**
QB DAVID GARRARD**
(on what is different with the Jaguars this time around as opposed to their Oct. 18 game)
From the parts that I can remember, it just wasn't our day. You guys came in and played a heck of a ballgame. I got my concussion, so things didn't really turn out the way that I would have liked for them to, and we do have a number of different guys but we still have the same mindset, same train of thought.
(on if his concussion was a fluky concussion)
Yeah, I've been hit way harder. Actually in our last game, right there on that last sack towards the end of the game there—or actually the sack that started the three (sacks) on that last drive that we had, I mean my face was planted in the ground. Both nostrils were bleeding, my eye was swollen and I had felt like I had been in a boxing match and I really thought, 'Wow maybe this guy has just knocked me out again' and then I thought to myself, 'well I'm actually talking to myself, so I know I'm not knocked out so I'm okay.' It was really weird because that was one shot where my face went plowed into the ground and I thought, 'man this isn't good' but I was actually okay. I didn't have the fog roll in and the clouds and the little bit of dizziness like I had in the Tennessee game. In the Tennessee game, that hit wasn't nearly as vicious but it was just how my head hit the ground. It was just a nice little pop and when I got to the sideline I knew things weren't right. Like you said, it's just one of those fluky concussions where you don't think just by looking at the hit that it was that vicious, but the guy has just enough brain trauma that he isn't able to come back in.
(on who hit him in the Giants game that made him think he might have been knocked out again)
You know what, I don't even remember. I really don't remember.
(on when he received the hit against the Giants that made him think he may have been knocked out again)
We finished with those three sacks at the end of the game; it was the first of those three sacks at the end of the game.
(on how different it is to prepare for the Titans now that they're in the division lead and the Titans are last in the division)
All of that doesn't really matter. We still have to prepare just as hard and just as diligent because we know how the game always is when we play those guys. We know they're always going to bring it, so we can't think about records and that kind of stuff. It's the next game and it's a division game, so it's a very, very important game.
(on if he is physically okay to play on Sunday)
Yeah, my wrist is coming along just fine. I'm happy with where it's at, it's still not 100 percent but it's doing pretty good. I'll be fine.
(on if Eugene Monroe should be able to play on Sunday)
I'm hoping so man. He does make a big difference. Guy (Whimper) came out and did a pretty nice job for us last week, but just having Eugene out there will definitely make a difference for me and make a difference for our offensive line because those guys are our core group and they hang together. I know they were missing him out there and if he is able to make it back I know I will be more than happy for have him back.
(on having the least national stars on the roster and whether that matters to success)
Well it is not always about the names, it is about the team and the way the team prepares and the way the team goes out and executes and plays hard and rallies around one another. That is what it is really about. You have seen it in history when teams have been loaded with all these different names and really haven't been able to do much with it. I think that really proves that as long as you have enough guys that can make plays and the other guys know their roles, then that is really what equals a talented team. It is not always about the name on the back of the jersey.
(on if he feels they are a well put together team that knows their roles)
We definitely feel that Gene (Smith) and Jack (Del Rio) have done a great job of putting together a team. When we are on top of our game, when we are executing, when we are playing Jaguar football, we feel like we can compete with anybody and that is how we feel. We don't get the kind of love that a lot of other teams get, we don't get the same kind of pub that a lot of other teams get, but that is O.K. We will just keep flying under the radar and just keep sneaking up on people. You can't sneak up all the time but that is O.K. because by that time once they realize where we are, we are still playing great football and we are doing our job.
(on striving for consistency in the passing game)
Everything goes through the quarterback. The quarterback gets a lot of glory that he is probably not supposed to and he gets a lot of blame that he is probably not supposed to. That is a nature of our job. You have to be able to deal with it. For me just getting wins period is what everyone wants to see and it is what I want to see. That is how I base myself. Every quarterback wants to be consistent on getting wins all the time, so I'm no different. That is what we are working hard at over here and that is what I'm working hard at. That is what I'm preparing for every week to go out and play my best so that I give my team a chance to win.
(on if he is surprised by the Titans recent struggles)
I'm not sure what the team over there feels like they are going into. I know they have had a lot of injuries and a lot of things going on. It is really not about (them), it is what we do on the field. It is our game. We don't have to worry about what is going on over there; we just have to worry about what we are doing and execute the game plan and making our plays.
(on his take on Cortland Finnegan and whether he is a dirty player)
Cortland is a tough competitor. He goes out and makes his plays. Sometimes he may rub some guys the wrong way, but I have always seen him as just a hard-nosed kid that likes to mix it up a little bit and doesn't mind getting in somebody's face and try to make a play. I'm not playing against him as far as a receiver, so I don't know what things would be dirty and what wouldn't be dirty. When I watch him on film, I just see him going hard all the time.
(on whether he has known any receivers to come back to the huddle angry with him)
Not to my knowledge.
(on whether he can ever remember a situation similar to the Johnson and Finnegan fight)
I have watched a lot of NFL games and I don't know if I have seen a situation quite like that one. Really the last one I can remember is Ohio State and Michigan back in the 1990s and I think it was (Charles) Woodson and David Boston and I remember them going at it a little bit. Then I actually remember (Deion Sanders and Andre Rison) and that brawl, but not one where both guys had their helmets off and guys throwing punches and connecting punches. Just looking at how the league has gone over the past few years and even this past year, I would have thought both those guys would have been suspended, but they weren't. That is up to the commissioner and his rules and what he thinks is suspendable and what is not. That is all I can say, I can't really say any more about it.
(on Mike Thomas' breakout season)
Mike is just continuing to work hard every week. He works with me a lot after practice; he works with me in the film room when I work with receivers. He has a swagger about him; he has a confidence level about him. He wants the ball all the time just like every other receiver. I think he has a lot of confidence in himself and the way that he makes plays. He doesn't shy away from anything and the game is never too big for him even though he is a young player. He is not the biggest and fastest of guys, but he does just enough to make plays. He gets himself open and he knows where to find the open holes in the zone coverages and he runs good routes versus man coverage. He is playing really good and I am happy for him and the way that he has been preparing each week and the way that he is showing by his preparation that he is going out and making the same plays in the game.
(on if a division winner in a struggling division should get a home playoff game even if their record isn't as good as a Wild Card team)
We have been doing this same setup for a while now; I don't see how they could do anything different now. There have been teams every other year that you think how are they getting a home playoff game, but they do. I don't want to change anything now, I want it to stay the same and hopefully we can be that team if anybody is thinking that team if anybody is thinking that this year.
(on if there is any revenge from the game earlier in the year)
You always want a chance for redemption, especially in a division game. It is a game that you feel like you have to have anyway and they feel the same way. They are trying to get themselves going back on the right track. It is a big game period, it is in the division. That is really all you have to say. You don't really have to have any redemption or revenge or anything like that. It is a division game, so it is already big.
(on how close Terrance Knighton and Tyson Alualu are to being John Henderson and Marcus Stroud caliber)
I think they have the potential for whatever they want. They can pass them, they can be right there with them. They have that potential to do whatever they want. They are young guys with energy, young guys that play physically that do all the things that you ask your D tackles to do. They have that potential so it is really up to them and how great they want to be.
(on whether quarterbacks and running backs are taking account for Knighton and Alualu)
I think you have to. I don't see many backs getting a whole lot of open holes up the middle. They do a great job of plugging things up. They are two big guys, so it is really hard to move them and then they have a high motor too. For as big as they are and the motor they have, they make it tough for anybody to run right up the middle on them.
(on whether it is unnatural for a big guy like Knighton to move at all)
He keeps claiming that he is a pretty good basketball player, so I have to see him on the basketball court. He really is a really good athlete. He is a big guy, but he moves really well. I didn't know how he would move when he first got here as big as he is, but he does an exceptional job for the size he is.
(on whether he felt the Titans ran up the score in the first meeting)
No. I think we need to get out there and play better on offense, stuff them on defense and have good special teams and that is how you settle ball games. You don't think of somebody running up the score on you because we have played them before and we've had a high score and played other teams where we have had high scores. It is not about running up the scoreboard when you are in the pros. The other team just needs to get out there and make a stop or put some points on the board themselves. You do what you have to do when you are in the pros.
