Titans Head Coach Mike Munchak
On switching to Jake Locker in the fourth quarter:
"It was something we discussed obviously but I think the fact that we were in that position not because of the way Matt was playing. We had turnovers, we drove down the field and the Cook fumble. He got hit when he was throwing that other ball which ended up being underthrown so we didn't feel really that we were in that position because of how the quarterback was playing. We just weren't playing very well at all on the offensive side of the ball."
On not attacking downfield:
"They were taking those things away from us and making us throw the ball underneath, especially when we were behind and trying to score. Even when we were trying to give ourselves a chance we hurt ourselves with the turnovers. We just couldn't make plays. We obviously didn't play very well today on the offensive side of the ball and the special teams with the penalties and some bad luck hitting our guy's foot and going off the pylon. We had them stopped for a five or six yard loss and it turned into an 80-yard touchdown run. When you put yourself in the position we did, that's what happens to you. We didn't play well in the first half at all on offense and we still had the lead. The defense was playing so well early in the game in the first half and when you do this on the road against a division team or an NFL team, this is what happens. It's our fault."
On Matt Hasselbeck's health:
"Like I said, I don't think the reason we couldn't run the football was Matt's fault. I think the reason we hand the ball off twice on 2nd and 17, that's not the quarterback's fault. The point is that, I don't know if there's anything glaringly in there saying, 'hey, we're going to go to our backup quarterback as soon as the game doesn't go well.' That wasn't on the tally. He got us to where we were and gave a chance we felt to get us to the playoffs so we're not going to pull a trigger on a guy just because we're not playing well as an offense."
On losing to a winless team in the midst of a playoff hunt:
"That's exactly right. I don't think you can explain it. I think it's something that like I said before, we've had some games during the season like against Houston and in the Pittsburgh game where we ended up playing well. I never would've expected us to come out and look like they were the team that was going to the playoffs and we were the team that was 0-13. That can be. I'm not trying to put a blanket statement out there but in the first half, we played uninspired football on the offensive side of the ball and we still had a 6-3 lead because the defense played very well in the first half. We can't make all of the penalties and bad decisions were making in special teams even though we didn't have any plays that hurt us there. Our field position hurt us because we were sloppy with our decision-making and our blocking. That's something that's been around all year and it showed up in a game where it didn't need to. You have to run the football and we couldn't. Not only could we not run it, we were losing yards and that put us in a tough spot. The turnovers start creeping in and Cook fumbles the one that could've been the chance to get something going then the interception happened. That's really what killed us. That play put us in a tough spot.
On adjusting the offensive gameplan:
"We did. We started going no huddle, we threw the ball. Cook fumbled the ball after a 40-yard gain is not Matt's fault. Another quarterback coming in is not going to change that outcome. Someone hit the quarterback as he's throwing the ball is not going to change the interception. I wish that was all it would take. Believe me, the consideration is always there. Again, the first thing was, we're struggling, let's go no huddle early in the third quarter. That kind of gave us some tempo. But again, we had two turnovers that hurt us. We felt at that point that the best chance of winning that football game was Matt at that point. When we got to the situation where they started to drop off a lot, we're going to buy more time, take advantage of the fact that Jake could maybe move better in that phase of the game. That's why we made the change because he could buy more time because it would be harder with the coverage they were playing when they dropped the linebackers deep with a quick defense. That's why we made the change with six or seven left in the game. Again, we still got down there at the end and couldn't make a fourth-down play."
On why they played 'uninspired' football:
"I don't know. If anyone had the answer for that I could go back in practice. Our practice was good, our effort was good. It was nothing you can sit there and point at to say why didn't we play better. Maybe it's something the defense does or the other team does. I don't know, I know they wanted to win, I'm not saying that. I know it was important to us but when you go out there and just not play well, give them credit. That's really where it starts. If a team beats you and makes you look like you're not playing as well as you can then a lot of the credit goes to them for today playing better than we did."
On not getting a touchdown before halftime:
"I think that hurt us. I think that we thought if we had made play there to get us out of our funk a little bit. We got the turnover, a chance to drive down, had a couple shots at it, had to settle for the field goal which again, that's something all year we've been pretty good inside the redzone once we get inside the 20 at scoring touchdowns. That was disheartening that we didn't finish that drive. We thought if we came out in the second half and put a touchdown on the board, all of the sudden, we could help our defense. We could've put them in a situation they didn't want to be in but instead we ran the ball twice and lost eight yards. We had a third and eighteen so I don't know if a quarterback could've overcame that. We just couldn't get out of it and obviously the touchdown with the defense scoring is something we knew we couldn't do and we did it."
On the Lacey interception:
"I think (Chris Johnson) has got to do a better job on that ball. At least break it up or make it incomplete. That's bang-bang and it's hard to tell on the sidelines but again that's a ball that should've been incomplete or caught and tackled right there."
On the Colts interception late in the game:
"He got hit as he was trying to step up. They had a stunt on, the guy came around, he was trying to step up and he couldn't and he got hit there."
On the message to the team after the game:
"I think that's more private. I think obviously no one feels worse than we do and the players do. It's hard to take. Like I said, it's our fault, it's nobody else's. We need to play better, all of us. We've got to hang together. We are 7-7 and unfortunately, this year has been that type of road. We look good then for some reason, we just can't get over that hump to make that play to become that team I think we're going to be. This is a tough one to take obviously because this is a game we felt we could come in here and play well. We were playing better and obviously we came here and didn't play well. I know everyone gets caught up in records and what's going on but if you don't play well early in the game, you give a team life and there's some great football players on both sides of the ball and that's what happens."
On who will start at quarterback next week:
"I don't know. We haven't thought about next week yet. We have a short week coming up and we're just going to have to see where we're at."
On why Tommy Campbell was benched:
"That's something I thought we had finally gotten away from. Special teams is something we've had---not just Tommy---special teams in general has been a struggle and we've been playing so well making plays and doing a lot of things well but we've been hurting ourselves. As of late, we've been much better than that. I thought we got over the hump with that. We had a couple games with no penalties and here's a game where we had some bad decisions with grabbing people and pushing and shoving, not getting back in bounds. There's no excuse for those things. They shouldn't happen, especially in a game that means so much to us. It shouldn't happen in any game but especially at the end, those penalties should be behind us, the ones you can avoid and we should've avoided some of those penalties."
On the struggles in the run game:
"They have great team speed. We know that. Every time we play them we don't necessarily have great days running the football. They run well to the ball. We thought maybe in the third or fourth quarter we could start wearing them down with the run game and that's how we play most teams. As a game wears on, the runs get better. CJ had a big draw in the third or fourth quarter. We thought we'd have more opportunities like that in this game. We didn't. It's hard to tell from the sideline exactly what's going on, they just played better than we did. They made plays, they kept us from getting anything going offensively. When a defense can put you in those second and 12's, third and 13's, they're doing their job and they make you look very ordinary. That's what happened to us throughout most of that game. We never really got anything going on the offensive side of the ball until were down a score or two scores or we were into two-minute mode and we started getting some plays here and there. We've got to start the game better than we do. We put ourselves in that position and we couldn't get out of it."
On Locker's performance:
"He took what they gave him. They weren't going to let him throw the deep ball, they weren't going let him get the ball to the sidelines. He made plays. Like I said, if we score there at the end, who knows? A lot can happen. But we couldn't get it in at the end. He's been asked to come into three tough situations and we were trying to avoid that for this one. We felt that Matt gave us the best chance most of that game to win. We don't make plays and that's what happens. It ultimately goes on all of us. We just put ourselves in a bad spot as a team today and it's a shame because we should play a lot better than we did."
Quarterback Jake Locker
On the improved play of the offense after replacing quarterback Matt Hasselbeck:
"They were playing so soft. It was just catch and throw. It wasn't anything special. I think it was more what we were getting defensively that allowed us to move the ball. The guys played hard, you give them credit for that, but the Colts had gone to a prevent defense."
On the slow start by the Titan's offense:
"It's hard on the sidelines because you just don't know what's going on. I think some of the guys out there, who were a part of it, will know better than I will."
On the Titans final offensive series:
"I think it's a little different when you are down two scores there. We had a couple chances down by the goal line, but that was the defensive game plan at that point in the game. They were soft and were going to let you have the stuff underneath but we didn't really have time to just keep dinking and dunking. We had a chance and we came up a little bit short. It would have been nice to get it in and give ourselves an opportunity."
Quarterback Matt Hasselbeck
On his health:
"I don't want to make any excuses but I'm not where I normally would be. I don't think that is why we looked so bad today or why I didn't play well. There were a few times where I had chances to take off and run but I wasn't able to do it."
On the lack of focus by the Titans offense:
"I need to find ways to bring more energy to our team. We seemed very flat. It seemed like they wanted it more than we did. I don't think that is the case. On the road, you think it's going to be a loud, hostile environment, but it was quiet, almost like a college basketball game. We have to create our own energy. It was 6-3 at halftime and we were winning but it felt like we were losing. Even at the end of the game, when we were two scores out, which it totally doable, for whatever reason we just felt like we were sorry for ourselves."
