QUARTERBACK TREVOR LAWRENCE
MEDIA AVAILABILITY
WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 15, 2023
(On balancing protecting the ball and being himself) “That’s a good question. I think this whole season, I
think I’ve only had a couple of plays where I was careless with throwing the football. There’s been a
number of times in the pocket, escaping the pocket, running and spinning, all those things. I need to be
better at securing it, having better ball security, and not give up the fumbles. I think throwing the ball,
I’ve probably had three this year that I think we were really bad decisions. One on Sunday was a fourth
down. Like I said after the game, it sucks being in that situation for all of us. For the guys up front
blocking, for myself, for the receivers, the defense is just backing up and they know you got to throw it
pass the sticks on fourth down. You can’t take a sack, all those things. Things like that I don’t harp too
much on, those fourth down situations like that. The other ones, going back to the Pittsburgh game, the
one in the endzone, go back to I think the one against Indy, there was one against Houston. Those are
the ones that I can think of where I felt like I didn’t make a great decision. I think more of the issue,
personally and individually, has been hanging onto the ball in the pocket and getting stripped. If I am
getting hit, keeping two hands on it. I got to do a better job of that. Then, collectively as an offense, we
have to do a better job as a whole of just not giving the ball away. We’ve had too many this season.”
(On what he can do during the week to prepare to protect the ball better) “Oh, you can definitely
prepare. I think that we make a point of emphasis, we talk about it a lot. We practice it, we have guys on
the scout team punching at the ball all practice. We do a ball security circuit every Thursday. It’s
something that we’ve talked about, it’s not like we just haven’t addressed it. We’ve addressed it, and it’s
something we’ve got to fix. It’s right in front of our face and it has cost us. Definitely in this game, but
you look in other games and if our defense didn’t make some big stops, we could be looking at a
different situation than we’re in right now sitting at 6-3. There’s a couple of games we could’ve lost due
to some turnovers. We own that and we know we have to get better. That has to be something we fix if
we want to get to where we want to go, deep in the postseason and all of that. We’re focused on this
week, but big picture wise, we can’t turn the ball over a lot if you want to be a really good team.”
(On any reason why the offense isn’t having success on third downs) “I think Sunday obviously leaves a
bad taste in our mouths. It gives us and everyone, I don’t think, a totally accurate picture of this offense.
That was a really bad performance and we own that. That’s what we put out there, so that’s who we
were this past Sunday. I think from the season, yes we need to be better on third downs, that’s been very
inconsistent and you’ve got to be better at that if you want to be a great offense. I think we’ve gotten
better at being consistent first and second down, minus Sunday. That was a really bad showing all the
way around. But I think it’s just those plays that kind of swing the momentum, where we finally get
something going, then we turn it over. That happened, I think four times on Sunday. When you’re playing
a good team that going to go score some, you can’t do that. You can’t put yourself in a hole and I think
that’s the biggest thing, turning it over in general, and then at the wrong time as well on the plus-side of
the 50.”
(On if there’s conversation about having an explosive game) “Yeah, I would say we’ve talked about it and
we talk about it on Mondays after games and we talk about things we need to do better, the areas we’ve
got to improve on. Part of that is being more explosive, creating more big plays, eliminating the negative
plays, eliminating turnovers, all those things. We all feel that sense of urgency because we all want to
play great. We want to be successful, we want to show the type of offense and the type of players that
we have. I feel like we really haven’t this season, minus a game or two or a series or two here and there.
I think we all have that confidence in who we can be, but we haven’t done it yet. We can’t say that’s
necessarily who we are yet because we haven’t done it. We feel that urgency and we know what we’re
capable of, but we’ve got to figure out how to transfer all that and translate to Sunday. I got all the
confidence, I’m not concerned about us not doing that, but we do need to do it. We need to play better
offensively, we need to take over games, we need to not just rely on our defense to make the plays,
we’ve got to start taking over some of these games and putting teams away and all of those things we’ve
talked about from weeks prior, but continuing to be an emphasis.”
