With Andy Wells. I'm Mike Keith and this is the OTP with Titans head coach Brian Callahan, presented by Farm Bureau Health Plans. In the Game of Health Coverage, far Bureau Health Plans is the MVP. Tennesseeans have relied on their unmatched rates, coverage and service for nearly eighty years. So let's roll. Head Coach Brian Callahan, Thanks so much for joining us on this Monday. I would say, it's good to be here. It is good to be here.
I do enjoy your company. So looking forward to talking about the game.
Well, so today was your first Monday after a game as head coach, and so you know, win or lose, you kind of have to figure out what this day is going to look like for your players, for your staff, shoot, even with us as the media. You know there's going to be a routine. Every Monday is going to kind of look the same. Was your plan for establishing what this Monday after a game was going to be interrupted by what happened in Chicago?
No, not at all. I think that the best teams, and I think the best coaches I've been around, find a way to manage their Mondays. The most consistent as you can, and because every game is going to be filled with a handful of plays that had you made them, you might win. Even if you do end up losing, those are still plays that could have lost you the game and or plays that could have won you the game.
And so I think if you take that approach, there's a consistency in evaluating each win and loss with the same mentality is where do we have to get better? What did we do well? How do we keep doing that well? And then the mistakes that we made, were they critical? Did they lose us the game? And then how do we avoid repeating those And I've always found that riding the roller coaster during the season is difficult, and when you reactionary to every good and bad, I
think your team feeds off that. And so my intent, whether we were winning lose was to be with the exact same demeanor as I always am. The messaging was consistent and critical of of what we need to do better. But that's on in every phase on all sides. Whether we went and lost the game, that's exactly how it should go, and so there should be a little bit of comfort in the consistency of it all that win, loser draw. We're being critical of our performance and where we could have been better.
This is your Monday, Yeah, and it's going to be the Monday every single week, either positively or negatively. Were there surprises on the tape?
I think that I was. I was surprised when you know, on the turnover, was surprising the I thought. I really thought on special teams, I did not see that performance coming. I thought we've been we were excellent in the preseason. I thought we've been fantastic in practice, and so to see that in the in the moment was that was surprising. I thought we'd be better than that based on what I've seen and everything in the preseason and journey camp
in practice. As far as the things that were good, it was really fun to see how far to and Andre Sweat has come. The play that he put on the field. To get to see Harold and Jeff play was great. They lived up to the expectations that we
had for them. They were both fantastic. And to see our new secondary play together with Lagerius and Cheetoh and Jarvis Brownly mixed in their some and Roger and Quandra and Hook, that was a fun group to see play together, and I thought our rush and coverage really worked together well in the course of the game.
Some of the challenges that you might have had on offensive line, were those more technique issues or were they assignment issues?
More technique than assignment. We were relatively well assigned throughout most of the game. We didn't have any major glaring errors in our down by down assignments. I think we had more technique misses and losses, and so that's going to happen. You're going to lose one on one in pass rush sometimes it happens. We can live with that.
We just fix the technique and see we can get better, so that that's a little bit easier to live with when you're when you're making some maybe more technical errors as opposed to schematic errors. But yeah, I just think we didn't do a good enough job in pass protection.
Overall.
They won more than we did, I think when we needed to, and I think that part was, you know, contributed to the loss.
Well, Lews made mistakes in the game, and those have been documented. You mentioned in your press conference today a reminder that that was just his tenth start. He's still just in his second year. You're working with a young quarterback, which you have done in your very recent past in Cincinnati with Joe Burrow. How do you draw on that experience to be able to help Will in this moment.
I draw a lot on that experience because it's you know, unless you've had a high profile young quarterback that you're trying to help learn how to play NFL football. That was a learning process for me at the time. And having gone through that, I feel much more equipped to help Will. And I've seen some of the things that that came up in the game that he's done that I can parallel with my experiences with Joe, some of it being the the little bit of the reckless nature
of playing the quarterback position. It's different in the NFL. I think you saw Caleb Williams deal with the same thing on the other side, that it's hard to get away from these pass rushers and when they connect with you, it hurts, and they connect with you, the ball comes out, and those are all things that that you have to learn, and there's no other way to teach that other than they have to experience it and then you can teach from it. They have to know what that feels like
and it's not. It's not an immediate process. It doesn't just happen overnight. They don't just oh yeah, no, I get it, coach, and then all of a sudden they never do it again. I mean, it's there, there's a there is a process involved in it, and I think we're well on our way and it's going to keep They're going to keep coaching it.
