TITANS HEAD COACH JEFF FISHER
(opening statement)* *"This was a tale of two halves. We had some unfortunate mistakes in the first half that created a situation where we couldn't score and convert third downs because of some penalties. We regrouped at half-time and if we wanted a chance (to win) then we decided to put those things behind us.
"Those two throws to Justin (Gage) were huge in the second half. We had 21 unanswered points and the defense gave us some help. We got a tremendous effort out of everybody, but I need to point out the play of Chris Carr. For Chris to come in and play the corner spot for the first time this year and make the interception he did along with the tackle from the kickoff on the 15-yard line; It was a tremendous effort by a very solid back-up guy for us."
(on the challenge of keeping a 10-0 team focused) "You know behind this door, they are talking about playing the (New York) Jets at home next Sunday. That is the challenge right now. We had a number of starters that were out today so we are going to just have to heal up. We are down two corners and we are going to have to heal up and get ready for our next opponent."
QB KERRY COLLINS
(on the success with deep ball today) "We were ready to take some shots today. We felt if we were going to win this game, we would have to make some plays down the field. Guys came up big and obviously. Justin Gage had a huge day. Give our receivers a lot of credit today."
(on first half mistakes) "Obviously, I missed a couple of things on third down and the pick, of course. If we hit a few of those, we're moving the chains. We didn't come out firing like we needed to and we had to wake up at halftime. This time isn't built that way. "
(on being comfortable in this stage of his career) "I'm not there yet. I've played better consistently at different times in my career. I feel like I'm getting there, but by no stretch am I playing entirely the way I'm capable of playing."
DT ALBERT HAYNESWORTH
(on adjustments in second half) "We settled down. They were on an emotional high, and we came out and just wanted to play our game. Once we cut out the nonsense and stopped giving them things, they couldn't move the ball on us."
(on being unbeaten at 10-0) "It's great to being the only unbeaten team. People in the beginning were counting us out and guessing we would be 8-8 at best. Now, we're 10-0. We like proving the world wrong, I guess – going out there and playing our game and winning them."
(on trying to knock Jacksonville out of playoffs) "Hopefully, with this win, we can knock Jacksonville out of this. That was the whole key with this game to put the nail in the coffin with Jacksonville and get them out of the playoffs, and for us just to keep moving."
CB CHRIS CARR
(on the interception late in fourth quarter) "I was breaking hard on a lot of routes and kind of had a feeling that they were going to try to get me on a double move. When I saw the split, I said to myself that they were not going to try to get me on the same play again. But they did and it was another double move. It was a bad throw and I was able to pick it up."
(on playing on defense) "I played a little defense in Kansas City and significantly in Oakland. It's been a while. I played a little bit in preseason and hurt my shoulder. The coaches have wanted me to do just special teams because my shoulder was banged up, but I always stay ready and you never know when your number will be called."
WR JUSTIN GAGE
(on being able to get open today) "It's tough for a defense to stop us now. They try to put an extra guy in the box to stuff our run game, which has been doing great for us. That gives our receivers an opportunity outside to win. A lot of people say we can't do this, and we can't keep winning. This was another opportunity to go out there and prove it to everybody and we took advantage of it."
(on making adjustments after slow first half) "If we play Titan football, we feel like we can't lose. In the first half, we did a lot of things where we were stepping on our own toes and were down 14-3 at the half. We gathered together and came back with a new mentality and put up 21 point."
(on Tennessee being called a "Goliath") "We're not Goliath. Around the league, we're not getting talked about that much. We're 10-0, and you're hearing about us a little bit. We're just a bunch of hard-working guys that come to work every day and try to establish a foundation for ourselves and we take it one week at at time. "
(on QB Kerry Collins) "He's not just a quarterback but also a coach. Anytime on the field, he'll take us through what needs to happen. If we're a little confused or uncertain, he's always there for us. When you have a guy like Kerry, he'll make great decisions, knows how the game is played and reads defenses. He is the true leader of our team."
RB CHRIS JOHNSON
(on the comeback) "They had a 14-3 lead on us and coach told us don't worry about it the half is over. He said to worry about the second half. And we went out there and scored quickly on the first two drives."
(on first double digit deficit of the season) "A lot of people say we can't do things because we've never been in this situation. Championship teams when they are down they come back and win. When they are playing teams they are supposed to beat, they beat those teams."
DE JEVON KEARSE
(on beginning the season 10-0) "We feell like the pressure is on the other team. We just go out and play one game at a time. We don't think about an undefeated record. There's more pressure on the other team. Each week we just focus on that game and we're not looking ahead."
JAGUARS HEAD COACH JACK DEL RIO
"We were halfway there. We played a good half of football but one half's not enough to win in this league. In the second half we had 21 unanswered points put up on us. Kerry Collins did a nice job throwing the football and making big plays and hitting chunks, three touchdown passes. After a good first half, it just wasn't what we needed to be able to finish the job. We started well but like I said, one half of football won't get it done. Coming out in the second half, we knew we got the ball to start the second half and really wanted to be able to put our stamp on this ballgame and go down and get something done. We got bogged down and didn't and then they go bang, bang, two touchdown drives and we're going three and out. That's where they took control of the game. We did some solid things in terms of not allowing them to possess the ball, being that we were giving them 13 first downs and one of 12 on third down which usually will help you be in a game or have a chance to win it at the end at least. And they just pulled away from us, so, congratulations to them. We move on."
"Where we are right now, I told the team in terms of postseason mode it's absolutely as dismal an outlook as you can have and not be out. We've got six games left. We'd have to win every one to have a chance to qualify. It's a very remote possibility. What we are going to do is focus one game at a time and try to have a little more fun playing football. I'd like to mention I think the crowd has been outstanding for our home games all year, and our record here has not been at all acceptable. It's been disappointing to not deliver a better product to the fans that have been here in big numbers ready to energize and ready to get behind us. I feel bad for the fact that they've showed up so well in support of this football team and we haven't been able to deliver here at home. I assure you that we will continue to look at everything and continue to evaluate and continue to look to play good football as we finish up this season. We're 4-6; we know it. Obviously we wanted to be in a whole lot better situation right now; we're not. So that's where we are. A good football team tonight, we had a good start with them, we weren't able to get it done in the end."
(was the secondary vulnerable in coverages during the first couple plays of the game?) "I believe all three of the plays that he (Drayton Florence) happened to be a part of, the bigger plays, were three different types of coverages. Two of them were zone, one was man but none of them were without a center fielder at least. Our first play of the game, he just gave a little double move and got behind us. We were able to slow them down from there to make them bog down there and not let them punch it in. But the two later in the game, they were able to make big plays on us."
(did Tennessee do anything differently on defensively in the second half that you noticed or did your team just not execute as well?) "The maybe played a little more Bear in running downs in the second half. It's not like we haven't seen it before. Really, I thought they did a nice job just coming up and snuffing things out. I think we had some untimely penalties. You think you're going to get some field position and we get it called back. So it just wasn't a crisp performance in the second half, but it wasn't like anything they sprung on us that we weren't prepared for. They're pretty basic on what they try and do. They've got a big physical front, they play sound coverage and they harass your quarterback without bringing a lot of extra people."
(you were a more physical team in the first half. Did the Titans match that in the second half?) "No, they were the more physical team the second half. I think they were able to totally stuff our offense in the second half. In the first half, we did pretty much what we wanted to do in terms of being able to run it and control it and score points and punch it in, and the second half they firmed up and we didn't get much done the second half."
(can you right after the game assess how a team can raise the level of your game the second half like that to be the more physical team after being outmatched in the first half?) "No, I mean you have a feel for it and you certainly could feel it change. They took the game when they needed to in the second half. They've been able to do that a little bit. It's not like we haven't seen that on tape. We knew that we had to play the second half, we had to finish these guys. There's been examples of them doing this, being able to come back and take a game when it looked like maybe they were not going to have their day. So, it's not like it's anything we haven't seen on tape and prepared for. It's just we weren't able to get them stopped."
