HEAD COACH JIM CALDWELL (General Comments) Monday, October 12, 2009* *
"After looking at the film, I think our team did indeed play well. It was a good, solid team effort. Early in the ball game, we had a couple of miscues on the punt, where they (Titans) intercepted and also on the interception. Our defense was strong held them to only three points on each of those turnovers. That was huge. Once we got clicking in all three areas, I think we functioned fairly well. The defense did a nice job stopping the run. They were well prepared and played with a lot of enthusiasm. There were a lot of big hits, and that created some opportunities for us with a short field for the offense. I think the offense did indeed take advantage of some opportunities and was very efficient in scoring. We had a lot of big plays. We had some very good runs after the catch. We might not have had the numbers in terms of the run that we'd like to see, but I thought we were efficient. I thought we did a nice job of covering in our kicking game. Tennessee had been a very good return team in both punt and kickoff returns. I thought our effort was excellent, and we did hold them at bay."
HEAD COACH JIM CALDWELL (On the pace QB-Peyton Manning is on to start the season) Monday, October 12, 2009
"He is playing outstanding. I think that is an understatement. He's always been excellent since he arrived here. He's at a different level now. He works hard enough and prepares well enough to continue that kind of effort. Any game is hard to win in this league. When you can put five of them back-to-back, you certainly are doing quite well. He has a knack for making everybody around him better."
HEAD COACH JIM CALDWELL (On the timing of the bye week now) Monday, October 12, 2009
"You'd rather have it right in the middle (of the season). That would be the best-case scenario. That's not how it works, though. You have to play them as they fall. We have to take advantage of it. You can look at the bye week in two ways. If you aren't doing something well, then you use this week to concentrate on areas in which you are weak. You can also look at the week as an opportunity to get healthy. We're looking at it both ways. I think we have a pretty good rhythm going, but it's not something you can take for granted. We have to keep working, yet we need to get healthy as well. Hopefully after bye, we'll be able to get some guys back that have been out for a while."
HEAD COACH JIM CALDWELL (On what has impressed him the most so far) Monday, October 12, 2009
"We've been pretty consistent from start to finish. The consistency in play on the field has been pretty good. It's a resilient team. Sometimes we have difficult times in short spurts. They don't get down. They play together. They have great confidence in one another. They play with a lot of poise. We have a number of young people who are playing pretty solid football for us. It's highly unusual to have so many first- and second-year players playing so well. We have two rookie corners that played yesterday and did a nice job for us. We have a rookie receiver and a second-year guy who hasn't played much for us, which we noted on many occasions. We are pleased to continue to make progress."
HEAD COACH JIM CALDWELL (On losing rhythm during the bye week) Monday, October 12, 2009
"There's always the threat of that occurring. We've had to deal with different rhythms and preparation the last five weeks. We had night games, day games and six days to get prepared for a game. We had a short week and then a long week, plus travel. That's where your rhythm can get affected. Here we have a little bit more time, and it'll be another test for us to see whether not we can continue once we return. These guys have been around and understand what it's all about. This is a game in which you have to keep rolling along. Otherwise, you do stand a chance of that happening. I don't anticipate that though."
HEAD COACH JIM CALDWELL (On self scouting this week) Monday, October 12, 2009
"We'll take a look at our situational things like red zone and short yardage. You don't use this week to prepare for St. Louis. It's just a bit too far out. We utilize it to look at ourselves a bit and make some adjustments where needed."
HEAD COACH JIM CALDWELL (On who he gives credit for his transition and being 5-0) Monday, October 12, 2009
"There are number of key factors to our start. Very little of his has to necessarily do with me. We have a veteran staff of guys that does a tremendous job and prepares our guys extremely well. Larry Coyer does a great job on our defense. (Tom) Moore does a tremendous job on our offense. They have a great group of veteran coaches that assist them. We have fine players in our organization that have done a tremendous job week in and week out. You can't tell by our focus whether we won or lost the previous game. Their focus is always the same. I attribute that to the guys who have been here and have had some success, know what winning is all about and how to prepare. You also have to credit our owner, who does nothing but give us all the resources it takes to be successful. He is very supportive. Bill (Polian) and his staff just keep good, quality players coming. They find guys that no one else seems to have an interest in that end up doing great things for us. We had a foundation here (with previous head coaches Jim Mora and Tony Dungy). We didn't deviate from the way in which we prepare. We didn't try to reinvent the wheel, and things have just kept rolling along on the same course."
HEAD COACH JIM CALDWELL (On DB-Jacob Lacey) Monday, October 12, 2009
"He's a guy that caught our eye fairly early. You knew he had some very unusual qualities. He has exceptional quickness. He has good ball skills. He can read extremely well for a young guy. He can make plays on the deep ball. He can run, and that's key. He doesn't get rattled. He had taken the challenge on and continues to get better each week. He's a guy we certainly have been pleased with. We look forward to him progressing and getting better. He's been a big plus for us."
HEAD COACH JIM CALDWELL (On WR-Austin Collie) Monday,
"It's exciting to see a young guy perform so well so early. We all know how difficult it is to play in this league. Typically rookies do not have the type of year that he is having. There are very few guys that come into the league and be effective week in and week out. He has shown that ability. He is developing. His skill level was good when he came in, and he is getting better. His spatial awareness is one of his strengths. He has a knack for finding the open area. He catches the ball consistently. He has very good hands. When he gets the ball in his hands, he knows what to do with it. Yesterday (at Tennessee), he showed his ability to break tackles. He wants to get that ball in the end zone. We are real excited about how he is progressing."
HEAD COACH JIM CALDWELL (On having a quarterback like Peyton Manning) Monday, October 12, 2009
"We are blessed in that regard to have a talented guy at that position. He has proven if you give him enough time, he will give you a great chance to win. We certainly feel good about that."
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HEAD COACH JIM CALDWELL (On handling success) Monday, October 12, 2009
"That has a lot to do with maturity. A great majority of this group has been 5-0 before. They look at this thing (the 5-0 start) to say, 'On with the next one. Let's get ready for St. Louis. We have a job to do. Let's not get carried away.' There's a proverb in the Bible that says a wise man learns from instruction, a fool learns from correction. We have a lot of wise men around here. We talk about not relaxing and continue to get better."
