TENNESSEE TITANS QUOTES
HEAD COACH JEFF FISHER
(opening statements)
I thought we worked through the difficulties of a short week very well. We backed down on the players, gave them an opportunity to rest and recover. I asked a lot of them tonight, a lot of the younger guys, they knew ahead of time they were going to get a sufficient opportunity, if not more, to go out and show what they could do.
Overall, I was pleased, a few things, you know a couple of drops early, a couple of penalties here and there. We kept things simple as did the Packers, fortunately for us. We were able to just evaluate players and play football.
We have a couple of difficult days ahead of us as we work the roster down to 53. We have some tough decisions. I am not going in to any individual decisions right now or any of the specific battles or the what-ifs. It is going to be a tough couple of days for us.
We really didn't have injuries per say tonight. So, overall with five preseason games and everything that we needed to accomplish after a great offseason I think with a good week we will be ready for the opener.
(on the returns of Mark Jones)
He did what we expected to see him do. He was good on multiple returns and made decisions, he fielded the ball well. He made a couple of nice returns.
(on the play of Dominique Edison)
Last week he made some catches. He does well on the practice field. Today, he had a big night, a couple of touchdown catches. It is good to see. The first one was really a fine adjustment to a well-thrown ball.
(on the return of Kevin Mawae)
I am really impressed with how well he came back. He's in good shape. Last week, he was excited about playing. As we said, we got to play him a little extra. The guards were in there a little longer so they could play next to him after we made the initial substitutions. With him coming back and playing the way he did, I feel good about where we are on the offensive line.
(on feeling confident Kevin Mawae will return to the lineup next week)
With him coming back and playing the way he did, I feel good about where we are in front on the offensive line.
(on Vince Young's run)
**
Yeah, it was good. I mean, that's what he's about. He threw with accuracy and took off and made plays with his legs. He kept drives alive at third and 15, I think, he picked up 17 or 18, maybe even 20, so that's good. That's what he does well.
(on being worried about Quinton Ganther's calf)
**
No, I'm not worried about Q. I don't think it's too serious.
(on LenDale White being out tonight)
**
Yes. We backed him down. We'll have a complete injury report for you on Monday.
(on tonight possibly being the last night out for some of the players before cuts)
**
We had a lot of different things going on today. We had starters playing a series. We had a few starters play a little bit more than a series. We had veteran special teams players fine-tuning themselves for the opener. We had younger special teams players trying to get themselves into position where they could compete in a regular season game. Then we had players that were playing for practice squad spots, and some players were playing for spots elsewhere in the league. It was a unique, a very unique final preseason game, and they knew that. We talked about it and we wanted to pull together and have fun one last time as a roster of 75or 80.
(on being relieved preseason is over)
**
Oh, we have work to do. We're going to come back tomorrow, and as I said, we have a couple of tough days with our decisions and then coaches will be continuing game planning. Sunday morning will be a normal Wednesday for us.
(on having three receivers in for a try-out)
**
We, as you know, always bring different positions in to build our ready list, and that's what we did.
QB KERRY COLLINS
(on the opening game next week versus Pittsburgh)
I'm glad the preseason is over. It's going to be an unbelievable atmosphere up there next week. I know the fans are going to be crazy and it's going to take a lot of preparation on our part, but we'll be ready to go.
(on 15 years of opening games and how it compares to all the excitement of this first game vs. Steelers)
Probably more so, because I appreciate the opportunity like this to be in a big game right off the bat, at the beginning of the season against a great football team. It's going to be huge challenge for us, but we'll prepare hard this week and get ready to go.
QB VINCE YOUNG
(on his performance tonight)
I'm pleased with everybody. Like I've said, it's not all about me. I'm very proud of the offensive line giving me a chance in the pocket. They did a great job of making a pocket for me and the receivers did a great job of reading the same coverage that we'd been hearing all week that they would run. They did a great job of taking care of their responsibilities. Overall, everybody took care of their responsibilities.
(on his comfort level going into this season
Once you get comfortable with the offense, that's when you can showcase your talent a little bit more. Last year there were pretty much lot of things going on, learning on the run and things like that. Being here, sitting down, taking my time and looking at Kerry, and paying attention, and getting comfortable with the offense, once you get more comfortable with the offense, then you can take off, and you can read defenses better. That's pretty much how it's going with me right now.**
DE JEVON KEARSE
(on Titans defense)
Our future is in our own hands. I mean we've got the same team as last year, minus Albert. We've got a bunch of guys who've stepped into that leadership role and lots of young guys who can go out and make plays. So it's all a matter of keeping everyone healthy, and going out there and doing it.
DE KYLE VANDEN BOSCH
(on Titans team ready for this season)
I feel like we're as prepared as we're going to be. Even though this was a preseason game, we showed some good things, both starters and back-ups. It was our most complete game. Coach Fisher does a great job running training camp and I feel like we're peaking at the right time. I think we look good. Preseason is difficult to gauge where you are. You try some different things, you try to show some things and hide some things. We really won't know where we're at until next week. But I feel as a team, we're as prepared as we're going to be and everyone is excited and I feel like we've got good chance next week. Tonight was important for this team and for the players in this locker room for a lot of reasons, but the ultimate goal was to get ready for the opener and to make sure we're ready for Pittsburgh.
