Here's What Mike Vrabel Said After Titans' Stunning Win Over Dolphins on Monday Night
MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. — The Tennessee Titans pulled off an incredible comeback on Monday night, scoring two late touchdown to stun the Miami Dolphins 28-27.
Coach Mike Vrabel met with the media afterward to talk about the win, the Titans' first on the road all season. They are now 5-8 overall. Here's the full transcript of his press conference:
QUESTION: "Mike, can you talk about the resiliency and the comeback you made at the end?''
MIKE VRABEL: "We did a lot of things that were going to cost us, obviously. The turnovers, the mistakes, but we did more positive things late. The defense kept giving us a chance, and we got some stops. And then the offense needed to come through, and they came through. It doesn't have to be that hard. But I'm proud of the character of this football team, competing and then having to go in a different direction real quick. And then coming back and getting stops late and then moving the football late in the game and score, I'm really proud of these guys.''
Q.: "What can you say about that red zone defense? You guys were tops in the league coming in. You guys were 2-for-5 tonight against the top offense.''
VRABEL: "That's it. The whole thing was getting drives stopped. We said that they were probably going to get it down there. That's just what the nature of this offense is. We've done so well down there, the sudden change, unfortunately. I explained to them, even if they drive it down there, just pretend that that it's sudden change, and that you guys were the ones that werew responsible for the sudden change. Just have that mentality, that down there we've got to get a stop. Guys were excited. That was the difference in the football game, being able to force them to kick field goals.''
Q.: "What did you see from the offense after going down 14?''
VRABEL: "We had a tough time running the football. We had too many mistakes. But we also, we were able to protect the quarterback enough to throw it late in the game. That was key. Tyjae (Spears) helped us out, Chig (Okonkwo) helped us out, (DeAndre) Hop came up big, Nick (Westbrook-Ikhine) came up big and continued to do that.''
Q.: "I know it's all a team effort, but how important is it for all the young guys to be a part of something like this?''
VRABEL: "I think they realize that it's never over. Being able to keep our timeouts, being able to score and get the two-point conversion and be able have a chance to win it in regulation.''
Q.: "I know you've had to deal with some tough weeks. How cool is it to hear the music blaring and guys celebrating in there behind you?''
VRABEL: "It's all the credit to the players. We try to give them our best plan. Sometimes it needs to be tweaked as we go along, and something it doesn't. They stuck to it, they believed it. All the credit goes to the players.''
Q.: "Mike, what about the resilience you guys showed going down 14. How big was Will there in that moment?''
VRABEL: "Yeah, I think they all were, and being able to answer back. Kind of the excitement of getting the drive stopped on third down and celebrating, and then one minute, mistakes. Just lining back up, and keep playing, it just says a lot about our football team and their growth. It's not going to be easy, especially against a good team on Monday night. I'm proud of they way they compete and they fight. We've just got to eliminate some of the mistakes that will be too costly most of the time.
Q.: "Mike, is this makes coaching fun? I mean, nobody gave you a chance coming down here. You play, you win, you celebrate.''
VRABEL: "Yeah, I think just watching players improve and watching players being happy and share in success, that's what coaching is all about. It's about getting players to develop and improve and inspire them to go out and get better each week and compete against a really good football team. There's a lot of guys out there that people aren't familiar with. But they'll compete, and that's why I love them.''
Q.: "Will seemed to use his legs a lot. Was that something he was encouraged to do or was he just trying to make plays out there?''
VRABEL: "When it's not open, you're not going to stand there and wait it out with Chubb and Wilkins and everybody else coming in. I think he did a nice job in knowing when to escape. Certainly, he'll have to use great decisions going forward on some of those collisions down the field.''
Q.: "I guess (punt returner) Eric (Garror), I saw your conversation with him. What did you tell him, that he can learn from that?''
VRABEL: "There's aggressive and there's reckless, and that to me is reckless. Again, we've coached catching it on the first bounce, and we've coached on being square. We've coached not catching that in traffic. Sometimes there's an opportunity to catch it on the first bounce when there aren't a lot of bodies around. We have to make better decisions when we're back there. Eric has caught the ball well, but we just can't make that kind of mistake. But I also told him he's also going to go back out there and catch the ball and be our punt returner. He just has to make better decisions going forward.''
