Featuring postgame quotes from the following:

Head Coach Robert Saleh

Watch on https://www.tennesseetitans.com/video/robert-saleh-press-conference-tennessee-titans-x0648

Injury, I think we came out pretty clean. There was a couple of nicks and bruises, get those few guys tomorrow.

How would you assess the work that the first-team defense got in?

The two plays are hateful. The pass play, I'm glad it happened because that is a fundamental issue in the defense, that if you don't get those reps you just don't recognize it fast enough. And for it to happen, glass half full, I'm glad it happened. Half empty, it's a shitty thing that happened. The run play, really well-blocked by them. Corner had a long way to track in there for a crack replace, but a really good run from them. But those two plays, wish we had them back, but overall I thought the defense was pretty good today.

What was the thinking on Gus (Bradley) calling plays? What did you want to focus on instead?

In the second half?

I don't know. TV said Gus (Bradley) was calling.

Yeah, in the second half. I did it the first game, too. Just to keep him fresh and keep him working on it. That's all.

What were your thoughts on the offense overall? I know a couple of guys failed to make plays.

Yeah, again, I thought the first drive was good. We went out there, got some points. Thought Cam (Ward), again, was good with the ball, good decision-making. We just couldn't connect on a couple of deep throws. But overall, it's got to be better, guys, I'm not trying to sugar coat it. It does got to be better, but at the same time, there's always going to be things that we can take from. The urgency doesn't change, but the one thing that I would challenge our offense on, and I would challenge everybody, is those two fourth-and-ones that we had. We have to be able to convert those. But either way, just speaking for Cam, he got a little loose from a ball security standpoint on that second-and-one. But I do want to tip my cap to that linebacker. He made a hell of a play, very heads-up play to get the ball out.

Gunnar (Helm) seemed rather nonchalant with his feet on that. Is that a play you expect him to make and what did he say afterwards?

That's a tough play. We'll see it, but it looked like he was going at full speed, trying to get his feet down in there. That's a tough play.

How concerned are you about the penalties? 100, 11 penalties, 70 on seven in the first half?

Yeah, I'm with you. I'd be more concerned if the other team didn't have 14 of them. I think the refs are working on their game today too, so.

What did you make of Anthony Hill's performance out there today?

I thought he did some good things. There's going to be things he has to clean up, whether it's the depth in his drops, communication, pre-snap and post-snap. But overall, I thought he did a couple of good things.

What's next week going to be like as you edge towards, I guess, roster cuts and the final pre-season game?

Tomorrow's an off day for the players. We'll have a practice on Tuesday, which will be a little bit, I don't want to say a light day, but lighter than what you guys are used to seeing from our group. Then Wednesday will be another just an overall walkthrough and preparation for Chicago's joint.

The penalties, one of them, Cedric Gray kind of did the thumbs down when called for personal foul…

I got to get that one from the league. I don't understand that one. I don't know if they called it because he did it in his face, or if that's a gesture that the players are not allowed to make, so I got to get clarity from the league on that one.

Robert, in your experience, how concerning is a pre-season game that probably isn't as clean as you would like at this point or, as you said, there's a glass half full where there's a teachable aspect to it?

Well, I have been on both ends of the spectrum where we have been elite in the pre-season and stumped during the season, and I've been elite in the preseason and we won a Super Bowl and I've also had poor preseasons and we ended up being pretty good and poor preseasons ended up being pretty bad. I kind of feel like we've seen it all. What I feel good about is I do think this team is made of the right stuff. I think both our offensive and defensive lines are pretty damn good. We're very young at skill positions, quarterback, and our back end from just an overall youth standpoint, so there's a lot of learning, which is good, but we'll see. I know the urgency doesn't change whether it's now or Week 17, it's never going to change. But at the same time, you'll never see me panic. It's always teaching.

What do you feel like would get Carnell Tate going here in the first couple of games?

We're really not game planning and there's different philosophies. Like, could (Brian) Daboll move him around and deliberately try to get him the ball? Sure. But we're still going out there and running our base, the vanilla offense. We're barely motioning. We're normal spacing. We're not exactly making it very easy for our players to go execute. But at the same time, that's not what this is for. There will be a time to game plan and scheme people open, but right now it's just about going out, executing the base fundamentals of what this scheme is supposed to be in all three phases and when it gets time to game plan and get people the rock, we'll get them the rock.

How much fun is it to see maybe the veterans celebrate the young guys in the pre-season games?