(On how his knee is feeling) “It’s feeling better. It’s finally getting to where I’m not going to really think
about it as much and won’t be as much as an issue. I feel like I’m starting to move pretty fluid and it’s not
bothering when I do much. Obviously, it’s still a little bit here or there, it’ll get aggravated. But that’s a
good question, I’m starting to feel comfortable and I’m happy about that with the progress I’ve made.
We’ve been able to protect it the last few weeks and I’m excited to hopefully finally get going and just
play normal, move around, all that stuff.”
(On if he feels ready to take his knee brace off) “Not yet. You’ll see it again this week. It’s kind of week-
to-week with that, just being cautious there.”
(On the offense opening up more with his knee healing) “Yeah, I think we’ve started to do some of that
stuff and last week we had plans for that. Like I said after the game, the game and the way it was going
kind of dictated some of that. We got in some tough situations, but I think that gives me confidence in
playing and moving around. I think that’s a big part of this game, no matter who you are, you’ve got to
be able to move, and it feels good getting back to that point where I feel like I can. Whether that’s on the
perimeter or just escaping the pocket, whatever it is, making plays outside of the pocket off schedule, I
think that’s stuff that a lot of the good offenses in this league do and that’s something we were doing
earlier on in the season. We’ve got to get back to some of that.”
(On what the team does to prepare better going into games) “I think that this group, we work really
hard. It would be hard to find a team that practices harder than we do. I think we check that box. I think
there’s something maybe that’s not carrying over from practice to gameday, making it’s a little bit of loss
of focus. I’m not sure, but definitely on this Sunday, in the games prior, we haven’t played perfect but
we’ve played clean enough and we’ve found ways to win. This Sunday was just a disaster. We’ve got to
kind of look at what do we do, what did we maybe do wrong, was our focus not there, I thought we had
great energy, I thought were ready to play. It certainly felt like that throughout the team. I don’t think it
was guys not ready to play, but maybe there was just a lapse of focus collectively from the team on
Sunday. I think that’s something where we just got to focus on the details, you have to carry that to
gameday. This is a mental game, it’s all details and that’s how you win the game, is up here. It’s not just
about the physical part. I think that’s we definitely need to focus on carrying that to Sunday and not
making as many mistakes because as a team, it’s hard to find ways to win.”
(On if it’s easier to move on from a loss knowing this week is against a divisional opponent) “Yeah, I think
that helps. I also think at the end of the day, we’re all professionals and that’s part of our job to move on.
After the game, I meant that as whether you lose by 30 or you lose by three, it’s still a loss and it counts
the same. It obviously feels worse in some ways because you get embarrassed, especially at home, that’s
not a good feeling. It still counts as a loss, you still got to go play next week. Either way, even if we won
that game, it’s one win and we’ve still got eight more games left in the season. It’s part of that, I think
the more you deal with that and some adversity, you get used to being able to turn the page because
you have to. You want that feeling of frustration and that drive to go and play better. I think we have all
that today and throughout the week, but you also have to turn the page and you can’t be thinking about
San Francisco anymore. We’ve got to go play a good division team, this is a big game for us. This is a big
one.”
(On threat of Tennessee’s defense) “Yeah, like you said, they’ve had a lot of guys moving around a lot.
They’ve done some really good stuff. I think their front is really physical, really good. [Titans DT] Jeffery
Simmons makes it go up there and he’s a great player. I have a lot of experience playing against him the
past two years so we understand how good of a player he is, [Titans DL] Denico Autry on the edge is
playing really well. Obviously, Arden [Titans OLB Arden Key] was here, so a guy who we’re familiar with
who’s a good player. They’ve got [Titans OLB] Harold Landry III back who is also a good player with some
guys on the inside. They’re pretty loaded up front, their backers do a good job of flying around. Good
athletes, they can move sideline-to-sideline and diagnose things well in the backend. It’s changed a little
bit obviously since Kevin got traded to the Eagles, so some new safeties in there but those guys are
playing well, they do a good job of disguising their guys on the outside have been a little banged up as
well, but when they’re going, they’re playing really well. I think that’s something they do well, is disguise
and give you a lot of different presentations and different looks and keep you off balance. We’ll have to
do a great job this week in our preparation and getting ready for all of the different looks in the backend
and up front on the d-line and the different fronts they can present.”