WR DOMINIQUE EDISON
(on his performance being a great way to finish the preseason)
I just wanted to come out and make plays. I knew I was going to have the opportunity to come out and make some plays so I just tried to take advantage of every opportunity that I had.
(on if there was a different approach to tonight's game)
I just took a different approach because I knew I was going to be out there a lot and I knew I had to make some plays. I know tomorrow is cut day and also I just wanted to come out and make some plays.
(on if tonight solidified his spot on the team)
I hope so but it is not up to me. All I can do is go out and control what I do. I felt like I went out tonight and am going to make a hard decision for them.
(on the touchdown play being similar to the previous play)
It was the same play. On the first play, it was kind of underthrown a little bit. The second time, Vince put it in a perfect spot where only I could make the play.
GREEN BAY PACKERS QUOTES
HEAD COACH MIKE McCARTHY
(on extent of B. J. Raji's injury)
He has a sprained ankle. We will know more in the morning. It's kind of normal, at this stage right after the game. I am hopeful that it is not serious. I don't have anything to believe that it is serious.
(on what came from tonight's game)
We wanted to play a lot of these younger guys and get a lot of quality work. Unfortunately, we had some injuries that put some of our guys in a tough spot. I thought the second quarter was not the type of football we are looking for. I thought the team bounced back in the second half. We were able to flip the field position on special teams. Brian Brohm was in a good rhythm with the offense. I thought we ran the ball effectively. At times there were some negative plays, particularly in pass protection, that probably could have helped us. Defensively, I thought our guys did a great job just battling especially because of our numbers.
(on short passes for Brohm)
It was probably how the game was progressing. The protection, at times, was not what it needed to be and so we were just trying to make the offense successful.
(on the difference in Brohm from the last game)
I think, young quarterbacks, it's a normal curve of development. You want to see them always moving forward, making progress. I think Brian (Brohm) clearly has done that the last two weeks. He has put a lot of individual time into this throughout the offseason and I think it's starting to pay off for him.
(on Nick Barnett's performance)
I watched Nick (Barnett) and I watched Clay (Matthews). I thought they definitely moved very well. As far as getting off blocks and the fits and everything, we will take a close look at that on film and so forth. It was good to have them out there. You definitely felt their presence. I thought they definitely made an impact when they were on the field.
(on Brandon Underwood)
Brandon Underwood couldn't return to the game. He had a stinger on the second injury. I think the first one he got the wind knocked out of him. So he did not return.
WR DONALD DRIVER
(on play during the preseason)
I think we played well. Our biggest thing was to come out and execute the last couple of games. We knew coming in this game we were not going to play as much in the series. Our goal was to take the ball down and score on the opening series. Instead, we went three and out and that was the outcome. As a team right now, we're playing; we're real confident that we can go out there and put points on the board. We feel like our defense can stop anyone. Our special teams is playing very well.
(on preparing for the upcoming season)
We knew our first unit was not going to play. Our first unit was not out there after the first series. Last three preseason games our first unit scored in 9 out of 11 drives. Tonight our second unit did not play as well. We feel that is not going to be the team, our first unit will be ready come next Sunday.
(on young receivers)
We have a great group of guys. Crazy part about it is that some of these guys won't be with us. Whoever is with us, we will be able to establish what we want to establish. That's putting our receiver group back on top of yards after the catch. We feel like we are the best team in doing it. Once we get the ball in our hands we are dangerous.
QB BRIAN BROHM
(on his own assessment)
It was a lot of fun getting that many reps. Obviously you want to win the football game. That is the main goal, but we didn't get that done. We will watch the film then we can see some possible things. I think I managed the offense pretty well. I think we had a good tempo. We need to convert on a few more third downs and be better in the red zone. Those are a few things with the team we can work on.
WR AARON RODGERS
(on his play and preparation for regular season)
I think I was sound in the three preseason games. I played well. I am in a good state of mind. I am ready to go home and get some rest this weekend and get going against the Bears.
LB CLAY MATTHEWS
(on the pre-season and whether tonight slowed down any momentum they had gained heading into the pr-season)
I don't think so, really. Of course, we'd have liked to have shown better tonight. I think we let our guard down there in the second quarter … But, we put together some momentum there in the second half. At the same time, we're getting a lot of the young guys, including myself, some really important reps.
(on the impression of the second unit tonight)
It's tough out there on a night like tonight. Guys are literally fighting for their jobs. I think we are going to have a lot to look at come Monday when we get in there and look at the film, but we'll improve on this and look to head into Chicago with all the momentum we need.
LB AJ HAWK
(on the overall assessment of the defensive unit in the preseason)
We're definitely ready to get the regular season going. I think for the most part, the defense played really well this preseason …We forced a lot of turnovers and that didn't happen as much tonight for us as we'd have liked for it to, but the first three games, we had a lot of impact plays and got a lot of pressure on the quarterback. So, you know, the defense, we feel pretty good that if we can make some big plays and keep our offense out there, they're going to score some points. So, we feel pretty good.
