HEAD COACH JEFF FISHER
(general comments)
"Right before half when I elected to take a shot at the long field goal, when the ball was returned and Craig Stevens made that play inside the five-yard line, it was a tremendous effort play. I think that kind of sums up how we were today. I was very proud of our team. We played very hard. I don't think anybody expected that type of performance, expected us to have a chance to win the game at the end. Unfortunately we didn't. I'm proud of the way guys played. They fought. We played a real good team today. We had a chance to win it; we just couldn't take advantage of it."
(on what happened on the fumbled snap exchange near the end)
"I haven't talked to them. I don't know. We'll sort out how it happened. It's unfortunate. There were two turnovers in the game and they take place in three plays. That's the difference, clearly. You get the ball back and hang on to it and you have a chance to win."
(on the general future of the team)
"There's a good group of young players that understand how to prepare and understand how to play hard. The team has a good personality. We have a lot of positive things to build on."
(on his future with the team)
"I'm under contract for another year. We're going to come back, we'll have wrap-up physicals tomorrow and we'll start our evaluation process."
(responding to another question about whether he expects to be back with the team)* *
"I'm under contract. Yeah, I hope that I am."
(on the effort of his team down the late stretch of the season)* *
"There's guys out there that said this team didn't play with effort. They need to look at the tape. Because this team played with effort. They did today, they have been doing it. We didn't play well last week, but it had nothing to do with effort."
(more on his club's effort and preparation)* *
"I don't think there's been a game all year where we haven't been ready to play. ... Preparation and effort on Sundays have not been an issue."
(responding to another question about speculation over his job status)* *
"I don't really have a comment about it. I'm under contract. I've said time and time again I'll finish my career at Tennessee."
QB KERRY COLLINS
(on the fumbled snap exchange late in the game)
"I think the snap was fine, honestly. It was an outside zone play. If anything, I may have just rode in a little too much and the ball squirted out to the right. It's one of those things. You don't ever take those things for granted, but within a game it becomes second nature. It's unfortunate it happened at the time it did. Guys fought hard and did everything they could to get back in and win the game. We were right there at the end. It's just something I didn't do well enough."
(on losing Kenny Britt late in the game with a groin injury)
"Obviously he was a big part of what we were doing today. He was playing great, made some huge catches. He was doing what Kenny does. Kenny has really come on this year; he has a bright future. The guy has all the tools and he works at it."
(on what today's performance says about the team)
"I think it says a lot about our guys. Nobody gave us a chance that we were going to be in this game. Everybody predicted it was going to be a blowout. Our guys showed up to play. We always show up to play. Guys were out there giving ultimate effort."
(on the possibility of it being the last game of his career)* *
"At age 38, I guess that's a possibility. I'll just take some time and get away a bit and kind of see where things are and what my options are. At this point I'm not ruling anything out. I can still throw it. I still physically feel well enough to play."
(on the Colts containing the Titans run game)* *
"They've been playing better the last couple of weeks. They definitely have improved since the last time we played them, I think. They have a lot of veteran guys, they're savvy, they're very well coached. It's no easy task. You can't just come in here and say we're going to pound the ball at them and run for 150 yards. It just doesn't happen all the time."
(on whether today's ending was a microcosm of how the Titans season has gone)* *
"Yeah, it's pretty indicative of what's gone on this year. You know, it's part of it. That's a good football team we played today. But for us, we haven't always obviously just done what we need to do to win a game. ... Today we were in the position. It's unfortunate it came down to what it did. Having said all that, I'm proud of our guys the way they hung tough this year."
WR KENNY BRITT
(on his good performance leading up to his injury)
"It was all about the game plan and the plays that I learned in the classroom. They really helped me out during this week, especially Randy (Moss) with the coverages.
(on how he felt after a game like this)
"It definitely tears your heard to pieces and things like that. But what I always say is that one play or one man can't lose a game. It takes 60 minutes of football and 11 people on each side."
(on how his team didn't back down)
"We showed that we didn't give up, played hard and fought hard. That's why we can hang our heads high right now."
S MICHAEL GRIFFIN
(on Titan's success with three and outs against Colts offense)
"Everybody stepped their game up. This team didn't give up. We continued to play. I guess today we finally put everything together and started clicking real well."
(on importance of finishing the season after being eliminated from playoffs)
"It's very important. We get paid to play this game. We owe it to the fans. We owe it to this team. We owe it to each other. We can never give up and never quit."
