HEAD COACH JEFF FISHER
(opening statements)
I have kind of said that quite often that your opponent is different every game, it is different every situation, every circumstance is different. So, with that being the case you find different ways to win ballgames and we found a way to win this game today with 27 fourth quarter points.
That's a very, very talented football team. You know, I'm proud of our guys because we hung in there. They were inside the five–yard line with a chance to go up by 16. And we make a play, knock the ball loose and that was a really huge turning point for us in the ball game.
But, we came through it healthy. We are fortunate to sneak a win away from a really talented team. And I very proud of these guys from what they have done over the last month with three of four on the road and then the Monday night and the short week and find a way to beat a team like Philly is good. So, we have to put it behind us and move on because we got a huge challenge this coming week.
* (on Kenny Britt's performance)*
Well, he has been getting better and better. His production over the last month, not a lot of catches, but big catches, touchdown catches for us. He had a great effort today. Kerry (Collins) did a good job getting the ball to him.
(on how close he was to not playing Kenny Britt in game)
I just made the decision based on one, I haven't had enough time to gather all the information and two, the reason that I elected not to start (Britt) is that he missed Friday's practice as a result of the incident. And, I just wanted to make sure he was in the swing and flow of the game. And I am also still in the process of gathering information and when I get information, I will come to a conclusion and if that merits disciplinary action then I'll take it. His performance has absolutely nothing to do with what happened last week, O.K. Absolutely nothing. It was a great performance. I mean an outstanding performance. It is two separate issues right now.
(on if there was a specific time frame for Kenny Britt to enter game)
No, you saw the start. Our start wasn't good. We had three and outs and turnovers and once we started to settle down offensively, I gave him the green light to go in.
(on if the focus was to get the ball to Kenny Britt)
Well, it was much like the Chicago game a few years ago where everyone was on the line of scrimmage and they are not going to let you beat them running it. We said basically, let's just pick it up and throw it and that's a tough thing to do against them because of the variety of pressure that they bring. But, I thought our offensive adjustments were good for the most part. We settled down, protected the quarterback and Kerry was able to step up and put balls up and we made the plays.
(on the improvement of the secondary throughout the second half)
We had our hands on a number of balls, but fortunately we got a couple and we've done relatively well in the plus territory. You know, our feeling going into this game, as explosive as our offense is, is that field goals would be okay. They would be wins for us. We'd just try to keep them out of the end zone and, you know, there was a touchdown as a result of them making a great play and Chris (Hope) not making a play on the ball.
(on the play at the goalline with Jason Jones changing the game)
Oh, it's huge, as I said. They're going up by 16 instead, you know, we go down and get a field goal and it's a different game.
(on what he did on third down when the Eagles were ahead)
We made some adjustments at halftime and did some different things.
(on if Ernie Sims should have been called for helmet-to-helmet contact with hit on Chris Johnson)
You know, the rule is if the ball carrier is defenseless, if he's on the ground, it's a foul. If he's defenseless, then he gets helmet-to-helmet protection. And defenseless is as far as the ball carrier is concerned is if his momentum's stopped. So I'd have to look at the play but that's basically how the rule is set up. If the momentum's stopped, he becomes defenseless and then he gets helmet-to-helmet protection.
(on Kerry Collins's performance today and the decision to make Vince Young the number two)
Well, Vince did a great job the last couple of days getting back. He ended up being much better than we thought, we all thought, he included, was going to be a couple days ago. We saw him move around enough to where we felt like he could be mobile in the pocket, so we kept him as a two. I thought Kerry, I mean, gosh, you saw. I thought he played well. That's a tough defense, (Atlanta quarterback) Matt Ryan, I mean you name them. They had given good quarterbacks a tough time.
(on being down 19-10 in the fourth quarter and the big 80-yard play by Britt)
Well they just play hard and you know, trying to get them to not look at the scoreboard. Just keep playing and making plays and just stay together and trust each other and then we gave up the big kickoff return and it's, you know, just keep playing. You've still got time left, just keep playing.
RB CHRIS JOHNSON
(on Kenny Britt's performance today)
Yes, nice to see him finally have a day like that, with the stuff that was going on this week and for him to come out here on Sunday
and be ready to make plays.
*(on if he spoke with Britt at all before the game or on the sidelines) *
No. I was just pretty much focused on the game. I know once it's his time to get in the game, once he's ready, he's going to make
plays. I know the type of player he is. I practice with him every day so none of this is really surprising.
