David Carr Quotations

We live in an age where there is a firehose of information, and there is no hierarchy of what is important and what is not. Where the truth is often fashioned through a variety of digital means. Are you your avatar? Who are you in social media? What face do you turn toward the world? How much does it have in common with who you actually are?

Keep in mind that when public figures get in trouble for something they said, it is usually not because they misspoke, but because they accidentally told the truth.

I was talking to those guys (with the Colts) the other day, and I think they lost five preseason games. But they aren't down. They're fired up. They want to get out there with their No. 1s and play an entire game just like we do.

I wish we could make the big plays. We did last year. It's like night and day. We used to put the ball up and guys would make plays. It was fun to be around here. We just haven't had those opportunities this year.

Moran, he can catch, ... He's got good hands. People give him a hard time because he looks like he's trying to catch an egg.

If we couldn't win them all, if we couldn't make the playoffs, I guess having the first pick, as bad as it is, might be good.

I don't know that inside the stadium we think about being an expansion team too much any more. But people outside of Houston may still see us as the new guys. We definitely have to go out and prove that we can play.

I don't know that it's Chris' fault, I don't know whose fault it is,

We need to be adding to the national forests, not decreasing them.

(Losman's) got some good players around him. If he just lets them do their job, he'll be fine. He's a good player.

Selling off America's natural heritage is not the way to fund government services. This move would set a dangerous precedent for years to come.

Seven weeks might sound like a short time. But I can get a lot done in that span.

When things aren't going well and they start covering you up and taking our stuff away, it's a very lonely feeling in the pocket, ... You're trying to do whatever you can to make a positive out of it when your team is struggling. And there's not much to do.

He knows how to make plays. He knows how to get open. I'll definitely be leaning on him a little bit.

I'd be crazy to think that having a player like that on your team isn't going to help you. As good a player as he is, we're not trying to concern ourselves about him. We're just trying to go out and win a game.

Gaff's a smart guy, ... What's nice about him is he understands defenses almost as well as us sitting in the quarterback room. We'll be even better when he comes back.

I felt like we were playing to our potential today. I just wish we had a win to go along with that feeling. But I'm happy that our guys are playing with some confidence.

I felt like I was back in my first year playing against San Diego. This is how I felt after that game. Of course, you'd hope it would be a little different in your fourth year.

I'm a Texan now, ... I used to be a Cowboys fan. We actually burned some hats the other day, because we had some Cowboys hats left over from high school. So my brother took care of that.

Chris has been saying that we can't be too passive and worry about making mistakes. We have to go after them.

I have a lot of respect for him, how he's carried himself throughout the season. He's a guy you look up to in that situation.

We can compete for something more than just respect and pride. We realize there are some obtainable goals, and we want to go out and get them.

He's a great player. If he comes straight to the NFL and plays at the same level, he's going to help our team become better. If that happens, we'll welcome him with open arms.

He is a quality guy. If he hasn't taken a step forward, it's because he hasn't been shown the way.

God put me here for a reason. He didn't put me here just to get beat up.

He's been instrumental long before this losing streak. When I first met him back in junior high, I was a fan. I still am. I have as much respect for him as I do for anyone that I've ever been around.

We expect to win, ... We've worked hard to get better. We've improved in a lot of areas. Now it's time for us to go out and do it.

He looks like, in terms of athleticism, he's definitely got the ability. He just has to keep his head on and keep focused on the fact that he hasn't forgotten to play football overnight.

He doesn't treat me differently, ... I think that's something that I always wanted is someone that would treat me like the other guys. You get more respect from your teammates that way.

Playing the Titans is always tough, whether you're favored or you're not favored,

Just don't try to do it all yourself. You've got to realize there's 10 other guys out there with him and they can take a lot of pressure off his job if he let's them do it. That's the hardest thing I had to learn.

I thought it was pretty smooth until we got down to the one-yard line. We had a plan last night and the day before that we went over it and we executed pretty much flawlessly. Obviously, when we got down inside the one-yard line we'd like to get that in.