(On any reasoning why the team has struggled at home this year) “Yeah, we would’ve fixed it if we had a
clean answer on it. I don’t want to say coincidence, but I don’t think there’s anything in there that we
feel like, ‘Oh this is why we’re losing at home.’ I think for some reason, when we’re playing at home, we
have not played great. We played pretty well against the Colts and our defense got a lot of takeaways
and ran away with that one. It’s a fair question, it’s something we’ve talked about and something we
have to do better here. If we want that home field advantage, if we want our fans to pack the stadium,
you got to play well. We haven’t given them much to come out for. We’ve got to play better, we’ve had
all of our wins on the road or in London, so we understand it. We want that as bad as the fans do too, we
want to win here. There’s nothing better than winning at home. We’re going to fix that, it’s definitely
something we’ve got to fix and it hasn’t been good.”
(On if the team needs something to spark the winning energy) “No, I think it’s something you always
need. Especially coming off a loss, especially being a division game, you look at our division and it’s a
pretty tight race right now. We’re technically in first, but the Texans and the Colts are right there. The
Titans, they’re 3-6, so we’re still early in the season. We were in their position, if you think about, last
year so we understand their sense of urgency on the flipside of that. They know how big this game is too,
so we’re going to get their best shot. They’re a good team, you look at how they played against
Cincinnati earlier in the year and they beat LA, they’ve beat some good teams this season and they’re
playing well. We’ve got to keep all of our attention on this one. It can definitely give us a spark and you
want to use every opportunity you can to get a spark, especially at this point in the season. Again, it’s the
most important game because it’s the next one and it’s because it’s a division game. It’s a huge one, but
we understand the importance of it and down the stretch as well as some of the other teams, especially
in our division and throughout the league are playing. Every game counts and every game matters from
this point on, especially because you only have eight more, you don’t get any more. You can’t waste
opportunities.”
HEAD COACH DOUG PEDERSON
MEDIA AVAILABILITY
WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 15, 2023
(On if WR Zay Jones will be in the building today) “Yeah, we’ve been in great communication with him
since his situation. Not much more than that other than it’s still ongoing, fact finding, information
gathering, things of that nature. Quite honestly, until we hear something, it’s day-to-day for him.”
(On if WR Zay Jones will be at practice) “Yes, correct, limited. Try to get him back up to speed football
wise, he’s missed a few days and a few weeks, just see where he’s at.”
(On injury update of WR Jamal Agnew) “Jamal is a little more significant, he’s going to miss this week and
he could potentially miss a couple of weeks here. The shoulder area is the issue.”
(On if activating WR Parker Washington’s practice window was due to WR Jamal Agnew’s injury) “Part of
it, yeah. Parker is ready so we wanted to get that 21-day window going and get him back in the mix.”
(On if WR Parker Washington could be ready to play Sunday) “There’s a chance, yes.”
(On if he considers changing up home week schedules to perform better at home) “Play Tennessee in
Tennessee or stay here? Play two in Tennessee? No, I don’t. One of the things I’ve learned over my
career and as a player and a coach is you don’t change a lot. You just stick to your process, and I think the
guys have to understand that. You just continue to do the things you do to prepare, and we just got to
learn from our mistakes and move on.”
(On injury update of CB Tyson Campbell) “He’s going to be day-to-day. You won’t see him out there
today, he’ll probably be on the side of the field getting some conditioning and testing his hamstring.
Probably not going to be out there much today.”
(On if he felt players were critical of themselves after last week’s loss) “I did, even seeing the guys today.