I think it's great. You're always — Gus (Bradley) has all these sayings, but the greatest form of joy is when you have joy for others. To see our team kind of appreciate how each one is working. They've all been there. They've all had their first preseasons and being the fourth quarter, I thought our guys were resilient. I thought the defense was outstanding. I thought our offense ran the ball really well, those young bucks, but to see them all cheering and pulling for one another I think is pretty cool.

What happened tonight that the first-team defense dropped off?

It was those two plays. Felt really good about all the different things that were happening. We had the defensive explosive play on defense on the negative play that was negated by a penalty. I got to get clarity on that one because I didn't agree with the call on Tony Adams, and the interception got negated. I do think the defense stood up in that sudden change situation when we went for it on fourth down and got stopped. But like I said, I think this was a really, really productive week. As a team, Monday, Wednesday, and then the joint practice on Friday, three game-like (days) from a volume standpoint. But there's a lot to take from this week. Like I said, I

The tight end, I know you said not seeing it before, but was it a communication issue or what was that? Because it seemed like a basic concept.

For sure. Basic, 100 percent basic, but without getting too big in the weeds on whose responsibility that was, stuff like that happens when you go from a match team to a vision-based team like we are. But there's still elements of match in our scheme. Just bringing that awareness to certain things that pop up. Like I said, I'm glad it happened because it's an easy fix and for the player to feel that, it's like one of those, 'I get it now.' And so for Kevin (Winston) and Hook (Amani Hooker) and all the safeties and all the corners and the way they communicate those simple exchanges, it's a really cool 'a-ha' moment. Unfortunately, it happened in a game-like atmosphere. Thank God it was preseason, but a hundred percent will get fixed.Even given everything you said about the vanilla offense, has there been a lot of room these last two weeks for crisper execution within what you've done?

Yeah, there's always room for improvement. In a perfect world, we have three drives and we have three touchdowns and we move the ball at will. Like I said, I think we had a good first drive that went and got points. Had an opportunity on the fourth-and-one to extend the drive. I was probably a little more aggressive than I normally would be with the ball being on the 35(-yard line) or wherever it was. But, yeah, you're always going to strive for better execution.

QB Cam Ward

Watch on https://www.tennesseetitans.com/video/cam-ward-press-conference-tennessee-titans-x1121

(on his assessment of the first team offense in the first half)

I think just missed opportunities on some plays, particularly our passing game. I think it was improvement from last week, but just got to be better down the field as a whole.

(on if he and WR Carnell Tate will work to continue to build their connection moving forward in practice)

Yeah, intentionally getting him more reps in practice during the team periods. And then just me putting it in a good spot for him to end up making a play. But he's made that play a thousand times, so when the time comes, we're going to be able to both make the play.

(on how the offense they are running preseason impacts their preparation for the season)

Both are. You take away reps that we do all the time to practice. We're not going to do it in the game. They also get some real game reps of plays that we're not doing to practice so much. So it's kind of in between. Then it's also doing what we're good at all the time, which we're going to do during the season, not during the preseason. But it's fun because you get to go through highs and lows of a game, you see the competitiveness atmosphere that we all have, and (we're) all just eager to make those plays and we will.

(on his fumble)

He dove for the ball, made a good play. Ended up losing a couple yards, that was the bad part about it, so I got to be better in my ball security standpoint when I'm outside of the pocket. But he made a good play, we just have to be able to convert on third down.

(on transitioning from a highly successful joint practice to a mediocre preseason game)

You just take the game for as it is. It's going to be a lot of one score NFL games out there, so it really just goes back to us making the play, in the running game, in the passing game. A lot of things tied down into it, but we just got to continue to harp what we say, continue to have the urge and the urgency to go score the ball each and every drive. And we have that, and eventually it's going to show off.

(on if playing in preseason games will help him)

We're getting game reps, but not in a real game, if you know what I'm saying. And whether we're going against another team's ones, twos, or threes, there's still good talent out there. It's the NFL for a reason. And so I think the more games and the more reps that we take, I just think it's going to help us come Week 1 and Week 2.

(on his comfortability with timing in scramble plays)

No, it's really just making the play. Me putting (the ball) in their radius and then us having everything around us, from protection, me getting outside to extend the play as long as I can, then to me putting the ball in the receiver's placement and then making a play. It ends up just becoming about making the play. We make the play, a lot of stuff, take care of yourself. But we're not far off. We're actually right there to getting where we want to be and the coaching staff, they continue to push us to that standpoint where we want to be, but it's going to end up paying off.

