TITANS HEAD COACH MIKE MULARKEY PRESS CONFERENCE TRANSCRIPT - July 29, 2017

(opening statement)

You guys who have been here know it could be extremely hot out here. A lot of renovations out here, this (the media pavilion) and then obviously again, the stands for the fans. I think again, I want to thank Amy (Adams Strunk) for what she's done to provide those for our fans. Obviously, it's a much more comfortable environment, and it was fun to have them out here. I'd invite more people to come out, we have plenty of room.

(on how the first practice went)*

I told them I was pretty pleased. The first day went well, the morning walk-through was good. But this was good, I thought all three phases- there was something good about all three. You can tell that they've been doing some studying on their own, no question about it. Very limited, minimal errors, not a lot of mistakes. We had three pre-snap penalties, but for the most part, for day one it was pretty clean.

(on how quarterback Marcus Mariota looked overall and what aspect of practice he's been held back from)

There's things that we're holding back on that you wouldn't know. But, obviously through the scripts- we can create the scripts to avoid him from doing some of the things we want to not throw him right into. So, he took a good majority of the reps, obviously you saw that. It was good to have him back. He's great, I know his teammates were glad to have him back in that huddle but I think we're- again we're being smart with him.

(on if rookie wide receiver Corey Davis is in the facility and if he is expected to be at the meetings tonight)

From what I understand he's here, I have not seen him. I know he was going to sign and he will be here for sure for meetings tonight, but I'm not sure if he's here right now.

(on how he feels about Davis signing)

I'm pleased that he's here, I'm glad he's here. I think his teammates are glad, I know he's very happy to be here. Didn't miss very much you know, a couple of practices and he will not be behind. He'll pick it right up.

(on if he expects Davis to be a full go)

I do. I do expect that, yes.  

(on if cornerback LeShaun Sims gets more reps because of seniority)*

Yeah. Again, somebody's got to start every practice out there, you've got to have somebody. LeShaun because of the experience, Adoree' (Jackson) again, because of the lack of. But again, we'll rotate them all. We're keeping a number count on the reps and we'll keep a good idea of who's getting what.

(on how linebacker Erik Walden looked in practice)

Yeah, I mean you can tell he's played a lot of ball, he's been in some systems. This is a very complex system, he's picked it up pretty quickly for just getting here.

(on if wide receiver TajaéSharpe is on PUP)

Yes he is.

(on being patient with Sharpe's rehab)

Yeah, you know we're going to be patient with him based on our history with what happened with Kevin (Dodd). Just want to be smart with that too. We've got a bunch of receivers that can do the job right now, and just to get him healthy, that's the most important thing.

(on how running back Derrick Henry's physical condition looked)*

Very similar to the offseason. He came back, he's in great shape. I mean, he's a physical specimen. For his size, he can run. But it looks like he didn't drop off at all from the break, the five weeks off.

(on how Mariota looked in practice)

Pretty good. I mean, I'm pretty pleased today. He made some throws- the throw to Delanie (Walker). He dropped it in there. We had some out of pocket plays that obviously we did not do at all in offseason, he was great with those. Made some throws, those are good signs for day one. Again, I'll have a better feel after I watch film on the practice.

(on how wide receiver Eric Decker looked in practice)

Oh, I was impressed. Again, he was not here- we signed him when the offseason program finished and for him to come out here and line up, there weren't a lot of mistakes with him and made some plays. So it was impressive, you could tell he's done some studying on his own as well.

(on if Decker took reps at "X" or if wide receiver Rishard Matthews played in that role)

He was at "X" one time today, Rishard was at "Z". I mean, again, he's played all three today. Yeah, they're bouncing around. 

(on Decker and Mariota's chemistry)

They actually have been together. They came back early, they came back a couple weeks ago. They've been off-site- they can't work here during the dead period- and they found places to throw together. So all the receivers - everybody was together throwing, and Marcus (Mariota) set that all up.