(was David Garrard getting knocked down because he wasn't getting blocking or because he was holding the ball too long?) "That's a question we answered the first time we played them. I think it's always a combination of things but there were a couple instances where there was very little to slow down the line. They were, like I said, generating pressure without bringing extra people and if they can do that, it makes it difficult to get the quarterback to operate."
JAGUARS QB DAVID GARRARD
(on what happened to the Jaguars in the second half) "I don't know. That's something I can't really explain. I thought we were feeling really good at halftime, not too good. Not to the point where we wouldn't come out with the same kind of pop in the second half. They definitely switched things up on their end and we just didn't execute like we should have. We had a lot of chances. The defense, I thought, did a great job getting them off the field and getting us the ball back. We just have to capitalize when we get those opportunities."
(on Coach Del Rio's comment that you could feel the Titans' increased intensity) "You can feel it, but we have to be men and step up. It was just that they were definitely turning their dials up and like I said, we didn't match them. That's unfortunate because we had a perfect opportunity. We all have to do a whole lot better than that especially when the game is on the line."
(on the Titans' pass rush and the frustration it caused) "As a quarterback, it's okay to get knocked down as long as you're completing the ball. That's where it gets more frustrating when I try to get the ball off and I'm getting hit. I've got to do a better job getting the ball out of my hands faster. You know we've just got to do better. This week at practice we just have to work on those things, but on offense we just have to do better than that, plain and simple."
(on the risk of people giving up on the season) "Me personally, I'm definitely not giving up. We've still got a lot of football to play, but it's definitely dwindling. Every game definitely matters now. But I don't think the guys in here are going to give up. It's definitely been tough sledding this year, but we've still got to be fierce competitors. We have to step up every time we have an opportunity. You never know when it will be your time so any chance you get to play this game you should definitely relish it and meet the challenge. I know I will and the rest of the guys in here will, too."
(on the inability to move the ball in the second half) "I wish I had the answer for you on that, but I don't. We didn't expect it to be like that. They definitely turned their energy level up and I just don't think we matched it. They started doing a great job of not being in the defenses that we had scouted and so some of our plays were geared toward a particular coverage or a particular look and they weren't getting into it like we expected them to. So it made it tough on us.
(on the Titans team) "They played great. When you have the confidence of being 9-0, you know what to do when the situation gets tough and they did it. They definitely stepped up."
(on the importance of leadership for the rest of the season) "It's definitely important. We still have a lot of young guys on this team and we don't want any one of those guys checking out. Personally, I'm going to make sure I lead by example the right way, be here on time, do my job and do all the things I'm supposed to. Hopefully all the other guys will follow suit."
(on playing a complete game) "We have to stop talking about the little things almost being there and how close we are because that is not going to get you wins. Following through and finishing on the little things we have to do a better job of that."
JAGUARS RB FRED TAYLOR
(on Tennessee's record) "You have got to give them credit. They came out and played their style of ball. They're 10-0, they deserve to be 10-0. We're 4-6 and we deserve to be 4-6 at this point."
(on losing an 11 point lead for the first time since Jack Del Rio's first year) "It's a 60-minute game not a 30-minute game. You have to finish the game. There are always time for firsts. This is the first time it might not be the last. You have to give Tennessee credit they came in here and did what they were supposed to do."
JAGUARS LB CLINT INGRAM
(on being up at halftime then eventually losing the game) "We were echoing through the locker room that we know they are a good team and that we knew they were going to come out and play good in the second half. We weren't patting ourselves on the back or beating our chests. We just came out and weren't as effective as we were by letting a few balls get behind us."
JAGUARS DT DEREK LANDRI
(on defense's first half success) "They are a zone running team and any time in the NFL you get penetration you are going to stop the run. We got a little bit of penetration and made them go sideways instead of downhill and we were able to stop them a little bit."
(on Tennessee's run success in the second half) "We didn't see too much penetration there at times and they were breaking tackles, guys were making blocks and breaking tackles. You got to hand it to them they are a good team. They made plays when it counted, we didn't."