It is nerve-wracking in there, ... Lots of tension, because it's so quiet. And everybody's got their head in the book, listening for a number.

Panic? I don't think we're in panic mode, ... I think if anything this was a good time to do something like this. I'm going to get an extra week before we have to play a game to get used to what his ideas are and what his thoughts are and hopefully move on.

Outside of this stadium here, we might be the only ones that want to win this game. It's a very different feeling when people tell you, 'Go ahead, good luck, make sure you don't win.' It's a tough situation.

Our team is a lot like Indianapolis in that we need to have our full complement of guys going,

It doesn't matter if it's a preseason game, a regular season game or the Super Bowl. (Fans) don't care, they want to win. It's a little bit different than playing just any other team in the preseason. This is a big deal.

My brother is going to tell me to take a knee every down (at San Francisco). That stuff is going to happen.

We know they're a hard-nosed defense, ... They're going to get after you, and we're going to try to do the same thing.

That was as hopeless as I've felt in the pocket trying to get something done, ever.

We didn't do anything right out there, ... We didn't feel comfortable the entire time. I mean, we never felt like we ever got any rhythm going on offense. It was just like last week, kind of choppy, hit and miss. I don't know if guys were looking forward to the Buffalo game or what. But we were terrible.

When I go on the field, I feel like I can make every play to put our team in position to win. If I have to make a play to win, that's when I have to step up and use what God's given me.

Well the first quarter, we were able to do what we wanted to do, but then it just snowballed. We had a touchdown that got called back and then we didn't get it in. I think we got three field goals. We just have to find a way to turn those into touchdowns.

The expectation level should be higher, ... I expect to be better. We expect to be better.

We've always had signs of being explosive, but we've never kept it up. If we can be consistently explosive it would be great.

We're going to find out how good we are real quick,

We're more likely to be understanding than to be judgmental.

We started a little rough the last couple of weeks (in the return game), but Johnny is going to break one, ... I call him Johnny. I don't think he likes it. But he's a rookie. He's going to have to deal with it until next year.

Wherever he's at next year, whether it's here or somewhere else, they are going to be fortunate to have Dom Capers. He's one of my best friends in football. I have so much respect for him, more so now than in the first three years, just because of what he's gone through. He's just as strong as a rock on the sidelines. He hasn't changed.

Even now I see flags. We would go five yards, and we would go back five yards. I was as baffled back there as you guys.

You heard the talk all week: 'Play well, but don't win. All that stuff was a little distracting at times. Maybe a lot of fans were glad I busted my elbow and Andre (Johnson) got hurt. There were some wild things about this football game.

I've been here for four years, I know the guys in the huddle who are trying to get it done. My confidence is fine. I'm still going to be the same player. (But) everyone's got to get it done. You can have nine guys, 10 guys doing everything right. If one guy doesn't, you can look bad.

I've been treated fair since I got here, ... I have no problem with how I've been treated. I've been booed, but that's football. A lot of the time, I would have booed, too.

I've been through worse losses than this, but I haven't felt this bad because our expectations were so high, ... Football isn't always going to be pretty, but it has to be prettier than that.

The toughest for me are the guys who guess a lot. The good one I play against every year is Samari Rolle. He doesn't just play it by the book. He plays with instincts. Those are the tough guys for me. They can get beat a lot, other times they can look unstoppable. They jump routes. They sit on certain things. They can make plays on pure instincts and pure athletic ability.

You can't change an offense in a week, ... But I think it will help.

I see us taking more of a businesslike approach,

When you are not winning football games in the NFL, it's the worst job you can have. But when you are winning, it's a lot of fun.

We've got to be aggressive; we can attack when that's our mindset,

You get upset, ... You don't really get frustrated, but you question why you didn't go out and execute because you know what you're capable of. ... Hopefully we can clean it up. I know we will. We're going to get better, but it would be nice to be able to come out here, run a couple of plays, get a couple of first downs and get off the field.

