Quotes of Note: What Broncos Players and Coaches Said About the Titans

The teams that will play the final game of the NFL's Week 1 schedule also met in Denver during the 2019 season.

For the second time in as many years, the Tennessee Titans go on the road to face the Denver Broncos.

Denver got the better of things last season with a 16-0 victory that was a turning point in the Titans’ season.

Here is some of what Broncos players and coaches said this week in advance of Monday’s matchup at Empower Field at Mile High:

• Coach Vic Fangio on quarterback Ryan Tannehill’s red zone acumen: “Tannehill does a good job of understanding how the red zone works and where the ball has to go when the field is tightened up like that. They’re really hard to defend down there because they’re good at running it down there, and then the rest of their stuff plays off of that.”

• Cornerback A.J. Bouye on Titans wide receiver A.J. Brown: “What stands out with him—he definitely has good routes, but when he gets the ball in his hands it’s just the yards after the catch. You see it’s hard to tackle him one-on-one. He bounces off the tackles and things like that. The teams that play him well, they’re able to swarm around him and get to him and things like that. He’s just a playmaker. He’s definitely helped those guys out a lot on offense especially with that they have. He’s just a key addition to that and it showed last year, his rookie year.”

• Quarterback Drew Lock, on Tennessee’s defense: “I think the thing you’re most anxious about is seeing how they come out and play you in the first game of the year. Are they going to do a lot of stuff they did last year or are they going to change it up? Who’s playing what spot? They just picked [DE/OLB Jadeveon] Clowney up. Where are they going to play him? I think that’s what we are most anxious for and we’ll take it from there. I’m just excited to finally get out on the field.”

• Safety Justin Simmons, on Derrick Henry’s stiff arm: “Definitely one of the best if not the best in the league—he’s such a big guy so when you get out into open space he’s athletic enough to just kind of leap over you or like you said use his—he has long arms. He’s able to extend his arm before you can even make contact with his body. It’s tough. The best way to defend it is to get multiple guys to the football, trying to eliminate as many one-on-ones as you can, try and meet him in the hole before he kind of get a head of steam and can break out to the second level.”

• Bouye on preparing to tackle Henry: “You really can’t simulate it until you get into the game. We know how tough he is to tackle. He has a great stiff arm. When he gets going in the open field he gets going. It’s going to come to just everybody getting to the ball, swarm tacking, things like that, just the regular fundamentals that we have on defense.”

• Fangio, on preparing his defense to face Henry: “It’s hard. We’ll hit the big bag. You don’t simulate that. A guy that big running with that type of power and speed—we just have to be ready for it. Hopefully we will be. It will take a lot of guys to get him down, and we have to get a lot of guys to the ball.”

• Wide receiver Courtland Sutton, on the teams’ second meeting in as many seasons: “Everything we’re basing our game plan off of are things they did at the end of the season last year. It’s going to be tough for us, but we’re prepared for it. We’re preparing ourselves for this. … They have a base of who they are and how they play, and that won’t change too much. … We have an idea of what to expect, however, we do have to be prepared to make adjustments in between series.”

• Safety Kareem Jackson, on facing the Titans again: “For us, knowing the personnel they have with [RB] Derrick Henry, their receivers and [QB Ryan] Tannehill—with them going deep in the playoffs, I think we’ll be able to look at some of those things. It’ll be similar in some aspects, but I’m sure they’ll sprinkle in some change. It’ll be a big surprise factor. Whatever team adjusts well will have a great chance of being successful.”

• Defensive lineman Jurrell Casey, on facing his former team: “The thing about it—they know me well. I know them well, but the thing is we didn’t have a preseason this year. They don’t know what I’ve been working on. I don’t know what they’ve been working on. Let’s just say we’re going to come into this game and make sure it’s a great battle. We’re going to get after it. At the end of the day, I’m going to make sure the Broncos are on top.”