**
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(on if he wishes he had gone for it on fourth-and-one late in the fourth quarter)
Not tough at all. Had I had to do it all over again, I would have made the same decision—considering the circumstances, like I talked about last night.
(on if in a perfect world he'd like to get Kenny Britt and Randy Moss on the field at the same time)
I think there is a chance. We've talked about that. With Kenny coming back this last week, they play the same position. There is a chance that something like that could happen, down the stretch.
(on if either Kenny Britt or Randy Moss would be switching positions to get on the field more)
It would be Kenny. Randy is suited to be the split end, that is where he's played his whole career. It would be Kenny who would potentially move over and maybe get some time over there.
(on why it wouldn't be Randy Moss moving to the other wide receiver position with his football IQ)
Athletically Kenny is better suited for the other position. It has nothing to do with Randy's football IQ. Randy can play any position on offense. He is a very, very smart guy. Kenny would be better suited because that's the guy that does the motion and all of those other things.
(on if Randy Moss hasn't held up his end after the waiver claim)
No, Randy has done everything that we've asked of him and more. Randy understood and Randy was encouraging his teammates and excited about the game, ready to play when he got the opportunity. He had no issues, it was just one of those things where Kenny was the starter at that position, he got hurt, he came back and we wanted to work him back in the game. As I said, there is always that chance that we could try to get them both on the field.
(on how the defenses line up to defend Kenny Britt compared to Randy Moss)
The Colts stayed with the same plan. They stayed with the same plan last night.
(on Kenny Britt wearing a towel with Vince Young's initials and number on it)
You know, I wasn't aware of that.
(on getting Randy Moss and Kenny Britt on the field at the same time)
Because we have other receivers that are playing well for us, Nate (Washington) is making plays. We have a lot of other receivers and they both play the same position, and as I said there is a chance Kenny may move and a chance he may stay.
(on if Kenny Britt will get suspended or fined by the NFL for the Vince Young towel)
Suspended? There are fines levied every week for uniform violations across the league. Whether they're socks or towels or what have you. So if there is something that didn't fit the requirements, I'm sure there will be a fine.
(on Kenny Britt wearing a Vince Young tribute towel)
You know, I really—I wasn't aware of it last night. I haven't addressed it with them today. We cut the players loose. I am not too concerned, what I want him to do is play. (Former NFL) Commissioner (Pete) Rozelle fined Jim McMahon for wearing two different headbands in 1985.
(on Jim McMahon getting fined for wearing two headbands in 1985)
Yeah, one was Pluto and one was Rozelle, ask me what Pluto is and I'll tell you after.
(on the players getting a long weekend)
We've cut the players loose. This is, in essence, going to be a repeat of the bye week. They'll be back Tuesday for a lift and a meeting around midday.
(on what he was talking to Kenny Britt about on the sidelines)
Kenny just got excited out there. Something happened on the field that he got a little worked up and I just calmed him down, he was fine.
(on what got Kenny Britt upset)
You know, I didn't get into what it was that created the fact that he became a little emotional. I just calmed him down and he was fine.
(on the Colts getting called for simulating the Titans' snap count)
The league has a rule and memos went out to the clubs as a reminder that since we've moved the umpire to the other side of the ball that it is unsportsmanlike conduct penalty if a defense simulates the snap count of the quarterback. It's my opinion, based on the film that I've looked at over the years and specifically in two games this year, where the Colts were violating that rule. In two games in particular and so they were caught on the extra point. It's the Colts who do it and no one else really does it, but it's something that they make a habit of and so I was just glad the officials caught it.
(on if the Colts simulated the Titans' snap count more than once)
I am not aware of any other time in the game. It's hard to hear. Our offensive line didn't indicate to me that they did, but they did at that particular time they did do it.
(on if he will file a complaint to the league)
No, they were penalized and that should be sufficient.
(on Ken Amato's bad snap on a punt)
It was a slick ball. I haven't seen him do it in practice since he's been here. It just kind of is one of those things that happened. He just cut it loose and the trajectory was wrong and it sailed.
(on if he hopes the team will come back refocused after a long weekend)
Yeah, we talked about it this morning. What we're going to do is come back and have fun and work hard and win games. That is the most important thing. They understand, they're going to take care of themselves. We can't change what happened yesterday in the first half. We can build on what happened in the second half, and come back, put together a plan together and get ready to play the Texans.
(on if he is concerned about his job security)
It's never been a concern of mine. I don't come to work being concerned about that. I come to work to put a day's work in and try to get the team ready to win games. It's not a concern and it will not be a concern.
(on if he would like to be back as the head coach of the Titans next year)
I am under contract and I've said numerous times I hope to finish my career here.
(on if he's had any talks with Titans' owner Bud Adams about next season)
I'm not going to go into our discussions between the two of us, between he and I.
(on what he will use as selling points to have him retained as head coach in 2011)
He clearly understands what happened this season. Particularly the instability at the quarterback position, injuries upfront on the defensive line—he understands what happened. He doesn't like it, like we don't like it. He is not happy with it, nor are we but we move on and you get yourself prepared to play and try and win the next game. There may be some younger players playing throughout the remaining three games, we'll see what happens.
