TENNESSEE TITANS COACH JEFF FISHER
(Opening Statement) - "We got some things accomplished that we didn't necessarily see last week. I was pleased with the drives and was disappointed with the blocked field goal, but at least we moved the ball and Kerry spread the ball around quite a bit. He showed he still has those youthful legs and ability to pick up that fumble and the bad snap and make a play to [Chris Johnson]. In a sense defensively, we gave up a couple plays, but I thought overall with the starters we handled the run, which we wanted to, and once we subbed things kind of fell apart from a game standpoint."
(On Mark Jones' kick returns) - "The squibs, I don't believe they were intentional squibs, but the wind was significant. So, it was hard. We did have the number of kicks that would help in evaluation, but he only got to field a couple. We'll look at [the fumble] to see how it came out, I couldn't tell."
(On Vince Young) - "He handled things and he overcame the mistake [the interception] and made plays. He came right back with a throw after the interception for a touchdown and he made the play. I thought that he has every reason to feel good about his performance tonight."
(On the play before the half) - "What we want to do is have him take a shot or throw it away. It opened up and he went for it, so we'll learn from that, as we will from the blocked field goal. Those are the kinds of things you take from the preseason."
(On Kevin Mawae) –"We were thinking 15-20 plays and he may have played a few more than that. But he was feeling good and talking to Munch [Offensive Line Coach Mike Munchak] the whole time."
(On who is the better dresser between LenDale White and Chris Johnson) – "I don't think they're even in any kind of class with some of their teammates. We're deciding the best of the worst."
(On Jared Cook) - "He came out because we took him out. He may have something [an injury], but he could have played with it."
(On Quinn and Anderson) - "They clearly had a plan and they allowed them to do quite a bit on the line of scrimmage, which I think you need to do when you're evaluating. They both made big throws and big plays and it looked as if they have a pretty good feel for the new offense."
QB Kerry Collins
(on how they moved the ball) –"Yeah, really from an execution standpoint I think you saw our best effort of the preseason. I thought we had good tempo, and we made some plays and overcame a couple situations. I know we had a third and long and we were able to come back and get a first down off of that. We'd like to cap it off with a couple touchdowns but I thought, all in all, it was a better effort."
(on what was clicking for the offense tonight) –"I thought the passing game was better tonight. I think the guys were making plays outside. I saw things as well as I have all preseason, and I think our execution and our tempo was good. So, all in all, like I said, we spent a little more time game planning this week which I think showed a little bit tonight."
(on the plays to Jared Cook) –"He was open, you know he's a guy we'd like to get the ball. He can be an asset on third down like he was tonight. I know a couple of those were on third down for first downs and he's a guy that can do some things once he catches it, and he makes plays with his feet."
(on how the rookie receivers are coming along) –"They're coming along well. For being their first year here, most of the time they're in the right spots and they're doing the right things. There are bumps in the road from time to time but that's expected with young guys like them. But for rookies, I think they're right on track where they need to be."
QB Vince Young
(on the positives of the two minute drive at the end of the first half) –"It was pretty cool. Making the right reads is all that matters to me. Making the right reads and getting the ball out. They tried to show a couple of different blitzes and things like that so I was talking to (Coach Mike Heimerdinger) and he was pretty proud of me having my eyes right and getting the ball out on time."
(on how it feels to take the team down the field in a road game) –"That's big, it's something we work on a lot in practice with Coach Fisher. He talks about not being able to have sacks and incompletions on first down so I took that in and tried to take care of my responsibilities as a quarterback."
(on scoring the series after his interception) –"I mean, interceptions happen. He (Browns LB Alex Hall) made a great play, I put the ball behind him. I think I should have gotten the ball out or thrown it into the ground. They make plays, but like I was saying before the season started, that's the one thing me and Coach Heimerdinger always talked about, just putting the play behind you and getting ready for the next series or the next drive. That's pretty much what I did."
(on how he grades himself after the turnovers) –"I mean, it happens. I really felt like my knee was down on the goal line, but the interception was definitely my fault. It happens, quarterbacks throw interceptions, but you've got to come back and redeem yourself the next series. And that's what I wanted to do, I wanted to show Coach if I do make a mistake that I can come back out next series and make something happen."
(on if there's been an offensive rhythm this preseason) –"Like I said I can always go back to studying. Studying is the biggest key. Studying all week. Paying attention to what's going on and what's being said to Kerry Collins. We don't get as many reps as the starters but you have to take the game to the mental stage. You have to prepare because when you go back in you have to be ready. Because the same thing they do to Kerry is the same thing they're going to do to me."
(on TE Matthew Mulligan getting himself open on the touchdown) –"My man. I have a lot of respect for Mulligan. He's been having a great camp. Just to see him get in the endzone for his first time I'm definitely happy for him."
(on the support from his teammates prior to his touchdown drive) –"My teammates and the offensive line did a great job the whole drive. Just to see how we came back after the turnover, everybody came in and executed the plays and got into the endzone. It makes me happy to see that confidence level didn't go down after the turnover. It was pretty good on everyone's part from an offensive standpoint."
CLEVELAND BROWNS HEAD COACH ERIC MANGINI
(Opening Statement)-"How's everybody doing tonight? Good. There were a lot of things that I liked tonight. One of the main things, offensively, that we talked about is, we talk about this every week, but especially with Tennessee, the importance of protecting the football. I think we did a good job with that. I thought we cut down on penalties. We got a tough call with the box call, with our guy being out of the box, but we'll coach that up better. We did some good things, in terms of recognizing what they were in defensively and then being able to get some numbers where we wanted the numbers. Defensively, there are some positive things, but we need to continue to improve our tackling. I thought the scramble, with the tack-on of the face mask penalty, talk about a huge, huge change in field position, when you really had a chance to sack them at that point if you can come in clean. There were some other missed tackles here and there. In talking to the team prior to the game, one of the things that I felt would happen, and usually does during any game, is adversity. I wanted to see how well we could respond to adversity and I thought that, in most cases, we did pretty well. They had the drive and we were able to block the field goal. Extension was a big point of emphasis this week on the field goal block team, being able to not just push the line back but get our hands up. The other series there, at the end of the half, making the tackle and getting the ball out to prevent points. I thought both of those examples were positive ways of us dealing with adversity. There were a lot of good things all around and a lot of good things to coach off of from the game, situationally, and also from a technique perspective."
(On if he saw enough out of the quarterbacks tonight to make a decision)- "I'll look at the tape tomorrow and talk to the coaches and continue to evaluate it."
(On Brady Quinn reentering the game)- "The plan was they would each get a quarter. Then, D.A. would start the second half, so that they would each have an opportunity to start one of the halves. Then it was a question of play count and trying to balance up the play count."
(On assessing the play of the quarterbacks)- "The initial assessment is both are able to generate long drives, which I like. We got down to the red area a couple of different times, where we weren't about to get the ball in and had to settle for three. We really need to do a better job taking advantage of those opportunities, offensively, and be able to convert them into more points. We've been down there quite a few times in the preseason and haven't gotten it in enough. I thought they both did a good job with the checks that we talked about. I liked the work that we did on screens. That is everybody working together, but the quarterbacks have a big part in that too, in terms of, setting it up and where they need to be in relationship to the pass rush and being able to get the ball over the rush to the running back. I thought that was effective."
(On whether either quarterback won the starting job tonight)- "I am going to look at it and keep evaluating it and when a decision is made, I will definitely let everybody know."
(On whether the starting quarterback decision will be made this week)- "Again, I don't really have a time table on it."
(On how the team has improved since the first preseason game)- "The improvement that I've seen is more consistency. I really like the way that the offense, throughout the course of the preseason, not just the games but the practices, has been able to use cadence. I think we had one false start penalty, and that was really a function of, I think it was, Josh (Cribbs) motioning in and then he turned towards the line of scrimmage, as opposed to, not having the cadence. There was a quite a bit of cadence tonight and quite a bit of communication that had to go on after the group got to the line of scrimmage. I think we've made some real progress there. Defensively, I think that we need to continue to improve our communication across the board. There were times on that two-minute drive where not everybody had the same call, but it has improved from the first game. It just has to continue along that path, because there are going to be multiple adjustments every game plan, every week that everybody has to get right in order for us to be effective. On special teams, I liked, obviously, the progress on the blocked field goal. There was a great coaching point there. The ball goes over the line of scrimmage, at that point you get away from it and you have it from where they kicked it, as opposed to picking it up and you lose field position there. That happened to me one time in New York. Same situation against New England, it was early in the first year, we tried to pick it up and return it and we lost field position that would have been valuable in the ensuing two-minute drive. That's a good coaching point off that situation that we were able to get in this preseason game."
(On if he is looking to get a second running back more prominent in the offense)- "I don't think I ever said that I was looking to get a second back more prominent. What I was looking for is, for all of the backs to carve out a role. We haven't been able to see much of Jerome (Harrison) throughout this process. I think that James (Davis) has done a nice job with his opportunities. The important thing that I stress over and over with James is the importance of him being able to contribute on special teams and the importance of him being able to be sound in pass protection. There have been some strides there but, we need to continue to see the same type of strides because things are going to pick up that much more once the season starts."
(On the sideline penalty)- "I didn't get the full analysis. I guess we weren't in the box. I don't know. I'll check and see what we can do better."
(On if he has seen the box penalty called before)- "Personally, I haven't. Maybe it has been, but not in any of the games that I have been part of."
