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Tennessee Titans Head Coach Mike Munchak – Conference Call – October 30, 2013
(On how the bye week went)
“I’ll tell you on Sunday afternoon. I think it went well. I think we knew it was productive for us. As most coaches will probably say, we were pretty beat up the last two, three weeks with our guys, so I think it came at a good time to get a good break, mentally and physically away from the game. We had a tough one. We played guys in your division and didn’t fare so well with San Francisco and Seattle – two good teams and so I think we needed the break. I think we’re refreshed and we need to, like the Rams too, this is a big game for both of us.”
(On what it was like coaching with Rams Head Coach Jeff Fisher)
“I would say I really enjoyed it. Jeff gave me – I was kind of like how he did it, I was transitioning from being a player to other opportunities. He got the job in Houston and gave me the opportunity to get involved coaching offensive line. And then we moved to Nashville and had a lot of success together, and we had a lot of great years. A lot of good things happened and we felt for a really long period of time we were as good as anyone in football for a lot of years. Won a lot of football games, so he was great to work for. We had a very good relationship that way, and so he was helpful when this whole thing happened and this job became available. He was very helpful in that, helping me, kind of have the opportunity to get in this position.”
(On if he and Fisher stay in contact with each other)
“Yeah, we do. Not during the season, not as much. I think it’s just so busy once you get into the routine of a season. Touch base every so often, but more during the offseason when we see each other at the – when you go to the usual up at the combine, get a chance to spend time up there in the owners’ meetings and things like that. He has some family, I think his daughter’s still back here in Nashville, so during the offseason he ends up coming back here for some visits. So, I get a chance to see him then, too.”
(On replacing Fisher as head coach)
“Yeah, he was very successful, and like I said, he took the team to the Super Bowl, so he did a lot of great things. So, yeah, I think being here and knowing how he did it was helpful for me and having a good feel of everything. So, that is difficult but I thought I transitioned fine, and I think it worked out well for me going forward in that I was here and people were familiar with me. That made it a little bit easier coming in and I learned from Jeff. I saw a lot of things he did as he learned his head coach. I watched him grow up as a head coach when he came into it and how good he got as the years went on.”
(On if the passing of Owner Bud Adams was tough on the team)
“It did. During the off week of all things, Monday, that was very sad news for us, as an organization. I’ve been with Bud as a player, a coach, and a head coach now for over 30 years, which is very unique probably in this league being with the same team like that. We had a very good relationship. So, yeah, I think it was just having to talk to him when the season ended – the plans, the excitement for him wanting to make all the changes we made and bring in players and spend money on free agency and do whatever it took to win this year and going forward. That’s what made it sad. Hopefully when this year ends, it’ll be something that he’d be very proud of as we move forward in the season. But, yeah, the funeral was a great opportunity to enjoy his life and hear a lot of great stories about all the things he had done and accomplished and making the league what it is today from merging the AFL and the NFL and just a lot of great stories of his involvement in that back in the (19)60’s.”
(On how Defensive Senior Assistant Gregg Williams fits in on the defense)
“It’s gone well. It just was a good fit. He’s like family, I think, to this organization, but to me, from being in Houston back in, I think in (19)90 when he got started as a coach and then he was with us on the staff with me and Jeff (Fisher) when we moved to Nashville, he was a coordinator. The familiarity made sense for me, and then also the fact that he and Jerry Gray, the D-coordinator, had worked together so many times at three different locations that it was just a real easy fit that way. He just brought a lot of energy to the staff, he brought that expertise he has, not just as an assistant but really for all the other assistants. Not just with Jerry Gray, but with all the DBs, the defensive back coaches, D-line, linebackers – he’s coached all those positions and special teams, so he’s a wealth of knowledge. A lot of knowledge and a lot of help and he’s been very helpful to me as a head coach. He’s been in that position, too, so when you can add a guy like him to your staff, I think it’s just a big plus and he’s been very helpful. He’s got that great demeanor. The players really respond to him, I think, I a real positive way with confidence and he’s helped portray that here.”
(On if they were interested in re-signing TE Jared Cook)
“Yeah we were. We tried to talk with him, I think, before the season ended, but it became obvious, that as most players are going to do, they’re going to wait. That’s why we struck for free agency back in the day. It gives these players an opportunity to find out what the market is for them as players. We would have loved to have him back – young player, great size, everything you want in a player. He was with us four years and you hate to lose guy you draft like that. You develop them. You like to see them finish with you because we felt these years – the fifth the year, the sixth year, the seventh year – that’s when you’re really coming into your abilities. It was hard to see him go and yeah we tried to have him here, but the business got in the way. We’ve lost a few guys to the Rams.”
(On how he handles going up against a team and a coaching staff that he’s familiar with)
“It’s probably the same as (Head Coach) Jeff (Fisher). I think if Jeff was coming here it’d be much more going on with it because of him coaching here. I’m sure the same way he’s handling it. It’s a game we both need to win. A lot of these players – unfortunately the league changes so much – a lot of these guys weren’t here when Jeff coached. We’ve had quite a turnover in the last couple years, so you don’t have as much as you would think that way. But like you said, it’s the coaches. A lot of the coaches are familiar with each other, along with the players. So, it definitely adds to the excitement of the game and the challenge of the game. We’re all competitive and we want to win for a lot of reasons, but I think ultimately it comes down to the players on the field on Sunday not us and hopefully directing our guys in the right manner. It’ll be fun, bragging rights hopefully for the offseason.”
(On QB Jake Locker improving throughout the year)
“He really has. Now that this became his team this year, the first offseason where he knew he was going to be the quarterback going into the season, had a great offseason, great preseason. Just continued to get better and I thought as the season was going on – Week 3, Week 4 – really played well. We start off 3-1. He played his two best games back-to-back with San Diego and the Jets. Didn’t have a turnover in three games and we’re 3-1. We were looking good, and then he gets hurt in that Jet game and sat two weeks. That was hard, hard for the team. Just like the Rams losing (QB Sam) Bradford. That’s hard to lose your quarterback. There’s a lot. You don’t realize how much that affects, not just on the field but in the locker room and game day and just so many things that it’s hard to fix immediately. There’s good backups in the league. Obviously, Clemens will do a good job and Fitzpatrick had a win for us. Those guys are there, but it’s not the same. It definitely affected us for two games. Really getting him back last week…the advantage of getting him back last week for the 49ers was he played well. He threw well, but at least he got all the injury stuff behind him. He’s got his confidence back. We just had our bye week, so now going into our second half of the season he should be ready go. He needs to stay healthy. I think if he does that he’ll have a great run here.”
(On RB Chris Johnson’s performance this season)
“Fortunately, some of those games early he ran the ball well against Houston and San Diego and the Pittsburgh game. But then, the last couple we’ve played some good defenses which took that away from us. He only got 10 carries for a couple of those games, which made it hard to post any numbers. This isn’t a week that you’re going to right either because I think the Rams the last couple weeks have played really well on defense. The defense is really playing well and getting after the quarterback. They shut Seattle pretty much completely down. That’s a good running team. So, it’s not like, ‘Oh, good we’re playing the Rams. We’re going to get right here.’ It’s going to be a heck of a challenge the way they play defense and it’s something I’ve seen with Jeff’s defense. I’ve practiced against them for years, so I know how well they play, how hard they play, and how good they play. We went to the Super Bowl with it, with a pretty darn good defense. I know how they know that they do a great job in that end. So, it’s going to be a challenge to get ‘CJ’ going this weekend, but we need to if we’re going to have a chance to win.”
(On the keys to his improving Tennessee defense)
“We added some people. Leadership was a big part of that. (S) Bernard Pollard, adding (S) George Wilson, adding (DE) Ropati (Pitoitua) and (DT) Sammie Hill, (LB) Moise Fokou – we added four or five veteran-type guys that really came in in free agency and made a difference because we were very young on defense. I think now that we have some leadership that communicate well, now the younger guys – your (LB) Akeem Ayers and your (LB) Zach Brown and (DT) Jurrell Casey and (S Michael) Griffin – are playing so much better because they’re much more confident. They have a great feel for what they’re doing and really that’s a big difference. You can see the byline which is a lot different on our defense than it was a year ago and they’re playing that way. So, I think it was we got the right pieces to the puzzle that we were missing last year with that leadership and it’s really gone a long way.”
(On if the Rams look more like a Jeff Fisher team after recently putting more emphasis on the run game)
“Yeah it did. I thought (RB Zac) Stacy ran really well. They rushed for close 200 or whatever they ran for last week against a very good defense. Yeah, I think that’s exactly what he wants, especially when your quarterback gets hurt, your starting quarterback. You want to help them and the best way to help them is to be able to run the football and keep your defense off the field with time of possession and those types of things like they did against Seattle. I think Seattle had 45 plays or something. That’s what’s amazing. That, obviously they didn’t win, when you can do that that’s ingredients for nine out of 10 times you’re going to win the football game when you accomplish what they did on Monday night. I’m sure they’ll stick with that because, like I said, you’re going to win a lot more than you lose when you can control the ball like that and run the football as well as they did. They just didn’t convert in the red zone. You see how important that is. Settling for field goals, it just comes back to haunt you. But, they did a lot of great things in that game and that’s what we expect to see this weekend.”
Tennessee Titans S Michael Griffin – Conference Call – October 30, 2013
(On the improvement of his play this season)
“The one thing I did this offseason was I just went back home, back to Texas, and trained with a great group of guys, former teammates and guys in the NFL that are doing great right now like Jamaal Charles and Chris Johnson, just a lot of those guys that I played with back in college. I would just go ahead and just talk to those guys and we just worked hard every day and we were all just competing. And then just to come back to work here and this front office here did a great job bringing us a great group of guys. They improved this team and this defense, just all the pieces of the puzzle have come together.”
(On what it is about the University of Texas that makes NFL-caliber safeties)
“I don’t know. You have to give credit to our coach, Coach Duane Akina. He’s been there for a while and his resume speaks for itself: Quentin Jammer, Nathan Vasher, Michael Huff, myself, Keenan McCardell, Aaron Ross. You name it Quentin Brown, Chykie Brown, Earl Thomas. The list can continuously go on. Then, you’ve got Quentin Jammer’s little brother Quandre Diggs who’s supposed to be coming out this coming year. He’s been doing a great job and I hope he continues doing good for the current and future players that come to the University of Texas.”
(On if the secondary is the strength of the defense so far this season)
“It’s hard to say. I’m the type of guy, you know, you’ve got to be humble. We’ve got all-star tackles up front. You have guys like (DEs) Ropati (Pitoitua) and Derrick Morgan, (DT) Jurrell Casey, those guys up front, and even Antonio Johnson who each week’s been coming in…Sammie Hill was supposed to be the starter. He got hurt against the (Houston) Texans, and Antonio Johnson came in and took his job. The front four guys and the linebackers have done a great job. I won’t say there’s a specific strong point of the defense. I think we’re all just playing good football together and everybody’s just doing their job.”
(On how much interaction he has with Gregg Williams)
“It’s funny because I joke with Coach Williams all the time. We go back and forth and things of that nature. Both coaches speak when it comes to meetings, but when it comes to the game, Coach (Defensive Coordinator Jerry) Gray is calling the game. Both of them take part. Coach Gray with the DBs and Coach Williams with linebackers doing their former positions that they used to coach. On Sundays, the come together and Coach Gray is calling the plays and Williams is actually on the walkie telling us the plays in the game. They’ve both work hand-in-hand together and it’s working. A lot of people have questioned how it was going to work, but the thing is they both worked together in the past…so Coach Gray is the defensive coordinator and Coach Williams is the consultant, rather than the opposite way around. Coach Gray is the D-coordinator and (Defensive Senior Assistant) Coach (Gregg) Williams is the consultant rather than the opposite way around. Coach Gray is one of the coaches that are a coordinator and Gregg Williams is the head coach.”
(On if he sees an impact from Gregg Williams’ presence)
“Really, he has the attitude that, Coach Gray, it’s kind of like they feed off each other. When one guy says something, the other guy says something, and then one guy says something, and the other says, ‘Take notes on what this guy says.’ So, they pinball off of each other and they feed off each other and again, I think it’s the attitude and the way we practice and the way they approach the game, I think it’s just rubbed off on all of us. Of course, you’ve got to include (S) Bernard Pollard, he’s an angry guy 24/7 on the field, but off the field, he’s vocal but at the same time he’s great guy to be around.”
(On if it will be strange to see Coach Jeff Fisher in the other sideline)
“I guess it is going to be kind of strange just seeing him in a whole different outfit, everything, coaching different teams and all those things, so it’s going to be different. I haven’t spoke to him since he left or whatnot. But again, nothing but great things to say about him. When he was here, he did some great things here. He left a lot of tradition and things around here and whatever and ‘Munch’ (Head Coach Mike Munchak) picked up some of the things and started some new things. Again, it’s going to be weird, but it’s a good just thing seeing somebody doing well.”
(On what it was like playing for Coach Fisher)
“He’s a player’s coach. He’s a former player and he knew how the body feels and things. He took care of us on and off the field, whether it was if you had personal things going on he was always there to listen and help you out. I can account for that, one of the situations I had going on in the past, but he was a great guy. You never knew if he was serious or whether he was joking because he was big prankster. But again, it was a lot of fun, a lot of great memories.”
(On if he was surprised when Fisher left Tennessee)
“I had the privilege in 2010 and I was at the Pro Bowl and me and (RB) Chris Johnson were about ready to go to one of these little meeting things that had to do, and everybody was saying, “Y’all know your head coach was just fired.’ And we were like, ‘What are you talking about?’ It was crazy at the time or whatever, at same time Vince Young got released and Coach Fisher was fired later on, and then the big question was, who was the coaching staff going to be. It was surprising, but it managed to all work itself out, and right now we’ve got some good guys here, good coaches here. Not many guys here played with Coach Fisher because it’s like a revolving door, but again, all good things must come to an end, but then good things start all over. So, it all worked itself out.”
(On if he will say hello to Head Coach Fisher before the game)
“Of course. You’ve got Coach Fisher. You’ve got (Secondary Coach) Chuck Cecil who also drafted me and was my defensive back coach, and you have (Assistant Head) Coach (Dave) McGinnis. So, you have a group of guys over there which we call the Midwest Tennessee Titans and I almost can assure you that the longer Fisher’s over there, probably the more Tennessee Titans will be employed there. Again, I will speak to him. In fact, when we played the Detroit Lions last year, Coach (Jim) Schwartz was my D-coordinator when I first got here and got me to my first Pro Bowl. There’s neutral feelings, great guys in his coaches and a great group of guys.”
(On what it’s like playing for Coach Mike Munchak)
“At first, it was funny, when ‘Munch’ first got the job, I told ‘Munch’, he was the offensive line coach, it’s funny how I never interacted with you ever because you were here the entire time. He was the offensive line coach, and of course I didn’t play defensive line, so I never really had to actually talk to him. But, as much as I like Fisher, who’s a little bit quieter and things of that nature. He’s always about business. He’s kind of like an offensive lineman. He’s not as much of a ‘hoo-hoo, rah-rah’ guy. You know you don’t really see the linemen who’s too loud or whatnot, but he’s a great guy. Just like Fisher, he’s a player’s coach. He knows how the body feels. He takes care of us. I think he’s a little bit more strict, I would say, but again, it’s all positive things that he does around this organization.”
(On if he covered Rams TE Jared Cook a lot in practice and training camp)
“Yeah, I used to cover Jared Cook. It was fun, having a great time. Jared Cook, he’s a great player when his confidence gets going. I told him a long time ago, when he gets that confidence going, he can be up there with the best, but I think to me, it’s the confidence. I think this weekend he’s going to have a lot of confidence just playing against his former team and to prove to the organization why we didn’t keep him.”
(On what he sees from the Rams offense)
“They have a new quarterback, and I think especially just watching the Monday night game, they rushed for 200 yards, and that was against a good defense. A team that we played and held our rushing, I think, to under 100 (yards) if I’m not mistaken. You could just see that they have the players and it’s just another week that this quarterback gets to come in. He’s been with the offensive coordinator, I believe, six or seven years, so of course he knows the system, but knocking off rust this last game. But, yeah, they’ve been running the ball. It’s not the big runs, but when it’s five, six, seven, eight yards a gain, you can manage the clock and rely on your defense to get out there because they have a good defense that comes out there and disrupt our offense. You can see they like trying to keep games close and bring it down to the wire like they did against Seattle. They will take a shot here and there if you allow them to, but, again, they can manage the clock and they have a group of running backs they can bring in and just nickel and dime here and there.”
(On how the bye week went)
“I’ll tell you on Sunday afternoon. I think it went well. I think we knew it was productive for us. As most coaches will probably say, we were pretty beat up the last two, three weeks with our guys, so I think it came at a good time to get a good break, mentally and physically away from the game. We had a tough one. We played guys in your division and didn’t fare so well with San Francisco and Seattle – two good teams and so I think we needed the break. I think we’re refreshed and we need to, like the Rams too, this is a big game for both of us.”
(On what it was like coaching with Rams Head Coach Jeff Fisher)
“I would say I really enjoyed it. Jeff gave me – I was kind of like how he did it, I was transitioning from being a player to other opportunities. He got the job in Houston and gave me the opportunity to get involved coaching offensive line. And then we moved to Nashville and had a lot of success together, and we had a lot of great years. A lot of good things happened and we felt for a really long period of time we were as good as anyone in football for a lot of years. Won a lot of football games, so he was great to work for. We had a very good relationship that way, and so he was helpful when this whole thing happened and this job became available. He was very helpful in that, helping me, kind of have the opportunity to get in this position.”
(On if he and Fisher stay in contact with each other)
“Yeah, we do. Not during the season, not as much. I think it’s just so busy once you get into the routine of a season. Touch base every so often, but more during the offseason when we see each other at the – when you go to the usual up at the combine, get a chance to spend time up there in the owners’ meetings and things like that. He has some family, I think his daughter’s still back here in Nashville, so during the offseason he ends up coming back here for some visits. So, I get a chance to see him then, too.”
(On replacing Fisher as head coach)
“Yeah, he was very successful, and like I said, he took the team to the Super Bowl, so he did a lot of great things. So, yeah, I think being here and knowing how he did it was helpful for me and having a good feel of everything. So, that is difficult but I thought I transitioned fine, and I think it worked out well for me going forward in that I was here and people were familiar with me. That made it a little bit easier coming in and I learned from Jeff. I saw a lot of things he did as he learned his head coach. I watched him grow up as a head coach when he came into it and how good he got as the years went on.”
(On if the passing of Owner Bud Adams was tough on the team)
“It did. During the off week of all things, Monday, that was very sad news for us, as an organization. I’ve been with Bud as a player, a coach, and a head coach now for over 30 years, which is very unique probably in this league being with the same team like that. We had a very good relationship. So, yeah, I think it was just having to talk to him when the season ended – the plans, the excitement for him wanting to make all the changes we made and bring in players and spend money on free agency and do whatever it took to win this year and going forward. That’s what made it sad. Hopefully when this year ends, it’ll be something that he’d be very proud of as we move forward in the season. But, yeah, the funeral was a great opportunity to enjoy his life and hear a lot of great stories about all the things he had done and accomplished and making the league what it is today from merging the AFL and the NFL and just a lot of great stories of his involvement in that back in the (19)60’s.”
(On how Defensive Senior Assistant Gregg Williams fits in on the defense)
“It’s gone well. It just was a good fit. He’s like family, I think, to this organization, but to me, from being in Houston back in, I think in (19)90 when he got started as a coach and then he was with us on the staff with me and Jeff (Fisher) when we moved to Nashville, he was a coordinator. The familiarity made sense for me, and then also the fact that he and Jerry Gray, the D-coordinator, had worked together so many times at three different locations that it was just a real easy fit that way. He just brought a lot of energy to the staff, he brought that expertise he has, not just as an assistant but really for all the other assistants. Not just with Jerry Gray, but with all the DBs, the defensive back coaches, D-line, linebackers – he’s coached all those positions and special teams, so he’s a wealth of knowledge. A lot of knowledge and a lot of help and he’s been very helpful to me as a head coach. He’s been in that position, too, so when you can add a guy like him to your staff, I think it’s just a big plus and he’s been very helpful. He’s got that great demeanor. The players really respond to him, I think, I a real positive way with confidence and he’s helped portray that here.”
(On if they were interested in re-signing TE Jared Cook)
“Yeah we were. We tried to talk with him, I think, before the season ended, but it became obvious, that as most players are going to do, they’re going to wait. That’s why we struck for free agency back in the day. It gives these players an opportunity to find out what the market is for them as players. We would have loved to have him back – young player, great size, everything you want in a player. He was with us four years and you hate to lose guy you draft like that. You develop them. You like to see them finish with you because we felt these years – the fifth the year, the sixth year, the seventh year – that’s when you’re really coming into your abilities. It was hard to see him go and yeah we tried to have him here, but the business got in the way. We’ve lost a few guys to the Rams.”
(On how he handles going up against a team and a coaching staff that he’s familiar with)
“It’s probably the same as (Head Coach) Jeff (Fisher). I think if Jeff was coming here it’d be much more going on with it because of him coaching here. I’m sure the same way he’s handling it. It’s a game we both need to win. A lot of these players – unfortunately the league changes so much – a lot of these guys weren’t here when Jeff coached. We’ve had quite a turnover in the last couple years, so you don’t have as much as you would think that way. But like you said, it’s the coaches. A lot of the coaches are familiar with each other, along with the players. So, it definitely adds to the excitement of the game and the challenge of the game. We’re all competitive and we want to win for a lot of reasons, but I think ultimately it comes down to the players on the field on Sunday not us and hopefully directing our guys in the right manner. It’ll be fun, bragging rights hopefully for the offseason.”
(On QB Jake Locker improving throughout the year)
“He really has. Now that this became his team this year, the first offseason where he knew he was going to be the quarterback going into the season, had a great offseason, great preseason. Just continued to get better and I thought as the season was going on – Week 3, Week 4 – really played well. We start off 3-1. He played his two best games back-to-back with San Diego and the Jets. Didn’t have a turnover in three games and we’re 3-1. We were looking good, and then he gets hurt in that Jet game and sat two weeks. That was hard, hard for the team. Just like the Rams losing (QB Sam) Bradford. That’s hard to lose your quarterback. There’s a lot. You don’t realize how much that affects, not just on the field but in the locker room and game day and just so many things that it’s hard to fix immediately. There’s good backups in the league. Obviously, Clemens will do a good job and Fitzpatrick had a win for us. Those guys are there, but it’s not the same. It definitely affected us for two games. Really getting him back last week…the advantage of getting him back last week for the 49ers was he played well. He threw well, but at least he got all the injury stuff behind him. He’s got his confidence back. We just had our bye week, so now going into our second half of the season he should be ready go. He needs to stay healthy. I think if he does that he’ll have a great run here.”
(On RB Chris Johnson’s performance this season)
“Fortunately, some of those games early he ran the ball well against Houston and San Diego and the Pittsburgh game. But then, the last couple we’ve played some good defenses which took that away from us. He only got 10 carries for a couple of those games, which made it hard to post any numbers. This isn’t a week that you’re going to right either because I think the Rams the last couple weeks have played really well on defense. The defense is really playing well and getting after the quarterback. They shut Seattle pretty much completely down. That’s a good running team. So, it’s not like, ‘Oh, good we’re playing the Rams. We’re going to get right here.’ It’s going to be a heck of a challenge the way they play defense and it’s something I’ve seen with Jeff’s defense. I’ve practiced against them for years, so I know how well they play, how hard they play, and how good they play. We went to the Super Bowl with it, with a pretty darn good defense. I know how they know that they do a great job in that end. So, it’s going to be a challenge to get ‘CJ’ going this weekend, but we need to if we’re going to have a chance to win.”
(On the keys to his improving Tennessee defense)
“We added some people. Leadership was a big part of that. (S) Bernard Pollard, adding (S) George Wilson, adding (DE) Ropati (Pitoitua) and (DT) Sammie Hill, (LB) Moise Fokou – we added four or five veteran-type guys that really came in in free agency and made a difference because we were very young on defense. I think now that we have some leadership that communicate well, now the younger guys – your (LB) Akeem Ayers and your (LB) Zach Brown and (DT) Jurrell Casey and (S Michael) Griffin – are playing so much better because they’re much more confident. They have a great feel for what they’re doing and really that’s a big difference. You can see the byline which is a lot different on our defense than it was a year ago and they’re playing that way. So, I think it was we got the right pieces to the puzzle that we were missing last year with that leadership and it’s really gone a long way.”
(On if the Rams look more like a Jeff Fisher team after recently putting more emphasis on the run game)
“Yeah it did. I thought (RB Zac) Stacy ran really well. They rushed for close 200 or whatever they ran for last week against a very good defense. Yeah, I think that’s exactly what he wants, especially when your quarterback gets hurt, your starting quarterback. You want to help them and the best way to help them is to be able to run the football and keep your defense off the field with time of possession and those types of things like they did against Seattle. I think Seattle had 45 plays or something. That’s what’s amazing. That, obviously they didn’t win, when you can do that that’s ingredients for nine out of 10 times you’re going to win the football game when you accomplish what they did on Monday night. I’m sure they’ll stick with that because, like I said, you’re going to win a lot more than you lose when you can control the ball like that and run the football as well as they did. They just didn’t convert in the red zone. You see how important that is. Settling for field goals, it just comes back to haunt you. But, they did a lot of great things in that game and that’s what we expect to see this weekend.”
Tennessee Titans S Michael Griffin – Conference Call – October 30, 2013
(On the improvement of his play this season)
“The one thing I did this offseason was I just went back home, back to Texas, and trained with a great group of guys, former teammates and guys in the NFL that are doing great right now like Jamaal Charles and Chris Johnson, just a lot of those guys that I played with back in college. I would just go ahead and just talk to those guys and we just worked hard every day and we were all just competing. And then just to come back to work here and this front office here did a great job bringing us a great group of guys. They improved this team and this defense, just all the pieces of the puzzle have come together.”
(On what it is about the University of Texas that makes NFL-caliber safeties)
“I don’t know. You have to give credit to our coach, Coach Duane Akina. He’s been there for a while and his resume speaks for itself: Quentin Jammer, Nathan Vasher, Michael Huff, myself, Keenan McCardell, Aaron Ross. You name it Quentin Brown, Chykie Brown, Earl Thomas. The list can continuously go on. Then, you’ve got Quentin Jammer’s little brother Quandre Diggs who’s supposed to be coming out this coming year. He’s been doing a great job and I hope he continues doing good for the current and future players that come to the University of Texas.”
(On if the secondary is the strength of the defense so far this season)
“It’s hard to say. I’m the type of guy, you know, you’ve got to be humble. We’ve got all-star tackles up front. You have guys like (DEs) Ropati (Pitoitua) and Derrick Morgan, (DT) Jurrell Casey, those guys up front, and even Antonio Johnson who each week’s been coming in…Sammie Hill was supposed to be the starter. He got hurt against the (Houston) Texans, and Antonio Johnson came in and took his job. The front four guys and the linebackers have done a great job. I won’t say there’s a specific strong point of the defense. I think we’re all just playing good football together and everybody’s just doing their job.”
(On how much interaction he has with Gregg Williams)
“It’s funny because I joke with Coach Williams all the time. We go back and forth and things of that nature. Both coaches speak when it comes to meetings, but when it comes to the game, Coach (Defensive Coordinator Jerry) Gray is calling the game. Both of them take part. Coach Gray with the DBs and Coach Williams with linebackers doing their former positions that they used to coach. On Sundays, the come together and Coach Gray is calling the plays and Williams is actually on the walkie telling us the plays in the game. They’ve both work hand-in-hand together and it’s working. A lot of people have questioned how it was going to work, but the thing is they both worked together in the past…so Coach Gray is the defensive coordinator and Coach Williams is the consultant, rather than the opposite way around. Coach Gray is the D-coordinator and (Defensive Senior Assistant) Coach (Gregg) Williams is the consultant rather than the opposite way around. Coach Gray is one of the coaches that are a coordinator and Gregg Williams is the head coach.”
(On if he sees an impact from Gregg Williams’ presence)
“Really, he has the attitude that, Coach Gray, it’s kind of like they feed off each other. When one guy says something, the other guy says something, and then one guy says something, and the other says, ‘Take notes on what this guy says.’ So, they pinball off of each other and they feed off each other and again, I think it’s the attitude and the way we practice and the way they approach the game, I think it’s just rubbed off on all of us. Of course, you’ve got to include (S) Bernard Pollard, he’s an angry guy 24/7 on the field, but off the field, he’s vocal but at the same time he’s great guy to be around.”
(On if it will be strange to see Coach Jeff Fisher in the other sideline)
“I guess it is going to be kind of strange just seeing him in a whole different outfit, everything, coaching different teams and all those things, so it’s going to be different. I haven’t spoke to him since he left or whatnot. But again, nothing but great things to say about him. When he was here, he did some great things here. He left a lot of tradition and things around here and whatever and ‘Munch’ (Head Coach Mike Munchak) picked up some of the things and started some new things. Again, it’s going to be weird, but it’s a good just thing seeing somebody doing well.”
(On what it was like playing for Coach Fisher)
“He’s a player’s coach. He’s a former player and he knew how the body feels and things. He took care of us on and off the field, whether it was if you had personal things going on he was always there to listen and help you out. I can account for that, one of the situations I had going on in the past, but he was a great guy. You never knew if he was serious or whether he was joking because he was big prankster. But again, it was a lot of fun, a lot of great memories.”
(On if he was surprised when Fisher left Tennessee)
“I had the privilege in 2010 and I was at the Pro Bowl and me and (RB) Chris Johnson were about ready to go to one of these little meeting things that had to do, and everybody was saying, “Y’all know your head coach was just fired.’ And we were like, ‘What are you talking about?’ It was crazy at the time or whatever, at same time Vince Young got released and Coach Fisher was fired later on, and then the big question was, who was the coaching staff going to be. It was surprising, but it managed to all work itself out, and right now we’ve got some good guys here, good coaches here. Not many guys here played with Coach Fisher because it’s like a revolving door, but again, all good things must come to an end, but then good things start all over. So, it all worked itself out.”
(On if he will say hello to Head Coach Fisher before the game)
“Of course. You’ve got Coach Fisher. You’ve got (Secondary Coach) Chuck Cecil who also drafted me and was my defensive back coach, and you have (Assistant Head) Coach (Dave) McGinnis. So, you have a group of guys over there which we call the Midwest Tennessee Titans and I almost can assure you that the longer Fisher’s over there, probably the more Tennessee Titans will be employed there. Again, I will speak to him. In fact, when we played the Detroit Lions last year, Coach (Jim) Schwartz was my D-coordinator when I first got here and got me to my first Pro Bowl. There’s neutral feelings, great guys in his coaches and a great group of guys.”
(On what it’s like playing for Coach Mike Munchak)
“At first, it was funny, when ‘Munch’ first got the job, I told ‘Munch’, he was the offensive line coach, it’s funny how I never interacted with you ever because you were here the entire time. He was the offensive line coach, and of course I didn’t play defensive line, so I never really had to actually talk to him. But, as much as I like Fisher, who’s a little bit quieter and things of that nature. He’s always about business. He’s kind of like an offensive lineman. He’s not as much of a ‘hoo-hoo, rah-rah’ guy. You know you don’t really see the linemen who’s too loud or whatnot, but he’s a great guy. Just like Fisher, he’s a player’s coach. He knows how the body feels. He takes care of us. I think he’s a little bit more strict, I would say, but again, it’s all positive things that he does around this organization.”
(On if he covered Rams TE Jared Cook a lot in practice and training camp)
“Yeah, I used to cover Jared Cook. It was fun, having a great time. Jared Cook, he’s a great player when his confidence gets going. I told him a long time ago, when he gets that confidence going, he can be up there with the best, but I think to me, it’s the confidence. I think this weekend he’s going to have a lot of confidence just playing against his former team and to prove to the organization why we didn’t keep him.”
(On what he sees from the Rams offense)
“They have a new quarterback, and I think especially just watching the Monday night game, they rushed for 200 yards, and that was against a good defense. A team that we played and held our rushing, I think, to under 100 (yards) if I’m not mistaken. You could just see that they have the players and it’s just another week that this quarterback gets to come in. He’s been with the offensive coordinator, I believe, six or seven years, so of course he knows the system, but knocking off rust this last game. But, yeah, they’ve been running the ball. It’s not the big runs, but when it’s five, six, seven, eight yards a gain, you can manage the clock and rely on your defense to get out there because they have a good defense that comes out there and disrupt our offense. You can see they like trying to keep games close and bring it down to the wire like they did against Seattle. They will take a shot here and there if you allow them to, but, again, they can manage the clock and they have a group of running backs they can bring in and just nickel and dime here and there.”