TENNESSEE TITANS QUOTES
HEAD COACH JEFF FISHER
(opening statements)
Well, we are certainly very excited to have put ourselves in a situation where we met and surpassed our first goal here which is to win the division. We did it against a good football team, against a good defensive football team and overcame lot of things during the ballgame as well. The slow start, the turnovers, we had way too many penalties, but yet we found a way to affect sudden change defensively and after the three turnovers we gave up six points.
When we needed a big play we got the punt return and got C.J.'s [Chris Johnson's] run and we were able to control the game from there. We were clearly rested, which is a good thing. We knew we were going to be after the weekend. I thought we came through the game somewhat healthy so we'll move on to the next opponent.
(on whether the team expected the Wildcat formation that Cleveland showed)
Yes. Yeah, we practiced against it a lot this week. We anticipated maybe a dozen plays out of them. I think we were probably right. He's [Joshua Cribbs] a very, very talented athlete and football player.
(on Chris Johnson reaching 1,000 yards rushing today)
He's been terrific for us. He's doing what we drafted him to do and that's make plays and add another dimension to our offense. With both backs, what they're able to do against a very stout group. I think that the credit also has to go to the offensive line, the tight ends and receivers that put us in the position to run the football.
(on the long drives early in the game)
No defense likes staying on the field. We established the run early which was good and we just stayed with it. I think Mike [Heimerdinger] did a nice job with the play selection and Kerry [Collins] did a lot of good things which put us in the best situation possible.
(on the post play penalties )
It's hard to say, I'll look at it. But these are two physical teams. When you have two physical teams, one that I believe has every right to be frustrated because of their record and a good football team and things just haven't gone well for them, and the other one that's got something to prove. Sometimes those things happen.
(on the Titans rush defense)
We worked especially hard. The goal going into this week was to address their run game and try to shut the run game down and make an inexperienced quarterback beat you. And that was the goal and that is what happened. I thought we did a great job up front.
(on the lack of a play clock early on)
It was not a problem. The back judge was going to give the quarterback one signal and that was at 10 seconds. I never saw the signal, so our tempo was really good. Mike [Heimerdinger] got the plays in. The whole offense knew we couldn't afford to spend much time in the huddle. It was not an issue.
QB KERRY COLLINS
(on the play clock not working on the field)
It was interesting. As long as you are getting the plays in and out real fast like we usually do, I knew it wouldn't be a problem. I had to look at the ref one time. We had the little signal back there.
(on all the turnovers and penalties)
Certainly from that standpoint, it wasn't our cleanest game. I think a lot of credit has to go to our defense. We put them in some tough situations with the turnovers and hurt ourselves with some penalties. A lot of credit has to go to them for stepping up the way they did.
(on if the Browns had some unexpected wrinkles on defense)
I don't think so. On my two interceptions, the first one I just didn't get it up high enough. The second one I just didn't make a very good decision and threw it right to the guy. With LenDale's (White) fumble, those things are going to happen. He is fighting for extra yards and he ends up fumbling. But our defense stepped up when we did turn it over.
(on the fourth down pass to Ahmard Hall)
That was a gutsy call by Dinger (Mike Heimerdinger). We had talked about it during the week that that would be a possibility. I am just glad it worked out. We didn't think Ahmard (Hall) would be open in the flat, we were really calling it for the crossers. We had crossers going and we really talked about getting it to those guys. Ahmard popped open and did a great job running with it.
(on the touchdown to Justin Gage)
The defender had his back turned so in that situation, sometimes if you can throw it high and right at him, the defender doesn't know the ball is coming. At worst it is going to be an incomplete pass. Justin (Gage) did a great job hiding his hands and waiting until the last second to go up and make the play. He did a heck of a job on it.
(on Hall being the unsung player out of the backfield)
We use him from time-to-time on some screen passes and a couple things here and there. Obviously most of the time that we give it to him it is going to be in short yardage situations. He is a talented guy. He can really run. He maybe didn't have the number of opportunities he would have liked, but he certainly made the most of the one he got today.
(on the excessive talking and penalties in the game)
There was a lot of talking. I guess that is just their style. Other teams do it. We have got a bunch of guys that will stand up. That is just part of it. We have got guys that don't get caught up in it too much and just do our thing.
