WR Dwayne Bowe:
On being confident that he can play Sunday:
"Most definitely. With a hamstring, you definitely have to get out there, you can still burst and run around. Yesterday and today, I put together two great practices so I am feeling pretty confident I can go out on Sunday and play."
On how important is it to prove to people that he still can play:
"It is important to prove to the team. My job is to make sure I am the best at what I do on and off the field. It is a major role I play and contribute to. Just going out and doing it on Sunday is all I can control and worry about."
On if it is correct to say that he has not had hamstring issues in the past:
"Yes, I never had. Guys are getting old. You have to do more to take care of your body. At this level, hamstrings can linger around. You just have to be a pro and be smart about it and learn how to work yourself in and not let any pressure [get to you], going out there and speeding yourself up to re-injure it. We have the best staff over here and I feel pretty good about this week."
On what he can do for the offense:
"I am a big red zone threat, even big play downs. Flip (offensive coordinator John DeFilippo) know it. Our team knows it. My duty is to get out there and prove it, and that is what I intend to do."
On if he needs to change who he is a as WR as he gets older:
"I would say as you get older you have to use more technique. Younger guys come in this league that are running fast. You just have to be a technician and use your skill. I am big body. I can go across the middle and make the big plays in the back of end zone. That is something we need and something I can do."
DB Tashaun Gipson:
On the secondary pressing in last week's game:
"Every time we gave the ball over I felt like the urgency between the defenses, not just the secondary, but the urgency that we had to make a play to stay in that ball game. I think that that was just the consensus mindset of everybody going out on that field. After one turnover, two turnovers, the mindset is 'Hey, before the score gets out of hand, we have to go out there and do something and put the ball in our hands and take care of everything.' Reaching for plays? Probably so. There were a couple of plays, don't need to say any names, myself included. We were all out there playing out of whack at some time, but that was us just trying to go out there and make a play for this team. As you know, as the lead begins to expand the offense, the Jets defense was playing good football out there and we couldn't move the ball. We were just going out there just trying to play football. At the end of the day, it winded up costing us some plays, some guys got out of character and they wind up exploiting us. Besides that, it's no panic. We're definitely a confident bunch back there and we know what we can do.
On Titans QB Marcus Mariota:
"He's a good young quarterback. That game was phenomenal that he played. I think he only had two incompletions, maybe three. I know he had more touchdowns than incompletions so that has to be a good thing as a quarterback. I tip my hat off to him because he's one of the few quarterbacks that can beat you with his arm, as well as his feet. He can singlehandedly beat a team with his feet so you have to respect him from that aspect. The thing that he doesn't get enough credit for is he's very accurate. His arm strength is still to be proven, but the guy can bullet some balls in there. He can truly pinpoint some passes in there. A quarterback that's accurate and mobile like that it poses a threat any time. I have nothing but a great deal of respect for him."
On if the Browns' plan is to rattle Mariota:
"He's still a rookie quarterback at the end of the day. He's not quite (Broncos QB) Peyton Manning yet so there are a lot of things that we can do that we can control. Albeit be disguising, just making sure we get hits and pressure on him, things that he's never seen. I know Tampa Bay had a pretty vanilla defensive game plan – that's nothing against those guys – they had a pretty vanilla game plan. He was able to sit back that read, pick his throws and go for it. We definitely don't plan on being very vanilla with him this week. We want to make sure we give him a bunch of different looks, probably something he's never seen before and try to get in his face, try to get hits on him and go from there. He showed composure, and anytime you have a quarterback like that, I don't think it would be easy to rattle him, but if we can rattle him, get some disguises, het him thinking we're in one coverage then roll to another coverage, that will be huge for us and maybe make sure that once he sees the ball he tucks the ball. He's definitely a dangerous runner, as well, so we're going to have to bring our A game for sure because he can beat us with his arm, he can beat us with his leg. If we hold up our end on the back end, those front seven guys are going to hold up their end when he tries to get out and run, I think we'll have a successful day. If not, then it'll be a long Sunday afternoon for us."
DL Danny Shelton:
On Titans QB Marcus Mariota:
"He is like a Polynesian rabbit. He is going to be a guy that can throw, but don't be naive to his running skills. We are going to be ready for the zone read, obviously. Really just trying to play football, our type of football."