On the decision to switch to quarterback Jake Locker:
"I wasn't in on it. (Offensive Coordinator) Chris Palmer and said obviously if we had scored you would have stayed in, but since we are down two scores and they are playing so soft and Jake can move around and run. I wasn't disappointed with the decision at all, I actually was getting kind of tight. I thought he was going to play a lot sooner and I thought that he played very well."
On the soft coverage by the Colts:
"After the Reggie Wayne touchdown, that's when it really started happening. I think coming into the game we really thought we could run the ball on them. The emphasis early in the game was to run and neutralize (Dwight) Freeney and (Robert) Mathis and to get the ball out of the quarterback's hands quickly. We felt like we could give them a chance to win if we allowed a sack fumble or something like that. They kind of surprised us with that new coverage today."
Running Back Chris Johnson:
On losing a game when in contention for the playoffs:
"I only made it to the playoffs in my first year here so it was a hard loss. I know there is a slight chance out there and it's something that we can't control. We were trying to control our own destiny. We thought our playoffs started today. I understand that if you want to make the playoffs you have to win."
On the running game of the Titans:
"They made some plays, we made some plays. At the end of the day they made more plays and their defense came out there ready to play. A lot of times when you're out there and not running the ball well early, it's hard to get in a groove. We had a great game plan and everything but we just didn't execute"
On the interception by Colts' cornerback Jacob Lacey:
"I had an in route and we were just not really on the same page I guess. I thought I was going to settle it down and he thought I was going to keep going and the defender came over the top of me and got the interception. Anytime in the NFL when the quarterback and receiver aren't on the same page it's not going to turn out good."
Defensive Tackle Jurrell Casey
On a tough loss:
"It's tough losing to a team that is 0-13, and they come out and get their first win against us. It's tough, but it's something that we have to put behind us."
On not having control of their playoff destiny:
"We don't have control anymore. We'll have to see how some other teams do, and we'll see how it all plays out. We can't go out there and just give up."
Safety Michael Griffin
On Donald Brown's Long Run:
"He was about to go down. Akeem Ayers came in there for the tackle. Donald just got out of it. I went in for the tackle, and the quarterback cut me off. From there I don't know what happened, but we have to tackle better."
On a shocking loss:
"Is it shocking? It's very shocking. I think it's more shocking if you look at their record. They are 1-13 and we are now 7-7. It's like Coach (Mike) Munchak said, we're an average football team. We can't play good football against a good team, and then go against a team that hasn't won a game and stoop down to their level. Again, nothing against the Colts, but they are a good football team, and they are in the NFL. I hate to say it, but if you put one player on their offense, it's a different team. As much defense as we play, when you're playing against number 18 there is no telling what the score is going to be. We had opportunities and we lost it, now we have to live with it."
Wide Receiver Nate Washington
On why they lost:
"Too many mental mistakes flat out from the first play of the game through the whole game, too many mental mistakes. We wanted to be a good football team, and we came in here and played like we were 0-13. We had too many mental mistakes flat out."
On his feelings about the loss:
"I'm livid. I'm trying my best not to cuss right now. I'm livid. It had nothing to do with the Indianapolis Colts. It's about how we played today. It doesn't have anything to do with them. We played like crap today mentally, period, on the offensive side of the ball. Much hats off to our defense, they made a couple plays. Much hats off to the Indianapolis Colts, they played well. From the first play through the whole game we had way too many mental mistakes to be going to the playoffs or having a shot at even going to the playoffs."
Colts Head Coach Jim Caldwell
On the feeling in the locker room following the win:
"Obviously, the guys were pretty excited about a real good performance, they played well. The defense did a nice job running around and hitting. (The defense) made them work for everything that they got throughout the ballgame, and did a tremendous job. They were really a force out there. They hung in there long enough for the offense to at least get something going at some point, and (the offense) finally got a few things going and got us in position to get a couple of scores. Special teams held their own in there as well, so it was a heck of an effort, and they're excited about it, obviously."
On making plays:
"I think that it goes down to the end of the game, who's going to make plays at the end (of the game). Donald (Brown) was able to pop out of there and take one home, and it was huge. That's what it's all about. This game usually boils down to, obviously, the fourth quarter and the end of the fourth quarter and who comes up with the big plays, and we were able to get (the big plays). I felt good about the fact that we were able to get our young guys who've been playing with us just this year (in the secondary). The secondary was a young group of guys that performed well, I think, today. (Jacob) Lacey had an excellent day out there again, and some of the young guys hung in there. (Chris) Rucker, obviously, (Kevin) Thomas, and some of those young guys and the safeties were really good out there as well. (It was a) A good collective effort. Robert (Mathis) and Dwight (Freeney) were their usual selves. It was a heck of a performance."
