NASHVILLE – Titans interim coach Mike McCoy held a press conference on Monday, one day after the team's 27-20 loss to the Los Angeles Chargers.
The Titans have a bye next weekend before returning to action on November 16 against the Texans at Nissan Stadium.
Here's a look at some of the hot topics from today's presser:
-McCoy complimented big plays by linebacker Cody Barton (pick 6) and Chimere Dike (67-yard punt return for a touchdown) early, but said the team needed to find a way to score from the one-yard line. "You have to run it in," McCoy said. "And we have to do a better job executing down there." And, "obviously you can't turn around and let a team go 99 yards on you."
-McCoy was asked on several occasions about the team's decision to use multiple plays from the Wildcat formation. "Unfortunately, they didn't work," McCoy said. "We have to execute better. And as coaches we have to do a better job of putting our players in a better position to do certain things. We are all in this thing together – we can execute better, and we can coach better and put out players in a better position."
-Asked about quarterback Cam Ward, who completed 12-of-21 passes for 145 yards on Sunday, McCoy said "there were some really good plays, and there were a couple of plays in there where you can say: 'We have to do a better job here. We have to be able to make this throw, convert it.' But then there's some plays in there where you say: 'Wow, that's pretty damn good.' So there's the ups and downs, and we have to be more consistent."
-Jeffery Simmons, Calvin Ridley, Arden Key, Bryce Oliver and Xavier Woods all missed Sunday's game with injuries. McCoy said guys are working to get back after the bye week. "That would be a huge boost if we can get some of those guys back," he said.
-McCoy said he's been in constant communication with the front office regarding potential trades, but gave no indication a move is imminent.
-McCoy said edge rusher Dre'Mont Jones, who had 1.5 sacks on Sunday, "has done a great job for us" and "I'm very pleased with where he is at and what he has done."
-McCoy was asked about the upcoming bye week, and the potential to make some changes: "Well, I think every season, when you get to a bye week, depending on when it is, you go back as coaches and you look at everything and say, 'OK, where are we?'," he said. "You look at things and say 'Ok, what are we doing well? What do we need to work on?' Are there things that we've always had in game plans that you say, 'Why haven't we run these plays?' You always look at it and say what can we do better moving forward? And that's week in and week out when you play. But this is a great opportunity for us to sit down and say, 'Okay, hey,' look at all the little things we've done and say 'Okay, how do we clean these things up? How do we do these things better?' And the same thing with the players. You ask the players— we talked this morning— to say, 'Okay, take a deep breath, get away from this. But I also want you to kind of think about the first part of the season and say, how can you do your job a little bit better?' Everyone in the organization, how you do you do job a little bit better to help us win the next football game we're going to play."