(on if the Titans will give more inexperienced players more playing time during the last three games of the season)
The staff has talked, I've spoke with Mike (Heimerdinger) and there is a chance we may play some younger players. I'm not going to go into detail who they are because there are older players that may not be playing, so I'm not going to go into detail until we get back next week.
(on if uncertainty about his job security will prevent the Titans from playing younger players)
What I'm doing is we're going to continue to develop this football team and help this football team improve. It has nothing to do with me, it has to do with this football team.
(on Chris Hope's struggles this season)
Obviously, there's been some plays over the last few weeks and throughout the year that you'd like to see end in a different result. We had some missed tackles yesterday and a coverage issue, but that position is not easy to play. I'm not one to point fingers at anybody or lay blame on anybody, but we've got a lot of different positions and a lot of different plays over the season that have contributed to losses.
(on if there will be a lot of changes made on the team between now and next season)
There are changes every year. There are changes throughout the offseason every year. Your roster changes, for obvious reasons—through free agency, through the draft. So yes, there will be a different team here next year that certainly is much different than this team, but I think this team has a really solid, good group of young players—rising stars if you will at a lot of different positions. We just have to settle the quarterback situation down, upgrade at a few positions and move on.
(on how offensive coordinator Mike Heimerdinger did last night)
Mike did a great job. He really did a good job. Good job communicating, communicating through Dowell (Loggain to Kerry (Collins). I think Kerry's play speaks for that. Kerry was very well prepared in a short week, and played well.
(on if they will continue to have Mike Heimerdinger call plays from the booth)
My hope is that he will. Right now he is fighting and he is doing well. I am proud of him.
(on if players not talking to the media is a sign that they need to mature)
Losing is not an easy thing, by no means. Especially when you're losing consecutive games like we have. I don't know which players you are referring to, but by in large I think most players stand up and take responsibility. Just because a guy walks out a little early doesn't mean the player isn't taking responsibility for a loss. I saw Bo's (Scaife) frustration on Sunday, with a veteran player, as it relates to anybody, you need to hang around but you don't have to hang around and wait. You need to hang around and if questions are asked you need to address them and answer them.
(on if there is a lack of leadership in the Titans' locker room)
I am going to maintain, once again, that there isn't a lack of leadership. A lack of leadership did not contribute to the losing streak. Losing streaks are difficult, especially at this level, when you work so hard week after week after week. It's not a lack of leadership. There is plenty of leadership in that locker room, there is plenty of leadership in the meeting rooms that we see from each and every position group. Wherever this is coming from, whether it's coming from players not standing up and taking responsibility or players leaving the locker room. It's not a result of a lack of leadership. I'm not concerned about that, I think this team works hard, I think each position group works hard, I think the offense and defense work hard together, so I'm not concerned about it. I don't think it's an issue.
(on if players that are on Injured Reserve typically attend the games)
At times they do, at times they don't. I would say most of the time if players on injured reserve are in town they will show up for the game.
(on if he is surprised that Vince Young hasn't attended any games since being injured)
I'm surprised he's not here. He was not told to not be here, but again he is following the guidelines of what we do with injured reserve players. We have several players who are rehabbing outside of Nashville who are not here for games and we have a handful of players that are here on the sidelines for games.
(on if he thinks Vince Young is pouting by not coming to games)
I don't know what his issue is, he's not here. He's on injured reserve.
(on if he is going to have a sit down with Vince Young)
I'm coaching this football team, my door is open. I'm not going to go out of my way to do that because that doesn't have any barring over what's going to happen tomorrow or this weekend or over the next three weeks. He's welcome to come in if he wants to.
(on if Vince Young needs to talk to him before things can move forward between the two of them)
We're going to address it when the season is over as I've mentioned. It will eventually be addressed, but there is no rush right now as far as the last three games are concerned.
(on if he wants to have the sit down meeting with Vince Young before the Combine)
**I'll address it when the season is over.
(on the current six-game losing streak)
I don't know. Obviously the difficulty we had last year was, I think, a little bit different than what we're going through now. We had stability at the quarterback position, we had injuries at other positions. Again, as I've mentioned part of it has been that Kerry (Collins) was able to show yesterday the benefits of working with the offense, healthy, two consecutive weeks. It's hard to draw a parallel. Bottom line is we're getting beat and we're not winning games and it's not acceptable.
(on which six-game losing streak was more difficult, the one to start 2009 or the current one)
You know, it's hard to say whether it's a bigger challenge or not, it's a challenge. They're going to come back and they're going to play hard. Just like they did last night, people wrote them off after Jacksonville, they came back and they played hard last night. They're going to come back and play hard with tremendous effort.
(on what his message to the Titans players was)
It was just simple. Get away, take care of yourself, rest and when you come back, come back and prepare yourself to have fun and win football games and work hard.
(on if he's in disbelief about the Titans current struggles)
No. This past week our focus was on a short week and getting ready and to prepare this team to get ready and try and beat the Colts. That was it and that's going to be the focus this week. The coaches will take a little extra time to get caught up on their sleep, which they didn't get much of this past week, and we'll put a plan together and get ready for the Texans.
(on if difficult seasons wear on him more now because he has gotten older)
I think anybody can come in and stand up here after wins and stand in front of teams after wins. I think the challenge is how you handle these particular situations and how you pull out of them and how you get them to bounce back. There is a lot more time and effort that goes into these times, certainly, than goes into a 10-game winning streak.