On Donald Brown's 39-yard run to setup the field goal:
"Donald has, obviously, it's an understatement to say he's got good speed, obviously no one could catch him. But Donald also has the ability to find holes and seams. He's a slash runner. He can get it going if you give him a crack. Also, anytime you have 160 some odd rushing yards, your offensive line must have done a decent job, or a pretty good job I should say. So we certainly want to give them some credit as well."
On keeping the Titans in front of them:
"It's always good that you can play that way when you have a lead, and you don't have to gamble nearly as much, you don't have to get into too many man coverage situations, you can make them just kind of dump the ball and drop it underneath and try to break down and tackle (the player) in bounds and keep that clock running, and just try not to give up any big plays during that stretch. If the game is tighter, you've got to play it a little differently. But fortunately for our guys we had a little bit of a lead to work with."
On stopping Titans Running Back Chris Johnson:
"He's a very, very explosive back, a very good back. You saw it when he got loose there that one time, he almost, certainly, created some real problems for us because he's so fast. Out in the open field he's very, very tough to handle. I think our guys did a good job keeping him bottled up. (The defense did) a nice job of adhering to their principles. What they're supposed to do defensively, take care of their gaps and not give him any seams. If you give him a seam then he's going to create some problems for you."
On Ernie Sims performance:
"Ernie was stepping in at SAM Linebacker and playing in place of Philip (Wheeler). He did a nice job. We'll certainly take a look at the film overall, but Ernie looked like he made a lot of tackles, he was all over the field. He did a nice job in the passing game as well as the running game. I'm glad we have a guy like that who can step in, who has been around, (and is) a veteran guy that can play well for us."
On how Gary Brackett would be in the mix at linebacker:
"(Pat) Angerer's playing well, obviously. And then Brackett's a great player as well. We hope we have to answer that question because of the fact that if we get those two guys on the field and playing for you then you have a pretty productive linebacking corps. Both guys are great players."
On feeling relieved after the victory:
"Those guys (in the locker room) are really excited about it. We've got to go back to work here, shortly. It's a short week, and we've got a real challenge ahead of us. I understand Houston lost. You know they're going to be ready to go, and they have a real good football team, so we're going to have to get ready. So we don't have much time to celebrate."
On taking a 10-6 lead:
"A four-point lead is not a comfortable lead, but it's a lead anyway, because of the fact that I don't know if we've led a game in quite some time, obviously. So it did give us a little bit of a cushion, but certainly it didn't give you much to relax with. But it was a great drive down the field, it was a great connection between the two. It was a nice throw by Dan (Orlovsky), obviously a very, very nice catch by Reggie (Wayne) with a guy on his back. We were happy. The offense was moving the ball a little bit there, running the ball and mixing it up on them, it certainly kept them off balance and gave us an opportunity to slip a play action pass in there."
On Delone Carter performing well in short yardage situations:
"He sure did. He popped through there. Obviously, you're battling to try to get a conversion, and he was coming out of there with more than that, which certainly was helpful. Delone is a very, very good inside runner. He runs behind his pads well, he runs with some power, and he did a nice job today."
On the status of Delone Carter:
"I'm not quite certain yet. He could've come back in, but we'll find out the full extent of it here in the next day or so."
On how much a solid running game will help the team moving forward:
"It just doesn't place the entire burden on the passing game. With a quarterback that is young within our system, it doesn't require him to be any more than what he is. He's a good, solid player that does a tremendous job running our offense at this point, and not to burden with anything extra, he needs some help, and everybody has got to chip in. I think we got that today, and that's what the running game does for you. Certainly that old adage that, 'it's a quarterback's best friend,' is indeed the case. I don't know if we threw it 17 times or so today, and that's because of the fact that we could run it and run it effectively."
Quarterback Dan Orlovsky
On how the win feels:
"It feels great. To finally get one and in the aspect of a lot of certain situations it feels great. I'm very humbled to be a part of it. I'm happy for a lot of people on this team, for a lot of people in this organization. It is a lot better than the feeling we have had lately."
On his block on Donald Brown's touchdown run:
"I saw Donald (Brown) go and kind of cut back. To be honest it is something that you kind of always think about, if you are given that opportunity, it is kind of rare. I was in the right place at the right time kind of thing. Donald made a great run. A lot of credit goes to him and the guys up front on it. Kind of being a football player."