(on emotions of creating a turnover late and giving it right back to Colts)
"It's hard. It's tough, but we had to continue to go out there. We had an opportunity to stop them and try to go to overtime. They had a hurry-up offense going, and we had one miscommunication on one play and there was a field goal."
C KEVIN MATTHEWS
(on the fumbled snap near end of game)
"What the quarterback was telling me is that he wasn't able to ride me long enough. I felt like I put it in the same spot. But when it comes down like that at the end of the game, the center-quarterback exchange is something that's supposed to be automatic. And for us to get it wrong and lose the game for us, Kerry can't just take all the blame for it. It's 50-50. I've got my half."
(on team's confidence in him for next year)
"I hope they still have confidence in me. I know I let the whole team down with that snap. It's not just on the quarterback. I'm starting to play every plan snapping the ball. No matter how it goes, it's on me to get it to (Kerry)."
LB STEPHEN TULLOCH
(on what it's like watching Colts win another division title)
"They're a good team. Number 18 makes the team go, and he proved once again why he is one of the elite quarterbacks in the league. They did a good job finding a way to win today."
(on seeing the Colts' success as somewhere the Titans would like to be)
"Yeah. They set the bar high. They're a playoff team year in and year out. They do a good job of executing and finding a way to win."
(on the way the lost)
"I'm happier because we showed that we didn't give up. We kept fighting. Although it didn't go our way, we hung in there, and we competed throughout the game. They did a good job of just finding a way to win."
TE JARED COOK
(on building off of the last few games he has had and gaining confidence)
"Most definitely. Clear skies from here. Keep working on the little things and the things I can improve on and just get better by next year."
(on setting himself up for his future with the Titans)
"I think it's a good ending to the season but I still have a lot to work on. I still have things to improve on. That's where the offseason comes in. Get the training in, get the extra work in on the things I need to work on to improve personally, then come in during OTA's and just keep working. Keep working with the Quarterbacks and working with Coach Z (Coach John Zernhelt)."
DE JASON BABIN
(on the players thinking about changes with the coaching staff)
"Not really. Like you said, it's the national media hyping it up. It seems like sometimes they hype this up to make something that wasn't there, there. We don't even talk about it."
(on people thinking that they wouldn't see any effort today from the Titans)
"The game was close. It was a battle all day long. That fumble at the end, a play here, a play there and things could have gone our way. That's how the games in the NFL should be. Close and to the last second."
CB ALTERRAUN VERNER
(on keeping the Indianapolis Colts out of rhythm)
"That's why I'm saying that both sides of the ball came out to play. We gave up some plays on defense, but like you said they are the Colts. You are playing against Peyton Manning and you expect that every once in a while. For the most part we fought and hung in there and the offense got some points on the board. It was a well fought game. At the end they just had the ball and kicked a field goal so kudos to them."
(on gauging his first season)
"Me being a competitor, I take a lot of the negative stuff and go on that, but that is also going to help me get better next season. I am going to want to work on those things and try to get better. I was fortunate enough to play and to that alone I'm just very blessed. I thank God and thank this team. Just playing with this group of guys, from an experience stand point, it is something that I needed and hopefully can expand on and help this team out."
RB CHRIS JOHNSON
(on the final two minutes of the game)
"We had a chance to win the game and we knew that we just had to run the ball and get a first down or two. We had to get the clock down and give Rob (Bironas) a chance to kick a field goal and we just didn't capitalize."
(on the being worried about changes in the offseason)
"That's something that I can't really worry about. I just have to worry about myself as a person and try to step up and be a leader. I need to workout hard this offseason and try and come back next year and accomplish the playoffs or Super Bowl."
(on the speculation with Coach Jeff Fisher)
"Fish (Jeff Fisher) is a good coach. My three years playing with him, I have enjoyed him as a coach. He's been coaching for sixteen years so obviously he's been doing something right."
CB CORTLAND FINNEGAN
(on being worried about changes to the team)
"No, I'm not worried. I'm focused on getting better this offseason. I don't have any control over that other than that I want this team to succeed and ultimately win a Super Bowl. I want to be a part of that."
(on disrupting the Colt's rhythm on offense)
"We tried to. I felt that we executed the game plan. We got them off the field when we needed to. They dropped some passes here and there and we had them flustered at times. At the end of the day we gave ourselves a chance to win, we didn't, and we lost to a good team."