(on TE Gunnar Helm's missed catch on the scramble play)

We should have never been in that situation. Me and Gunnar (Helm) have to be on the same page as far as the playing on time. And then when we do play off schedule, when I do turn the scramble drill, that's another ball I'm going to throw to Gunner Helm again. When it comes down to it, I'm going to put a little bit more inside for him and he's going to be able to get both feet down. We're going to connect down there. But you have to go through things right now, that way you can try to minimize it as much when the season does start. So it's a good and bad with it, but me and Gunnar (Helm), we're going to for sure make that play again.

(on not being able to convert on fourth-and-one)

I mean, it's disappointing because we turned the ball over and backed up damn near. But I mean it's a decision that Coach Saleh made and with that decision, he's showing a lot of confidence in us, so we got to be able to run the ball or when we do throw it on third-and-four, short yardage situation, we got to execute. So, just execution of the play and then just continuously trying to get better.

(on what he's learned from San Francisco and Seattle's defenses)

I think the biggest thing that I've learned is every (defensive coordinator), every defense is the same but different in terms of what they want to give the quarterback, what they're willing to let the quarterback beat them on and then also adjust to each and every team's defensive line. But it's easy for me to adjust to that because of who I go against every day in practice. So the biggest thing that, looking forward is, going against the Bears, they're going to do a lot of things that we've already seen. They're also going to do some things we haven't seen. So truly us playing post-snap and us being able to see stuff after guys moving to their spaces where they get in a tempo or some type of buzz or whatever. Then us being able to play off schedule and playing off schedule as well.

(on adjusting to Brian Daboll's offense)

Everything slowed down. We're finally at the point where we're not going to be installing too much stuff. One thing about Coach (Daboll) is he can go to walk through, he can make up a play in his head, and we'll run it right there and we will execute it right there. So it's going to be nice to really show what we really are about when the time comes. But, I mean, it's exciting because you get to get reps on plays that you don't get in OTAs. So, you're really getting a feel of—he's getting a feel of what I really like and what I don't like, and then when the time comes we're going to do a lot of stuff that the players feel comfortable with.

(on his overthrow to WR Elic Ayomanor on the third drive being a coaching point in practice)

It won't be. Really need to throw it more higher up there for him to make it a 50-50 ball. But that's something that me and him just got to continuously work. And we got to make the play at the end of the day.

DB Derrick Canteen

Tell us about your interception late in the game.

Honestly, I was playing my keys.  I saw (Jalen) Milroe scrambling. I didn't know the trajectory of the ball. The receiver, it kind of went over his head or to the right a little bit and I just focused on making the catch and making sure it didn't hit the ground.

When you made that catch, what went through your mind?

Well, honestly, it was excitement.  There were about three or four minutes left on the clock.  It was exciting celebrating with the team, with the guys and the coaches. A lot of excitement making that play.

LB Anthony Hill Jr.

What do you think you guys really did the best?

Really, just playing physical and understanding out assignments. Guys like Jackie (Marshall). We've got guys like that who are willing to come in and work, playing fast. We've got a nice rookie class on defense, and we're coming to make plays.

How do you guys plan to build on today's efforts?

Just continue to watch the tape, continue to get better. We know what's coming next.  We've got Week 1. Of course, we've got the Bear coming up, but the season is coming up fast. We're trying to get better every day and just continue to stack days.

How do you feel like an extended run could have benefitted you tonight?

It was cool, being able to play a lot of plays and get a feel for how fast the game is. It was cool.

How did it feel to make that interception, and what crossed your mind when you had it?

It felt pretty exciting.  Being able to get the ball in my hands, just like practice. Catch the ball in practice, and you won't drop it in the game.

DT Jeffery Simmons

Was wondering how you felt about how the first team defense played tonight.

It was solid for the most part.  We gave up those two explosive plays from the run, just misfits in the run game. That can't happen. When you're stoning the run, we have to continue to stay run-fit sound. Everyone has to be on the same page.  And in the passing game, I think it was some miscommunication on the back end, but we'll figure it out. We'll get back Tuesday, get the correction and move on from it.

How concerning is it?

Not concerning at all.  Not concerning, it's preseason.  That's the reason we play these types of games.  We learn from it. Fix it. As long as we don't come back and make the same mistakes.

That's the thing we're look for, especially in training camp. Just because a couple of plays happen here and there, it's the NFL. Things happen, people are going to make plays.  They made two good plays that hurt us on defense.  But that's the whole point of training camp, practice and watching tape. So, we'll come back. The biggest thing, especially playing this game of football, is not making the same mistakes.