HEAD COACH JIM CALDWELL (On playing a team so close from the last time both teams played one another) Wednesday* *
"I would say the advantages, obviously, are fresh in your mind. You have a real good sense of their present personnel. You have a real good sense of them from a schematic standpoint. All of those things you have a real good feel for. I think that is an advantage. I also think it's a disadvantage because they look at you the same way. It's only been one game that has separated us. They (Texans) had a bye week, played a ball game and now will have us again. I think it makes for a pretty interesting scenario because it's going to really boil down to execution. That is going to be the key because we both know each other. Every week is a little bit different. You have to look at your personnel and figure out what you will be able to do best. We'll then make some adjustments."
HEAD COACH JIM CALDWELL (On if he watched the Titans-Texans game Monday night) Wednesday
"I saw a great majority of it. I saw exactly what I anticipated seeing. There were two very talented teams battling it out and doing a great job on really both sides of the ball. The defenses played well. The kicking game was solid. I just think they both were well prepared, and we'd better be ready. Television sometimes give you an unusual look and the opportunity to see things more close. You hear things a lot better now with this high definition television, you can hear a little bit of everything. Being able to run it back and forth in your living room makes a big difference as well."
HEAD COACH JIM CALDWELL (On hiring defensive coordinator Larry Coyer) Wednesday
"I had to prepare six different times for head coaching interviews in this league. One of the exercises you go through is you have to put together your staff. You have to be able to present your staff to the owners and general managers, etc. You have to describe to them what you are looking for from a defensive standpoint. Larry (Coyer) was always a guy I had listed as my defensive coordinator. It all depended upon whether or not he was going to be available because the way in which the league's contracts were structured. There are some guys that are under contract that you just can't touch. I knew him for a long time from my experiences with him during my playing days. Throughout my college coaching career I kept my eye on him and saw what he was able to do with different defensive schemes all across the country. It has never changed. He has always been very, very effective teacher. He has always been an intense individual who believes in his principles and he can get his point across. He's also been a guy that has always been able to stop the run. Those things were important to me. The other thing, too, was he has a bit of an aggressive side to him. That falls into my line of thinking."
HEAD COACH JIM CALDWELL (On moving into a different direction on defense this year) Wednesday
"We believed we had a number of men with quite a bit of versatility. We thought we might want to use some of that from week to week. We didn't want to necessarily assign them to one particular area on the field. We wanted to move them around a little bit and do some things a little bit more aggressively. All in all our base (defense) is we are still a 4-3 team and our base (defense) is still cover 2, which we still play a decent measure of."
HEAD COACH JIM CALDWELL (On what he talks to the team about this week) Wednesday
"There a sign hanging in our locker room to which I believe you guys have seen. It's hanging over the door when you exit to go out to the practice field in the back. It's a quote from Joe Paterno that he used to always use and I'm certainly a big believer in. It says 'Take care of the little things and the little things will take care of themselves.' What I talk to the team about are the things that put us in the position to win. I don't talk about necessarily what's going to happen after we win. We try not to get ahead of ourselves. We figure if we prepare like we've been preparing and focus in on getting better, and we prepare to win, those other things will take care of themselves. We'll talk about those when it's over with."
HEAD COACH JIM CALDWELL (On signing DE-Josh Thomas and the status of DE-Keyunta Dawson) Wednesday
"We are not certain how long he (Dawson) will be out and we need a little help in that area."
HEAD COACH JIM CALDWELL (On any updates on QB-Jim Sorgi) Wednesday
"It's a day-to-day issue. He's resting and rehabbing. We are just pushing things forward and anticipating he'll get better. Nevertheless, we are taking different looks at it as well from a medical standpoint just to make certain we're not missing something, or if something further needs to be done."
HEAD COACH JIM CALDWELL (On mixing football and the Thanksgiving holiday) Wednesday
"That's one of the things this time of the year that's a difficult task. First of all you want the guys to have the opportunity to spend time with family. It's obviously a special time of the year. You certainly have a lot to be thankful for. We do have opportunities to make those types of expressions and not have them feel as if it's a loss, but yet we cutting into their preparation time. I think the good teams are able to do both. They are able to have a real delicate balancing act that allows us to really perfect our craft in terms of our week's preparation, and then also have the opportunity to spend some time with family. We do some things in terms of our scheduling. Tomorrow for example, we will come in earlier and finish a little bit earlier so guys will have the opportunity in the afternoon to be with their family."
HEAD COACH JIM CALDWELL (On his plans for Thanksgiving) Wednesday
"My mom and dad are coming down along with my sister and brother and their children. Anytime you have a chance to get your whole family together, it's a pretty special time. It's very important for us to give thanks for all the fortunate things that have happened to us in the last year. It's a great time of reflection."
HEAD COACH JIM CALDWELL (On DE-Dwight Freeney's playing time last week) Wednesday
"It's one of those games in which they (Ravens) were more run-oriented with heavy play action when they did throw the ball. Those things contributed to the fact he wasn't in there nearly as much as some ballgames. I still think he played hard and played well. He's a great player, and every once and a while he may have game like that. He's doing for very good things for us."
HEAD COACH JIM CALDWELL (On hearing from Tony Dungy) Wednesday
"I generally hear from him at least once a week. Either we talk on the phone or via text. We text message often. It's easier to get to him that way and vice versa."