(on how the change in the roster reduction rules will factor into making roster cuts)* 

I don't know how much that's really going to play into it. Especially with the last week, we play on Sunday and then we're going to play Thursday again, and that's a short time. It's like a real regular season game, so I don't know how it's going to play a factor. We'll have more bodies- which is a good thing for us- than we normally do.

(on if he plans to still gradually release players) 

No, we'll be around that number, I would say, all the way.

(on if outside linebacker Kevin Dodd performed as expected today)

Yeah, I mean he's taken his reps. There are no limitations on Dodd, he's doing everything we've asked him to do.

(on what his message is coming into the season)

That's pretty much the message, it's: "that was then, this is now." It's a different year, these guys understand that. You've got to be careful of listening to some of the noise that's out there, it can get you if you listen to it. Our guys are locked in based on what I've seen in meetings. What I've seen on the field, our guys are locked in. We're going to work just like we have all offseason, it hasn't changed.

(on the fan excitement around the team)*

It's nice, it's nice to have as many fans as we had out here day one. I'm hoping it grows and continues to grow. It's good, I told them on Friday night they've earned the excitement that's around here. They have from what they did last year, and there's nothing wrong with that. I don't want to take anything away from creating that excitement that they have. I don't want to take that away, but they've also got to understand that that was last year, and this is an entirely different season. We have different players and a lot of things, and we've got a lot of work to do. But don't take away what you've created, you guys built a lot of excitement around here.

(on if defensive line Karl Klug's quick rehabilitation was 'incredible')

Not for Karl. Karl Klug is- I don't know if I've been around a guy that is an animal when it comes to working out and doing everything right and wanting to get back out here. He pays attention to what the trainers- and he lived in that training room. He was here daily. It doesn't surprise me about him.

(on what extent he has to limit Klug)

I think we've just got to keep him out of the plays, I mean he'd go every rep if we let him. And I said that to him in stretch, I said, "Do you trust me?" and he goes, "Oh I trust you." I said, "I trust you, I trust you to a point, I want you to make sure you're not putting yourself in a position jeopardizing where you're at, so that's how much trust I have in you." So, he knows his body, he knows what he's capable of doing and what he's not.

(on how involved Klug will be in a padded practice) *

He will be involved. To the number of reps a normal starter would do, probably not, but he will be in team reps.

(on what kind of reps Klug got today)

I'd have to look at it, minimal.

(on how competitive the linebacker position is right now with Daren Bates)

Pretty competitive, you know everybody keeps talking about his special teams ability and actually he's been pretty impressive out here, even Brynden Trawick has been impressive as part of the defensive scheme. It's competitive. I think we're going to do a better job covering, which we needed to do. We've got some guys that can run, Jayon (Brown) is not intimidated by the level of this game at all, I think he's going to be a good player for us. Again, but we haven't put the pads on, when we put the pads on maybe that'll change. I doubt it though.

(on if wide receiver Taywan Taylor will get more opportunities)

He will continue, yeah. I mean we've got some options like I said yesterday, we've got some personnel groupings that we can create now with some of the guys we have and Taywan being one of them.

(on what needs to be seen for rookie cornerback Adoree' Jackson to start)

Consistency. Consistency, coming out here every day, playing at a high level every day.

(on the effect that Sims and safety Da'Norris Searcy starting has on the newcomers today)*

I think it's more the experience for day one. There's competition at all the positions, but it's more about where did we leave off in the offseason, where we're picking up. Those guys were there when we left in June.

(on his thoughts on what quarterback Alex Tanney can do)

That's one of our options, it's been discussed. Tanney got a lot of work this offseason. It was not a negative, what happened with Matt (Cassel), you know with Matt's injury Alex had to take a good lump of the reps and I think it was good for him. And he didn't let us down, he's been impressive, he really has. He had a really good offseason and he had a good day today.

(on what the difference is between Mariota from year two to year three)

Well, familiarity with the offense, obviously, it helps. Same players, for the most part a lot of the same players that's the one thing. I think we're much further ahead today than we were a year ago, at this time, much further ahead. We're doing things that took weeks later last year for what we're doing now and I think a lot of that has to do with Marcus (Mariota) too, how much he's grown over this year.