(on it being a mistake that they were out the other night)
It's not a mistake. We're living. We're men. We're going to live, so it's not a mistake.
(*on if he expected a penalty for the helmet-to-helmet hit) *
No, not at all. There's nothing I pay too much attention to. If the ref calls it, then he do. I'm really not worried about it.
(on how hard the helmet-to-helmet hit was)
I'm not sure. I don't know if it was a helmet-to-helmet but I was just focused in on the game. It wasn't too hard of a hit. It was kind of like a blindside hit.
(on having any advantage running the ball after Britt's performance)
It's all up to their team, who they want to stop. They want to put everybody in the box and then the wide receivers make plays. They'll see that we've got a receiver that can make plays downfield and they can't just leave him one-on-one and things like that. It's all up to them on who they want to start.
(on Kerry Collins' performance even at his age)
I'm very amazed. On one of the long TD passes, I think the 80-yarder, the ball actually got hit kind of out of his hand and he was still able to make the long throw down there. For him to be playing as many years as he's played, he's very blessed and he's still able to go out there and make plays.
(on what helped get things going in the second half and fourth quarter)
Kenny was making catches. All in the first half, we didn't really make enough plays to stay out on the field and see how they were playing us without making any adjustments. At halftime, we didn't change anything out of the game plan. We just came out with the same game plan and made no adjustments. Just started to execute plays and stay out on the field longer.
(on it feeling good to score 27 points in the 4th quarter)
Yeah, it felt real good. Going down 19 to 10, we were able to make plays and just stay out there on the field. We've had to make some plays in the second half this year so it feels pretty good.
(on the team scoring more this year)
Yes. Basically, we want to go out here and make plays. We want to end the game. We always don't want to put it on our defense. The kind of defense we've got, if we're able to keep putting up the points like this, we'll be pretty hard to beat.
QB KERRY COLLINS
(on Kenny Britt's game)
Kenny is a great player. He had some stuff going on off the field this week, but he was able to put it behind him and come out and play a heck of a ball game. We needed him and he showed up big for us tonight.
(on Britt having to come back to the ball to make some catches)
The second touchdown for sure. My arm and the ball actually got hit a little bit, so that's why it was turning end over end a little bit. I was able to get enough on it for him to come back and make the play. It wasn't by design.
(on Britt learning how to adjust to the ball)
He has started to really show that he has learned how to adjust to the ball.
(on the difficulty of playing a physical game at his age)
I feel fine. I feel good. I have to give the Eagles defensive line credit. They are a good defense. They are a good football team.
(on experience helping after a rough start to today's game)
You've got to keep playing. That is part of playing quarterback in the NFL. You are going to start out; there are going to be bad decisions; there are going to be some bad throws, but you keep saying to yourself, you try to keep making good decisions. You just try to keep making good throws. That's part of it. It is never going to go 100 percent great your way. I think a lot of playing quarterback in the NFL is being able to fight through those kind of things and hopefully you can make the plays to help your team win.
(on defense stepping up)
All three phases stepped up today. Our defense, getting that turnover was huge.
(on Kenny Britt's potential)
There is not much better, that I've played with. He is big; physical; he can run. He is going to do everything he can to get the ball. He is aggressive going after it. The guy loves to play. He loves making big plays. As a quarterback, it is nice to know that a guy like that is on your team because like I said today, there were some throws that weren't exactly perfect, but the guy did whatever he had to do to get the ball.
WR KENNY BRITT
(on Kerry Collins' performance)
The old man…one day he told me that when you hear a couple of clicks in your shoulder you know you are ready to go out there and play. I guess he felt that in his shoulder the first couple of quarters and he threw the ball well today.
(on adjusting to Kerry Collins' underthrown balls)
Coach (Fred) Graves always told us our job is to make the quarterback look good and that's all I wanted to do today.
(on redeeming yourself to teammates)
Redeem myself? A little bit. My job out there is to go play and that's what they asked me to do and my teammates were like, "Hey, erase the stuff out of your head and go out there and play your best," and that's what I tried to do.
(on underthrown balls being by design)
To tell you the truth, I don't even know, no one is by designed to throw behind you. But like I said, we've got to adjust to the ball, we've got to make sure the quarterback looks good, like I said before.
(on the touchdown pass he had to come back for)
I guess a little bit. It was by....I was supposed to come back to the ball a little bit, I guess I went too high on the route a little bit, but hey, God blessed me today to make the catch and that's what happened.
(on teammates' reaction over the last few days)
This team is supportive; regardless of what happens….they keep on pushing them.
