Fisher adjusts practice to help Titans bounce back
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Fisher condensed practice Wednesday to ease the physical demands for a defense that spent a season-high 44 minutes, 22 seconds, on the field in that 24-17 victory last week. Then he switched up Thursday by giving them the morning off and pushed practice by from midday to late afternoon.
?We scaled down a little bit today. I?m just going to let them get caught up with their rest, come in and have a good practice tomorrow,? Fisher said.
It?s a welcome break. Linebacker Keith Bulluck said he still felt tired and was grateful the Titans didn?t have to play a Thursday night game. He called the morning off a nice change for a team with two games left.
?Jeff knows that we?ve been working hard since August. They?ve been working hard since August. We?ve been fighting and scrapping. No one quit when we could have, and we?re still in the thick of it. We take that as an act of gratitude,? Bulluck said.
Defensive end Kyle Vanden Bosch said he felt really good and credited having ?Victory Mondays? off, which speed the recovery process.
?Some of these younger guys don?t know any better. Some of the older guys … know it takes a while to bounce back. Some of the young guys on the team have so much energy for this point of the season,? he said.
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PRO BOWL SNUBS: Keith Bulluck has gotten used to being snubbed in voting for the AFC Pro Bowl team. His lone trip was in 2003.
?I led the league in tackles. I?ve led the league in Pro Bowl votes (from fans). I?ve done just about everything there is to do. They reward who they want to reward. I know if I?m not the best, one of the best at my position,? he said Wednesday.
?Maybe we need to change to a 3-4.?
The Titans were snubbed for a third straight season but did have four alternates in center Kevin Mawae, safety Chris Hope, Adam ?Pacman? Jones as a returner and Vince Young. Coach Jeff Fisher said they won?t be using that as motivation.
?There are plenty of reasons for us to play right now,? Fisher said. ?Kyle (Vanden Bosch) summed it up: This is about the team and not necessarily about the individuals. Had the voting taken place a week later or last week?s game taken place a week earlier, things may have been different. But you move on,? he said.
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MUSIC CITY MEMORIES: Buffalo coach Dick Jauron wasn?t with the Bills during their AFC wild-card playoff loss to the Titans in Nashville in January 2000 ? a game best remembered for the Music City Miracle kickoff return that won the game for Tennessee.
That doesn?t mean he hasn?t heard about the play already this week.
?It comes up often,? Jauron said Wednesday in a conference call.
Jauron is in his first season as the Bills? head coach and was coaching Chicago in 1999. But it doesn?t bother him to hear about a play he calls a part of NFL history.
?Everybody?s aware of it throughout the entire football world. It was an unbelievable play. It was a great execution at exactly the right moment. It?s never to be forgotten,? he said.
?It?s certainly very painful for this franchise and the fans here, but on the other hand very exciting for your fans and your franchise.?
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INJURY REPORT: Travis Henry remains on the injury report with an ankle as questionable, but he said he feels good and doesn?t see a problem with playing Sunday at Buffalo. But he didn?t practice.
Tight end Bo Scaife (ankle) also remains questionable with an injury that kept him from playing last week. He did not practice Wednesday. Receiver Drew Bennett (knee), defensive end Travis LaBoy (knee) and linebacker Peter Sirmon (knee) missed parts of practice and are questionable.