Live Press Conference: 11:50 AM CT: HC Brian Callahan
repeated the message to the team this morning that those are those are things that come along with winning. You know, when you find a way to win, some of the individual accolades come along with it. So, happy for Chim to get recognized for his performance so far. He’s had a really good start uh to the season. As far as the Raiders go, um another trip out west, another road game we got to go play, our third one in a row here. Excited about the challenge. Um you know, they’re a team that that while record-wise doesn’t look great, uh you can see exactly why they’re in the spot they’re in. Um they’ve had a tremendous amount of of backbreaking turnovers that have put their defense in really tough spots. Uh teams have capitalized on that, but when you watch just the the tape alone and you look at the scheme and the players, uh there’s there’s a lot of good things happening there. They they look like a Pete Carol team on defense. Um all those traits are starting to show up. Uh offensively, we know Gino’s as a proven quarterback in this league and when he gets hot, he’s tough to deal with. They got some young players that are that are pretty talented. Um, and I think it’s it’s going to be it’s going to be a hell of a road test for us. You know, another team on the road that we got to go play well. And um, you know, the I think the running back Ashton Genty is starting to come on. You’re starting to see his talent show up. Um, we’ll see what Brock Bower status is, but he’s obviously a dynamic player. Max Crosby is is probably one of the premier players in this league, so we have to have a good plan for him. He’s It felt like he almost tried to win the Chicago game in the first half by himself. It was it was a remarkable performance. So, uh, he’s he’s somebody we got to be aware of and and he can certainly wreck the game. So, got our hands full in a bunch of different spots and and got to go play really well on the road again. Try to see if we can get ourselves with two wins in a row. You mentioned GT and the talent that he’s shown. He’s actually catching the ball out of the back field. How impressed have you been with that? How big of a test would that be for your linebackers and safety? Yeah, it’s a it’s a big test for us. Um, they’ve started to run the ball better and better, I think, every week that’s gone on. um you see him getting more comfortable with the NFL speed and style and and how you have to run in this league. Uh he’s a he gets a shoulder square and he makes those vertical cuts into the defense and um he’s pretty hard to bring down. You know, he’s a good back, so we got to be on it. We got to gang tackle. We got to wrap him up. Um we can’t let him can’t let him get going. It’s all going to start by trying to get the line of scrimmage dented. So, but really good player. I mean, you see the talent. You see why he was picked where he was picked. Um he’s going to be a really good player. How’s it looking for Leam? uh positive positive for him. We’ll see how the week goes, but but um uh so far this week has sort of met the benchmarks necessary to keep pressing forward and uh hopefully get him uh get him some work at practice this week. How’s only maybe done over the last couple weeks filling in for him and but knowing also JC help you if he can get back in play. Yeah, JC’s a huge help for us. um excited to to have a have a chance to get him back and but Oolie I think deserves a a tip of the cap. You know, I think he’s filled in well for us in the last particularly last two games. Um he’s been physical. He’s been stout. Uh he’s he’s done what we’ve needed him to do uh from his job perspective. Happy happy with that. Happy to have a guy that that we can rely on. Um and he’s he’s done a nice job for us. How do you feel like the the safety rotation has worked? you know, putting digs in in certain nickel packages and the dime and him playing alongside and going with that package as opposed to just simply Roger is the nickel. Um there’s a lot of teams that that do that. It’s a big nickel package, you know, we we throw uh we’ve thrown Hook’s done some big nickel and then X has done some big nickel and and um those are some things that that you do on kind of base downs. Um allows us to use those guys uh their size and their tackling ability um on first and second down. So, it’s it’s strategic. Um, it’s not something that you do all game long, but there’s bits bits and bits and pieces that you got to use in in the in your sub packages. Um, so yeah, I think we’re just trying to use all of our able a able able bodies and try to put guys in position to help us uh use everyone we have up on game day. I feel like Jihad’s come along and uh and does a track for for more opportunity. Maybe Yeah, he’s certainly been a nice pickup. you know, he’s he has I love his demeanor. I love his attitude. Uh he’s he’s a I describe him as a glue guy, if you could, you know, put a you know, kind of a name on him. He just got some away about him. Um and then he’s produced on the field. I mean, he’s really