(on Coach Fisher's reaction)
I'm not even supposed to comment about that and (inaudible).
(on former Rutgers teammate Eric LeGrand)
At first I didn't know it was him. I called to my church back home and put him on the prayer list and every day, as soon as I step out on the field, I pray for him. This is our game that we dreamed about playing our whole life and ending it right then and a play like that it really hits.
(on using this game as a launching pad)
My focus is to stay level headed and God has a path for all of us and I believe that God has put me on a path and I'm just following it.
(on how stats would look with four quarters)
I'm not sure at all. I'm not really a stat guy, as long as we get the "W," regardless of who gets the stats, who catches the ball, who's running the touchdowns, that's all that matters.
(on what was learned over the last few days)
Don't go to places after 12 o'clock, stay in the house. My fiancé actually yelled at me after that and I was like, "OK, I'll stay home for the rest of the season."
CB ALTERRAUN VERNER
(on how huge his fumble recovery was on the three-yard line)
It was big, but Kenny's (Britt) 80-yard touchdown was much bigger. The fumble recovery allowed our offense to get the ball, but without the offense scoring the touchdown, the fumble recovery would be null and void. Getting the fumble did give us a momentum swing.
(on actually getting the fumble)
I semi-got it cleanly. I don't think I'm winning too many fights out there if I have to fight for the ball, to be honest. I jumped on it and I know they were trying to rip it away from me, so I was holding on for dear life. I knew if I let it go it would be all done, so I was fortunate enough to have a little bit of strength to keep the ball in there.
DT JASON JONES
(on Verner's fumble recovery for the Titans at the three-yard line)
Anytime you get a turnover that close, well that builds confidence. Once that turnover happened, everything just started clicking for us. I'm glad it happened. We just played so hard.
(on Titans defense bending, but not breaking)
With us, we fight and keep fighting and keep fighting. We don't like giving up touchdowns. At the same time, field goals are still points, but much better than touchdowns. I don't know what it was but we had a talk at halftime and came out with a new attitude that we needed to get things started. We are a better defense than that, and they (Eagle's offense) need to get off the field after third downs.
FB AHMARD HALL
(on Titans QB Kerry Collin's efforts)
Kerry is awesome. We know Kerry is a leader on the team and anytime he gets an opportunity, he always comes through for us. It's awesome seeing him getting a chance and a shot like this. He came in and played well today.
(on Titans offensive plays as the game progressed)
We knew we had a great team and we're just coming into our own now. Hopefully we can keep it going week in and week out. It was definitely a tale of two halves. What was going through our minds as an offense was we had a great game plan and we knew what we had to do. We just had to keep from shooting ourselves in the foot. Offside penalties, holding penalties, the turnovers and interceptions. We got that turned around at halftime and came out explosive and finished the game up.
TE BO SCAIFE
(on Titans WR Kenny Britt)
Things he was doing today are things that people can do in the NFL, so he's 22-years old and has a long career ahead of him. I'm just excited he's on our team. Teams will now have to start keying on him, and always looking his way, and that will just open up more things up for C.J. (Titans RB Chris Johnson) and our receivers.
(on the momentum shift in the game for the Titans)
We kind of waited a little longer than we wanted to turn it on. Thank goodness for that fumble. Otherwise, it would have been a little tougher. But you know, fourth quarter, and 20-something points in the fourth quarter is a little unheard of in the NFL. I'm glad it happened today but we don't need to put ourselves in that situation to have to come back, too many more times.
It felt great when the defense got that fumble and we capitalized on it. That definetly turned the game around and towards the end of the game, I think they (Eagles) kind of got worn down a little bit and that's when we started to do our thing and Kerry (Collins) and the offensive line, they did a great job at the end of the game.
(on how big the third-straight win is for the Titans)
It feels good. Your preached to 'take them one at a time', but we've been doing that and it was a tough, tough win. They are a great team. I'm just glad we came out on top. We've got one more to go, and then we get to breathe a little bit (with bye week).
EAGLES HEAD COACH ANDY REID
(opening statement)
As far as injuries go, (Winston) Justice and (King) Dunlap hyperextended their knee. We will just see how it works out here with them. Ernie Sims has a lower back strain.
Compliments to Tennessee for battling all the way through. We learned a crucial lesson from this that can help us the rest of the season. You have the opportunities to put a team away, you have got to do it. You can't give good teams an opportunity to survive when you have their back against the wall and we did that. Opportunities in the red zone, you get yourself that far in the red zone, you have mistakes and come out with field goals instead of touchdowns and a turnover, absolutely brutal there. Ten penalties, way too many and we need to sure up some things on the coverage. They were able to take advantage with Kenny Britt, who had a good game.
