Here's What Mike Vrabel Said After Titans' Tough OT Loss to Colts

Special teams blunders and big plays allowed on defense made it hard for the Tennessee Titans on Sunday, and they let one slip away in a 31-28 overtime loss to the Indianapolis Colts at Nissan Stadium. Here is the full transcript from Mike Vrabel's postgame press conference, with video.

Tom Brew | Dec 3, 2023

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NASHVILLE — The Tennessee Titans did more than enough to win on Sunday against the Indianapolis Colts, but they also made enough huge mistakes and it cost them in a 31-28 overtime loss.

The Titans are now 4-8 on the season. Coach Mike Vrabel met with the media afterward and had a lot to say. Here's the full transcript from his press conference.

QUESTION: "Mike, how does that happen on punt protection?''

MIKE VRABEL: "It was execution on one. They made a really good play and timed up the motion and were able to get in there on the second one. The first one, four guys overloaded and we've got to get some depth. Again, from the picture, (punter Ryan Stonehouse) got to be able to take it and help us out. I don't know that for to be sure. I know they were angled off to the overload. You can't have punts blocked and think that you can win games, and all the other things. Give credit to the defense for going out there and playing and getting stops. We asked the guys to fight at the beginning of the week and that's exactly what they did. They just made one more play than we did.''

Q: "It looked like Josh (Whyle) didn't pick up the motion man on the second one. What needs to happen there?

VRABEL: "We have to make sure that we protect our punter, our quarterback. And affect their quarterback and their punter. That's what needs to happen. We've got guys that were responsible for making sure we get guys blocked and that the operation is clean.''

Q: "Was there anything you could tell them on the extra point as far as (Ryan) Tannehill being the holder, or was it just a miss?''

VRABEL: "It was just a miss. Clearly Ryan did a nice job of the second one. I appreciate his ability to come in there. We're going to talk a lot about mistakes, and those are going to happen. I'm going to try to find a way to get this team to fight like they did today. Until we obviously lost, I thought it was a pretty impressive effort to be able to compete and go back at forth. I'm proud of the way we fought, but we lost.

Q: "What that kind of your message to them in the locker room?''

VRABEL: "We asked them to fight at the beginning of the week and they fought and they didn't give in. They took a bunch of punches, and gave some. Unfortunately, at the end, those add up and they made a play.''

Q: "Despite the ending, the team seems to play better here. What can you say about that?''

VRABEL: "We didn't play well enough to win. But they compete, and I'm proud to coach them. There was some good football in there, and we're going to find a way to eliminate the stuff that gets you beat. We certainly had missed opportunities, giving up X plays and the quarterback getting hit and fumble and having punts blocked. But there was a lot of really good stuff in there as well.''

Q: "Mike, what do you know about Derrick (Henry), and what can you say about his game prior to getting hurt?'

VRABEL: "That he executed the ability to run the football most of the time, most of the day. Derrick ran hard and it was fun to watch. I don't know much more other than he wasn't able to return.''

Q: "You had some good moments on offense, but had a long stretch without being able to put any drives together ...''

VRABEL: "So did they. So did they.''

Q: "Were you able to see in the moment on what happened on that last X play to Pearce. Was that just a one-on-one matchup?''

VRABEL: "He got behind us and it was a well-thrown ball and he made a play.''

Q: "You didn't seem enthusiastic about the penalty that set that up.''

VRABEL: "I thought that was a little quick. Two guys on the sidelines, who would be enthusiastic about that? I asked if it was a two-step process, they saw the illegal contact 90 minutes into the game, 80 minutes into the game, a good time to call the first illegal contact of the game?

Q: "You look at that as compared to where it wasn't illegal contact in the end zone with (DeAndre) Hopkins. Are you getting frustrated with the lack of consistency?'

VRABEL: "I think Hop's got to do a little bit more. Again, what we're coaching there and he'll tell you, is trying to come back and create that contact and get two arms on the other side of that guy. Because if not, you make it a judgment. But if you come back and create contact and get two arms across the guy, that eliminates most of the doubt.''