They’re obviously disappointed, they’re dejected. Not our best performance obviously, and they want to
right the ship. You’re only as good as your last game, you put that on tape. All of our opponents moving
forward are going to watch that film and that’s not good. I think the guys really embraced it and it means
something to them which is good, and we should bounce back.”
(On Titans QB Will Levis’ performance this season) “He started out extremely high that first game and I
think things have kind of settled for him. He does a great job of the intermediate stuff; I know they’re a
little banged up front so it does affect you a little bit. But he can move around, he’s tough, he has a really
great arm, he can throw it from all different angles. If you’re going to knock a pass down and a hand up,
it may go into your arm, type of thing. He’s that talented, so he’s a young player and obviously he’s
working through some things but he has done a nice job with the limited number of starts.”
(On if the team seemed stunned between Sunday’s loss and WR Zay Jones’ arrest) “No, they’re obviously
reliving from Sunday and it starts to lingers a little bit. It’s disappointing, but the two are separate.”
(On evaluating using the three-safety look against Titans RB Derrick Henry) “Yeah, it’s good for us. There
are still some communication things with having three guys out there, they’ve got to talk a little bit
better. There were some mistakes made Sunday that affected some explosive plays for San Francisco.
This is a week to be able to clean that stuff up and get on the same page. Having the three out there,
Dewey [S Andrew Wingard] is good in and around the box if he’s pressuring, he’s been able to get guys
on the ground and be in the post in passing situations. It’s a good combination of the three and
obviously we’re going to have to use that more moving forward.”
(On thoughts of making changes to left guard) “No, not yet. Walker [OL Walker Little] hasn’t had much
time there, so we’ve got a lot of confidence in Walker and he’ll bounce back. He’ll respond, but we do
want to get Ezra [OL Ezra Cleveland] some snaps and see where he’s at mentally with the offense.”
(On what the offensive line is struggling with currently) “I just think they haven’t played together for a
length of time. I think there’s a lot of moving pieces there. Anton [OL Anton Harrison] continues to
improve each week, I said the other day that I thought he had one of his better performances against a
really good front. Luke [OL Luke Fortner] and Brandon [OL Brandon Scherff] are the staples there. Cam
[OL Cam Robinson] is Cam and that left guard spot has been a little bit of a revolving door right now.
There’s been some uneasiness there, but I think these guys, the more they play together, the more
comfortable and confident they’ll be in these next eight games.”
(On if the team has the potential to grab the division in the next few weeks) “Yeah, I expect it from our
guys to have that type of edge. Tennessee is a good football team and they’re going to remember last
year. Our guys need to remember, too. I expect that regardless of where we play but more importantly,
here at home.”
(On if he’s seeing QB Trevor Lawrence’s sacks get in his head) “One of the things as we get better as a
football team and the more wins that we get piled up here, you’re going to play better opponents. That’s
just the nature of the league and we’re seeing that. We’re seeing better defenses, we’re seeing better
fronts, got another one this week with a really good front and they can get after a passer. Trevor’s got to
understand that, number one, whether that means getting through his progressions a little bit faster, we
have to do a better job up front. Our backs are involved with protections, tight ends. It’s a collective
effort, I do think sometimes when you get hit the number of times as a quarterback, it can affect your
eyes. Your eyes can drop and focus on the rush to touch. The one thing about Trevor that he’s really good
at is continuing to keep his eyes down the field. We’ve got to continue to coach him and help him, and
make sure he feels as comfortable as possible.”
(On what he’s changed in his process going towards this week) “I think a lot about how I can message the
team, the messaging and being consistent there. Things I can show the team whether it be from videos
or our own performances, obviously my study and film study is going to be the same each week and all
that. It’s geared more towards the players and the things I can help them with. How do we get off to fast
starts? How do we play better at home? How do we not turn the ball over? Those are things that I try to
work on and continue to talk to the guys about, make it a little more of a priority now that we’re in the
back two months of the season.”
