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TITANS HEAD COACH MIKE MULARKEY PRESS CONFERENCE TRANSCRIPT - December 13, 2017**

(opening statement)

(Taylor) Lewan did not practice today, just want to be precautionary. We think he'll go tomorrow. (Johnathan) Cyprien came out. He was getting ready to practice and just had some spasms in his low back. We held him out. We'll have to see, day-to-day with him. (Phillip) Supernaw, ankle, still bothering him. He may do a little bit tomorrow, we'll see, but not able to go today. (Derrick) Morgan was limited. He did more than we expected.

(on if quarterback Marcus Mariota was a full participant in practice)

Marcus (Mariota) was a full go. Everybody else was a full go.

(on how being in Arizona is different from being in Nashville and if it's a positive thing)

I think it's good. Obviously, the weather is helpful. Being on the grass, I think there was a chance we were going to have to go in and be on turf possibly in Nashville. I was just worried about that, if we don't have to. Obviously, saving that travel time this weekend will be a bonus. I think it's been good. We've gotten a lot of work done. Our guys can spend some more time studying up on the opponent, they can spend some more time in the spa and using the hot tubs and everything available to them to recover. It's been a good experience.

(on how much now is the time that they look for the team building to pay off)

I think it's important, especially where we're sitting right now, the position that we're sitting in, I think it's important that we have. We have a very close football team and they know exactly where we're at at this time. They know the situation we're in, the position we're in. Based on the way we got things done today with the walk through today at the hotel, the practice we had, it was very good. Didn't miss a beat.

(on if he's confident the team is past Sunday's loss).

I would think so, yeah. We've lost a game before and comeback. I'm not sure the last time we lost two in a row. They've typically responded like I'd expect them to.

(on how good it is for Marcus Mariota to be a full go in practice and how he looked today)

It was good to see him. We're going to let him do as much as he wanted and he took a normal amount of reps. That was good to see.

(on what Marcus Mariota opening his press conference with an apology tells him about him)

Oh that doesn't surprise me. I wasn't sure what he said, I heard the apology. That doesn't surprise me. He's just a very competitive man, I guess he let his emotions get to him.

(on if it's good for Marcus Mariota to show his frustration)

I don't think that's a bad thing, I don't at all. I like that he did, I like that about a lot of our guys on our team. I can tell you, a couple of years ago, it wasn't that way. It wasn't disappointing, it wasn't emotional after a loss. It is now. It's very disappointing. I think that's a good thing, the way this team's reacting.

(on if Marcus Mariota is a 'moper')

No, I haven't seen him do that. I have not seen him do that yet.

(on if the accumulation of injuries that Marcus Mariota has suffered has factored into or limited his play)

Yeah, I mean it has. The time's that he's had those injuries, it's limited to whether we've known and we've had a game plan or it's happened in games and we've had to adjust the game plan. It's something that you've got to do for everybody. Even when (Taylor) Lewan went out, we had to do some things differently that we had planned and couldn't do. That's just the way it works, that's any player.

(on if the effect of past injuries that Marcus Mariota has suffered has built up over time)

I don't think so. No, I don't think so. I think it's isolated.

(on how outside linebacker Erik Walden did with increased reps on Sunday)

He was effective from start to finish. I even asked him out here today, 'How do you feel today after all of the reps on Sunday?' and he said he felt great. I thought he played really well for us. He played like you expect, he came in there, and that's why you sign him.

(on how much better the 49ers have looked over their last four games compared to the first half of the season)

Well they look better because I think they're gaining more confidence with the quarterback change. For sure in the last two games, you look at the effectiveness of their offense is trickling to the other phases. The defense is playing off of their offense possessing the football. Especially with the quarterback change, it's affected their team pretty well.

(on the effectiveness of 49ers running back Carlos Hyde running the ball and as a threat in the backfield)

He's a one-man wrecking crew if you let him be. I think they're very good at how they go about trying to get him the football. He's a really good football player. Obviously, we know they're going to get the ball to him, we've got to do our best to stop him, whichever way that is. 

(on the importance of players winning one-on-ones in practice)

Always important. These guys, again, they play man, they play a lot of zone, they play a lot of one-high. They're always going to have a guy down there to stop the run. We're going to get probably more man than we saw on tape. That's been the case throughout, just challenging our guys that they've got to beat some one-on-ones. It's nice to see Corey Davis being the last guy out here working on routes. That says a lot about him.

(on how the off-day activities help with team building)

I'm not sure what they, some guys, I think TopGolf was an offer to them. They got an opportunity to go to the basketball game, a hockey game. We've got a movie planned for them. A lot of them have done some different things that we didn't have to plan, they did it on their own.

(on having depth at tight end with Luke Stocker with tight end Phillip Supernaw getting hurt)

That was a blessing that that happened, that (Luke) Stocker was here with the injury to (Phillip) Supernaw because when Supernaw goes out your fullback plays are also gone out of your game plan. It's nice that we've got a guy that's got some experience. He's done a good bit of it for Tampa, so that's a good thing, probably more than Supernaw has.