Quotebook: Postgame Reaction from Players, Coaches

NASHVILLE – The Tennessee Titans fell 21-20 to the New York Giants on Sunday.

Tennessee led 13-0 at halftime and never trailed until the Giants scored a touchdown and added a two-point conversion with 1:06 remaining. The Titans nearly answered, but kicker Randy Bullock’s game-winning 47-yard field goal attempt missed to the left as time expired.

New York outgained Tennessee 394-359 on the strength of a run game that delivered 238 yards on 32 carries, 164 and 18, respectively from running back Saquon Barkley.

Here is a roundup of what players and coaches said following the contest.

On the game …

• Titans coach Mike Vrabel: “Anytime you lose it's a gut punch. We put a lot in to it. We got it started how we wanted to. I give them a lot of credit. We went flat and we weren't able to get anything going there in the second half.”

• Titans running back Derrick Henry: “It’s tough. We didn't play good enough. They were the better team. That's why they won. We didn't play up to our standard and let them hang around and capitalize off of it. We’ve got to play better on all three phases. It just wasn't good enough and to our standard.”

• Giants quarterback Daniel Jones: “It was an exciting one for us to kind of come back there at the end of the game. It wasn't perfect. The first half wasn't great, especially from an offensive standpoint. So, to stick with it, fight down the stretch and come out on top was exciting for us. We’ve played a lot of close games these past few years, so it feels good to finish one, to come out on top and be able to celebrate in the locker room.”

• Titans tackle Taylor Lewan: “Obviously, they ended up scoring more points than we did. So, not trying to be that guy, but we come out, we run the first play at the half, we get five or six yards. And then it's just quite unfortunate things. The good thing is, in this (locker) room, when we when we lose, everybody's pointing to themselves saying, ‘I could've done this, but I could've done this better.’ So, there's a lot to learn from this game.”

On New York’s game-winning two-point conversion …

• Giants coach Brian Daboll: “We’re going to be aggressive. That’s what we want to do. That’s the mindset I want the players to have. If it didn’t work, I could (live) with it. I thought that was the right decision. … I said, ‘If we score, I’m going for two, you guys good with that?’ And they said, ‘F-yeah.’”

• Jones: “Well, (Daboll) has been very clear throughout training camp and throughout the week preparing for this game that he's going to be aggressive in those situations and give us the chance to execute. So, I wasn't surprised. I don't think any of us were surprised by that at all.”

On the Giants’ run game …

• Giants running back Saquon Barkley: “I kind of started to get into the zone. Started locking in. I kind of love being in that place. I’ve got to try to find a way to get in that place a little bit more and a little quicker. … We had a heck of a game, but definitely we give shouts to the line. They play tremendously.”

• Vrabel: “A good player [Barkley]. Poor defense. And poor gap integrity. A couple of times it was edge, sometimes it was inside tackling. We'll have to really reevaluate what we're doing. Give them credit. They were able to run football which was the number one key for us on defense.”

• Titans linebacker Bud Dupree: “Hats off to them for executing their plays. We had the opportunities to make the plays and to make the stops, but we didn’t. So, there's something for us to go into the film room and continue to progress.”

On Randy Bullock …

• Titans quarterback Ryan Tannehill: “I have a lot of faith in (Bullock) and know that he’s going to be able to make the next one. So, this doesn’t change my belief in him or our team’s belief in him. He’s made a lot of kicks for us in the past. He’s going to continue to do that.”

• Daboll: “We iced them [with a timeout]. Whether it helped or not, I really don't know. But he just was off a little bit, what to the left?”

• Henry: “I feel like we had plenty of opportunities to win the game and it's not Randy (Bullock)’s fault. We are going to rally behind Randy. He's an efficient kicker. He's a great kicker and stuff like that happens. But we should have not left it in Randy’s hands. I feel like we should have done what we needed to do on our end to be able to win this game.”

On the Titans’ final drive, which ended with Bullock’s miss …

• Tannehill: “I don’t think there was any desperation at all. I felt great. I felt like we had some opportunities there. … I felt in control and felt like they were up there trying to ease up a little bit where we were able to have answers and gain yards on those situations, and unfortunately we just didn’t finish them.”

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