Titans 16, Steelers 20
MIKE VRABEL: (in progress.) He's alert. Moving. Have more of an update hopefully tomorrow. You know, back there being evaluated, but I would say that the way it looked probably better than how it looked. So he's alert and in the training room being evaluated.
Q. How tough is it to lose again, and do you feel like Will did a good job getting in a position to win late?
MIKE VRABEL: Yeah, you don't lose it late. There are always other things that go into it, opportunities missed or their ability to make a play, you know, when they needed to.
Was good to see us continue to fight and get a stop, have an opportunity, get the ball down there. Just trying to get it in the end zone, which is what we had to do. You know, they made the play.
Q. Can you take us through the sequence before the end of the first half, the field goal?
MIKE VRABEL: I mean, what's the...
Q. Well, on the third and ten run with maybe an opportunity to take a shot at the end zone?
MIKE VRABEL: Yeah, just felt like we needed to score points right there. Been through this before in other opportunities of third and ten down there where there is not a whole lot of space.
Again, yeah, whether at the should have -- I just felt like getting the points right there was critical, and if we bust a run and they're back, great, we break one.
Just didn't figure that was good for us.
Q. Having failed that in Cleveland have a bearing on your not doing it tonight?
MIKE VRABEL: I think you always try to learn from every experience, and felt like the way that it was going, that those points were going to be critical.
Didn't want to put anybody in a situation, especially the quarterback in his second start on the road in this environment. You know, again, if it was third and five and we felt like a little bit favorable down and distance, so, that's the decision that we made.
Q. Were you concerned with the three straight runs on the second to last possession before Burks got hurt?
MIKE VRABEL: Felt like maybe four down territory. Again, we have had other opportunities where we caught them in some third down defense, slipped in there; just wasn't executed very well.
And so I don't have an issue with the call. You know, knowing that we were going to go for it on fourth down, thought we may have slipped one of the more elusive players, especially on our team, if not throughout the league, having an opportunity to slip a run in there when maybe they're running up the field or they're pass rushing.
Didn't go that way. So a lot of certainly calls and performances and executions that can be second guessed, and I told Timmy that obviously it was four down. That's the call that we made.
Q. ...executing the offense in this loud environment.
MIKE VRABEL: Fairly well. You know, again, no delay of games. And again, there were some things that we'll have to be better as far as just directionally, but I think that -- we lost so not going to sit there and glorify that and his performance. There were some good throws, some good protections. Close on a couple runs. Third down was certainly a large factor in this game.
Q. ...to get the ball to Treylon, or was that just Will making a read?
MIKE VRABEL: He's pressing, and, again, we're trying to get the ball down the field to Treylon and thought that was a good opportunity. The quarterback has a lot of decisions when we call a play, and I liked that decision.
Just would've liked to come down with it. Those are things that Treylon has done for us in the past and needs to continue to do.
You know, they were pressed up there and isolated coverage on the backside.
Q. ...breakthrough on the road, how troubling is it?
MIKE VRABEL: Just troubling to lose, you know what I mean? Whether you're on the road or at home or in London, you lose, you put a lot into it, you play hard. I don't think we played well enough in really any phase to take control of the game when we had an opportunity.
Felt like we had some momentum and couldn't capitalize on it.
Q. How much of a challenge shuffling guys in and out?
MIKE VRABEL: It's an opportunity for another guy. Give Dillon credit for popping in there and give Corey credit for popping in there, and Daniel Brunskill playing through and battling and competing.
You know, that's how it goes.
Q. Not having a lot of room in the red zone, was it a matter of what they were doing defensively or just lack of execution on your part, your offense?
MIKE VRABEL: Yeah, we'll take a look at the film. When I say a lot of room I meant like third and ten is a tougher place to try to convert down there when there is not a whole lot of space and the safeties aren't as deep.
You look at maybe two minute and we're able to throw one of those in-cuts in there that we did twice tonight, those wouldn't be there. So the reason is that you got to be better getting so that you avoid third and tens, that you have some better drive starters down there.
Q. ...you time down there on that play was a third and ten. You don't have the faith in your guys to be able to protect the play that you need to get the touchdown? That's what it boils down to, right?
MIKE VRABEL: What is your question? Felt like you asked and answered a question without me answering it. What's the question?
Q. On that third and ten you can't drop back and throw to the end zone the way you want to in Cleveland, you established that you can't do it because you don't have the protection necessary.
MIKE VRABEL: Again, that's not a question, Paul. Ask a question.
Q. Is the reason that you can't execute that play because you don't have the protection that you need?
MIKE VRABEL: No. There was some protection there. It was a decision that we made to take the points, secure possession of the ball, and score, and then get the ball back in the second half.
Q. Sorry, you threw an incompletion on the third down you can take the points fourth down, right?
MIKE VRABEL: Yeah. Again, flow of the game, how that sequence of plays went. Somewhat frustrated, and so made a decision to hand the ball off on third and ten in the red zone.
Q. (Indiscernible.) Also what's kind of been the issue with the run defense?
MIKE VRABEL: Not sure. We played good run defense around here for a long time. We need to start playing better, putting our hands in people's chests. Wasn't about the offense. Like we need to -- we got to play better run defense.
So again, we didn't affect the quarterback very well. We got to tackle better. Got too many loose plays, big runs. Yeah, I agree. Throw somebody around, shed a block, make a tackle.
Q. How was Will's second start? There was so much...
MIKE VRABEL: Same way it looked for everybody. Not good enough. Same way it looked for every single person that was with the Titans tonight. That's how it goes.
Q. Zero sacks, I think two (indiscernible). What's going wrong there?
MIKE VRABEL: You got to win. You got to line up and win and execute. There is no secret formula. I mean, we can blitz all day. That brings challenges, we can mix pressure.
But you got to lineup and you got to beat somebody, and that's what defensive football comes down to.
Q. ...you say your guys aren't winning those matchups?
MIKE VRABEL: No, I mean, if they were we would hit the quarterback and we would make sacks. I mean, if they were consistently doing that, then that's -- they know that. Like so we have to, you know, keep working and keep forcing them into longer yardage situations.
And then, if ultimately make a decision, if you can't send four then you send five, and you're running out of guys. You can send six and that's blitz zero.
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports