Titans Quarterback Marcus Mariota and Raiders Quarterback Derek Carr
The Oakland Raiders are officially 2-1.
Sunday afternoon the Silver and Black took the field at Nissan Stadium to battle the run-heavy Tennessee Titans. The offense started hot in the blazing heat, posting 17 points in the first half. To complement the offense, the defense stood its ground on the gridiron, coming away with two interceptions. The secondary in particular was strong, and rookie safety Karl Joseph made his debut and finished the day with 10 combined tackles.
After losing to the Raiders 17-10, here's what the Titans had to say.
Head Coach Mike Mularkey
The Titans skipper expressed his frustration with being unable to hit the deep ball.
"It's frustrating because the deep balls, we're not hitting them, we're getting sacked on them, we're getting scrambles on them, we're not getting the play that we need to make when they're called. There are times when they are sitting on some things, on our outs, but they're not sitting on them long enough to cover them."
Mularkey spoke about the forced fumble on quarterback Marcus Mariota.
"I think he saw the line. Again, he knows he's got to be better with the ball. That's a constant subject with him. He's such a competitor, and they made a good play, it was like slow motion, you knew it was about to happen when the defender came up behind him."
Quarterback Marcus Mariota
Mariota discussed his two interceptions to safety Reggie Nelson and cornerback Sean Smith.
"Yeah, that's me learning and growing. I can do a better job of just taking it one play at a time, not trying to win the game on one throw. But again, it's a process for me and I am doing my best to learn."
The second-year quarterback shared his thoughts on the fumble forced by linebacker Bruce Irvin.
"One of those deals where his shoulder pads hit right on the ball. In that situation, I thought I could get the first down, but then sometimes you just have to take your medicine, get down and move on. Let our defense get a stop and punt the ball."
Titans Safety Kevin Byard
The rookie safety opened up about losing to the Raiders in a hard-fought game.
"I feel like we played fairly good on the defensive side of the ball. Gave up a few passes, but other than that, I feel like we played good. We played hard on all three phases: special teams, offense and defense. It's just tough to lose a game in that fashion. It's just tough."
Titans Tackle Jack Conklin
Conklin addressed the loss and how the Titans played with resilience.
"It's rough coming down like that with a chance to score, and come up empty. All the guys fought to the end. We came back down there and the defense held them. What's rough is you never want to lose a game after fighting so hard like that, and getting down there and having a chance."
