Opening statement
"Obviously, a good win to pull out at home. Opening weekend, there are so many different things that can go into that first game. It's a game that involves some adjustments, maybe more than normal. I thought our defense was outstanding in the second half, and then offensively, the key was us being able to stick with the run game and get that going in the second half. That was a big reason why the turnovers didn't bite us because we obviously lost the turnover battle, but we only gave up three points off of the turnover. There'll be a lot for us to correct and work on, looking at the film tomorrow, and then we'll get ready. But I think tomorrow in our league is extremely important. These next three or four Mondays and how quickly we can accelerate the learning curve, make the corrections… It'll be critical."
On the defense being in adverse situations
"Yes, absolutely. Just playing with confidence. I think there were two-of-something on third down. I think they had two first downs in the second half, so they were outstanding."
On the run game having success today
"We've got to look closely at what we're doing, and as coaches, look closely at what our strengths are. It was good to finally be a little bit more efficient in the second half than in the first half."
On the process behind the fourth-and-8 play late in the game
"We had plenty of time to think about it. We're playing great defense. Kick, block, is a scoop, and it's one thing, it's a 54-yard field goal. I don't think we're going to punt it. I felt strongly I had a play, and we knew they would be in a cover zero look. I want to see the protection, and we got the look we were expecting. We'll see the film, but I've got plenty of confidence in the distance relative to the kick. But the way we're playing defensively, you have to look at the quickest way for them to take the ball 64 yards would be a scoop and score, and I didn't want that to happen. So we had a lot of time to think about it. I felt real good about a call when you have a call you like, we just were close."
On QB Bo Nix's performance today
"Well we won, that's the first thing. I thought he hung in there. He battled. Made some critical plays first in the second half, and so obviously he'll be disappointed with the turnovers, but it was a gutsy performance. It is pretty usual Week 1, a lot of different looks maybe that you hadn't seen normally or scouted normally for relative to their coverages. Overall, his job is to lead us to score. I thought he played really well in the second half, and we won the game."
On what stood out about the defensive performance
"I felt like in the first half we settled in. They had a couple of plays that we had wrapped up. [CB Jahdae] Barron does a good job of finding the running back, and we dropped coverage on the long gain. Then pretty soon you settle in as to what you're seeing, what they're doing, and thought we covered well. I thought we rushed them well. More importantly, and we knew what [Titans Head Coach] Brian Callahan, his father [Titans Offensive Line Coach] Bill [Callahan], I've worked with, those guys are real good with their run game plan, and that was going to be the most important thing. They had a little stretch where they hit a few runs, but that run game differential mattered ultimately."
On if he looked at the balance between pass/run numbers from the first half
"I didn't have a chance to look at the numbers. We were told we had a rain delay, and so you go in and tell the players there's going to be a lightning delay. Then they walked in and said, 'No, you're coming out now.' So some of the players were getting out. I mean it was a little bit of a cluster, you know what, at halftime."
On if during the half he decided he wanted to commit more to the run game
"No, I knew where we're at run-pass-wise. I was well aware of it. I mean, look, there's a way you want to be playing the game, and we had a good plan going in. Obviously, it wasn't perfect. We're going to look closely at ourselves. Tomorrow's debrief of this game, all of us will learn something."
On the operational issues throughout the game
"I'll have to see the film. I mean operationally, I think, we were late with one where they blew the whistle quick on us and we got called for delay. I'll be better. Listen, it was a good win."
On what he liked about the running backs
"I just mentioned it. It was great to see those guys get the carries and keep pounding. We had a couple of big ones there in the second half that really changed field positions, and also a couple of big plays that kept the clock moving. We converted some third downs more obviously in the second half, but we'll look at the tape."
On where he saw growth from QB Bo Nix
"Here's the thing, though, and I appreciate the question, but we're not going to have a growth meter each week in Year 2. He's in his second year. I love the player. I get a chance to see him every day. He can be a huge reason why we win games, and so we're not going to have that weekly meter. That's the first refused growth meter in Week 1. I mean, that's crazy."
On if the team played against Titans QB Cam Ward the way he expected them to
"I think there was a point in that game where it became one-dimensional. Somewhere in the fourth quarter, earlier in the fourth quarter than they would've liked. That's always hard for any quarterback. Once they were one-dimensional, our pass rush did a great job. I don't know how many sacks we had, seven? We felt that was one of the keys to victory, especially a young quarterback, his greatest friend could be a run game. So if we were able to keep him in the pocket and force him to try to beat us. We felt we took advantage of that and never complained about our hand. I thought our pass rush in coverage was great."