(On if there’s more physicality in divisional games) “I think in Philly it definitely was, that division. I think
this division is the same way. Every game is physical, but there’s a little more heightened awareness
when you’re playing a divisional opponent, especially in our division because it’s run heavy with the
running backs that are in our division. There’s a level of physicality there. Division games, if you want to
be one of the teams at the end of the year, these are the games you’ve got to play good in and you’ve
got to play better in. That gives you an opportunity to be in the postseason. I think that’s probably what
people feel the most and what players feels the most, is that importance of playing a division game.”
(On if there’s a way to create more explosives on offense) “Sure, one of the things that we haven’t been
able to do because of Trevor’s [QB Trevor Lawrence’ condition with his knee is just move him a little bit
more. Sometimes, you can create things off of that. He’s been limited that way. Play action pass can be
an opportunity to shoot the ball down the field on first or second down, the screen game you’ve seen hit
a little bit. Those are ways to create some explosives. Sometimes, just drop back and throw it. Just run
past and use your speed on the perimeter. Try to take advantage of that while you’re seeing teams do it
in different ways. You got to be careful, especially against good rushers, who you’re going to ask block to
who, are tight ends going to block d-ends? Are you going to put two tight ends on a d-end? Are you
going to add a back or receiver? There are combinations of guys that schematically you look at, but sure
there’s ways of scheming those things open down the field.”
(On what he attributes being ranked last in depth of routes run to) “Honestly, we probably be more
conscious of taking more shots, quite frankly. Again, you get in a situation too, when you’re going against
a good pash rush, sometimes it doesn’t give you the opportunity because you got to hold the ball a
touch longer. It kind of goes back to the protection questions, it hasn’t been the greatest and Trevor [QB
Trevor Lawrence] has had to get off. We’ve had opportunities to push the ball down the field, it’s just one
breakdown here and one breakdown there and he’s moving and it’s a completion for three or four, it’s a
scramble for four. It’s a combination of a lot of things.”
(On how to emphasize protecting the ball this week) “You emphasize it, honestly. We talk about every
week with the team offensively. Even defensively, we talk about creating the takeaways, that’s what has
allowed us to get up to six wins. We’ve been successful doing that and I’ve got to continue to talk to the
team about those things and the importance of that. We ask the look team on defense to try to punch,
try to strip the ball out, try to do whatever they can to affect a running back or a receiver. Same thing
defensively, do the same thing. It’s having a conversation but carrying it over to practice and making that
a point of emphasis each day.”
(On QB Trevor Lawrence trying to do too much on broken down plays) “A touch. He’s trying to make a
play, I can’t fault him necessarily for that. He’s trying to stay positive and come away with something. It’s
okay to throw it away, it’s okay to punt, it’s okay to be second-and-ten or something like that on a first
down play. I don’t fault him for trying to make those plays or trying to extend them, just don’t put the
ball in harms way.”
(On QB Trevor Lawrence’s knee impacting his offensively ability) “Well, early in the first couple of the
games were sore. Wearing that brace, a little cumbersome, all of that. It affects mobility, straight line,
linear speed, all that is fine, but the stopping and starting and all of that kind of affects it. As we continue
to go, he gets healthier and feels better. That’s his strength of his, is being able to throw on the run. The
more he feels comfortable and strong, I think the more we can implement those in our gameplans.”
OFFENSIVE COORDINATOR PRESS TAYLOR
MEDIA AVAILABILITY
THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 16, 2023
(On the keys to jumpstarting the offense) “I think the biggest thing is making plays early in games. When
we’ve been able to do that, we get off to that fast start that we had the three games prior to this.
Whether it’s converting the first third down of the game which has been one of our engines to kickstart
us, and then getting everybody opportunities. Making sure we find a way to settle into the game,
whatever that may be, getting our best players touches early, giving them opportunities to impact the
game from the jump. Get everybody settled in, and then be able to go execute. It comes down to making
plays and executing as we go.”