Q.: "You had that drive after the blocked field goal where you ran the ball three times, you punted, then you got the ball back and you took shots. What changed from that drive to the following one?''
VRABEL: "I just think our ability to run the football and have success is eventually going to be very critical. Being able to also throw some shots and protect is also something. I think that Tim (Kelly) just felt like we needed to mix it up there. We weren't having much success, but you've got to give them credit for that, too.''
Q.: "Was the two-point conversion a set thing, or was it something down 14 that you wanted to do to be able to win in regulation?''
VRABEL: "Yeah, I think that's just from the research that we've done and the analytics in trying to win the game in regulation. You go for two there, and we liked the call. That's how it goes.''
Q.: "You talked about a lot of unnamed guys. TK McClendon filled in for Jeffery Simmons tonight. These guys, do they not know any better than just going out and playing football?''
VRABEL: "Probably not. We're working in a rookie left tackle (Jaelyn Duncan) against a really good player. I thought he competed and gave us an opportunity. TK is out there battling. Kalil and Kavon haven't been here all that long. Roger goes down and Eric goes in, and Roger comes back. Calvin played some at right guard. We'll find out who we have available and we'll try to beat the Texans.
Q.: "Mike, you've been wondering about the effort sometimes not being there. Were you still confident that something like this could happen?''
VRABEL: "I think sometimes you second-guess, but in different moments. Then you remember what you've practiced, trained, preached about your resiliency and your effort. We've got some great leaders that have been around and helped us win a lot of tough, close games. And when you come on the road and you're whatever situation you're in, it's about giving yourself a chance to win the game late. We made the mistakes, but they responded. For a few minutes, it looked like we were going to lose it late. But we came back.''
Q.: "When you mention want to make it a game, did you want to muddy it up and slow it down a little bit?''
VRABEL: "I mean, you have to possess the ball. They average 32 points a game and we helped them out far too many times. You have to convert some tough conversions and we were prepared to go for it on fourth down. We've just got to eliminate the mistakes and I'm sure we'll win more games.
Q.: "What do you want the fans to know about the guys in this locker room?''
VRABEL: "That they'll play their hearts out for you. It's not going to be perfect, there's going to be mistakes, but hopefully there won't be too many. i don't want to same the same mistake twice, but I know that they are going to play their hearts out for this team, this organization, and for this city.''
Q.: "Mike, you competed against Frank Wycheck. Can you recall him as a competitor?''
VRABEL: "Great player. Just my heart and thoughts go out his family. I know his daughter, she's got a special place in my heart. Deanna we're thinking about you, and her husband Cole as well.''
Related stories on Titans-Dolphins
- GAME STORY: The Tennessee Titans scored twice in the final two-plus minutes to stun the Miami Dolphins 28-27 on Monday night, winning on the road for the first time in more than a year. Rookie Will Levis led the charge with a career-high 327 passing yards in the record-breaking win. CLICK HERE
- WATCH TYJAE SPEARS CATCH: The Titans battled the Dolphins on Monday night, and Tyjae Spears made a big play on a pass from Will Levis to set the Titans up for more points. Here is the video highlight. CLICK HERE
- WATCH JOHNSON STRIP TUA: The Tennessee Titans got a big play early against the Miami Dolphins when defensive lineman Jaleel Johnson stripped Tua Tagovailoa as the Dolphins were on the front step of the end zone. CLICK HERE
- WATCH LEVIS HIT HOPKINS: The Tennessee Titans took a 10-7 lead into halftime after Will Levis and DeAndre Hopkins led the Titans on a 69-yard drive that resulted in the go-ahead field goal. They connected for a 45-yard gain on the biggest play of the drive. CLICK HERE
- WATCH LEVIS THROW INTERCEPTION: The Tennessee Titans turned over the Dolphins early in the game, but immediately turned it back over to the Dolphins on a Will Levis interception that was easily walked in for a TD. CLICK HERE