(on the fumble at the goal line)
I saw it. The guy got penetration.
(on how Kenny Britt exploited the defense)
A lot of times we had him doubled, so he did a pretty good job. I give the kid credit, he's a good football player. We have got to do a better job there.
(on disappointment in pass rush in the second half)
They had a little bit more time. We were trying to take care of some things secondary wise, but no excuses. We have got to a better job.
(on the breakdown in the secondary)
I am not going to pinpoint guys, but we have got to do a better job all the way around. I take that responsibility. For a guy to continually catch the ball, over and over, I have got to do something better from a coaching standpoint and obviously the players need to do a couple of things better too.
(on evaluating Kevin Kolb's performance)
It was up and down. He has some good plays, some phenomenal plays and some I think he would like to have back, but when you're playing a good football team, you're going to have that. When you battle through it and we were trying to take shots in the end (inaudible). We have got to continue to work with pressure and make sure we continue to protect him and so on. So make sure we give him the right plays to do so.
(on a young team going through a game like this)
I told the team this, it's a great lesson. You can learn from this if you handle it the right way. If you look at it, and that's not an easy thing to do, but you have got to look at it. We will figure this thing out. There are some great lessons we can learn and we will make sure that we do that.
(on the secondary coverage )
There were mixed coverages, but he made a few nice plays.
(on the swing of the game)
It really came down to where, when you have an opportunity to really put a hammer on things, you have a turnover at the three-yard line. That can't happen. And they take it the length of the field. You can't have those kinds of things. You have a crucial third down situation where you need to get off the field, you have got to get off the field on the other side. There are things we can take out of this and learn from it.
(on common things with last quarter rallies by teams against the Eagles)
I blame the obvious. We have got to do a better job. You saw the game, so we have got to make sure we do a better job when we are in the red zone. You're down in there, you score touchdowns. You really can't have turnovers.
(on the who the starting quarterback after the bye week will be)
Mike (Vick).
(on why the offense stalled)
I come back to the turnover that we had and then we have got to make some plays there. They were playing us in man coverage and you have got to make some plays there. You have got to be positive on first downs more so that what we were. I'll go back and look at all the plays and that situation when I get back with film in hand.
(on the number of penalties)
I wouldn't say it was laziness, they're aggressive. You have got to work through them and we're going to keep going.
(on the Titans' run game)
We knew that was a big part of it. At the same time, Kerry (Collins) is a good quarterback, so we respected that part of it, the throwing game. We did a pretty good job there initially. It was just that stretch there they…it really kind of happened after that turnover and they took it the distance there and then they started building plays off that.
QB KEVIN KOLB
(on fumble at the goal line)
We had a little miscue down there. It comes from our communication in the huddle. It just can't happen. It's nobody's fault and it's everybody's fault. You cannot do that. Obviously, that was the turning point in the ballgame. They got momentum back. We made a mistake. I know exactly what went wrong. I'm not going to say one thing or the other, but it's an easy fix and it just can't happen.
(on when he knew Jason Jones caused the disruption on fumble play)
When I got hit. I didn't even know the ball was out. I'll know when I see it. I didn't know if he knocked it out before I got it to LeSean (McCoy). It was a bang-bang play and didn't turn out in our favor.
(on his performance in the game)
I felt like we battled. I felt like we put drive after drive after drive together. I missed too many easy ones early. We had a chance to get one of those shots on them, really about three of them. We just didn't execute it and I feel like that really kept them hanging around. You can't do that. We have to have, as we've been saying for a couple of weeks now, a step on their throat mentality. And it came back and bit us today. We're a young team. We have to learn from it. I have to learn from it and I have to execute those early. When it was an eight or nine point ballgame, we just kept letting them hang around. In the NFL, that's going to get you in trouble.
(on whether he is disappointed that Andy Reid named Michael Vick as the team's post-bye starter)
Sure it is. I enjoy playing out there and I want to continue to play. You learn something every time. You feel like you read things a little faster every time. And that's what you want to continue to do. But, I'll say it again, I always trust him. I trust him now.
(on if he thought about how his performance today could affect Reid's decision)
I didn't even think about it. All I wanted to do was go be 5-2. We had a chance to do it and didn't do it. So, you can only learn from it.