(On if there’s something behind opponents throwing off QB Trevor Lawrence) “I would imagine that’s a
defensive philosophy for every quarterback. I think they’re saying that, whatever that may be. Obviously,
we’ve been pretty good at being able to deliver the ball to the first read when it comes down to it. I think
Trevor [QB Trevor Lawrence] is 67-68 percent completion, something like that. A lot of that comes from
being able to get the ball out early to your primary read, but no, it’s hitting quarterbacks, affecting
quarterbacks, making quarterbacks hold the ball, that seems pretty universal for defending good
quarterbacks.”
(On what’s challenging about the Titans defense) “[DT] Jeffery Simmons, [DL] Denico Autry, [OLB] Arden
Key, [OLB] Harold Landry, [DT] Kyle Peko, you name them. They’re very strong, very stout inside. They do
a good job of stopping the run, they’ve done it for a long time there. Getting Arden and Harold Landry
back from injury that he was in last year, that adds the pass rush unit for them. It’s a big, physical, stout
unit that does a good job stopping the run, stuffing interior gaps, really making it hard to get to the
second level and block the linebackers and get explosive runs off them. It’s just something you’ve got to
find ways to be able to do it. You’ve got to manipulate their eyes in some way, shape or form and at
some point in time you’ve got to be physical, you’ve got to strain, you’ve got to be able to finish blocks to
convert on run situations.”
(On talent of RB D’Ernest Johnson in last week’s game) “He’s continued to play well when he’s been
given opportunities. You earn more opportunities, so there will be chances for him to get out on the field
a little bit more and try to impact the game the way he did the other day. That was nice to see, that was
something we’ve seen from him when he’s been given opportunities.”
(On reviewing the starting five offensive linemen performance) “It wasn’t good enough. That’s
something as an entire unit we could say that. Regardless of position, offensive line is apart of that as
well. I don’t think any one particular unit played well in the game the other day. That’s something but
again, playing side by side, playing great defensive fronts like we just played and we’re going to play,
that’s something you just continue to work through. That’s one of the things our group has done from
coaching staff onto players of just continuing to work, trust the process, dive into the process, dive into
your work and make sure we put our players in the best possible positions.”
(On what it could take for OL Walker Little to make an improvement) “Yeah, I think there’s a lot of factors
involved, but you could classify all of those as excuses and we just expect all of our guys to produce at a
high level. He certainly had a tough matchup, he’s playing a relatively new position for him in terms of if
he’s generally been a tackle in his past, he hadn’t had a ton of snaps playing in there and he had a really
tough matchup with Hargrave and those guys inside. We expect all of our guys to continue to progress
and play a little better.”
(On confusion of finding a window for OL Ezra Cleveland to get snaps) “Not necessarily, if my boss wants
me to do something we’re going to do that. If we find a way to get in there because Doug [Head Coach
Doug Pederson] said so, then we’ll do that. Again, like we’ve done from way back when, we’ve always
talked about it. We are constantly rolling those guys. I know you guys don’t always see practices and
walkthrough, but those guys, we continue to format and try different formations. Life in the NFL, you
lose linemen all the time and you always have to prepare for your contingency plans. That’s something
we’ve done. We added Ezra as he was getting himself healthy, getting himself introduced to the offense
and then once we feel like we fully trust him, we’ll see where that goes from there.”
(On QB Trevor Lawrence’s knee injury impacting the running game) “That’s certainly something as we
build plans of being conscious that our quarterback is probably less mobile than he’s been in the past. As
he continues to feel healthier and healthier, if we feel like that’s something that gives us an advantage
against the defense, then it’s something that we’ll be able to mix in. I feel like he’d be completely capable
of doing it. I do think he’s getting a little bit healthier as we go, obviously it’s different from the New
Orleans game, we felt like he was going to be stationary. He ended up taking off and running and being a
leading rusher in the game that wasn’t necessarily anticipated, but you’re always dealing with things
here and there and you protect your players the best way you can but still trying to make sure you give
your team the best chance to win.”
