definitely. You have to do a better job of coming out and being consistent. That's what we will be working on, closing out these games.
WR MARC MARIANI
(on the last kickoff return fumble)
I should of made the play. It's a [expletive] feeling.
(on if he called off the up back on the return)
No, the call was short, short, short. We knew it was going to be short. I was cheated up anyways. Like I said, I don't even know where it landed right now. As soon as it hit the ground, I went up to try to get it. Just got hit and it's my responsibility.
(on thinking he was going to be able to get under it in the air)
I saw it off his foot. It was short. I think it died more than I expected it to and with the wind it was tough. The ball was doing some crazy things in the air. Like I said at the end of the day, it was my responsibility.
(on calling for a fair catch)
No, I was coming up as hard as I could. That's a good, safe decision. I didn't want it to land in front of me and kick it or something so I pulled off, and was hopefully trying to get it on the bounce. I went up for it and I saw a guy coming.
(on the fumble being from lack of experience in that situation)
I don't know. I know what I'm supposed to do. You can never practice every ball that is going to come your way. I feel that it was one of those ones that should have been this way, should have been that play. It's my responsibility and I need to get it done. **
(on having a sour taste from the fumble after the touchdown return)
Yeah, there's ups and downs. I got one of both today. I'm going to get the film and see what happened.
HEAD COACH JOSH McDANIELS
(opening statement)
Well I am certainly proud of our football team for fighting on the road here at a very difficult environment against a very physical, good football team. We did a lot of things wrong but we were mentally tough, stayed in it in the fourth quarter eliminating the big plays that they are certainly capable of offensively and made enough plays there in the fourth quarter to win the game. You know, when you win one on the road against a team like this you don't give it back and we're certainly not going to. We are very happy to be 2-2 and we look forward to getting ready for our next opponent tomorrow.
(on Kyle Orton's performance)
He stands in there and he took a lot of hits today. Certainly more than maybe we would like for him to, practically early in the game but never lost his poise, continued to be confident on the sideline. (He) made a couple of crucial throws for us to change field position sometimes when we had an opportunity to be backed up there offensively. He executed when we needed him to execute. Those couple of two-minute drives. I'm very impressed with the way he's leading our football team and the way he's playing. Certainly we are not helping him one bit with the running game right now and that's difficult to continue to take that burden on and really move the football only through the air, but if that's what we have to do while we continue to try to work on that other part of our game, that's what we've got to do and Kyle has been up to the challenge.
(on refusing to abandon the running game)
That's a pretty fair assessment. We're not going to go into any game and try to be one dimensional. I think though at some point, in a game, and for today I think it was 9:27 to go in the fourth quarter, we were, that's it, that's enough. I'm done talking about the running game right now. If that's what we've got to do at some point in the game , that's what we've got to do. You play to win the game, and if you don't always [inaudible] then you have to try to do it the other way. Certainly that's not our goal each week and we have to work hard to improve a lot of things in our running game right now because certainly we are not doing very well right now.
(on defending the Titans' run game)
That was the game plan. Set the edge, don't let them bounce to the outside. We blitzed the two outside linebackers I think 55 or 60 times or however many plays they had. I mean, it was close to all of them just to make sure we contained him and didn't let him get to the outside and get to the perimeter where he makes most of his big plays. The defense did a great job [inaudible] long enough for the offense to make enough plays to take the lead. It took us a long time but they did a great job of complementary football with us and giving us the football and giving us some field position too.
(on the time out at the end of the half)
I wish I wouldn't have called it early. [inaudible] and let it go a little longer. That was a mistake on my part.
(on the short kickoff)
The wind. That was it. That was not a … We talked about that type of play for our return unit yesterday because we knew that it was going to be 20 mile an hour winds or whatever it was and we talked about being ready to fair catch the football if one of them got caught up in the air and it just so happened that it ended up being our kickoff team that ended up being a part of that play. I thought that was good awareness on their part to be there and try to get the football because once it hit the ground [inaudible].
