HEAD COACH JEFF FISHER
(on his thoughts about the game)
"We knew after watching the Texans, in preparation for them, that they were a very talented team. Congratulations are in order to the Texans on a great win for them. Clearly it was not a very well played game by us. We had too many opportunities in this game and we didn't make the plays we needed to make. I thought defensively that you don't give up all the yards. I told the players I'll take this one. I should have taken the win in the fourth and not the third and that's exactly why I decided not to let (K) Rob (Bironas) kick. It was not within his range. I knew exactly what his range was and I just felt that we would get things going into the fourth quarter that it wouldn't be a factor. So that's why we went for it on fourth down. It was not a good coaching decision.
(on what K Rob Bironas' range is)
"I know he was about 5 yards outside his range. He made attempts before the game and couldn't get them close and we were outside his range with wind a factor and wind was clearly a factor in here."
(on if K Rob Bironas lobbied to kick the field goal)
"No he didn't. He said, 'I'll give it a shot.'"
(on if he has seen a better receiver than Texans WR Andre Johnson all season)
"No, we've faced some good receivers but today clearly he was the best one we've faced."
(on the status of DT Albert Haynesworth)
"I'll have a report for you after we do some tests."
(on if he was worried when Albert Haynesworth was taken off the field)
"I'm always worried when a player goes off. I don't have any information for you right now."
(on CB Cortland Finnegan and his helmet-to-helmet)
"The defensive player has a responsibility to avoid helmet-to-helmet contact, regardless of how much the quarterback's head moves, you can't hit him in the head. That's the way, that's the rule. It looks like it was an accurate call."
(on if Texans RB Steve Slaton is surprising)
"He's a good football player. We knew he was a good football player before the draft and they got him as a franchise and they play well together."
(on the if onside kick was a surprise)
"It was not a surprise onside kick. It was a kick that we didn't want lateralled around with both returners back there. So we were going to kick it 11 yards, they pick it up, half is over. I was surprised we got it but it was not a surprise onside kick."
K ROB BIRONAS
(on if he thought he was going to kick)
"Yeah. I thought we were going to kick it, but it was a coaching decision."
(on how the wind affected the coaches decision t run a play instead of kick it)
"There was a decent breeze out there."
(on if he could have made the kick given the opportunity)
"It doesn't really matter."
LB KEITH BULLUCK
(on how Andre Johnson and Steve Slaton affected the game)
"Slaton didn't do anything. Slaton busted that run at the end of the game and we pretty much had him in check. To tell you the truth, I don't think their running game hurt us at all today."
(on if he was surprised at the coaches decision not to kick the field goal)
"Whatever. We lost. We probably lost before that. We went for it. That field goal may have won us the game but I think we did a lot of things to lose the game before that."
(on the difference between Andre Johnson this game and the first game they played this year)
"I don't think they threw the ball as much this time around. He is one of the best in this league. He is very underrated. I always root for him except for when they play us. It was a day at the office for him. That's all that was."
(on the Texans controlling the clock)
"The Houston Texans have the third best offense in the league. They just don't score any points. They moved the ball very well you know. The name of the game is not to not let them get yards, its to try and keep their points down. We held them to 13.
(on the defense always keeping them in the game)
"You know, with this defense we always give ourselves a shot to win at the end. We just didn't come through this week. Honestly, I am very ticked off about this loss. If we are one of the best teams in the league, we have to come in week in and week out and show it. This week we did not prove ourselves."
(on next week's big game)
"Hopefully we will be up for the challenge and guys will come back from vacation. I think we were on vacation this week knowing we got a bye and other good things happen for us last week. As a team, we need to get our heads out of our asses and come and play football. Pittsburgh is playing for way more than us next week. We didn't show anything today, but next week we better come out firing."
CB CORTLAND FINNEGAN
(on if the Tennessee Titans could tell the Houston Texans were fired up today)
"Yeah, we knew it was going to be a dog fight. We've been known to give up yards and not points and for the most part I think we bent but didn't break there in the red zone and gave up field goals so we gave ourselves a chance to win at the end and we came up short."
(on if the loss is disappointing)
"It is but at the same time we control our own destiny. We play Pittsburgh next week and we look forward to a good Pittsburgh team at home and we can knock them off and we can then control our own destiny." This one hurts but we have to move on."
(on how tough it was to get Houston Texans RB Steve Slaton down)
"Yeah he's a little jitterbug. He's definitely lived up to the hype, he is a great rookie running back. We expect some good things out of him and like I said when it counted he came up big for then so I accredit him."
(on his costly penalties)
"I'm going to play the game the way it's supposed to be played at a high level so we'll worry about that stuff on Monday, Tuesday."
(on the helmet-to-helmet penalty between him and Texans QB Matt Schaub)
"If I did I was just giving him a quick, you know, kiss, welcoming him back to Houston you know from the Oilers so that is about all that is."
DT TONY BROWN
(on RB Steve Slaten rushing for over 100 yards)
"Hats off to him and the offensive line and those guys blocking well for him. We don't just think that we're some kind of juggernaut or nothing or just undefeated or anything like that. Those guys get paid to do the same thing that we do, that's execute, and they just came out and played well."
(on if looking at the scoreboard he thought some how some way they would get the win)
"To be honest, yeah, because we still knew that we had time left. We still have a lot of fight in us as a team."
(on how concerned he is about Titans DT Albert Haynesworth)
"I'm definitely concerned about him. That's my guy, that's our guy. It is sad to see a guy go down period, from any team, especially our guy."
TE BO SCAIFE
(on Titans K Rob Bironas being on the field and Titans Head Coach Jeff Fischer calling the offense back in)
"He's the head coach, he makes the decisions, he makes the calls so we live and die by the decisions he makes and we have to have full trust in Coach Fischer."
(on if he felt QB Kerry Collins was a little off today)
"Yeah but it wasn't just him, guys gotta help Kerry out there. We have to catch balls and run the right routes and we can't just put it on him, you know. We all have to do better."
QB VINCE YOUNG
(on UT's QB Colt McCoy not winning the Heisman trophy)
"It's going to happen; you know he's coming back for another year so he should be alright. I'm proud of him. I talk to him every week, I talked to him before the show. You know, things happen for certain reasons, the same case with me, things happen for a reason. You have to be patent as a quarterback and get stronger and definitely I know he is going to be great when he comes back next year. Colt is a real phenomenal athlete."
(on Bud Adams support for him being the QB for the franchise for the future)
"Bud to me, ever since I was drafted, has always showed me a lot of love. Every time he comes to the football games he always greets me and talks to me so I think he is very supportive, but everything happens for a reason and all I can do is sit back and learn and pay attention to Kerry Collins."
(on if he sees himself as the QB and the future of the franchise)
"Whatever happens, I have no control over that. All I can do is thank God that I'm blessed to have a job everyday and come to work everyday, do my responsibilities at work and that is basically it, that is all I can do. What goes on upstairs, I have nothing to do with that. All I can do is be supportive of my teammates."
(on what he is doing on the sidelines since it is the first time he has had that role)
"Just being a leader on the sidelines. Paying attention to every play that is called and paying attention to everything Kerry Collins is out there doing, reading the defense just like he's reading the defense. Putting myself in the situation and asking, what would I do if it was me in the situation, you know just learning the game. That's all you can do, even though you are not playing the game."