(On progress made from the offense this season) “I feel like we’ve grown every single week. Obviously, it
felt like last week was a step back just in terms of there being communication issues, there was
execution issues, I don’t feel like I put the guys in the best positions as the game went on. The game
dynamics changed and I don’t know if I adjusted as well as I would’ve liked to looking back at it and
trying to be critical of myself. As a unit, it felt like we’ve been growing in communication, we’ve been
growing in identifying who does what and we can attack certain coverages and getting dialed into that
plan of how we like to play. Last Sunday was definitely not good enough and I don’t know that was
necessarily a step towards progress. We think this week can be.”
(On if there’s been enough explosive plays on offense this year) “No, there’s not be enough efficient
consistency and efficient explosive play ability. Putting in guys in position to do that, being able to do
that, getting that done, that’s certainly one of our core commandments as an offense. We haven’t done
that enough, so it’s about finding consistency. I think when you find consistency on first and second
down, which was really our biggest issue the other day in the game, you’re able to run more plays and
stay in more normal down situations instead of all of the second-and-long situations we got ourselves in.
It’s going to lean itself to a pass situation, so we want to stay ahead of the change and we want to be
efficient. I think being efficient leads to the ability to create more explosive plays because you get a little
bit more into your gameplan and the packages that you create going into the game.”
(On WR Calvin Ridley adding more to the team than what stats show) “Yeah, I think so. I think there’s
something to that. We’ve obviously got a lot of good players, a lot of good skill players. There’s always
going to be something. If Christian [WR Christian Kirk] has a big game and Calvin doesn’t, it’s how we get
Calvin more involved. It’s always going to be that way and we’ll continue to do everything we can to give
all of our best players opportunities to impact the game. There’s plenty of times Calvin’s the primary,
play gets called, coverage takes it away. You get into the third down menu, sometimes you’ve got this
play, kill it to that play versed on the look. He could go from being a primary to being a secondary option
on certain things. There’s finding ways to do that. We also feel like we have a lot of good matchups with
the players we have, so you always got to get something, take something away and we’re not going to be
the type of team we call it, you throw it to that guy regardless. We’ve got a lot of opportunities for other
guys to win within concepts at times, but again, each play is its own thing. Sometimes it’s a two-man
route and you’re max protecting because you’re in a shot possibility, the defense takes it away and
you’ve got to move onto somebody else or we are throwing that. There’s sometimes where it’s if zone
you’re working this, if it’s man you’re working that and coverage dictates certain things that are get you
certain spots. We’re very happy with the impact Calvin has made, we continue to scheme, call plays to
give him opportunities to make plays down the field. His drawing of penalties, it’s unfortunate that it
doesn’t go in the stat sheet for him because I think he’d be right there with Christian in terms of around
600 yards or something like that. Those have been dynamic plays for our offense. I think he’s drawn eight
and they’ve all been first downs for us. We certainly appreciate it, it’s unfortunate he doesn’t get the
recognition for it I guess.”
(On if anything can be done in preparation to minimize turnovers) “I would completely agree, that is the
number one culprit. Again, within that, you protect the ball, you get more plays, you stay efficient, you’re
able to create these explosives. It all kind of ties together. We’re certainly trying to do everything
possible. The turnovers are unacceptable, and it’s continued for us, so we’re trying to find everything
possible to minimize it, to bring their attention to it. We’ve probably spent more time in our two years
here than I’ve ever spent as a staff talking about it with the players so they understand that. We start
every Thursday with talking about turnovers and protecting the football and stats correlated with wins
and losses and turnover margin and giveaways as an offense. We start our day with our turnover circuit,
we continue to show clips, good examples, bad examples, how we can learn from things. It’s something
that’s on our mind, but it’s something that’s got to show up in the game. We got to continue to protect
the ball and like you said, every situation is a little different.”
