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Brian Flores – January 2, 2022 (Postgame) Download PDF version

Sunday, January 2, 2022
Postgame – Tennessee

Head Coach Brian Flores

(Obviously you expected to see a physical game, but they rushed for 198 yards on you. What happened from a defensive standpoint?) – “I think they did a good job. We’ve got to credit the Titans. They had a good plan. I thought we did some good things early and then they made some adjustments. We had some missed tackles. We had some guys out of gaps. They took advantage. We’ve got to do a better job.”

(Could you put into words the totality of what this team is feeling right now? Fighting all the way back into the playoff picture to now being on the brink of elimination?) – “Any time you don’t have the performance you’re looking for, you’re disappointed. But this group, they’re going to stick together, support one another, get back out there tomorrow, make the corrections tomorrow and prepare for another big game next week.”

(I’m curious what kind of impact do you think the weather conditions and the field conditions had on the outcome of this game? It looked like QB Tua Tagovailoa’s specifically ball security was a little, I guess less secure than usual?) – “I think there was rain, it was slick; but regardless of that we’ve got to do a good job of protecting the football and that’s always our No. 1 priority. We’ve got to do a better job protecting it. That’s always a top priority, and they had the same elements we had that we were dealing with, so even playing field from that standpoint. We’ve got to do a better job.”

(I actually wanted to ask you about Titans QB Ryan Tannehill and the blitzes. They weren’t necessarily effective against him or you guys didn’t utilize them as much. Was that the game plan? What were the Titans doing to neutralize the pressure?) – “The run game was a part of that. We’ve got to get them in situations where – we try to get people in situations where we believe it’s going to be a pass so obviously the run game and the success running it kind of neutralized some of that. I think they had a plan for a lot of it from a protection standpoint.”

(I wanted to ask you about the play where there appeared to be a fumble in Tennessee territory that DE Emmanuel Ogbah came out of the pile with. What was the explanation you received there and was that something you could challenge?) – “They said it came out of it a new ball.”

(G/T Austin Jackson was out quickly for a series. G Solomon Kindley and then Jackson came back in. What happened there?) – “Austin (Jackson) just had to come out for a series. Solomon (Kindley) obviously backs him up. He went back in when he was ready.”

(I’m curious did you get an explanation for the no pass interference call on WR DeVante Parker there I think on fourth-and-11?) – “He said he didn’t see a hook and that’s his call.”

(You come into this game with an opportunity to control your own playoff destiny. How much was that something that you guys were thinking about this week and then given the loss how discouraging is it to have an opportunity like this and then putting out a performance like that?) – “Every week we put our best foot forward to try to have a good performance. It was no different this week. I think our guys prepared the right way. I thought we had a good week of practice. The Titans are a good team. They had a good plan and we didn’t play well enough in any phase. And that starts with me. I didn’t coach it well enough either, so we’ll go back and make the corrections and try to play better next week.”

(You mentioned earlier about the missed tackles and you mentioned about just some of the mistakes. Is it the most frustrating thing as you prepare your team as you always do every week what happened today along those lines whether it being mistakes or miscues?) – “I think it always comes back to fundamentals and technique – tackling, breaking tackles, blocking guys, defeating blocks. We can come up with all the – we have a plan, but at the end of the day that’s really what football boils down to. So we’ve got to take care of those fundamentals and we had some miscommunication issues as well. It’s against a good team. Got to take care of all those little things or else they take advantage.”

(When the game was still within reach one of the offensive plays that stands out to me is a sack that was taken on third down that created a 53-yard field goal that was then missed. What was your perspective on that situation and that play?) – “I think it was a third-and-9 on the 50-yard line, but yeah, you don’t want a sack in that situation. Created a longer field goal which we ended up missing. Got to execute better. We’ve got to protect better. We’ve got to get open quicker. We weren’t able to do that. It led to a sack. Losing those couple of yards was the difference in the field goal, especially with the weather.”

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