Tennessee Titans 37 - Jacksonville Jaguars 19
Q. I'm sure there's some stuff that you want to clean up.
MIKE VRABEL: Absolutely.
Q. Good to be able to extend the lead over the division?
MIKE VRABEL: I think really good. Just to be able to do some things that are really positive, to mask some of the stuff that is just going to cause you to lose, which we all know what those are. The poor fundamentals, poor tackling, penalties, you know, protection issues. Not giving Derek enough room in the run game. Just a lot of things, and that starts with me, and it has also gotta be on the players. Gotta go out there and know what to do, play fundamentally sound. But when we had to have plays, we had them. Impressive to be able to go out there and get a stop when we did, impressive to be able to take the football and control it the way we did.
Q. I know you're looking for defense to make plays. Early turnover. Got a big goal line stop and got a turnover late. How key was that?
MIKE VRABEL: The one late. That's how that goes. But start the game like that, with a hammer and a bang-bang play. Fantastic. But there's just too many things, and I know that the players will echo this sentiment. Just too many things that we have to clean up and be better. We have to stop the run. We gotta get off blocks, set edges, not dive and go off the diving board and miss tackles. That's what it comes down to in the run game, lining up and trying to beat somebody and shed and make tackles. So give them credit.
Q. What did you make of the way the game was called today? Seemed like there was a lot of creativity.
MIKE VRABEL: All the credit goes to the players. Watch all 16 games from this week, a lot of the players are going to look the same. It's the players are the ones that make it go. It's cover one, cover two, cover three, cover four, so on and so on, zone right, zone left. Gap scheme. Mix in some zone read. There's a lot of plays that are similar. And what happens in this league is that when guys know things like they understand what's being asked of them to do or they're taught well and they can go in there with some confidence, that's what makes it go. That's what makes it play call. I know this is your first year with us. You know, guy calls a play. Gotta go in the huddle, and at that point in time it's up to the 11 guys in the huddle, the quarterback to echo it. And I thought we did that a fantastic job down in the red zone. We got in and out of the huddle. Plays were designed how we thought they would be but ultimately Ryan had to get guys the football and when it wasn't there, we went fast and ended up getting Pru wide open. And Ryan was able to see it. Credit to Todd, I guess, great call but the execution by the players. So that's what it comes down to.
Q. And from a design perspective, how much does that go into the guys running freely because it seemed like they were doing it a lot more today.
MIKE VRABEL: I mean just trying to create ways to get guys open and some catch and run and hold up in protection. Even Jeremy helped us out there on third down catch and run. Marcus Johnson, it was good to have him back out there. Everybody that contributed to this victory.
Q. How much was it to kind of stay in the fight? Seemed like both sides took turns early jabbing and you guys kind of wore them down and the scoring in the middle of the game?
MIKE VRABEL: I think that's a lot how it goes, especially in this league and this division. They're a talented football team, and we're going to have to move on here to another very good football team, but that's kind of how it goes. You gotta stick around, and you have to be willing to take some punches in this league to stick around. Like no front runners. Front runners shouldn't show up because guys aren't going to go away. Teams aren't going to will it on their own. You're going to have to continue to push and pound them until you get some breaks.
Q. And the play at the goal line. Have you to watch the film.
MIKE VRABEL: Yeah, from my knuckle that he punched it felt like Tart was very impactful in that play and that's the expectation for Teair. We can't have the same -- we can't have higher expectations for him than he has for himself, and I don't think that that's the case. But we've always seen something in him. And Big T has always seen something in him, from the junior college journey for however many places that was. And we just keep coaching him and teaching him and focusing on his conditioning, because we understand that that's the type of impact that he can make and the type of plays that he can help us make.
Q. You mentioned Marcus Johnson. He's having a great camp and then he has the injury and all that kind of stuff. You mentioned how good it was to see him perform and help you guys out today. Just wanted you to touch a little more on what it was like to see him out there today playing?
MIKE VRABEL: Yeah. It was great. He's a fluid mover. The quarterback really developed some trust in him turning training camp where a lot of those relationships are formed. And, again, when you go in IR, you're limited on what you can do. So he can be engaged in the meetings but he's not catching any passes from Ryan. So the ability to get him back practicing last week in a limited role and then this week, they did plenty of work to be ready for today.
Q. From your experience with Urban in college, when did he sort of learn to make that transition?
MIKE VRABEL: I can only coach one team at a time. I'm focused on the Titans. Should have went to you first. (Laughs).
Q. What happened on the delay of game in the first half?
MIKE VRABEL: We didn't snap it in time. Got a lot of moving parts. Guys are in, guys are out. Trying to focus on a different lineup. You know what I mean, a group of receivers and tight ends. But we gotta get the personnel right and we gotta communicate that and get the right group out there, and that starts with me. And we just -- those are all things we gotta clean up. There's a long list of stuff. You'd rather be able to do that after a victory than you would a loss.
Q. The 58-yard run that Robinson had was that just a matter shooting the wrong gap or what happened there?
MIKE VRABEL: Just a lot of things. Again, we can always go back to when you stop the run. Edge. Good edge. There's a wall. There's no creases and guys are swarming and looked to me like there was a crease, and that's not going to leave good results. Have to get that fixed and corrected and move on to next week.
Q. What have you learned about this team over five years? Distinct from previous years even though there are some things.
MIKE VRABEL: I think that they're going to compete. You know what I mean? They're going to compete. They're going to fight. They have high expectations. Have high expectations of themselves. I mean I've learned I love coaching them. I love coming to work every day and coaching them and building relationships. We're going to learn that we gotta get better, too. Thanks.
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports