Here's What Mike Vrabel Said After Titans' 17-10 Win Over Panthers

The Tennessee Titans won another home game on Sunday, beating the Carolina Panthers 17-10 at Nissan Stadium. Titans coach Mike Vrabel met with the media after the game. Here's the full transcript of his press conference, with video.

Tom Brew | Nov 26, 2023

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NASHVILLE — The Tennessee Titans remained unbeaten at home this season after dispatching the Carolina Panthers 17-10 on Sunday at Nissan Stadium in Nashville. They've now won all four games at home, and are 4-7 overall.

Titans coach Mike Vrabel met with the media afterward. Here's the full transcript of his press conference.

QUESTION: "Mike, four sacks, how key were those, especially the one where Arden (Key) got the ball out and set up the short field?''

MIKE VRABEL: "There you go. You know what I mean, just trying to play complimentary football, which looked like we did in the first half and that was really cool. It was a great job of getting the football out. I thought we had pressure, and again, give (Carolina quarterback) Bryce (Young) some credit. He was able to scramble around and was able to convert and help them. We couldn't contain him all the time, but we are able to get to him sometimes as well. Huge play there at the end to win it on defense when they went to the screen there on the check.''

Q: "On the touchdown drive, (Titans quarterback) Will (Levis) completed passes to five different receivers. How much do you like to see that, spreading the ball around?''

VRABEL: "I just like him to throw it to the guy that's open. That's the most important thing.''

Q: "Jaelyn Duncan had his first start at left tackle. How do you feel he did? I know there was the sack by (Brian) Burns, but how do you think he did overall?''

VRABEL: "I'll have to take a look at the tape. I don't have the best view of the left tackle. But i felt like at least it was a start. He probably had some good plays in there. We'll grade his effort and see if he was finishing and competing. Again, it was a great place to start and a great opportunity. They have good edge rushers and good interior players, so that was as good place to start for Jaelyn.''

Q: "I know it wasn't perfect, but how did it feel to win again?''

VRABEL: "Great. You put a lot into it, so I'm happy for the players, happy for the coaches and our fans and the organization and everybody included. You put a lot into it every week and these games are tough, they're tight, they're close and a few plays make the difference. I would have like to end it on offense on a 4-minute drive, but it was great to see the defense come out there and end it themselves.''

Q: "What needs to happen to be better?

VRABEL: ":Just stop beating ourselves, start there. Penalties on offense, third-down penalties, quarterback scrambles. Start there.

Q: "You talk about playing complimentary football earlier. That stretch where you had a 71-yard punt by (Ryan) Stonehouse, the Key strip sack and then the Henry touchdown, is that the best example of that?

VRABEL: "Well, that's a great example. The other great example is right after that. They're trying to some yards there and kick a field goal and we stop them, force them to punt. We don't have any timeouts, they took our last one because of the injury, and offensively we turn that into three points. We executed in a down-down clock. Great execution by our guys and a great (53-yard) kick by Nick (Folk). Those are probably two great examples, but we just need more of them.''

Q: "What was the deal on the (Tyjae) Spears play? Did the defender keep his head up ...''

VRABEL: "I saw one kick replay and I didn't think that he launched. Those are bang-bang plays. I didn't see a player that launched in a linear position. I'm sure they saw the same thing.

Q: "So you didn't have any huge debate in the way it was officiated?''

VRABEL: "What am I going to debate? They pick flags up, they throw flags. Whatever it is, we've got to overcome it. On third down, we've probably had six third-down conversions on penalties in the last two weeks, so. there's not much to debate.''

Q: "What's the motivation for next Sunday's game?''

VRABEL: "We're motivated every week. That's professional football''

Q: How did you like the way you closed out the first half, and getting in position to kick that field goal?''

VRABEL: "It was just fun to watch, all the stuff that we talk about and cover and show and watch. That will be us on the Friday tape this week, that situational football that was well executed. And it was great. They called timeout and changed their look, and went back into a different defense and had the sideline covered. And Will and the offense changed their play at the line of scrimmage and got inside and got down there to get Nick lined up to kick the field goal.''

Q: "What was the explanation that they gave you on the challenge. It looked like the ball went down to the ground.''

VRABEL: "I didn't have a clear view and I thought on fourth down it was probably worth a challenge. I saw what I saw. They said they didn't have a good look at it.''

Q: "You went for it on fourth-and-1 down at your own 30 ear. Were you just trying to look for a spark, and how did the team respond to that?''

VRABEL: "It was great to be able to go down there and convert, to turn those into points.''

Q: "Did Derrick do a better job today being more efficient on his plays and leaning on that defense over the course of four quarters?''

VRABEL: "Derrick?''

Q: "Yeah, Henry.''

VRABEL: "We just need to block better. I don't know about him being more efficient on his play?''

Q: "He said last week that he was being as efficient as he could on his plays.''

VRABEL: "He'll come up here and you'll be able to ask him about his efficiency. I'm going to tell you that we've got to block better and run better, but when there was some space, I mean it was cool in that 4-minute there, it was fantastic. Again, we've just got to get him started and not beat ourselves with negative yardage runs. Whether they pressure, and we have to be ready for it. We hit him there on the run and had a couple of nice ones, hit him on the touchdown run. He went out the back door and he had the long one there in the 4-minute but then again we stalled and weren't able to finish. Derrick, he wants to impact the game. We know that, and we want to let him. The career that he's had thus far, 9,000 yards, we need 10,000.''

Q: "Do you think some doubt had crept into some guys and is there a little sense of relief in knowing that hey, we can do this?''

VRABEL: "I think that you just get frustrated. We put a lot into it. I don't think there's doubt. We've just got to eliminate bad football. We've got to eliminate the penalties, the X plays, the cover guys, the third downs that extend drives. Because our good is good enough to win. I know that, I've seen it, and I believe in it. It's just the unfortunate mistakes that cost you points, and cost you more possessions.''

Q: "You scored twice in the red zone today. I know you need to get there more, but you got the points when they were at hand.''

VRABEL: "Again, we hit a long one, and then we grinded one out down close. Great play from the high red for Chig (Okonkwo) to come through and make a great catch, a great throw, and got us to the 1 (yard line), and we were able to punch it in.''

Q: "Mike, T.K. McClendon was someone who started on the defensive line today. For someone like him and some of the other younger guys on the offensive and defensive side, how does this last kind of stretch provide an opportunity for them to show what they're made of?''

VRABEL: "Every time we practice and especially every time we play, those are opportunities to show your team and coaches and your teammates that you know what to do, and you play up to the standard that we expect. So yeah, these are good opportunities for him, and for everybody. Like Colton Dowell for example. It was really really cool to see him impact the game on special teams and I know that he will continue to work hard to carve out a roll on offense when we need it. But that's a fantastic job from a young player, a young receiver, that took his jog and his role and took it very seriously with the job he had, making a tackle on the punt inside the 10 and factored on the kickoff. Those are all positive things.''

Q: "Did you say anything special to the defense on that last fourth down, or did you just let them do their thing?''

VRABEL: "No, we just talked and made sure we were good on some of the pick routes and stuff that we thought may come with that down and distance. The quarterback checked to a slip screen there, and it looked like the guys were running to the football. I think (Amani) Hooker was able to secure a tackle. That was just a great effort right there.''

Q: "How about stopping Adam Theilen. Was that a key coming into the game?''

VRABEL: "It was a key. We were able to put some guys around him on third down. That's kind of where he had 30-something targets, on third down. They did a nice job, and they had some completions there. We just have to be better there. Kristian Fulton had a holding penalty early, or a DPI, whatever it may be. He came back and tried to get him on a post, but we got a sack. As long as we learn from things and understand. what we have to do. Whatever happens early in the game, we just have to learn from it and move on.''

Here's What Mike Vrabel Said After Titans' 17-10 Win Over Panthers

Tom Brew | Nov 26, 2023

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