Q: "You've got a rookie quarterback leading a drive late in the game. What do you say about Will Levis at this point?''

VRABEL: "That he competes his ass off, just like most everybody else. You see him finishing, causing a fumble and all the things you preach when you talk about finishing the ball. Something made a mistake and Will went and made up for it and we had a positive play. We've got a lot of guys like that, so it's something to rally around and build around.''

Q: "Looking for positives, the low red zone defense specifically, what was going right for you, going 1-for-4?''

VRABEL: "Yeah, and their success that they've had in the red zone lately, they've done a nice job. Our guys were ready to defend as long as they needed to. I love that about them, and I love that attitude and that approach. They were were communicating in a lot of combination of plays, and they were stopping them from running it in and being good on third down. They tried a screen in what they thought might be four-down territory or slip a screen. We got pressure and made a play there. Unfortunately, they were able to find him in the end zone at the end on a little combination beater.

Q: (Special teams coach) "Craig (Aukerman) wasn't ready in London when Phillips fielded that punt right before the half, and his unit today wasn't ready for either of those two (punt) situations. What's his culpability in those plays?''

VRABEL: "I don't know what culpability means, but we have to be better. It starts with me making sure that everything we do is sound and there's a level of execution. Obviously, we have to identify if we have scheme issues or we have to move some guys around or make some minor adjustments. I mean, that's the case in all three phases. It's all on me. It starts with me. When we lose, you can put it on me. Obviously that's not good enough. We know we have to be able to protect our punters, our kickers, our quarterbacks. You lose games by having those things happen.''

Q. "Coach, you lost Jeffery Simmons and you lose Derrick Henry, arguably two leaders on both sides of the ball. And yet, both of those units found a way to push forward without those guys. Is that the biggest thing you saw?''

VRABEL: "I mean, we competed. Tyjae (Spears) competed. The guys, we made some plays and we came back. And I'm proud of our football team, but we lost. We lost a tough game and I hurt for our players. Because there were opportunities for us, and we gave in to circumstances and situations. It's just unfortunate that we didn't win.

Q: "What can you say about Will in terms of talking on the sideline and such?'

VRABEL: "There's a fine line about accountability. At this point in time, you try to fix problems or give him things to look for. Hey, we hit this, be alert for this, all those things that come with starting a rookie quarterback and what comes up. It's like his sixth start or whatever it is. He's been great on the sidelines, with his ability to be upset about a drive but then be able to talk to (quarterbacks coach) Charles (London), talk to (offensive coordinator) Tim (Kelly), talk to receivers, talk to the O-line. I think he's handled it well, and it's all a part of the process. He's showing emotion, and it's all part of it.''

Q: "Do you like the competitiveness of him trying to hurdle a guy for a first down, or would you rather not have your quarterback put himself in that situatiojn?"

VRABEL: "That's probably not what you want. You love it, but that's going to end well. There are ways to gain extra yards and try to use the rules to your advantage to protect yourself, sliding. We appreciate the competitiveness, and he goes hard. You don't rep that in practice, so he probably made a reaction, but you have to be careful.I don't think the odds aren't on your side that it goes well.''

Q: "Was Tyjae Spears maybe a silver lining the way he stepped up when Derrick went down?''

VRABEL: "I don't know if it's a silver line. We know that Tyjae has the ability to make people miss, and has the ability to catch the ball and we've seen him protect. We have a lot of confidence in what he can do, and we know he can help us.''

Q: "Treylon Burks had about 10 snaps. Was that a predetermined pitch count for him?'

VRABEL: "He had. been out for three weeks and I wanted to try to get him back into it. But there's also a volume of the game plan that you want a player to have confidence in. He hadn't been in any meetings in three weeks. He was in a few meetings leading up to this week, and he practiced. It was a good place to start, and hopefully we can get him ramped up.''

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