(on Demaryius Thomas' kickoff returns)
I think he did pretty well. We have been working with him. He is a guy that really hasn't done that much in his career up to this point but when he catches it and gets going that's a big man to be running that fast and to have to try and tackle him on the kickoff team. The biggest thing is making sure we field the ball on a windy day. So we had a little bit of hesitation when we went out there in the beginning but he caught them well in pregame and he certainly made enough of an impact today that I think he will be back there again.
(on the wind's effecting the game)
It really affected the kicking game more than the passing game. It would have to be heavier wind than that to affect the passing game. I think most of the throws certainly were shorter and intermediate type of throws because of the type of pressure they were getting on us early in the game and that was how we were trying to counter that.
(on Kevin Vickerson starting over Ryan McBean)
We rotated all of them in, all of them played. If you stop the competition in the beginning of the season then practice can sort of suffer. All of our players are in competitive situations and we just felt Vickerson had a good two or three weeks and kind of surged ahead a little bit.
(on this beginning like a divisional game)
Absolutely, they are a good football team. They are well coached but they seem to be in games with a ton of penalties. That's a credit to how physical they play. Sometimes that leads to some things after the play but definitely the intensity was there from the opening kickoff all the way through. You could tell. I thought our guys, and their team, did a good job of kind of holding on in couple of situations that could have gotten out of hand. I would say it was like a division game on the road.
(on the noise level and protection of the offensive line)
I don't think so. We didn't have any false starts and we didn't have any lates getting out of our stance. They pressured us a lot earlier in the game which kind of discouraged the run game and forced you to stand in there and block them one on one in protections. I think until we got use to it and got comfortable with it, we had a few issues there. This is an aggressive defense. Some games they pressure more than others. It seemed to be one that they felt like they needed to do that and that's what their game plan was.
**QB KYLE ORTON
(on huge play to Jabar Gaffney)
Well, we've got playmakers. We told the guys to give me a little bit of extra time, let our guys get down the field and they did a great job of opening up a little hole for me so I could step up and let our guys get down the field. Jabar (Gaffney) had been asking for the ball the hole game, just didn't have time to get him the ball in some of those situations; went back to him and he made a great play.
(on being lucky to win this game)
No, I don't think it was luck. I don't think we played our best football the whole time, but anytime you can give yourself a chance to win in the fourth quarter on the road against a good football team, we'll take it. When it got down to it, we made the plays.
(on feeling under siege)
We were under siege maybe a little bit in the backfield, but I think for the most part we were the tougher team today. You always hear about how tough they are and all of that stuff. I don't think they are tough. I think they are cheap and it was one of the cheapest games that I've ever seen out of some of those players. I thought the refs did a great job of keeping it under control, but when we've got Chris Kuper with his helmet off, getting punched and all of that stuff, it's ridiculous. If that is the type of player that Cortland Finnegan wants to be, well then he is a cheap player—he is not a good player.
(on the rising frustration throughout the game)
There was a little frustration. We really wanted to come out and play a crisp game and we didn't get off to a great start, obviously. We battled. We battled and offensively it was probably the most adversity that we had faced all season. Three and out to start the game; a turnover. We did face adversity, but stuck together as a unit and played well down the stretch.
(on going for it on fourth and three)
The defense did a great job of bailing us out. We talked about how critical a four minute situation turned into a two minute situation would be. We talked about it a lot last week and it certainly showed its face in this game. We got the ball back with two minutes to go. They did a great job. I don't know if it was a three and out, but they might have gotten it on the second set of first downs. They got us the ball back nice and quick, gave us good field position, and we made the rest.
WR BRANDON LLOYD
(on the Broncos trio of receivers)
I think it is four receivers. You have to throw DT (Demaryius Thomas) in there also. As a rookie he is right up there in catches with the veterans. As far as a receiving group we are in it for one another. We give each other support out there on the field and that translates into confidence.