(on winning the AFC South)
We are all pleased, and we are all happy that we won the division. But we know there are a lot of things left that we want to accomplish. Today was a good first step. We accomplished one of our goals. But we have got a lot of work ahead of us.
TE ALGE CRUMPLER
(on the victory)
There's nothing perfect in December. It's just physical football. I think that team (Cleveland) is playing hard for their coach, because I know Romeo (Browns head coach Romeo Crennel) is a great coach. But we have big things at stake. It was probably one of the most physical battles that we've faced, even though we put up some pretty decent numbers.
(on Titans turnovers and penalties)
We have always been resilient. We've always bounced back from adversity. We understood the situation at hand. We were going to have to run the football. We were aware of everything going on in the game. We'll try to forget about some of the things we made mistakes with.
RB CHRIS JOHNSON
(on the victory)
I feel we are clicking. Every team needs work and sometime you come out here and you're not really going to have a perfect game and do what you want to do. But eventually at the end, if you get the victory, and put up points and the defense continues to come out every week and not let teams put up points, the better we will get and the more wins we'll keep getting … I know we need to take it one step at a time. The more wins we get, the better chance we have of winning a Super Bowl.
(on the Titans' mistakes, penalties and turnovers)
I know it wasn't a perfect game. On our first offensive drive, I missed two blocks I was supposed to be on. The first two drives, it was mental mistakes getting us off the field. After we settled down and started executing, we started staying on the field and putting up some points.
They did give us fits early. And when you look at Cleveland on tape, they have a good front four, and physically they have a good front seven and they stop some teams. But if you keep running the ball on them, eventually you'll have a good day.
(on joining Eddie George and Earl Campbell as only franchise RB to rush for over 1.000 yards in rookie season)
It feels real good. Those two names are backs who are real great guys, and they had great careers in this league, so to be mentioned with those two is real great.
RB LENDALE WHITE
(on Titans loss)
It was a big day for everybody. The defense bailed out us a couple of times. I fumbled and the defense stuck in there and they (Cleveland) missed a field goal, so I owe the defense a lot and need to take 'em out someplace this week. Everybody came to play today. We knew Cleveland was a good team. They do talk a lot on defense. We knew Cleveland was a good defense coming in. We kept playing and playing and Kerry (Collins) got comfortable and made some big plays .
(on Titans offense)
There are going to be ups and downs. Last week we were being praised because we scored when we wanted to, pretty much. This week we come in and there are a few bumps in the road, but we still put up points. I think it doesn't matter how the offense is flowing, as long as when you need to put up points you put them up and you win the football game.
LB KEITH BULLUCK
(on how important it was to clinch the division today)
It was real important. Today was the day that we had the opportunity to come out and do it outright. It's better that we came out and did it ourselves instead of waiting for someone else to come out and lose and put ourselves in a situation where we are depending on someone else. I think this is the best way, you come out and you handle your business like we did and get a win.
(on how satisfying it is to have won the division)
It's real satisfying. When I first got here we kind of were on top of the division. About 2004-2005 everything shifted to Indianapolis. I think that this year we've put together so far, and winning the division, has been great for our team, for our organization, and for the guys that have been here for a few years and that have been through the tough times. To be on a team that is now 12-1 and AFC Division South winners is huge.
(on if there was extra motivation to win today because of Ken Dorsey being a quarterback that hasn't started a game in three years)
There is a sense of urgency as a defense to not go out there and lay an egg because the quarterback has not started a game in a couple of years. You don't take anyone for granted. If you're in this league that means that you're one of the best players in the world at actual football, so any given Sunday we definitely hold true of that.
(on the season high number of penalties today and scuffles during the game)
I sensed a lot when the offense was on the field. Those guys on the Cleveland Browns, they have a lot of pride. Even talking to them after the game, a lot of them are upset just at how the way their season went. They weren't necessarily going out there to start fights and pick fights just because they were losing. They are competitive and it's football and things like that happen all the time. We're playing for something and they weren't going to just concede to us, nor should they.
