Head coach Gary Kubiak
(on feelings after watching film) “It definitely wasn’t any
better than it was during the game. It’s usually a combination of things and
this is no different. First off, we didn’t protect well at all, they’re pretty
good. But you can’t give them that much credit, we didn’t protect well and I
think us not protecting well in some early phases of the game maybe (QB) David
(Carr) lost a little confidence in what we’re doing up front. His part of the
bargain, when we did protect well, maybe (he’d) get a little antsy and not going
through his reads. The two together, they don’t mix and we weren’t being
successful at doing it at all and our football team was functioning in a manner
that, ‘Hey we can win this game another way.’ That’s the way we chose to go.
There were a combination of reasons of why it wasn’t good.”
(on what can be done against Tennessee that
couldn’t be done against Oakland) “We’re going to have to be able to throw
the ball, that’s a fact. I mean, how long has it been since somebody’s gotten
away with that and won in this league? It’s been a long, long time. It doesn’t
happen very often, we’ll have to be balanced. Last time we played these guys we
found out right away that if we turn the ball over we don’t have much of a
chance against them, and that’s probably everybody we play. They’re playing
extremely well. They’re probably the hottest team in football right now. And
they’ve beat some dang good football teams, (they’re) doing a lot of good stuff.
Getting (DT Albert Haynesworth) back here in the past month, to me has been a
big part of their football team and probably playing as well with as much
confidence as anybody in football.”
(on QB Vince Young coming back to hometown) “I
know that’s going to be a big weekend for that kid and his family because he’s
so well thought of and what he did at the University of Texas, that’ll go down
in history. To be able to win a national championship and play the way that kid
played, to grow up maybe five, 10 miles from this stadium and to come in here
Sunday that’s got to be a tremendous thrill for him and his career. Especially
the direction he’s going and the way he’s playing, the job that (head coach)
Jeff (Fisher) and Norm (Chow) have done with him, the way their football team is
playing says a lot what he’s all about and what he’s done. I know it’ll be a
big, big day for him and it should be a great football game.”
(on expecting LB
DeMeco Ryans to go to the Pro
Bowl) “I don’t know. We were talking about that earlier today, I don’t think
you really ever know until you sit down and you start looking at everybody’s
season and when players and coaches start voting for the Pro Bowl. I think this
game’s going to help him get a lot of attention because of the sack, the
turnovers (and) the interception at the end. The game he just played is one of
the best games I’ve ever seen any defensive player play and he should get a lot
of recognition from that. Usually with that recognition players really sit up
and notice. It’ll be interesting to see what happens.”
(on settling QB
David Carr from being the center
of attention) “I understand that and he understands that, too. I see those
things as opportunities. A lot of people see that as pressure because of the
things that are being said as we get to this football game, but I see this as an
opportunity for David to come back and play well for his team and give his team
a chance to win. That’s what this league is about, you’re going to have rough
days and you’ve got to come back the next week and show that’s why you’re a
player. That you step up and come back and play as good as you can play. And for
us to win and for us to have a chance to beat this football team David’s going
to have to play well and I expect him to come back and do that.”
(on RB
Ron Dayne shown flashes but not sustained the performance he showed
yesterday) “You’re right, that’s kind of been his career. I think the thing
that’s happened here this year when we got Ronnie, Ronnie was not healthy, in
all honesty. He had turf toe, coming off the turf toe, he missed training camp,
it took some time for him to get healthy. We probably threw him in there too
fast, he told me he’s felt as good as he’s felt all year going into this game,
hopefully that holds true. He’s also a big body and when a defense gets a little
tired at the end of a game he’s a tough guy to tackle so I think that’s got a
lot to do with it. When you look at him when he was successful with us at Denver
it was in the second half running the ball. That’s what happened yesterday.”
(on Dayne starting this week) “No, we’ll play
Wali (Lundy). We’ll play Wali and him. As I told you I’m going to get Chris
(Taylor) involved here at some point real quick, may be this week.”
(on giving Dayne 40 carries) “I should have
yesterday. We’re going to play them both (Dayne and Lundy). Does he deserve more
opportunities to get carries? Yes but I think Wali’s done some good stuff, he’s
played well. I don’t think we know today which one’s going to run better,
they’re just two different type of players and we’ll keep playing them both.”
(on Tennessee’s lowest rated defense) “Those
are numbers of given up yards. They’ve struggled a little early in the season.
If you look at, we talk about them being one of the hottest teams in football
right now and I think they’ve started to play very good on the defensive side of
the ball. I think one of the big reasons for that is 92 (DT Albert Haynesworth)
came back and when he’s inside he demands a lot of attention. They play very
good the last month, the last five games and as long as he’s in there they’re
very tough to run the football against and very tough to protect against so I
think it’s going to be different.”
(on what he likes about QB Vince Young) “I
think the things that he’s doing right now that’s exceptional is playing
off-schedule. He’s making plays, third-and-eight, third-and-nine, and yesterday
actually I watched a little bit of the game right before we went out on the
field it was on in our locker room so I saw a few of the plays. He’s bailed
their team out of some situations, everybody’s coverage takes off and gets a
first down. I think probably the most impressive thing to me is his poise. He’s
like any young player, he’s made some mistakes, but he’s got his team in
position to win at the end of the game. that’s what he’s capable of doing and
they’re playing with a lot of energy right now and I think that has a lot to do
with him.”
(on what he told WR
Jerome Mathis after he struggled
on his first kick return) “I just hollered at him a little bit about the
mistake that he made. But the thing I liked about him, and I didn’t know this,
I’ve been told how competitive he is from (special teams coordinator) Joe (Marciano)
and various people within the football team, but I haven’t really be around him
much as a player. And I got after him a little bit about the mistake he made. He
really just looked me in the eyes and said, ‘Coach, I messed up, but I want the
ball back.’ And actually, he was mad at the end of the game on the punt return
when we ran the fake reverse he wanted us to run the reverse. We had both of
them in and he was mad because Joe called for the fake and he was the bait. He
wanted the ball again, so you want kids like that. You want kids that want to
make the plays.”
(on why he was upset with Carr after the reverse
play to WR Andre Johnson)
“Well, you know what; in all honesty it wasn’t fair. That’s my fault. We gave
him a scenario where basically we called a run, it’d be hard for me to explain
to you, and if we saw something defensively then we were checking to a reverse.
The look he saw, the way he was coached, he did the right thing to run the
reverse. Now that I can sit him down and show him how wide the sam linebackers
is, he would not have done that. But the way he was coached going into that
game, without giving away too much information, he made the call that he was
coached to make. That’s on us; that’s on me.”
(on the importance of these last four games)
“Well, it’s important to everybody’s future here and the direction that we’re
heading. I told our team last week, I asked them, ‘How important are our last
five football games?’ And I told them that when you look at snaps you take about
70 offensive or defensive snaps a game and about 25 special teams snaps. And I
told them those 350 snaps we’re going to take and those 125 snaps we’re going to
take on special teams to me are as big as snaps have ever been taking in this
organization. We have to get a lot accomplished. We have to find out about a lot
of people and that includes a lot of young players. And you know when you look
at yesterday and you look at how disappoint throwing the football was, we found
out about a lot of guys. We found out that our guys will find a way to win even
when it wasn’t very pretty. And I think they are all very important.”
(on whether he worries about T
Eric Winston’s confidence level)
“I don’t see Eric (Winston) as that type of kid. I don’t think he swings very
much. He’s a pretty even-keeled kid, works very hard, loves to play. He knows
that was not his best effort, and he knows everybody’s looking at that. And he
had one this week that’s just as good and has been just as successful. So Eric
will have to play well for us. Eric did play against them a little bit the first
time we played them. So hopefully that helps him. But his development is a key
in what we’re doing.”
(on whether the criticism surprises him after a
win) “I understand that. Heck, I’m not different. I feel great about winning
the football game, but I’m up there today knowing that we’re not going to get
very far if we have those type of days throwing the ball in this league.
Regardless of injuries or whatever the scenario is; so it has got to get fixed.
We have to take a hard look at that. We have to be proud that we were able to
overcome a lot of things, but that area has got to get addressed and get fixed
for us to develop.”
(on why the run defense has looked better even
with the loss of some starters) “I just think they are adapting to our
defensive scheme and what Richard (Smith) wants. I think those guys have a lot
of confidence right now, our defensive players. They’re young, and I think they
sit there and they say, ‘You know what, we have a chance to be together for a
few years. I see them growing and their attitude and their confidence on the
field is getting better and better each week.”
(on what kind of fan reaction he expects this
weekend) “I’m sure it will be pretty loud, one way or the other, but I know
he’s (Vince Young) going to have a big crowd here this weekend and the kid
deserves it. I mean, he’s a legend in this town, and he should be with what he
did. That’ll add a lot of excitement to the football game. And we just have to
worry about our end of the bargain and get ready to play.”
(on whether there were any injuries in the game)
“(DE Jason) Babin (has) a hip-pointer. He’ll be day-to-day. Other than that
we’re fine. Everybody’s okay.”