Titans Training Camp: Monday Press Conference

I found the clippings from Head Coach Mike Munchak’s press conference  on Monday  (didn’t have to look hard) and I’ll put up the juicy bits.

There was that whole Cortland Finnegan thing Monday….

the Monk speaks:

"Let me just say, as we all know Cortland (Finnegan) missed practice on Saturday. He came in today and took responsibility for his actions and we had some great talks with myself and Jerry (Gray) and Mike Reinfeldt. We got a good understanding what his thinking was, he will be fined for missing practice, and we are just going to move on from there."

I think Monk is an appropriate nickname for the coach, he’s not flashy and keeps to himself, but he does do God’s work–football. Now, let me just say, this next part was really intriguing.

"(on whether or not he has called Chris Johnson)No, I have not talked to him since the day before he held out. I let Mike Reinfeldt handle that through talking with his agent. I’m not sure who he is talking with, but at this point it’s all business right now with him. I’m just kind of staying out of that one."

If you thought it wasn’t a big deal and that Johnson would show up soon, you were mistaken. When the rookie head coach won’t touch the issue, then it’s a VERY big deal. Don’t look for Johnson to show up because it seems right, this is for the long haul.

I’m wondering if I missed an injury update somewhere, or else maybe Monk got good at coachspeak overnight and didn’t answer another question.

"(on Jason McCourty being listed as a starter on yesterday’s (8/7/11) depth chart)Right now, not much goes into those decisions as far as determining who is going to be starting on opening day. I think you have injuries when you come to practice. You have guys that are nicked and can’t go as much. You’re trying to get combinations to put there."

Yeah, he just skipped that entirely, but he does make a great point. The depth chart right now might as well be labeled bogus. That’s why you haven’t seen me write about it. It has no saying on anything, it is strictly pre-limary and any one play in the game on Saturday could re-arrange 3 spots. Think about it, it’s just prelimary, kind of like making plans based off a ‘maybe’.

Munchak goes on to state a few obvious things: McQuistan was brought in recently for depth and competition, Sen’Derrick Marks shoulder injury is still healing and it takes time (thanks for that Cptn Obvious)

On the Tuesday Press Conference we got……..Akeem Ayers (2nd round rookie LBer) adds toughness and size, and lastly Finnegan got excited about playing the slot because he likes to be moved around a lot. So, if Finnegan is in the slot, then that depth chart that put Verner as third should really list him as a situational 2 or 3 or 1 depending…..totally meaningless on that depth chart. Look for more info on Tuesday’s press conference later in the day.