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Coach Mularkey's Wednesday Practice Transcript

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HEAD COACH MIKE MULARKEY PRESS CONFERENCE TRANSCRIPT - Wednesday, November 22, 2017 (opening statement)**

Health-wise, we practiced, everybody practiced, nobody was limited. It was all full go.

(on the rarity of having a fully healthy roster at this point in the season)

That might be a first for me, yeah. I'd say that's a rarity but I give the players a lot of credit for putting us in that position, and our training staff and our strength staff. A lot of work goes in to keeping these guys healthy, but the players have to spend some time on their own to put themselves in this position to – I mean, full strength, there's bumps and bruises on everybody in the league. But, we've got nobody being held out of practice.

(on if he would consider Lucas Oil Stadium a hard place to coach)

It's a unique, it's really a unique place. A few years back – I think it's one of the louder stadiums in the league. I was up in the box when I was calling plays and I looked around the stadium, and the one thing that is unique about it, it's made up of a bunch of – it's a lot of families that are in that stadium. Bunch of kids, bunch of husbands and wives. It's really a neat environment and it's loud with that kind of crowd. It is, it's tough to play there, it's tough to hear. They definitely have an advantage with the crowd there.

*(on if the mindset is different heading into Sunday knowing the Titans are one game behind Jacksonville) *No. It's a game, obviously it's a division game, we understand that. All these games are games we have to win to win our division. This one, again, with – everybody knows how long it's been since we've won there. That's not an issue, it's the next game we've got to win to go where we want to go.

(on how frequently he looks for a 'shock play' during a game like wide receiver Rishard Matthews' 75-yard touchdown at Pittsburgh)

A lot. You wish they all worked out like that and there's been some instances of that happening this year. I think it was a shock play because it was the first play of the second half. We see things and we tinker with, and again you hope that they come back with the same coverage, and they did, and then they've got to execute it without practicing it. That's the biggest thing, is executing the play.

(on why he thinks Rishard Matthews is so effective on deep-yardage receptions)

Well, it's what he's doing after the catch on a lot of these. If you remember earlier in the year, he caught basically a wide receiver screen and went the distance. He's got a knack of making some people miss and making plays. He had to make two guys miss on that throw alone down there, he's just got a knack for it.

*(on how yards after catch has been for the offense excluding Rishard Matthews) *Obviously, always can do better. Delanie (Walker) is a guy that seems to always make yards after catch. He's phenomenal at breaking tackles, that one down the middle the other night was a good example of what he does. Without going through the whole roster, we've got guys that can do something with the ball. (Eric) Decker always seems to find the sticks when we need the play.

(on how wide receiver Harry Douglas has been returning to practice this week)

He talks a lot. He brings a lot of energy and our defense loves competing against him, he's fun to be around. He looks like he's got some fresh legs, there's no question about it. But, he had a good day today as well.

(on being patient with Harry Douglas after returning from injury)

Yeah, I think we're going to be patient with him and not make any decisions here until the end of the week.

*(on how confident he is quarterback Marcus Mariota will bounce back like he historically has after a poor performance) *Yeah, I think we all know Marcus (Mariota) right now, there's not a lot that phases him. He typically responds pretty well, even to the next play after a bad experience. We all have confidence he'll be fine when we line up on Sunday.

*(on how impressive it is that Colts quarterback Jacoby Brissett came into Indianapolis quickly and has kept the Colts offense competitive) *He's a good player, I think that's what they knew when they traded for him. I think the more experience he's gotten, the better he's gotten. They're throwing the ball more than they did the last time we played them. He's a good player and again, he's another one of these guys that makes plays with his feet. We've got to make sure that we keep him where he's supposed to be. 

(on how the comfort between him and Marcus Mariota has grown since the beginning of Mariota's career)

We had a little bit of a relationship when I was coaching the tight ends. I think he knows I've been around a while, been around some very good quarterbacks, some guys that have been mobile, some guys that have been dropback passers. He knows I've had some experience with quarterbacks. I think there's a very good trust factor there, a very good trust factor.

(on if he's ever gone to a Black Friday sale)

What's that? No I haven't, I've been probably not a real good husband when it comes to Christmas gifts since I've been in this business. Maybe I'll try this year.

Titans players take the field for Wednesday's practice at Saint Thomas Sports Park. (Photos: Gary Glenn)

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