(on how to better finish games)
Obviously we don't know. The biggest thing is that I think the playcalling is still aggressive. We just have to keep our aggressive mentality. It's human nature when you get ahead to settle. That's why you see comebacks like that. We can't settle. It starts with me. I'm the guy with the ball in my hands on the offensive side. We just didn't do that today and we didn't do it last week when we had a chance to put that game away.
(on his mental approach to the bye week)
That's a good question. I think the only thing I can do is keep my head up and understand and know and have the confidence that I can play this game and I can win with this team. That's just my mentality. Stay ready for when the time comes and make sure you keep your confidence up. That's what I'll try to do.
G MAX JEAN-GILLES
(on frustration of losing red zone fumble)
It's always frustrating when you have a turnover. But it's all about adversity. We tried to overcome it, but obviously we didn't.
(on overall performance by offensive line in game)
Overall, we played pretty good. But when it matters in the fourth quarter of a game and we're a point down, we have to take advantage of the situation.
WR RILEY COOPER
(on scoring his first NFL touchdown)
I'm glad to get it out of the way, to be honest with you. I got the ball and everything. It was basically just a go route. Kevin (Kolb) put it out there and I just went and got it. When my number was called, I made the play. It felt good.
CB ELLIS HOBBS
(on Eagles' coverage on Kenny Britt's long touchdowns)
It was a soft-two coverage. We had a flat route and I think it was a seven route by him. That coverage is supposed to shift over as we see that. I have to hold off the seven a little bit longer for Nate (Allen) to get over the top and then come down on the tight end. They just kept running that route. Every different way I played it, they did the opposite of what I was thinking. The bottom line is, we just have to make plays. We're in position, for the most part. We just didn't make plays.
(on his performance in the game)
It was just one of those days for me, as a physical guy and a guy who tries to get position, that every time you roll the dice, you crap out. The coverages I'm normally covering right, the plays I'm usually making, it just wasn't there today. Regardless, as a human, as a player, as a professional, you can't get too high and you can't get too low. You take it for what it is. We lost the game. Get back in the film room and on to week eight.
DB QUINTIN MIKELL
(on Kenny Britt's performance)
He had a tremendous game and my hat is off to him. We knew we were going to see him at some point. Obviously, we didn't expect him, I'm sure he had a career day today. It's frustrating.
(on containing Collins in the first half and the changes in the second)
We stayed after him, especially in the first half. In the second half, he started throwing it up to 18, letting him make plays. We had guys in the areas; we just got to make the plays. I think that's what really happened.
LB ERNIE SIMS
(on the big hit in the first half on Chris Johnson and if he is worried about getting fined)
Nah! I didn't try to hit him in the head, but as far as I know, what my teammates telling me, I hit my own teammate.
(on the NFL enforcing the fines)
I just play football. I can't afford to be playing hesitant because the second I play hesitant, someone going to try to take my head off. I just go out there a play football.
(on the play with the actual hit)
I pretty much saw him fighting for extra yards. I just came across and try to hit him, tried to knock him out of bounds.
(on the Titans 27 points in the 4th quarter)
It hurt bad. I feel like we had the game. The team I play with, we're real good. Just to see us go down like that, I know we're better than that.
* (on the Titans quick offensive turnaround)*
Big plays. That is how you get defeated like that. Big plays and turnovers.
(on Britt being open)
Miscommunication. Playing defense, especially in a hostile environment, where everybody has to be on the same page, if not stuff like that is going to happen.
CB ASANTE SAMUEL
(on the second half and changes in the Titans passing game)
Didn't see anything differently. Number 18 didn't play the first quarter and you know he came in the second half and made some big plays. He helped his team win. DBs, we just got to get it together and figure something out.
(on Britt being open, was it his read routes or miscommunication in the secondary)
I don't know. We got to look at the film, go over everything, see how, or what was the negatives. Correct them. That's what it's about in the NFL. Correcting your mistakes and not making the same mistakes twice, get back to square one.
(on moving him over to cover Britt)
About six, seven minutes left, I was going to go over and cover him, but, we didn't have enough time.
DB NATE ALLEN
(on Britt's performance in the second)
We just have to make plays when we need to and a lot of that was me. Just have to make plays when it's needed.
(on Britt's first touchdown)
Just got out of position and he made a play and that was all me.
(on Titans' passing game opening up)
I mean, when they started clicking with him (Britt), I mean, I am pretty sure they just decided to keep going at him. He was hot, he got hot, we just got to make plays, I've got to make plays when it's needed.