(on the temporary lighting and if there were any problems that came from it)
It wasn't that bad. The temporary light, we worked through that. And then the scoreboard, the only problem with that was that it's the scoreboard I watch when I'm on the sidelines to see what the offense is doing. So, I just had to use the far scoreboard.
(on the overall performance of the team today)
The offense put up 28 points. I know defensively we played pretty solid. Our goal was to stop Jamal [Lewis]. I think we did a great job of doing that and stopping their running game all together and putting it in Ken Dorsey's hands and giving him the opportunity to win the game. I think that we did a good job of executing our game plan on defense. 28-9, now we're division champs. I think we did great.
CB NICK HARPER
(on the victory)
This was really big to try to get a playoff game here at home, so we knew what we had to do. When your back is against the wall, and we did feel like our back was against the wall and we had to get this win to get into the playoffs, it made our job easy. We knew we had to go out and we couldn't have any let downs.
You are only as good as your defense allows you to be. Defense wins championships, and offense scores points. If your offense puts up 1,000 points and the opposing team puts up 1,001, you lose. They (opposing offenses) are only as good as we allow them to be.
(on how it felt to run with the Cleveland receivers today)
I was winded in the first half. It took me a quarter and a half just to get my wind back. I hadn't practiced in three weeks and that was my first time running. The first time the team allowed me to run in three weeks, and my wind was down, but it came back to me pretty quick. We knew they were going to test us with both of us being banged up, and they did test us.
LB STEPHEN TULLOCH
(on the Titans defensive play )
Whenever you can limit a team to field goals, it is a plus for us … It showed as a testament to this team all season, how we stopped Lewis (Cleveland RB Jamal Lewis) and this is where we're at right now. It goes back to our schemes. Coach Schwartz does a great job scheming up different opponents each week and we go out and execute and this is the outcome.
We love being on the field and having the opportunity to make plays … We had prepared all week. We knew Josh Cribbs was going to be back there and try to do different things. We have to respect a player like that. Coach Schwartz called the right plays to stop him, and we did.
(on the victory)
We still have a lot of work to do. This is just one step to our goal. Our next step is home-field advantage throughout the playoffs, and that's our goal right now.
DE JEVON KEARSE
(on Titans victory)
It was one of the things I was looking for when I was choosing my team. It could be just one player away from just getting what we need to get in the playoffs. But this is just one of the small steps that we are taking trying for the big picture ... This feeling of winning never gets old to me. We have clinched, so now we'll try to get a first round bye and bring the games here.
This is one goal we set at the beginning of the season, and now we need to accomplish all of them and not be satisfied with just one goal.
CLEVELAND BROWNS QUOTES
HEAD COACH ROMEO CRENNEL
(opening statement)
The Titans are a very good football team and I think they showed why they are today. We came down and got some turnovers and had some opportunities to try to get a little bit done. We weren't able to get enough done against them. Then in the second half they kind of dominated and were able to run the ball effectively, pressured the quarterback and hold our passing yards down. Overall they did a really good job. We had some opportunities in the first half and didn't get enough done and they made a lot of plays going down the stretch. I think that was basically the difference in the game. [Ken] Dorsey, he came in, he knows the offense but this is the first time he has been under center for a while. He kept fighting and tried to get some things done but their rush was pretty effective. They had hands in his face. They were getting hands on the ball, knocking balls down. He wasn't able to deliver the ball down the field consistently. I think that hurt us. We had a lull in special teams. We missed a field goal that would have helped and then we let them return a punt there at the end that normally we don't do. It wasn't what we were looking for, it wasn't what we needed, but I think those guys in that room, their going to keep fighting, and play this thing out and see what happens because on any given Sunday you just never know. I know we got some things we have got to overcome but they will have a good resolve. We will come back and play good next week and we will see what happens then.
(on using Joshua Cribbs as much as intended)
That was kind of reflective by the game. We talked about going in and maybe having a series with him in the first half and see how it goes. He was somewhat effective on some plays so we kept giving it to him a little bit.
(on how the defense played)
Well when you give up that kind of yards rushing you can't play good. I thought early on that they were effective. Early on, with getting turnovers and getting our offense field position but then in the second half we kind of fell apart.
(on what makes it hard to run on the Titans' defense)
I tell you what, they have got strong, physical guys on the inside and they have got a lot of speed at their linebackers as well. Those guys inside make it tough to get a run inside and then when you try to run it outside, their speed gets to your outside. I think that combination makes them pretty effective. They have been pretty good all year in stopping the run.
(on the difference between the two teams that were 10-6 last year)
I can't speak to their team. The only thing I can do is speak to my team. We have had some issues during the whole course of the year with injuries and inconsistencies. I think probably that is the main difference.
(on the number of penalties)
You try to avoid those things because they hurt you. They cost you field position. A lot of times they cause you momentum as well. You don't need them.
(on the effort of the team)
I think the guys still played hard. You look at the first half and it's a one score game at half time. If you're not trying, if you're not playing then you get blown out early so the guys they are fighting but due to circumstances we are not making enough plays to win particularly in the end.
LB D'QWELL JACKSON
(on the defensive performance all season)
This year has been rough. We just haven't been able to make that one play or those few plays that we need to get over that hump. We haven't been doing it all year long. What we're doing is not enough. Guys have to do a little extra. I wish I had a magic wand to wave and fix all of the problems, but I don't. That's the life for us this year.
(on the Titans' running game)
I thought we played well for a good stint of the ballgame. We knew they were going to be committed to running the ball with the two backs back there. They were able to keep pounding and keep pounding. We were able to get some turnovers but they stayed true to what they do. My hat goes off to them. They made plays, which we seem not to do all year.
(on his two-interception game)
This is my first one. Not even in little league. I want to be that guy. If it entails making a big play, I want to be that guy. It just feels that no matter what I did today, me personally, I always feel like it wasn't enough and we didn't win the ballgame. I've always been and will continue to be like that.
(on the Ahmard Hall TD catch on 4 th and 1 in first quarter)
We knew they were going to run the ball. All 11 guys on our defense knew they were going to run the ball. They didn't. They surprised us. They're a veteran team, a veteran coach. We'll definitely learn from that.
OL HANK FRALEY
(on the offensive performance)
We didn't play well enough to win. You can't single one guy out on their defense. We have to block their whole defense, it just wasn't one guy, and we didn't get it done on offense, on our side of the ball. We didn't take advantage of the opportunities that we got.
(on running against the Titans' defense)
They play eight or nine guys in the box. We still have to create opportunities to get a hat on a hat. They do a good job of to get guys clean and get pressure. I'm at a loss for words right now. We just have to make plays when we have the opportunity.
QB KEN DORSEY
(on frustration of failing to capitalize on early Titans turnovers)
It's definitely frustrating because you want to execute and go out and make plays. They're doing a great job of getting turnovers and I think a lot of that was my execution today.
(on making first start of the year)
I felt okay. I just tried to make quick, efficient decisions. I think at times I was a little too quick and at times I wasn't efficient enough. And there were times when I felt good about what I was doing. That's the ups and downs that go into a game right there.
(on inability to run the ball)
They are a great team, a great defense. With the situation, they are coming in to try to stop the run. That's part of it. We've got to do things to run the ball.
(on evaluation of his performance)
I'll need to wait to watch the film. There were times when I moved through reads and things efficiently and well and made the right choices. Then there were times when I went through too quick and maybe missed some things. And then there were times when I did something right and missed something. It's just kind of part of a game. Naturally, the interception is one that I'd like to have back. I think it was the right choice but just execution. When you have a guy like Braylon [Edwards] and the receivers that we have, you just have to give them chances to make plays. That was a frustrating thing for me in the red zone. I had Braylon one on one a couple of times. When you have a guy like that out there, just give him a chance. He's a special kind of player. I expect a lot of myself.
(on Josh Cribbs being used extensively behind center in game)
I have no problem with that. It's a package that we have and part of the game. That's not an issue for me at all.
(on Titans' pass rush)
They're great players. It puts a premium on smart decisions and going through things. I'm really proud of the guys up front. They were out there battling and doing everything they could to keep them off me. I think they did a great job for me.
(on his expectations in the remaining weeks of the season)
I expect to go out next week and learn from what I did this week. Get better, get more comfortable. This doesn't change the fact that I'm still going to work hard and I'm still going to go out and do whatever it takes on my end to hold up my end of the bargain for this team.