CLEVELAND BROWNS PLAYERS
QB Brady Quinn
(on the touchdown pass to WR Braylon Edwards) – "The line did a great job allowing us enough time. Braylon ran a great route and made a great catch. He took a couple of pops but got in the endzone."
(on if his performance was enough to win the starting job) – "That's not for me to decide. I'm trying to go out and score touchdowns every time I'm out there. We didn't accomplish that. I don't want to call myself greedy, but you always want more."
(on if this was his best performance of the preseason) – "I haven't had a chance to evaluate all three games. It's tough to do that at this point. I felt pretty confident out there and pretty good about what we did. Our team played a great game. We played complimentary football in all three phases."
(on knowing pregame the rotation of quarterbacks) – "Yes, based on how we were told we would rotate the quarters."
(on his performance in the preseason) – "There are always things you wish you had back. Again, in all three games, I think I've been pretty consistent. I try to do my job, run the huddle and execute the way coach asks us to."
(on expecting to know soon who the starter will be) – "I expect to practice on Monday. Derek and I are both very mentally tough guys and that is why we are both on this team as quarterbacks."
(on needing to prove he can throw a deep ball) – "Not at all. We aren't going to force things out there on the field. We had some opportunities and tried to take advantage of it. Again, I don't feel like there is any part of my game that is lacking. That is stuff for you guys to write about. I feel the more you see me play, the more you will see that is not the case."
(on comparing himself and Derek Anderson) – "No quarterbacks are the same. You can't even make the comparisons. We both try to do the things asked of us. They ask us to do the same thing so we go out and try to execute the best we can."
(on throwing the only touchdown pass of the preseason) – "We left a couple of plays out there in each of the games. There are always things we are working at to get better on."
(on the direction of the team after three preseason games) – "If you've watched the progression of the team as a whole, there has been a lot of bonding, unity and progression."
QB Derek Anderson
(On how he played tonight) - "I thought I was pretty good and our cadence was good. I made some good throws. There were a couple I wish I had back, but other than that I thought it was pretty solid."
(On knowing pregame QB rotation) - "I knew going in I was going to get a quarter and then a series in the third quarter. Tennessee did a good job running some clock. I wished they would have thrown a little more and then I would have had some more plays out there."
(On if he played enough to solve QB situation)- "I think I have been playing well in training camp. I didn't play well in Green Bay, but I think the last two games have been pretty solid. With the situation we have been in, I think Coach [Mangini] has done a good job of getting us in game situations and letting us know where we stand."
(On the two deep passes to Braylon Edwards)- "There was a little miscommunication on the first pass. The second pass just got in the air a little too long - he had a lot of space out there. He made a heck of a play."
(On his sideline penalty)- "I was watching the scoreboard and then I turned around and there was the ball. Then the referee turned into me."
(On his chemistry with Mike Furrey)- "Mike is always in the right place and he sees things the same way I do. I just have a really good feel for what he is going to do. The pass that bounced off the defender's chest, I thought he was going to cross in front of the defender's face. He didn't, but he made a good play on it. Like I said, he is always in the right place."
DL Robaire Smith
(On the blocked field goal)- "Corey (Williams) and (Ahtyba) Rubin did a good job getting some penetration. Coach [Mangini] has been stressing to us getting some penetration and getting our hands up. That is something we have been working on all week and we went out there and executed when it was time."
(On rushing Vince Young into the interception)- "We had pressure going on and I was supposed to get in there and box their offense. I got a chance to get in his face and alter the throw, and he threw it right into Alex's hands. He (Alex) did a good job of being where he was supposed to be and making a play with the ball."
WR Braylon Edwards
(On his play tonight) –"It just felt really good. I feel like it's been awhile. I feel like we had a lot of opportunities that have eluded us and it just felt really good to capitalize on one tonight."
(On game execution) - "I think the biggest thing that we did was we really took advantage of things that they were doing on the field as it relates to making adjustments on the sidelines. Coach Daboll did a great job of 'this is what I'm saying this is what I'm thinking, let's go out and execute this play this way as opposed to what we were thinking.' We went out there and executed those plays the way they were drawn up. A lot of times when you draw plays up in the dirt on the sideline, they really help because you're making adjustments to what they're doing. That's football as it is in 2009."
(On playing at home) - "We came out and won two games at home where you always want to win, and we used it as an advantage. The fans contribute to that. We just are really playing strong at home. We're coming out and we're comfortable. We're letting our practice carry over to the game, and that's the biggest thing we've been trying to do for a couple years now."
(On how training camp has helped)- "The funny thing is it does. You go out there and there's no feeling like winning. It doesn't matter that this is a preseason game, it doesn't matter anything about that. It matters that we're winning. Whenever you do it, however you do it, to get it done. Guys' spirits are lifted right now and we're feeling positive about what we're practicing and what we're buying into. We're just looking really good."
