DEFENSIVE COORDINATOR MIKE CALDWELL
MEDIA AVAILABILITY
THURSDAY, DECEMBER 8, 2022
(On what went wrong in the game in Detroit) “It’s one of those performances where it felt like it wasn’t
us. You go back, you talk to the guys, and they had the same feeling. Just got to come back in here, had a
good day’s work yesterday, continue that today and get back on the field Sunday and go at it again.”
(On fixing the lack of energy the guys said they had this weekend) “The thing about it is you noticed it
watching the film. We have a saying that ‘When one makes a play, we all make a play,’ and you should
be excited when your brother makes a play, and you didn’t see that on Sunday for whatever reason.
We’re just going to dig deep and find out. Go back and let this game be a youthful game. Enjoy the
game. When you’re out there, have a smile on your face, go out there and make plays and have fun with
it.”
(On what he can do to put the players in a better position to succeed) “Really just go back and look at
what they do well and give them opportunities to do it. We study weekly on what rush this guy, what
matchup is best for this person, and go out there and give them opportunities to do what they’re good
at.”
(On if the team has the talent they need to have a top-level defense) “I think the talent is here. We’re
happy with the players here, and we just have to get them understanding that when you do it the right
way, you just have to do it the right way over and over again. You’ll see times where we’re right on
point. Then other times we’re not. That’s part of coaching, and we all own that. We’ve got to get those
guys playing the way they need to play over and over and over.”
(On the key to stopping RB Derrick Henry) “Getting multiple guys around him. We have to be good at
staying in our gaps, and once you’re in your gap, you secure your gap, and you go help whoever has a
free gap make the tackle. We need a lot of effort getting to the ball, and that’s the way you try to slow
him down.”
(On how the Titans play very cohesively) “Oh yeah. This is a group that they understand the scheme they
like to run, and it’s harder to really practice it, but once you get out there, you tell them, you have them
watch film and try to make them understand the speed they try to run their outside zone, and
understand what we’re about to get into and have their mindset ready to go try to stop it.”
(On if he thinks they are close to getting to one cornerback for the third spot) “You’re always wanting
just one guy to take the lead, but right now, we’re just trying to find a guy. We’re out there and putting
guys, and they’re doing a good job of coming in here, working extra after practice trying to understand
their deficiencies and what they need to get better at, which we all do. Just trying to continue to
improve.”
(On going back to LB Devin Lloyd if LB Chad Muma can’t play Sunday) “That’s the thing about Devin.
When we ended up playing Chad, we had a talk, and it wasn’t, ‘You’re being demoted. We’re trying to
give you a chance to sit back and take a look at how the game was being played early on in the season,
and Devin has handled it great. He’s come back, he’s worked real hard, had a couple good weeks of
practice, and it’s not like we’re going back to Devin. Devin has played these last couple weeks, but his
role could expand depending on what happens with Chad. I’m excited for him to see him go back out
there.”
(On how not having S Andre Cisco affected the defense on Sunday) “He’s one of your guys, and you
always want your guys with you. When he wasn’t able to play, it changed the defense because we had
Dewey (S Andrew Wingard) out there playing multiple roles. He did a great job of handling that role, but
there’s kind of a comfort when you have a person that’s been there with you throughout the whole
season. Dewey did a great job of filling in. We didn’t have Cisco, and hopefully we’ll get him back soon.”
(On how they can jumpstart the pass rush) “Right now, the thing about the pass rush is we’re all
frustrated about it, the players are frustrated about it, and what we can do is go back out there on
Wednesday and Thursday and continue to work at pass rushing. That’s what we did the last couple
weeks, and we did it yesterday, we’ll do it again today, and on Sunday, see what happens.”
(On if OLB Tavon Walker is heading in the direction he should be) “Oh definitely. He’s heading in the
right direction, and we’re pleased with the way he’s playing.”
(On his feelings about WNBA player Brittney Griner getting released from Russian prison today, given his
family ties to the WNBA) “Really once I heard about it, I was like, ‘Wow. Good for her, good for her
family, and good for the WNBA and women’s basketball in general.’ A couple players, we talked about it
this morning, and we’re just happy that she’s coming back to her family.”
(On what he has learned about being a defensive coordinator that he didn’t know when he started) “The
main thing I would try to do [if I knew from the start] is just try to understand the time constraints. You
have so much time but so little time, and that’s probably the big thing, being able to understand setting
up meetings, being able to get the information to the coaches, get the information to the players in a
really short amount of time. We had a great offseason. I thought we got the process, but once the
season gets picked up, there’s so much information you want to dig in and find for the players then
having an understanding of how much information they really need and how much you want to give
them.”
(On how close the defense looks to his vision before the season) “Really, the vision hasn’t changed. I
have a vision for an attacking defense. At times we’ve been able to do that, but other times we needed
to not attack as much based on what offense we were going up against. It’ll be a weekly thing, whatever
we need to do on defense, we’ll get in there, find it out, get it to the players, come out here and try to
execute it.”
(On if not having the second cornerback solidified has changed how they approach the defense) “Not
really. It’s just guys that get opportunities to play have to go out there and make plays. That’s
everybody. It’s not just one position group, that’s everybody. Coaches need to coach. Players need to
play. You get an opportunity to do it, that’s your job to go out there and do it.”
(On it being a far from ideal situation to be searching for a starter at this point in the season) “I wouldn’t
say searching for a starter. We have guys that we understand are younger guys, and those guys, given
the opportunity, will develop into good players. We just need to give them more opportunities and let
them continue to progress.”
OFFENSIVE COORDINATOR PRESS TAYLOR
MEDIA AVAILABILITY
THURSDAY, DECEMBER 8, 2022
(On if there is anything in the playbook that he would be cautious that QB C.J. Beathard cannot do) “No.
I would say there’s not anything he cannot do. Part of it is he’s been around all season long since the day
we put the offense in. We always try to tailor it to the strengths of our players, so that may be
something if we made that decision, I think that’s a late pivot we could get to if we needed to. We have
this in the plan, we like it versus this defense, but based on C.J. versus Trevor (QB Trevor Lawrence),
whatever that may be. Maybe it’s let’s stay away from that unless we need it. We kind of do that all the
time every week depending on who guys are and where they are and how we see things express
themselves in practice.”
(On if QB C.J. Beathard is completely recovered from his groin issue from earlier in the year) “He is. As
far as I know, yes he is. He has not shown any effects from that at all.”
(On how preparation with a quarterback changes in the week when he is taking only mental reps) “You
want to be conscious of anything new, so it’s maybe, Trevor (QB Trevor Lawrence) is obviously day to
day. If he makes this thing late, maybe there was something that was specific this week that we need to
make sure we get on a Saturday afternoon potentially of we need you to feel what this throw feels like
and the timing of it because it is unique, or something hey, we’ve got enough plays, we don’t need it in
that section. You’re conscious of that going into the week though. There’s times like when we travel to
London. We know that our Friday red zone day is a travel day, we try to be conscious of the install we
have that week of knowing we’re not getting the time on task that we normally do. Let’s be conscious of
new ideas, things like that. Kind of the same thing here. If there’s a receiver, quarterback, whatever it
may be, tight end, that’s not going to participate in practice full speed, then we’re conscious of putting
new things in the plan for those guys knowing we may not be able to get it with the guy that’s in there in
the games. We do everything we can to avoid those situations.”
(On if getting hurt then coming back in the second half says anything about QB Trevor Lawrence’s
toughness) “From my experience here with Trevor, there’s never been a question of his toughness and
his availability for the team, I don’t think. I think everybody feels very confident that if Trevor is going to
play if Trevor has the ability to. There’s times when it’s our decision to protect players from themselves.
Same thing with Travis (RB Travis Etienne Jr.). There was a possibility of Travis playing against Baltimore,
and we decided to pull the plug on that just to protect him from himself. A lot of these guys are willing
to play through a lot of things, but we need to do what’s best for the player as well as what’s best for
our team, and we’ll continue to make those decisions.”
(On if he feels that the abundance of drops last week were a one-off issue) “Yeah. Based on the way
guys have played and the situations they’ve been in, we’re confident this was a one-off deal, like you
said. Obviously, we just have to have great fundamentals, we’ve got to be able to get two hands on the
football. When we get hands on the football, we’ve got to be able to pull it in. That’s just continuing to
emphasize our technique, our attention to detail throughout the week leading into Sunday.”
(On what the quarterback gutting it out through an injury can say to the rest of the team) “Again, I don’t
think there’s any question to Trevor’s (QB Trevor Lawrence) toughness, but I think it does show your
guys that this guy is doing everything possible to get there and to make himself available on Sunday if
that needs to be. These guys live in the training room. It’s not just Trevor. It’s a lot of our guys. At this
point in the season, everyone’s got bumps and bruises, everybody dealing with something, pushing
through something. I think teammates, I think coaches see other guys and their willingness to put
themselves in other positions to battle back from some sort of bump, bruise, injury, whatever it may be,
to make themselves available. There’s a lot of guys on this team that are doing it, too.”
(On how tough the Titans defense is and how much of a threat DT Jeffery Simmons is) “They’re a really,
really solid defense. Their numbers would say the same thing. They’ve got, I feel like a lot of teams have
got good players at every single level, whether that’s Simmons, Nico Autry (OLB Denico Autry), Bud
Dupree (LB), David Long (LB), Kevin Byard (FS), they’ve got a lot of players that have played a lot of
football in the system. They’ve had some injuries, and they keep plugging guys in, and it seems like the
system doesn’t change. They execute at a high level. They’re really, really good in situations. It’s a very
smart team. Being in the division last year, I took an appreciation to just the way they play every single
situation, the awareness all their players have of what’s going on, so they definitely make the game very
challenging for you.”
(On what it will take to get RB Travis Etienne Jr. rolling again) “We’ve certainly played some good
defenses that that’s been an effort of them to stop our run game and get Travis from getting started.
Obviously situations within games dictate that as well. You’re down big in the second half of that game,
you’re not going to run the ball as often at Detroit. It’s managing the game, the situation, all that type of
thing, but continuing to find ways to get him touches. Sometimes it may be in the pass game, getting
him on the perimeter away from the interior to get him some room and space, try to get him going that
way. It’s a variety of different things to try to get him going.”
(On if RB Travis Etienne Jr. needs to develop his role in the passing game to be involved more there) “I
think a lot of it has just been, in terms of the pass game, the matchups we’re looking for in certain
situations. There hasn’t been a huge need to feature the running back in the pass game with the things
we’ve done. We’ve been able to put Christian (WR Christian Kirk), Evan (TE Evan Engram), Zay (WR Zay
Jones), those guys in situations to feature matchups. Now, if the best matchup is Travis on a linebacker,
and we have ways to get to that we feel pretty good about what we’re going to get from the defense,
then that’s something we’ll certainly emphasize.”
(On if LB David Long jumps off the table) “He does. He’s a very instinctive player. When he sees
something, he is going. It’s a big point of emphasis for our guys, if he’s a target in the run game or he’s
identified as one of the points of attack guys, then we’ve got to be able to get there quickly. If he’s on
the backside of a run, you better run because he’s running. He does a good job. He’s a productive player
for them, and he has been for a while. He’s certainly someone we’re aware of.”
(On if WR Christian Kirk has been everything he expected) “And more. Not having known Christian
directly but having known a lot of people that coached him in college, played with him, whatever it may
be, I always had a high opinion of him, watched him from afar, spoke with people that coached him last
year that were sad to see him leave Arizona. He’s been a pro through and through every single day. He
comes to work every single day, doesn’t complain, will do anything asked of him, and has the ability to
do a lot of different things. We mostly feature him in the slot, but he’s done a good job when we put
him outside doing things, he’s been available in the blocking game, we’ve handed him the ball a couple
times, and he’s able to do some things. As far as setting the standard, impacting the game, we’re very
happy with what Christian’s brought to the table so far.”