DEFENSIVE COORDINATOR MIKE CALDWELL
MEDIA AVAILABILITY
THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 16, 2023
(On how to prepare against Titans offense including RB Derrick Henry) “Well, just back to work. Anytime
you don’t play up to your standard, you come back and have a bunch of things to work on. We’re back to
work this week at practice trying to get better.”
(On what went wrong defensively last game) “I think really everything. We didn’t stop the run the way
we wanted to, we didn’t take the ball away, we didn’t pressure the quarterback enough, just the whole
gamut.”
(On when he noticed the game wasn’t going right and what adjustments were attempted) “Really, this is
one of the ones you just throw away. When you look at it on film, you’re seeing imposters. Guys that
aren’t us, and we’ll be back at work this week and ready to throw it out there again this Sunday.”
(On thoughts of Titans rookie QB Will Levis) “When you see him, talented. Big arm, can make all the
throws, and he has some weapons. He’s a formidable challenge.”
(On if there were communication issues on Sunday) “No, it was really just technique. Guys being in the
right gaps and we got misaligned a few times. We got cut out of the gap a few times. It just goes back to
our fundamentals, our techniques, we just have to do what we’ve been taught to do and we’ll get it
corrected.”
(On OLB Travon Walker showing consistency with the pass rush) “You can see it’s happening more, but
overall, I think his game is continuing to progress. In the run game, he’s really solid and in the pass game,
he’s starting to pick it up. It’s good to see.”
(On what he likes about the three-safety look) “If teams do move a lot, we’re able to stay on each of
their sides and those guys are versatile so they can cover receivers sometimes, they can cover tight ends,
and it just gives us freedom to be able to sit back and get guys on the field that can fit the run well and
also be able to play coverage.”
(On what else he wants to see from DT DaVon Hamilton) “It’s just progress, he’s playing well, he’s just
getting back and he’s just getting things going. He’ll continue to improve just like all of us, each week
trying to get better.”
(On if he’s seen a running back comparable to Titans RB Derrick Henry) “Well, I don’t know about that.
You go back to my day, the running back was the focal point. You had ran up against Atlanta when they
had the run and shoot with Ironhead [Craig] Heyward. They had all the receivers but, the focal point of
the offense was throw the ball around and let him run the ball against a light box. You go to other teams
like Houston, Houston had Lorenzo White, just different guys that back in the day were the bell cows.
Emmitt Smith, like yeah, he had [Michael] Irvin, but it was him following that offensive line. Running
backs, people like to say have been diminished, but when there’s a good one out there and we’ve faced a
bunch of good ones, it’s a tough task.”
(On who will play at cornerback if CB Tyson Campbell can’t) “Hopefully Tyson can go. Then if he can’t,
we’re comfortable with throwing G-Money [CB Greg Junior] out there, Buster [CB Montaric Brown] has
played well for us. We have a few options, a bunch of young guys that are just chomping at the bit to get
the opportunity.”
(On how CB Greg Junior performed in his first game back from injury) “I think he performed well. He
went out there and it’s good to see him get back out there, played a little special teams early then he
played defense once Tyson went down. It was good to see him get back in action and hopefully we’ll see
more of it.”
(On how the players have responded to last week’s loss) “Well, you look at it after a win or after a loss,
you have a period of time you get over it and you put it away. If not, you’re going to be focused on it too
long and whether it’s a win or a loss, you come back to work, you correct the mistakes, then move
forward. That’s what we’re doing. Last week, you look on film and that’s not our standard. That’s not us,
so now we get another chance this Sunday to go back out there and do it the right way.”
(On Titans WR DeAndre Hopkins talent) “Yeah, he’s a number one. He’s a guy that you have to know
where he’s at all times, the quarterback really understands that he can push the ball to him. He makes a
bunch of contested catches. They have other receivers, but he’s a guy that I think he’s really comfortable
throwing the ball to, and he’s making plays for them.”
