Cleveland Browns defensive coordinator Dick Jauron met with the media on Thursday, and one of the things he talked about was the offense his unit would be going up against this week. The Titans are off to a 2-1 start under new starting quarterback Matt Hasselbeck, and his efficiency has allowed them to make a surprise splash in the AFC South so far.
(On Matt Hasselbeck)- "First of all, he is completing over 70 percent of his passes. I think he’s the third ranked quarterback in the National Football League and you have seen about everything you could see. He’s played a long time. He’s been getting quality coaching obviously. Maybe unfortunately, he has been well prepared by our boss to play in the league and he’s had a lot of success. He really knows what he is doing. They do a nice job with their scheme. They have skilled players. He’s playing at a very high level."
(On Hasselbeck’s old offensive system and now playing under Chris Palmer)- "I wouldn’t compare the two systems. Chris has a lot of experience and he’s got a lot of options for the quarterback there. There are differences obviously in the offenses, but the quarterback in both of them has a lot of options and he is using them. He’s getting the ball out of his hand relatively quickly most of the time, when he has to he certainly is. When he is pressured he certainly is. He’s a skilled guy and recognizes what’s happening and the ball comes out fast."
(On if Hasselbeck is going more vertical now)- "He’s gone down the field a good deal, a number of times to Kenny Britt, a number of times to (Nate) Washington. They have got some big plays but he has also delivered the ball underneath with quick rhythm passes, quick passes, quick audibles and getting the ball out of his hand. They have everything in that scheme. Now, I was never in any offensive meetings with Tom (Coughlin) or Chris in Jacksonville. I watched it a lot. It was very successful and the ball came out fast and the ball came out long. They did it all. Chris is good and he has good players."
(On if he think’s Chris Palmer is trying to read his mind like he is to him)- "He’s studying our defense and we are studying his offense. I don’t know how much further it goes. We were together a short period of time and haven’t been together for a long time. He’s been a lot of different places and I have been in a lot of different places."
(On if a defense could spy Chris Johnson)- "You can, it clearly takes away from something else either the rush or coverage depending on if you want to be single safety high or two deep. If you want to have a four-man push or five-man push however you want to do it, but you can. You can do that."
(On why Chris Johnson has gotten off to a slow start)- "Unfortunately I don’t think about that, I just think about him all the time. You know the guy is so explosive and has been so productive. He is really a great talent as we all know. Both in the run game and in the pass game, unfortunately. We will have our hands full that’s for sure."
These last two quotes are not about the Titans game, but rather this past week's game against the Miami Dolphins:
(On Joe Haden’s performance on Brandon Marshall)- "It won’t be significantly different then what we have talked about before. Joe is a very competitive guy and he’s got unique skills and he’s applying then more and more I think on the field. He again as a relatively young player is learning more and more about the league and he loves that kind of a challenge. You can just see it in him. He wants to be out there and wants to be matched up and he likes it. He’s got the skills to succeed at it. He’s got an unusual ability to reach around people, even bigger people. That was a significantly bigger receiver than Joe is as a corner. He did a really good job of staying on him and making plays around him, making plays on the ball again. He is really an outstanding player."
(On the pass defense at the end of the game against the Dolphins)- "One of the great parts about that one last week was the fans. I thought our fans were really outstanding and played a part in it. They were so loud at the end. It was a lot of fun really and there was a lot of excitement in the stadium. You could feel it in the air really going out. When our offense scored it just kept building. The guys responded well. I thought everybody made plays. Everybody did their job. I thought Dimitri Patterson made a terrific play on the first snap. To have them get that ball at midfield was not good. It was not a good deal for us and they had that one timeout. I thought it was a huge play. They all were obviously. On first-and-10 to make that play on a ball that was probably thrown about 12-14 yards closer to field goal range as it was. I thought that was huge and then afterwards it kind of got better. We got pressure when we needed it. I think we disrupted a pass where there might have been a receiver open down the field and then to have it end with an interception, having the crowd behind us like that was really great."