Colts
Colts HC Frank Reich supported K Rodrigo Blankenship after the game, who had two kicks go out of bounds, one of which set the Texans up in great field position in a dangerous situation.
“In my mind, he’s our kicker,” Reich said, via Joel A. Erickson of the Indianapolis Star. “We go back, and everybody gets evaluated. Coaches, players, we all get evaluated. If I’ve learned one thing over the years, it’s: Don’t rush into those kinds of decisions. Let Chris and I get a chance to talk about it, everybody gets evaluated.”
Texans
Texans HC Lovie Smith cited the depleted energy level of his defense as the reason he chose to punt the ball instead of attempting to play for the win.
“There’s a lot of football left to go in the season. It’s kind of as simple as that,” Smith said of the call to punt, via the Houston Chronicle. “I felt like a tie was better than a potential loss. Defensively, we weren’t really stopping them an awful lot at the end. At the time, it was not like we were playing our best defense. We were drained. We were gassed a little bit.”
- Texans OT Tytus Howard said there was lack of communication along the offensive line after giving up a couple sacks late in the game: “We had lack of communication in the third, fourth quarter and overtime. Gave up some sacks. Lack of communication on the sacks.” (Mark Berman)
- Smith on fourth-round RB Dameon Pierce being less involved in the gameplan than expected: “The plan was for Dameon Pierce to play more, but the flow of the game changed the gameplan.” (DJ Bien-Aime)
Titans
Titans RB Derrick Henry didn’t point fingers after the team’s loss to the Giants.
“It’s tough,” Henry said, via Jim Wyatt of the team’s official website. “We didn’t play good enough – they were the better team, and that’s why they won. We didn’t play up to our standards and…we have to play better in all three phases.”
Titans K Randy Bullock said he isn’t going to let the miss define his season.
“I felt great going (out there) and unfortunately it didn’t go through,” Bullock said. “This one kick isn’t going to define me. I am going to come to work and be ready to go and on to Buffalo.”
Titans DL Jeffery Simmons was especially upset after the team gave up over 300 yards on the ground.
“That’s not our standard, especially up front,” Simmons said. “We talk about stopping the run – that was out No.1 key defensively this week. They almost had 300 yards rushing, so that’s not good enough.”
Titans QB Ryan Tannehill said the team will turn the page next week but added it’s always tough starting the season off in a hole.
“Losing sucks no matter when it happens,” Tannehill said. “I never want to start off the season on the wrong foot, especially at home in front of your own fans. You’ve got to turn the page quickly though. It’s a long season. It’s just one game and we’ve got to keep that mentality to be able to take a real look at what happened, get it fixed quickly and turn the page and get ready to go for next week.”
- Titans HC Mike Vrabel said they wanted to work DB Ugo Amadi in at nickel instead of moving around cornerbacks Roger McCreary and Caleb Farley due to his familiarity with the position from his time in Seattle. (Turron Davenport)
- Vrabel told reporters TE Geoff Swaim got so many reps due to him being the team’s best blocking tight end. (Wyatt)
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