Titans 31, Dolphins 12
BRIAN CALLAHAN: Just I want to start out first my thoughts are with all of the people that have been affected by Hurricane Helene. A lot of people in Tennessee and Carolina, lots of folks dealing with some pretty hard times that make this feel a little bit less significant sometimes.
My thoughts are to them and all the people going through difficult challenges. Sad to see.
Other than that that, I'll just say Will hurt his shoulder on this scramble on third down. Tried to come back. It was bothering him. Ended up doing what he had to do to try to get back in the game, and ultimately I knew what kind of game it was going to be. With the bye week next week didn't want to expose him to further risk. He tried everything he could to go, but it was bothering him pretty significantly so made the decision to hold him out.
Same thing with Jeff. His elbow was bothering him. With the bye week backed up, made the most sense to rest him for the week and give him one more week after that to be ready to roll.
So the rest kind of factored into both of those decisions at this point, and hopefully that answers those questions.
Really big shoutout to Nick Folk going five for five on field goals today. Hitting from 53, 52, 51, 47, and 29. That's a good days' work for the old man.
Making some big plays there for us. We needed all the points we could get. That was really good. Thought our defense did a great job. Held them to, what, 70 something yards in the first half. They're playing with a backup quarterback and that's what you're supposed to do to teams that are playing like that.
Our guys stepped up, got our first turnover. I'll let you guys ask what you want to ask from there.
Q. How good does it feel to win?
BRIAN CALLAHAN: I don't know if I can put it into words for you. It feels great. Most importantly because our guys deserve it. These guys work hard. They practice hard. Do everything right. They deserve to win. I felt like -- we practice like we are a 3-0 time. I said it at the end of the week. The way our guys practice and focus is fantastic.
To be short on these couple games to start was disappointing. For them, they deserve it. It feels great. Good to see some smiles, some energy, and thought we played a really good game tonight.
Q. (Regarding will being healthy.)
BRIAN CALLAHAN: Yeah, Will's healthy, he's our quarterback. It was not a decision based on anything other than his health and protecting him, particularly with the bye week and a shoulder that didn't feel great. I didn't want to put him back out there. I knew I was going to run ball quite a bit. That was really what factored in.
He's our starter when he's healthy and we are ready to roll with him.
Q. Is it his throwing shoulder and will he have an MRI?
BRIAN CALLAHAN: We'll do all the work on the precautionary stuff. I don't think it's going to be anything too serious other than normal AC style injury. We'll see. I've been wrong before, so we will wait until the MRI gets done. As of right now, I don't think it's a long-term issue for us.
Q. (Indiscernible)on the run was that the plan coming in?
BRIAN CALLAHAN: No, that was going to be the plan coming in. I knew the style of play we needed to win this game. I knew they were going to have some trouble offensively. I knew that we were going to be able to run the ball effectively on them.
To lean on that and make it a physical game and make sure we possessed the ball as long as possible was part of initial plan in this game to go that way. It wouldn't have looked much different, but we definitely felt the run was going to give us the best chance to win against this defense.
Q. (Regarding this situation to bring Mason in.)
BRIAN CALLAHAN: Yeah, 100%. Everything about him is professional. He walked in the game, our guys didn't bat an eye. He did exactly what you want a guy to do in that situation is come in and operate. He was pretty clean operation-wise. Got the ball, plays called, all those things were really good.
He's prepared and ready to go and he was a pro. That's why we brought him had in is for a situation like this, and he did a nice job.
Q. Where is the game ball going to go?
BRIAN CALLAHAN: That one is going to go somewhere special for me. You only get your first first win once, and I will probably put that up in my house somewhere, maybe my office at some point, so I can remember what it was like to win my first game on Monday Night Football.
Q. ...present that to you in the locker room?
BRIAN CALLAHAN: She did. Yeah, it was a really cool moment for me and her to be able to present that.
Q. (Indiscernible.)
BRIAN CALLAHAN: No, no, I was calling the game all the way up the end there for the most part. I was trying to make sure -- that onside kick scared the hell out of me. I had forgotten that's the new rule, so was ripping Q for not catching the ball, but the ball has to still land in the appropriate zone. I wasn't thinking about anything other than that really for about three minutes after that play.
Q. (Indiscernible.)
BRIAN CALLAHAN: I don't know if he knew that or not. Not going to give him the benefit of the doubt. He might have. I yelled at him afterwards in the locker room just to make sure he knew I was not happy about it. He goes, Coach, the ball has got to land inside the 40. I said, I don't care. Catch the ball goddamn it.
Q. The way the defense is playing...
BRIAN CALLAHAN: We knew coming in the plan was to go do everything we could to get a lead. We wanted to play with a lead and keep the lead, put them what situation they didn't want to be in. They had a backup quarterback playing. Only been here for a couple weeks. That's a really tough challenge for any team.