(on Kyle Orton)
Knowledge is power. He is already a bright individual. He just knows a lot about the game of football. This being the second year in Coach McDaniels' offense his applying all three of those things and he is just turning out to be a really good quarterback.
(on the game)
You have to win on the road. We knew this was going to be a hostile environment. It was loud. Those guys are extremely tough on the other side. Not only do they test your scheme and what you are trying to execute as an offense, they test your toughness by the way those guys play. They are nasty. It is easy to get distracted and get into small battles with those guys. We stayed on the straight and narrow. We got a lucky play and we don't want it to have to come down to that, it being the game, but we will take it.
RB CORELL BUCKHALTER
(on the offense picking up Titans' blitzes in game)
That's why you practice the blitzes that they're going to run. Every guy has to be on the same page and execute on the same level. If not, it's going to be a disaster. Whatever a defense team plays, that's what they're going to do. It was nothing to do with running the football. We knew coming into this game that on first and second downs, they blitz their safeties a whole lot.
(on whether Broncos' illegal formation penalty on 1st-and-goal was a blessing in disguise)
Yeah, but still, we don't want that. We were on the one and getting backed up to the six-yard line is not cool at all. We still have to execute better down in the red zone and get touchdowns.
(on his go-ahead TD catch)
I just did my job and everybody on the offense just did their job on that play. We were able to execute and you saw the results. It's about everyone doing their job.
(on the importance of the win)
Real important. We wanted to come out of this game 2-2, like we did. Now we look forward to going to Baltimore and playing a good team. We have to put up our best performance.
(on the toughness of QB Kyle Orton)
That's something that this whole team tries to strive upon, being tough and being physical. Kyle's pieced into that equation, too. Sometimes you're going to get knocked around but you have to have the heart and strength to get back up and be ready to do it again.
LB ROBERT AYERS
(on stopping Chris Johnson in game)
Most importantly, we got the win. We knew Chris Johnson was the key. We knew if we could slow him down that it would be good things to happen to us. We gave up the one big run to the other back, of all people. We knew that was the goal and we feel like we accomplished it, and most importantly, we got the W. He's going to make plays. He's one of the best players in the NFL, so he's going to make plays. It's our job not to let that get us down. He's going to get one then we just have to bounce back the next play and respond. I feel like we did a good job of that today.
(on getting the offense the ball back late in the game after failing to do so the previous week)
That's the thing about the season. It's a season of ups and downs. The longer you can stay on the ups, the better you'll be. In Jacksonville, they made the plays that we didn't and they beat us. In this game, we feel like it was our job to stop them and get the offense the ball and a chance to win. That's what we did. The offense took advantage of it and they won the game. As long as we can keep building on this and learning from what we did wrong and keep improving, we'll be alright. That's our job. Regardless of how many points the offense scores, we aim for a shutout every game. It may not be realistic to aim at that, but that's our goal.
S BRIAN DAWKINS
(on the physicality of game)
We knew it was going to be a battle. Coming here is a tough place to play, a tough environment, a tough team. We just have to make sure that for 60 minutes that we put the effort on the field to be able to pull out a close game. We knew it was probably going to come to the fourth quarter at some point.
(on watching QB Kyle Orton and the passing game)
I love it. It was something that was just going to continue to grow, hopefully, and we get more and more guys involved in big play after big play. It's funny how this has worked out, as far as the passing attack is, when it was considered at the beginning to be a weak part of our team.
(on slowing down Titans RB Chris Johnson)
That was the emphasis. We knew we had to do that. Obviously, we gave up a long run to his counterpart back there. We can't let those things happen. For the most part this game, we rallied to the ball, everybody. We didn't depend on one guy to make the tackle. Go back and watch the film. Even when one guy makes the tackle, you're going to see five or six guys waiting behind him just in case he escaped. That was the emphasis and we have to continue that type of work ethic every week.