he’s played well and uh the more guys produce the more opportunities they get and then I’m sure he’ll have some more opportunities to keep rushing to quarterback. Um he’s done well and I’m really happy we have him and he’s he’s been a great addition for us uh on our defensive front. I may have asked you that Monday, so I apologize if that was I don’t think he did. I don’t think he did. Actually, you I recall you saying glue gun. On the instances where y’all have had trouble capitalizing on short fields offensively, have you seen a common thread of of why that’s been repeated? Um common thread, I mean, there’s always I I think there’s more common thread just in in the ability to move the ball consistently. I don’t know that it’s necessarily a short field issue or a normal field issue. I think we we’re searching for more uh more consistent play from top to bottom so we can keep moving the ball forward. I think we took some steps in the right direction um particularly in the second half of the Arizona game. Um we’ve had some some drives that we’ve been able to move the ball, but we just need more. Um we were in much better down in distances this against the Cardinals this past week. a little more manageable, stayed on schedule a little bit better and and looking for that to improve. Uh that’s probably the biggest issue for us um when it comes to drives being stalled is is spending way too much time in in third and long. You know, those are really low percentage conversion downs. Um they they’ve ended drives for us. Uh and and you get into the third and eight plus, it’s just a lot harder to to convert and we haven’t done a good enough job on third down in general. Um so that’s where we’re looking to improve. I think that’ll that’ll allow us to to have more opportunities to move the ball consistently. So staying manageable and then converting third downs be is a huge part of a huge emphasis for us. Seeing how much he wants to live in that two-minute world, that hurry up world. And then Nick Holes yesterday, he talked about how that limits defenses as far as what they could do. Is there thoughts to kind of ramping that up a little bit more, not just in two-minute situations, but running more tempo? Yeah, I I mean I think we’re I think we’re one of the top handful of team maybe top eight, nine teams in the league in terms of just on the ball tempo reps. Um some of that’s game situation. Um but it is something that we’ve we’ve done and we’ve continued to grow. Um it’s stuff that we’re always having in our package and we always have the ability to do and um you know the the more guys get used to doing it, the better we get at it, the more opportunities we’ll have to continue using it. And uh it’s been productive for us. I mean, we’ve we’ve had some pretty solid two-minute drives over the course of the season. Um, Cam does operate with some comfort in that. And, uh, I love I love no huddle football. I think it’s it’s great. I mean, I I spent a lot of years doing it. Um, some previous employment. So, it’s something that we’re interested in that I think we have some ability to do well and and we’ve done quite a bit of it to start and uh, it’s a p we can keep keep exploring those packages, keep finding ways to use it. from your perspective and observations like what is it about Cam that allows him to excel in those situations? Um I think the it’s hard to probably pin all that down to one or two things but um there is some core concept things that go into it. You know it’s things that we got a lot of reps on that that we know well. Um there’s something about tempo that does help kickstart the rhythm. You know there’s something about that. It’s always been the case. I think, you know, there’s teams are looking for for some rhythm on offensive or spark. They try to jump the ball and that can help. Um, but I think there’s a lot of things that make it just something maybe he’s he’s done quite a bit of in his in his college career over over his stops. So, those are all things that probably factor into it. There’s times that with Cam that, you know, he seems to throw balls that throwing the fast ball, so to speak, when he doesn’t really need to. Was that something that you saw a lot on his college tape that was something that needed to be worked on or is that something that’s just kind of cropped up here lately? Cuz we we didn’t really see a lot of that in camp. It didn’t seem like Yeah, there’s um there’s there’s probably there’s probably a lot lengthier uh detailed dive that I I could go in. Just for sake of time, I won’t. But, um, I think in general, uh, a lot of things happen for quarterbacks when they they their feet don’t match sometimes with with what’s asked of them in progression. And sometimes they try to speed up. And so sometimes what you see Cam do is she tries to speed up uh, a read or a throw. uh because he’s got so much arm velocity and he’s got so much body um torque, if you will, he can really the ball can come out of his hand really hot and that generally is where those show up is when he’s trying to either speed himself up