Now. You mentioned special teams earlier, and I want to come back to that, because there were some good stuff on the tape. There was some not so good stuff on the tape. How do you guard against overreacting both to the positive and to the negative as you evaluate that.
You have to work at that because sometimes you can get emotionally hijacked a bit after a loss. I try really hard not to let that happen. But there's as long as what we're doing in our process is right and how we're preparing and what we're asking you guys to do. If that's right, you lose. You lose one on one. Sometimes you lose a battle, which we did in the punt block, and there's an excuse for it, but there is a We don't just say, oh, this
is not working. We've got to change everything. There's a there's a balance there where something has to be corrected and we have to coach it. But that doesn't mean that the process is bad. And I think when you get to the point where you feel like your process isn't good, then you have to look at how do we change all of that part of it? But Week one certainly not. And at no point, you know, do you just shelve everything you're doing because you had a
one poor game? So I think you stick with it, you have some consistency and generally the results come.
NFL teams are defined through adversity. Is this part of the process of sort of creating the Tennessee Titans. Knowing that a moment comes out of a disappointing loss like yesterday's.
Yeah, that's the hope, you know, You hope that your team is made of the right things. And I know from everything that I've dealt with with our team, we certainly are. And that part's encouraging to me. And that's what I told our team today is that I still expect the same energy, enthusiasm to how hard they play.
Nothing should change. We lost the game, We'll make the corrections, We'll move to the next one, and there is a resilience factor and an ability to overcome an adversity when you have that sort of approach where you have to keep finding ways to get better and you have to find ways to not lose a game, which is we found a way to lose the game, we didn't find
a way to win it. And learning how the learning the difference and learning where where could we have gotten better to have won that game as opposed to have lost it. And there's a part of that that you have to keep getting in those situations and you learn there's no better teacher than going through it. And there's we were young on offense. There are a lot of young players, and so there's a lot of things that our players can stand to learn from a loss like that.
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Coach as a player, as a coach, what is the key or the trick to carrying momentum from one half of a game to the second half of a game. I would guess it's more of a skill than people kind of give it credit for.
I do think momentum is a real thing. I know that it's hard to quantify, but I think we all know it when we feel it. There's we had a ton of momentum in the first half and to come out in the second half and I thought we were really rolling and stuttered a little bit on the first offensive series and then you give up the punt block for a touchdown and that totally changes the feeling of
the game. So yeah, there's a there's a there's a mental focus I think that comes in at the end when games are in your favor on how do you you have to learn how to keep a team on the mat. So when you knock a t when you knock a guy down, you can't let them get up, and we let we let them get up. And that's that's a learned trait I think as a team, and there's a focus that's involved in it and an ability to not relax at any point or not take it
for granted that you're in the position you're in. So uh, that comes with experience too.
As a play caller, do you have to reestablish that rhythm in a second half?
Yeah, we couldn't. We weren't able to do that on Sunday, And yes, there's a huge part of that that we got knocked out of our rhythm. That we had a really good rhythm on those two touchdown drives that we score where we looked like envisioned us looking a lot and we had a little bit more trouble in the second half, and that had to do with some penalties. We got knocked back off the game script a bit, and we had some third and lungs, which is exactly what we didn't want to be in against that team.
In particular, they do a really good job making life hard on the quarterback with their rush, and their coverage is good, so we got in spots that were a disadvantage to us, and I think that if we were able to have a little bit more continuity and flow of the down and distance, it might have helped us put in one more scoring drive together that would have been enough to win the game.
Let's talk about defense a little bit. What stood out to you about the way that side of the ball played on Sunday.
