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HEAD COACH JEFF FISHER**
(opening statements)
Well, as you can see there was a lot of movement in the first round ahead of us and we got four or five picks away and we felt very good because we had three or four players that we were very excited about. A couple of them went ahead of us. We had been talking about Chris (Johnson) for weeks and weeks. As you know, we had him in for a visit. We met with him at the combine. We're very, very impressed with he, in particular, as a person. He's a very, very talented football player. He's versatile, he's got great speed and great hands. His numbers are exceptional at East Carolina and we're going to plug him in wherever and whenever we can because we know he's a playmaker. He has world-class, difference-making speed, which is something we need offensively, so we're very excited to place Chris in the offense.
OFFENSIVE COORDINATOR MIKE HEIMERDINGER
(on getting a skill position player early in the draft)
I'm real excited about Chris because there are so many things we can do with him. Like Jeff said, he has great hands, there's a lot of film on him lining up as a wide receiver and he did some good things there. I like his running ability and the speed he brings to us. He gives us a chance as a homerun hitter and he makes our special teams better immediately as a returner. We needed to add speed and a big play guy and we did that. He can help us in a couple of areas.
JEFF FISHER
(on if he was tempted to try and trade up to get Felix Jones)
No, we were very content. We had numerous discussions comparing and contrasting both Felix and Chris. I'll just say this: we're very delighted to have an opportunity to draft Chris. We feel like Felix is going to have a great career. It was a great selection. I came in early this morning to look at both of them again. That's how close we were. Both of them are very similar from the standpoint of what they do and how they do it. I'm going to let Cole Proctor talk about it because he's seen him first hand.
TITANS SCOUT COLE PROCTOR
(on Chris Johnson)
It's exciting because he's instant. Just plant the foot, and boom, he's gone. We looked at two screen passes when he took one against North Carolina and I think he took it 83 yards, he took another one 80 yards in another game. He just has world class speed – a 10.3 800 meters, he's on the national championship 4 X 100 relay. He has track speed, but he has football speed. It's going to be fun to have him with the things that you can do with him. He can carry the ball and he can also get out there and be a receiver and also be a returner, so I think we're going to see a lot of touches for this young man.
JEFF FISHER
(on Johnson's comparison to a faster Brian Westbrook)
Yeah, he is. The Eagles do a great job with Brian, getting the ball out to him out of the backfield, check-downs, screens and things like that. When you get the ball to a player of that kind of talent, good things happen. He's shown week after week after week throughout his college career that he can make the big plays.
(on using Johnson and David Carr as punt returners)
We'll see where that goes. Obviously, he's done many more kickoffs than he has punts. He feels like he's comfortable handling punts, but just hasn't been given the opportunity. Often times what happens once you become the type of player that he was at school as a junior and senior, they would prefer to have somebody else do it and not risk injury, so we'll see how he is with that. He's very competitive, has great hand-eye coordination. He had 36 catches this year and six receiving touchdowns, so they got the ball to him whenever they could.
(on if Johnson will be asked to do things that Chris Henry did)
Not necessarily. We're pleased with Chris' off-season and his production and this is an opportunity to get a guy that's a difference-maker, and so we'll go ahead and do that. You can't have enough of those guys on your roster.
(on how much consideration he gave to drafting a receiver)
The receiver list is loaded. It is a good group of receivers. As I've said – I don't know if you guys talked about it the other day – there are going to be some starting receivers that will be drafted well into tomorrow, so this is a good group of receivers.
(on if Devin Thomas was a consideration)
Yes, he was a consideration.
(on if there was any concern with Johnson's neck and turf toe injuries)
No, we've checked him out and we had no concerns about anything physically.
(on if he is surprised at the amount of trades that have transpired)
There were a few teams that gave up an awful lot. The values were skewed a little bit, but people are going after their players. You hear someone trades and then you sit in the draft room and say, 'Oh, they're going to get this guy' and then they get somebody that you didn't even anticipate. I assume that will continue.
(on if he received any tempting offers)
It was very quiet.
(on Pacman Jones trade updates)
Two words: We're progressing.