On how much the zone-read is a part of the Titans offense:
"They incorporate it, a lot of stuff. There is going to be play-action, boot, screen pass, run. We are trying to prepare for everything and anything actually. I think we've done a great job these past two days with just focusing in and just trying to make the plays that we are supposed to make."
On his performance against the Jets and what he hopes to improve:
"I think I played alright. I definitely wanted to play better knowing that I was going against a better center in (Jets OL) Nick Mangold. I didn't play the way I wanted to play, but it was my first game and got some film out there. The next step for me is to learn from my mistakes and improve and get ready for the Titans."
On what he wished he did better:
"Block releasing. Nick is a great center, great position blocker. If I was a little more keyed on releasing earlier, I would be able to make some plays and help out the defense a little bit more."
On how the Browns can make Mariota one dimensional and pass the ball:
"We just have to do our job. Each position has their own job for the zone read. If one guy messes up, that is an easy gash for (Titans RB) Bishop Sankey back there, too. Obviously, in the passing, up front we have to cause him to scramble out. He is a rookie quarterback and it is going to be both of our second games. If we get that pressure up the middle, it is going to be tough for him to throw out of that pocket."
On how he did against Mariota at Washington:
"Sadly, we didn't beat them, but I had a great defense all four times I played against him. We put some stats against him, but then again, Oregon is a great team overall."
On if he had success against Mariota:
"I played well against their offense. They are a quick, up-tempo offense. Our defense did pretty well against them."
LB Scott Solomon:
On if his injury is a high ankle sprain:
"You have to talk to Pett (head coach Mike Pettine) or (Head athletic trainer) Joe (Sheehan) about that."
On if he is confident LB Nate Orchard and DL Armonty Bryant can step up in his absence:
"Absolutely. They've been doing it in practice and they absolutely can."
On the importance of setting the edge at OLB:
"It's important. We have a lot of emphasis now on it so we just have to get it done."
On potentially being out four to six weeks:
"You're just going to have to talk to Coach Pett or Joe (Sheehan), the trainer, about timelines."
On how tough it was watching the game from the sidelines:
"Yeah, absolutely. Anytime you get hurt, it's tough. You obviously don't want that to happen, but you just have to do everything you can to get back on the field, which I'm in the process of doing now."
OL Joe Thomas:
On if one practice would be sufficient enough preparation for QB Josh McCown to start, if McCown practices on Friday:
"Josh has played 15 years. Friday practice, in my opinion, is the most important practice because it is kind of where you put it all together. As long as he gets a Friday in, I think he would have no problem stepping in and not missing a beat."
On making the run offense successful:
"I think we just need to be ourselves. No magic potions or anything. We just need to keep doing what we are doing and the yards will come. They will be there."
On if the opening drive against the Jets is the blueprint for the offense this year:
"It would be nice. I think that drive was the longest drive of my career. If we can match that every time, that would be superb. Obviously, that is probably not realistic. Certainly, if we can be a ball control offense that slowly, methodically moves the ball down the field, I think we will be very successful."
On if QB Johnny Manziel has the ability to lead the offense based off of that blueprint:
"I think so, I don't see why he can't. He has done a much better job this year making decisions in the pocket. We may not have to wait for [17] plays because he is a guy that makes big, explosive plays with his feet and scrambling and throwing the ball down the field. It could be the best of both worlds. You could have a nice ball control offense and still hit some big, explosive plays with him back there."
On if Manziel is more difficult to block for because of his mobility:
"I wouldn't say he is more difficult to block for, but you always block for the spot on a pass protection. Once a quarterback starts running or moving around, there is really nothing you can do because you don't have eyes in the back of your head. You do the same thing no matter who is back there. Certainly, you are going to occasionally get more holdings because all of sudden he is not where you expect him to be and the defense lunges at the ball carrier and for a second you are engaged and all of a sudden they lunge backwards. You try to let go as fast as you can, but some refs will call the holding on that. That is the type of play that you are going to get a little bit with Johnny. There is really nothing you can do about it. You just have to take the good with the bad because he is going to have explosive runs and explosive passes because he gets out of the pocket, but occasionally, you might get a holding because of him showing up where you didn't expect him to be."
On last year's game against the Titans:
"I remember we were down big and we went no-huddle and came back. It was exciting doing that on the road. Having a big comeback like that, running the ball, throwing the ball down the field, it was exciting and a fun game."