They were everything that they've preached to be, which is exciting. They they played with toughness, they were aggressive, they played with some nastiness. There was something about the way that they played and I think that was really encouraging. I think there's still things that we can clean up on defense. And I don't mean to rain on the prayed of how well they played, because they played well enough for
us to win. But you look back and there's plenty of things that I think we could have done better defensively as well, and against a different style of offense or a different quarterback, maybe some of those plays turn out differently, So there's always things to tighten up a little bit. No pun intended, but totally acceptable here, by the way, but that I think that's what was cool though, was just to see that the tenacity that they played
with and the physicality they played with upfront. I mean that defensive line really made life hard on their offensive front.
Amy asked your question last week about were you any bit worried about your secondary being able to play as well together as you needed them to play based on the fact that they had not practiced together a lot. Well, I think they answered that question. Were they even a little better in sync than maybe you had hoped? I think so.
I think that there was I was unsure of what that would look like, especially with guys it hadn't practiced a lot. You know, there's still a correlation between practice and playing. I mean, that doesn't go away. So I was internally had some concern about what that would look like, and they did a great job. And I think that it's more of a testament to who those guys are as players the way they prepare their pros. I mean cheeto and lagarious and quandary for that matters. He got
comfortable here. Those guys are top notch pros, and that I think I felt the difference in our defense is I felt the veteranness of our defense in that game that when things weren't going right, they kept they kept coming back, and they kept swinging and they never got rattled by the game situation. And that's just a bunch of guys that had played a lot of football and
I thought that showed up on our defense too. And there's some things we got to clean up communication wise, but I think on a hole, that was a really really good start for our secondary and the way that those guys played together.
A lot of new guys in that secondary, but someone that we're very familiar with as a Moni hooker. What stood out to you about his play in Chicago?
He made plays on the ball, which was which was a huge, huge thing to see. You know, he hadn't had a lot of opportunity in the preseason, but he showed up in a big way. I think the scheme benefits him. I think he's shown why he's been a starting caliber player in this league for a while and that that was good to see. And then you work came with Calandray together and it was a good tandem.
I think they did a nice job of passing things off, of making sure the coverage was right and again we got things to clean.
Up there too.
But I thought as a for a first week with a bunch of new guys together, I thought they did a really good job. And I think what he takes over is their professionalism and the money's the same way as those guys that they're just prepared in their pros and they know what to do and when to do it.
Are you still hopeful that you could have Jamal Adams back for the Jets?
I am, yes, I am, And we'll see when we start practice Wednesday where he's at. But I was he was close last week and so hopefully we're a few days closer and hopefully he gets a chance to participate this week.
All Right, we've all wandered throughout the offseason, especially if Tavan Dre Sweat played well, how other teams would choose to block Jeffrey Simmons. So as you were you the tape, how did they choose to block Simmons and dealing with Sweat on the inside.
Yeah, they did what most teams do, and they tried to get four hands on Jeff as much as they could, and that left that left Sweat with some one on one opportunities that I thought he took advantage of. I mean, he has a couple of really nice rushes. You know, people don't look at him as a pass rusher necessarily, but he can. He's got quick hands and he's got quick feet for a man his size, and he got it. He worked an edge a few times and pushed the
pocket and disrupted the quarterbacks timing. And so we got guys that can win one on one like that. It makes it makes life a lot easier. And then I do think that, you know, and then Harold gets his one on ones and then Ardn'll get his opportunities, and so there's a whole, a whole benefit to having two guys inside that can wreck the interior of the pocket. And I thought they did a really good job of that.
On Sunday, has Ernest Jones earned some more time at the linebacker position after his play against Chicago.
I think so, Yeah, I mean I think that was that was the intent of bringing him on, was to solidify that group a little bit that we had been hit with some injuries, and a chance to add a player of his caliber and a person that has his impact on a locker room as well just as a former captain and all those things. The chance to add him was the intent for him to play, and I think you're going to see more of him as he gets more comfortable.
The Jets are the next opponent. Obviously, they're playing Monday night football, so you get one less day to sort of dive in on them. Is that a team you spent some time preparing for in the preseason knowing that you would have one less day.