On the touchdown throw to Reggie Wayne:
"Going into it we felt good about that down there in the redzone. It was something that we wanted to try and get to. We were able to get a couple of first downs there. I think it was on first down that we called it, so we could be a little aggressive there. This week we ran it in practice I think three times and I remember going over to Frank Reich and I said, 'normally, with a lot of different guys you wouldn't throw the ball versus a lot of looks when you are letting it go,' but he runs that route so well and I've gained an amazing amount of trust in him quickly that right when we got the look that we had, I knew we had (Cortland) Finnegan out there who is an aggressive player and I just tried to peak the back real quick and give him a seem and ran a great route and just threw it to a spot where he could make a play on it and he made a great play which he continues to do. Every time he walks by my locker during the week he says, 'throw left' and I'm finding it is pretty easy to do."
On Donald Brown:
"I think the world of him, as a football player, more as a person. He is a guy I feel gets better with every carry. He starts to run better as the game goes on. His eyes, I think get better, I don't know how to play running back, but I feel when he gets the touches he can make plays. He continues to do that. I have been living at his house for four months rent free. I told him the hip check was the least I could do. I am happy for him. I am happy for the team. Unbelievable job by the guys up front. It was just fun to be out there competing with them on the line of scrimmage and kind of seeing everybody play for everybody."
Running Back Donald Brown
On how 80-yard touchdown run was drawn up:
"It wasn't, but it was just a great overall offensive effort. The offensive line line did a great job, somebody came free and it is the running back's job to make him miss, and I cut back, Dan (Orlovsky) threw a great block, Reggie (Wayne) threw a great block and I think (Jacob) Tamme was running down there too. It was just an all-out great effort by the guys on offense."
On getting the first win:
"It is great to finally leave here with a smile on your face. It was just an all-out team effort offensively, defensively, special teams. We put our defense in so many bad situations today and they just overcame all those obstacles, creating key turnovers and special teams, they did the same thing."
On the play of the offensive line:
"They have done a great job all year. They have battled through injuries, different guys stepping up and today it all paid off, everything came together. They have done a great job. They have fought through so much adversity and fought hard every play."
On carrying over the momentum of running the ball well and shutting down opposition's running game:
"It can. We have a short week this week and we need to carry it over. We two games left and we need to finish strong. They are divisional games and you look forward to playing those guys."
Offensive Tackle Ryan Diem
On the running game improving:
"Obviously, when you're missing Peyton (Manning) you got to find a few things that work and we were able to utilize some guys in the run game a little differently. We started using the fullback a little more and that has definitely opened up some opportunities for us to run a lot. Donald (Brown) had a fantastic game today, obviously, a couple long runs makes us all feel good about the run game."
On Donald Brown's 80-yard touchdown run:
"Just the way we drew it up. Not really. It's one of those plays where, if we go back and look at it, I doubt that any of us got our jobs accomplished real well, but he made us all look good. More power to him. It was an unbelievable play and I just couldn't believe it when I looked up and saw him running down the field."
On the team's first win:
"Like I said, it's kind of a momentum builder for us and just some positive energy around here that we've been lacking. It's just been tough coming in on Mondays, but this is going to be a lot better week. It's going to feel good and we're going to have a lot of energy heading into Thursday night.
Linebacker Pat Angerer
On the excitement of the victory:
"I think you probably saw, we were yelling and screaming the whole game. I think defensively we had a good time out there."
On containing Titans running back Chris Johnson:
"Our defensive line controlled it and they played tremendous like they've been doing all year. Ernie [Sims] and Kavell (Conner) were laying some big hits on him out there, so it was just fun."
Safety Joe Lefeged
On this being the rookie's first NFL win:
"It feels good. All the hard work paid off throughout the week. Being a rookie following the veterans on this football team, no matter if we were losing, no matter if we were getting blown out, they stepped up and continued to work through their routine throughout the week and I was glad we were able to win today."
On the team's record still being 1-13:
"Exactly, but you know what, that's something we can't control right now. All we can worry about right now is the Texans game. We're going to take the day off tomorrow and we're going to get right back into it and try to come away with a win Thursday."
Defensive end Robert Mathis
On the defense's performance:
"We just had to come out and play Colts ball. We fly around, have fun, hit people and we were able to do that today."
On his feelings after the victory:
"It's excitement because you just feel like a dark cloud has been removed for the time being, of course. Back to work Tuesday, trying to do it again."
On how well the team played:
"We felt we played good. Everybody did their job and held the fort. It's something we can build on. That's the best output all year."
