HEAD COACH MIKE MUNCHAK On QB Matt Hasselbeck:"He's sore. I think he caught his hand in an awkward position when he was trying to throw the ball. We'll have to check him tomorrow to see exactly to what extent. He's sore and that's why we took him out the game."
On QB Jake Locker:"From what you can watch tonight he did a nice job. He came in and made some nice throws under pressure and bought us some time. He did exactly what we thought he was capable of doing. He did exactly what a second team quarterback should do. It was his opportunity. He brought us back in the game. You saw what you saw from a guy that's been waiting a long time to get on the field."
On QB Matt Hasselbeck's Injury:"I don't know. It doesn't seem like something that's obvious. Just a matter of seeing how he is Monday and Tuesday."
On QB Matt Hasselbeck's return:"He's a quarterback so there's no doubt about that."
On today's performance:"They played for 60 minutes. We didn't play smart for 60 minutes. We gave ourselves a chance at the end to make a stop and do something special but we shouldn't have put ourselves in that situation. We made a lot of mistakes with penalties against the Falcons especially on the defensive side. We had stops. We had penalties, and some bad decisions made in there. Fourth and one, we had a penalty. We just can't play like that against a good team and think we are going to win. We put ourselves in a very tough spot by doing that. Having said all that, the offense came to life finally and we avoided penalties on that side of the ball for a couple drives and made a couple scores. That gave us a real shot at maybe doing something at the end. I give them credit. They found a way to get a first down and took the risk. They threw it and made the play and ended the game."
QUARTERBACK MATT HASSELBECK On how he is feeling:"I'm feeling okay. I am not in a ton of pain, but I just hurt my elbow and wasn't able to throw. It's unfortunate and I feel bad about it. I think we are going to take some pictures tomorrow and see what we can find out. I was happy for the team. They battled back. Jake (Locker) came in and played great. He made some plays and it was good to see the receivers do a nice job. Our defense gave us a chance, but it hurts to come up short."
On the injury:"It happened on my second to last play. We had a double move to Damian Williams and he ran a great route. We had a touchdown and someone just hit my arm when I was getting ready to throw."
On QB Jake Locker:"I thought he played great. He has been practicing well and playing well. I've said many times, that I think he has a real bright future. It was fun to see. I think what we didn't expect was some of the heroics on situations like fourth and 17. That was great to see because they were bringing it defensively all day. We went in there in the two minute and I know he is comfortable with the situation. The two touchdowns were nice and were good calls by offensive coordinator Chris [Palmer]. It was really good to see and I'm really happy for him. I know how it is to throw your first touchdown and it is definitely exciting."
QUARTERBACK JAKE LOCKER On how it felt to enter the game:"It was a lot of fun. I would have liked a better outcome but it was just fun to get out there and compete."
On replacing QB Matt Hasselbeck:"Matt came off after he took that hit and threw a few balls and just didn't feel right. He came over and let me know that he wasn't going to be able to go."
On adrenaline:"There is a lot of adrenaline involved in that. Like I told you in the beginning, I've just done my best to prepare as well as I could for when I got that opportunity so I could take advantage of it."
On teammates making great plays:"I think that it was great to see that everyone kept playing and nobody gave up. They raised their level of play and allowed us to stay in that football game."
On preparedness:"I felt pretty comfortable with what we were doing. We were able to go out there and play backyard football. We got some good calls and guys ran some good routes, and like you said made some good plays."
On first professional touchdown pass:"I think there was a good amount of excitement. WR Nate Washington made a great play. He ran a good route, made the catch, and made some guys miss. I think you mentioned that earlier, guys stepped up and made plays."
RUNNING BACK CHRIS JOHNSON On the Titans offense:"It has changed a lot. We fell behind early and had to fight back. When it ends up like that, you've got to change up your offense. Anytime a defense can get you one dimensional, it's a plus for them."
On the Falcons defense:"I've got to look at the film, but I know we didn't execute some plays that we could have. They are a pretty good defense and they made a lot of plays out there today. I'm sure if we had executed better, then we could have had a better day in the running game."
On QB Jake Locker:"He did a great job. I wouldn't say it is surprising because I see him practice every day. I wasn't here for the preseason so that was my first time really seeing him in some live action. I think he did very well."
On consistency:"We are 5-5 and it just shows that we are really inconsistent right now. If we want to make a run for the playoffs and be a good team in December, then we are going to have to start being consistent. We can't have a good week this Sunday and then a bad week next. We have to play like we really want to be in the playoffs."
On trusting the reads:"I trust my reads. I'm looking at the film and I'm doing all the right things, but it's just not turning out right. We are not executing."
TIGHT END JARED COOK On playing in front of his family for the first time as a professional:"It was pretty cool. I used to pass the Georgia Dome growing up all the time. It was extra special but it stinks that we didn't win."
On visiting the Georgia Dome as a child:"We used to come with Scott Case as his son and me were best friends so I used to come here with them a lot."
On the comeback attempt in the 4th quarter:"We are a better offense than that. We didn't get any first half points and started off slow in the first half. We started off slow in the second half, too then the defense got the turnover and we moved the ball a little bit but still came up short. It was rough."
WIDE RECEIVER NATE WASHINGTON On difference in play of offense when Locker came in:"He brought a little spark. We just missed too many opportunities today. To tell the truth, too many penalties, too many missed opportunities and assignments and if we want to be a great team we can't play this type of football. We expect better from ourselves. Today, much obliged to the Falcons, but today I think the Tennessee Titans beat the Tennessee Titans."
On having 10 penalties:"This is the thing that I'm proud off as they were aggressive penalties. Our guys were fighting and going after it as hard as they can. It's no dumb stupid penalties. It's something that they are giving enthusiasm and effort. At the same time, it's no excuse for it. We can't make those kinds of penalties. Ten penalties in a game , you will not beat the Atlanta Falcons like that. It's (Atlanta) a good football team. We have to come in and play better than that."
CORNERBACK CORTLAND FINNEGAN On attempting to tackle Michael Turner:"You look at game film on him and no one is bringing him down with arm tackles or by themselves. He's got a low center of gravity. He's a force to be reckoned with. They had a good game plan on offense. Credit them for making plays. We shot ourselves in the foot for making all these penalties. We had a chance to win at the end, but in this League you can't afford to shoot yourself in the leg with all the penalties we had.
On the last drive:"We were just trying to get off the field and give our offense a chance. We just didn't make the plays we needed to make. All in all, we just didn't make the plays we needed to make to win in a hostile environment."
LINEBACKER WILL WITHERSPOON On not being able to control Michael Turner today:"Well, he is like a bowling ball out there. You've got to hit him low to get a hit on him. Really you need gang-tackle him."
On needing momentum:"You just need to go back to the drawing board. We just need to turn it around. We haven't lost momentum. We just need to get the job done like we did last weekend and like we've done in the recent past. Focus on the good things, correct the bad things and move forward."
SAFETY JORDAN BABINEAUX On containing Michael Turner:"Well, what do you think? He's 250 lbs. But that's what the good running backs in this League do and that's run and run hard. We just can't let that happen. We get to the four minute mark and he breaks one. That can't happen. We stop him there and we put ourselves in a position to win."
On the team's penalties:"It's tough. They had a nice game plan. But we played well in the first half. Held them to 13 points, just two field goals in the red zone. That's what you want to do. That's what you half to do in order to win."