We just felt like if we could hold the ball and get a lead and make them play outside of what they really want to do, that was the goal.
I thought we did a nice job of that.
Q. That last touchdown, you guys didn't necessarily need it. Did you do that with the intention...
BRIAN CALLAHAN: I'm not going to lie. I thought about it. The intent was really to just try to run the clock out because we couldn't take a knee in that situation. Clock wouldn't have run out at that point.
So just said we're going to run our goal line plays. I called the play from the 4 that usually doesn't score from the 4 to be honest.
It was really a way of taking a knee in a sense and Tony just ended up breaking outside and scoring. I was not trying to actively score, but we had to run plays. As long as they allow us to run plays, we'll keep trying.
Q. (Indiscernible.)
BRIAN CALLAHAN: Yeah, fantastic execution by both Mason and Tyler, and the whole offense in that spot. That's a play we work on in that exact situation, 16 seconds left, we are in a down-down clock spot where as soon as we catch it we go down. That's a play that is designed for that chunk, about a 25 yard chunk and hustling up. 16 seconds is tight. That's about as tight as we would ever do that and be able to get a ball clocked on a chunk gain.
Just outstanding situational execution by those guys and getting the ball clocked with one second with a chance to kick a field goal was really brilliant, and was really fun to see the guys execute in that spot. We talk about it all the time.
Q. (Regarding interceptions.)
BRIAN CALLAHAN: Yeah.
Q. For us, seemed like another example of like he was going there...
BRIAN CALLAHAN: Yeah, I think if you ask him, he didn't see the guy drop. They brought a sim pressure from the front side and that backside and then dropped. It was a pretty simple stick route on the back side. We were trying to get the ball to Hop. He just didn't see him. Sometimes that happens and those guys drop from the line of scrimmage. They are hard to pick up. It was a really nice play by the kid. I didn't think he picked it at first.
Yeah, he knew it when he came off. He goes, I just didn't see him. Those things happen. He's not alone in that. Obviously would like to not throw an interception, but it happened.
Q. How much of a relief was it to finally get a defensive takeaway?
BRIAN CALLAHAN: Oh, man, yeah, relief is the word. We've just been so knocked behind in the turnover margins right now and it's contributed to really for sure two of our losses. And so to be on the plus end of that and be able to take care of the football and take it away a few times.
And top of that, those fourth down stops to me are like turnovers as well. I mean, fantastic effort by the defense and hopefully that's a start of whole lot more turnovers, because that's how you win in this league.
You got to take the ball away and you got to protect it, and that was a really nice job by the defense.
Q. How much nicer could have it been if the refs let it play through like they're supposed to do?
BRIAN CALLAHAN: I cannot comment on the officiating. Yeah, that crew is we -- knew coming into the game they threw quite a few flags. Just what their MO was, and we were aware of it. I was expecting to have some flags get thrown. That's just what it is.
Q. (Regarding Folk.) How good does it feel to see him knocking all those down, some for 50-plus?
BRIAN CALLAHAN: Not a surprise. He is still very capable NFL kicker. He can still kick from 50-plus. To see him do that three times in a game where every one of those points was at premium, especially early on, was awesome.
I think he just keeps proving that age doesn't really matter for him. He's an accurate kicker. To knock five of five is what we needed to win this game, and he did a great good job. Really, really nice performance by him on a national stage, so great to see.
Q. Talk about being able to set the edge and keep the horizontal rushing attack at bay. You guys did that today. What are your thoughts on how...
BRIAN CALLAHAN: They did their job to a very high degree today. We knew the style of offense that they like they were going to attack our C gap and try to get the ball in the perimeter with their speed. They tried and got a couple.
We at the end of the day, did a better job over the course of the game. Really proud of those guys. We knew it was going to be physical. We relied on them to set the edge, all the guys that rotated in there.
The interior, that helped, too. We disrupted the interior. I think sweat had a nice game. Lynch and Anderson in there elevated off the practice squad, those guys played a really rugged, gritty style that helped us contain the run game.
Again, getting into an situation where they had to run it or sort of throw it a little more to get back into it helped us, but those outside linebackers, they played a really, really nice game.
Q. Some of the guys talked all week about how good it feels, how much of a confidence boost it is going into the bye.
BRIAN CALLAHAN: It's huge. I've said it before I think, but the wins is what validates our process. You have to find success somewhere so guys continue to buy-in and believe in how we want to operate. When you don't have those wins it gets harder and harder. When you catch a win it propels you and there is some momentum behind it.
You get a chance to enjoy a couple days off and get ready to come back against a big divisional game against Indianapolis. There is a confidence that comes with winning. There is a joy that comes with winning. And those things are all important and all matter to us.
To get one before the bye, all we cared was getting on a plane and coming down here and winning. The goal was to win this game and not worry about anything other than that. Guys did a great job focusing and making sure we got it done.
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports