Titans head coach Jeff Fisher
I don't know if I have another way to describe that other than that was ugly.
We had a lot of chances to make a lot of plays today. We made the plays we needed to make at the end with the exception of the last tackle and the facemask penalty. We'll take the win. The guys battled all day. That team we are playing over there is probably one of the best one-win teams I've played against in a long time. They had two very tough losses prior to this one. Coach Capers is doing a good job with that team because winning is hard in this league and they could have very easily won this ballgame.
There were some good things out there today. It is important to realize what happened to Pacman Jones this week. He lost his best friend, who was a victim of a violent crime. His aunt passed away two days later. I excused him on Friday. He was at a funeral Friday night and didn't get back to our hotel until late last night. He was very tired, and for him to play the way he did today, and to make the decisions he made and to get the ball in the end zone shows me a lot of heart and a lot of character.
Steve (McNair) didn't practice all week. His ankle was sore. He made the plays we needed to make. There were some things in the game that were good. Chris Brown flashed, Travis Henry flashed and the screens were good. We blocked a field goal, which we desperately needed.
Titans CB Pacman Jones
(On how good it felt to get in the end zone and see no flags)
Oh it felt real good, finally getting in there and to see no flags. Then the block on the kick, I looked back to see that he didn't throw a block on the kick. It felt good to know that I'm getting better every game and I finally got to show it. You don't really get to show it when it gets called back, so it felt pretty good to get a touchdown that didn't get called back.
(On if he wanted to throw the ball into the stands)
I was going to, but the net was there. I looked up and I saw the net, so I thought I better keep this ball for Coach Fisher, so I turned around and decided to keep it. I was going to throw it, but the net was up.
(On why he gave the ball to Coach Fisher)
Coach has been with me through my ups and downs when I was getting booed and all that, so I have a great deal of respect for Coach Fisher. He is not the average coach. I have played with a lot of coaches, some of the best and I haven't seen a guy that takes the time with a player like Coach Fisher. It's a whole other level. Mostly you get that treatment in college or high school where you can really relate to your coaches. Coach Fisher and I have a great bond, so I think he deserved it, because more of the pressure goes on him then on me for the things I have gone through, so for the most part I just thought he deserved it.
(On how how he's playing better later in the season when most rookies drop off)
I love competing. Anybody who loves competing can't tell you that they hit a
lapse in the twelfth game because their body was tired. If you compete, you are
going to compete all the time. I'm really just now having fun. This is the fun
part for me. The first couple of games was my learning. I had missed twenty-four
practices, so this second half of the season has been pretty fun for me. I just
wish the first half could have gone like the second half.Â
Titans QB Steve McNair
(On whether he's going to start calling his own plays)
Not really, but at the same time, we just have to execute. We missed some opportunities out there today, a couple dropped balls here and there for a touchdown. I think we just have to overcome that, that's our biggest fear week in and week out is we just have to make some plays. We preach all week that we have to make some big play somewhere and the last drive we said, guys all we need are one or two big plays and we can get ourselves in a position to win this ballgame, and we did that.
(On what the last 30 seconds were like)
After it was all over, it was just like the opposite of the 1999 season, the Music City Miracle. You're up one minute, then all of a sudden you're down. That's part of the game. You have to play until every second is gone off the clock. It is just one of the things that the guys work hard to get themselves in a position to win and the lucky bounce of the guy just pooching the field goal to tie it up and go into overtime.
(On Robaire Smith)
Robaire is a great guy. We tried to do all we could to contain him. We tried to do all we could to change up the snap count to try to tangle him up, but he's a great guy. I think if he could take the personal foul back, he would. Robaire is a great friend of mine, he's a great guy, he works hard, he plays hard. He and Gary (Walker) did some stuff defensively to try to corrupt us in the running game. They played well today.
(On whether they get excited about staying on the field at fourth down)
Absolutely. It's a challenge. It's a challenge for us that they have that much coming to them, we have to come through. Like I said, we missed a couple opportunities, but I don't think they are going to shy away from it. I think they still think that we have the opportunity - third and fourth (down), we're on the plus territory, we can go for it and we have in the past. I don't know what (conversion) percentage on fourth down, but I think it's pretty good. At the same time those two things we didn't get on the fourth down was the key to not being successful early on in this game.
(On the dropped balls)
You can sit here and bang yourself in the head, and I know those guys are banging themselves in the head , but that's just something we have to do. We just have to make those plays. The guys know that, things happen but at the same time you can't let it get you down you have to continue to play and continue to go out there and stay focused and do the things it takes you to forget about that play and concentrate on the plays ahead.