Yeah, And you know, I think there's a handful of us that have played that. They've got some continuity there, so they've played the same a similar system with coaches there for a couple of years. And so I've played him in twenty one and twenty two. My dad played against him in the same years we crossed over with that division, and so guys got some experience and have seen that system, and so I don't feel behind by
any means by not having their first game. Obviously, we don't know what this year's version of their team looks like, but at least schematically we know what their DNA is and what their core is, so I don't don't feel too bad about losing the day of preparation. There's plenty of film to get through before this game tonight.
How would you describe a Robert solid defense in terms of your offensive challenge against them?
Yeah, they're They're a fantastic front. Quinn Williams is probably one of the more impact players the position, so we have our hands full up front. They're they're an attacking, jet style rush front that's going to try to penetrate up the field, vertical knockback style front. They got, you know, one of the best corners in football in Sauce Gardner. Their linebackers are experienced, in good players. That's a good
that's a very very very good defense. We have not been dealt any favors by the football gods, uh in our opening games for our offenses with the Bears and then the Jets on deck, those are two of the better defenses in football. So really got a challenge on our hands and got to find a way to play the same way we played in the first half against Chicago for an entire game.
Coach, as we continue through here, we're knocking out first for you. So we got your first game.
The more the more of those we can get through, the better.
First knocking them down. The next one is your first home opener at Nissan Stadium. What are you expecting out of that crowd on Sunday when the Titans take on the Jets.
The same thing that we got in Chicago, And and for those that obviously weren't there, that was a fantastic environment for a home team, The energy in the stadium, the excitement that their fan base had that even though that we didn't we didn't come out with a win the first week. I would hope that we have the same sort of enthusiasm and excitement for our team this year, because I do and I think that we have a
chance to still be a very good football team. We were competitive in that game, and we found a way to not come out on top, and we're going to need everything we can get from our fans, and that's a huge advantage. You saw the impact it had on our on our offense operating. We had some false starts, we had some timing issues, the clock, it gets loud. The third downs are a big part of it. So
I'm hoping to see all that. I'm hoping to make it a really difficult environment for a New York Jets team that has to go out to San Francisco on Monday night and come back out here. They start on the road two straight games, and hopefully we make it a really difficult environment for them to communicate and operate.
I don't know that we could have gotten it across well enough on Titans radio, or if Fox could get it across well enough on TV. How difficult they made it for you on the last two drives once they got the lead, communication and everything else was just really, really tough. I'd never seen a Chicago crowd.
Like that, No, and we did exactly what I'd hope we'd be able to do in the first part of the game, which is when you score on a crowd like that, it quiets the whole place down. We had taken the momentum. Once that crowd gets into it and there's hope in the air and there's a momentum swing you We felt it. I mean, we felt the energy impact that the crowd has, and it does it makes communication really difficult. It makes the quarterback job operating difficult.
We're at a disadvantage in the pass rush because we're a silent count, and so we're still trying to change up the silent count. But there's that is a defensive advantage, and we don't have our verbal cadence because it's that loud, and we need that on Sunday, we need every bit of that, but it was it makes it really difficult to operate on offense. You are at a disadvantage on the road when when a crowd is like that.
Well, you know these people from your experience on the other side, you know these people can bring it here.
There's no doubt. And that's uh, that's what I'm looking forward to most is seeing is seeing that that that the Titans faithful really turn it up a notch, you know, And I said it in my opening press conference that that we need that our players feed off that there's an energy and enthusiasm that the stadium feels. And if you ask any player, they'll tell you that that that makes a huge difference. And so we need it and
they're they're a part of us. You know, when we win a game, they're a huge part of that process at home, because you have environment that's difficult to play in. It makes uh, it makes the home field advantage a real thing. And I know they're going to bring it and we're going to need every bit of their support the Sunday as well.
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The most disruptive idea in ticketing. Ticket that works, expect the expected, see same Gi. Thank you so much, coach. We appreciate you. Yep, that's going to do it for this edition of the OTP for Brian Callahan and also Amy Wells. I'm Mike Keith, thanking you for joining us for the O t