or catch back up or he sees a window and he just tries to fit it in there. Um you just you see the pure velocity he can put on the ball. Those are things that make it hard to catch. You know, you want quarterbacks to throw catchable balls. Uh there is a time and place for that style throw. Um and those are the things that we’re just kind of continually working through. Um but it it is it does there is some throws there that that we can we can help and maybe make it easier for the receivers to catch different city now and lots changed. But what what goes through your mind I guess when you see the Raiders logo considering your past and your dad’s past? Yeah, we got a lot of Raiders on our staff. A lot of guys that have spent a lot of time there. Um, I’ve always, you know, I was a I was in high school and my dad was there. Um, they had a lot of success over those years and those were kind of my first, you know, I was a I was a fan. I was a fan of the of the team and, um, I was I was always excited to go. It was great environments to go play in when they were at the Coliseum in Oakland. Um, then I got a chance to go coach there for for a year. And um yeah, I have I have I have kind of fond memories and that that silver and black and those game days and some of the wins over the years when I was uh following along as a high school kid and and spending time there. So yeah, great great place, great memories for me overall. Um you know, I had a chance to go work there as well. And then you got a lot of guys in our staff that have spent a lot of years um between Nick Holtz and Travis Smith and Tom Jones and my dad’s been there for a while and I’m sure there’s other guys, but but there’s we have some guys that have long histories there. Does that make it a grudge match? Generally not. No, I no it’s there’s you know the faces change and and there’s a lot of things that are you know everywhere is different after a couple years. So uh yeah certainly want to go go win. That’s that’s the part of it but not for any there’s no personal reasons there. I just I want our team to go one and0 this week. When you meet with your captains on these mornings, what do you get from that conversation and maybe what’s the dynamic um the way that they’re open with you and honest with you? Yeah, it’s really productive, I think, for for all of us. Um both from my perspective, getting information, things I might need to know, um things that that I can try to help with, things that maybe they have uh they’d like me to address in some way, shape, or form. Maybe it’s it’s as simple as a a schedule tweak or hey look, this is how the team’s feeling today. This it’s just helps me get a pulse uh from them on what the team is and they they actually have a lot of conversation amongst themselves um where I just sort of sit back and and let them talk. Um I’ll offer some thoughts on the theme for the week or some messaging that maybe that I want to get ahead of and give to them so they uh can can carry that message as captains of the team. And uh they’re really productive. Um it’s just a chance for us to to take 20 20 minutes on a Wednesday morning for the start of the week and check in, make sure make sure we’re doing the things we need to do. And um but I think the coolest part to me is just is when I get to just sort of step back and and hear them speak to each other about um leadership, about where they are, where we are as a team, what what we need to see from them. Um they’ve all really grown quite a bit, too. It’s been a a fun process to see um and and to hear them talk to each other, I think, is really the the thing that I enjoy most about it and and um it’s productive. I’m glad we do it. To see that. All right. Thank you. To see that that pocket in the fourth quarter, a good play from like how promising is that and what does that tell you about what he could do and in the future and grow into? I think it shows that he’s what he’s capable of. Um you know, every game every game is always different. there’s always different opportunities and and one, you know, one fourth quarter performance doesn’t guarantee another or anything like that. But to see him go out and perform, like I said the other day, you know, be at your best when your best is required, that was really positive. That’s a great step. Um, that’s a that’s a big moment, I think, for his development as a young player. Um, and now that the key is going to be to get it, how do we do that from the start of the game? you know, how do we how do we play with that sort of um efficiency and and that sort of precision from the first quarter to the fourth quarter and see what we look like then? Uh but really happy for for what he’s shown and grown with. And to see that moment, a big moment uh with the deck stacked against you to come through and play well at the end of the game was really encouraging step in the right direction. Thanks. Thank you. Thank you.
Titans Head Coach Brian Callahan addresses reporters on Wednesday at Ascension Saint Thomas Sports Park.
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