We could probably go 1-15 and no one would care -- if we win this one. I had a fan tell me that if you win one game, you can retire. As long as it's this game. I told him I was a little young to be retiring, but it obviously means a lot to everybody.

When someone's in the press box ... they get a different view, so it's their opinion, ... With them calling plays, it's hard to have a conversation as far as what the guy's feeling. And sometimes if you have a phone conversation, it's over in 10 seconds, and you might still have some thoughts, but now I can just grab Joe.

Actually, I feel pretty good. I went home and sat in an ice bath with a snorkel, and I felt better after the second day.

I've met him numerous times, ... Dwight and I go way back.

I've met him numerous times. Me and Dwight go way back. We'll try to avoid any contact until after the game. I'll say 'Hi' to him after the game, but that's the only time I want to see him.

Barber made a great play, ... He came out of nowhere. Neither me or Murph saw him.

You want more than anything else to win a football game. Just one. We can't go much lower than this.

As an offense, we've got to be aggressive, ... We can't go back and resort to what we did our first couple of years when we were just trying not to lose.

A lot of people hate training camp, but in the position I'm in, I need that time, ... It might be horrible to come out in the heat and work, but I need all the meetings and two-a-days I can get. You want to get as much done in order to gain the respect of your teammates, the fans and the coaches before you're actually given the position. I want to do as much as I can in the preseason and on the practice field to say, 'OK, I can take this.' There's a fine line there, but hopefully we'll hit it.

They're taking their time with him, and that's good,

put the first half behind us and come out and fight.

The one thing that hasn't changed is our care for youth.

This is as helpless as I've felt playing quarterback since I've been in third grade,

This is as helpless as I've felt playing quarterback since the third grade.

After the week ... they'll make a decision on who the best five guys are.

I'm sure that the community wants to do everything they can to help out. We are an extension of the community and we are trained to help so in a since the community is sending us to help.

I know we will be better this year. The line is jelling and that will make our team better.

I haven't been here my whole life, but I've been here long enough to learn that people don't like the Titans here, ... And I'm starting to get a taste of dislike for them, too.

I just want to get back to where we feel good about going out on Sundays. Feel like we have a chance to go out and compete against the teams that we feel like we're just as good as.

Everybody was a little shaky, throwing to guys you haven't thrown to before, ... But it was fun. It was good. It wasn't our best day of throwing, I don't think. All the quarterbacks would say that. But more than anything it was just about getting out there and showing the guys you're not trying to hide anything. You just want to play ball.

That's as helpless as I've felt playing quarterback since I've been in the third grade, ... We just couldn't get anything going. It was embarrassing for our team, the fans and our family.

They couldn't hit the broad side of a barn before that. But then they got jacked up, and the balls just started dropping one after another. I wound up giving out 20 or 30 tickets. But it was worth it.

In preseason, we used it (a three-step drop) a lot because we wanted the repetitions, but now that the season's beginning, we have to mix it up and do some things down the field,

I know I can, ... But you'll have to ask my offensive line whether they are up to the task or not. It's hard to lead a team to the playoffs when I'm dusting myself off from a sack about four times a game.

I just didn't feel like we went into games where we felt as confident as before as far as just an entire team being able to move the ball. ... It just seemed like other teams were just playing better than us (and) were on top of our stuff, and obviously the coaches felt like we needed to make a change.

I know (Pendry) has some great ideas as far as offensive scheme goes, ... I think he's going to do what's in the players' best interests. I think that's the most important thing that he does for his offensive linemen, he tries to do what they do well. I think that's what we need around here, someone like coach Pendry who's going to do what we do well. I'm kind of excited about that.

In my sophomore year at Fresno, they just threw me in, ... I needed that. I think I swim rather than sink. Of course there's going to be some bumps. But it also might go the other way, and there would be more good than everyone thinks there's going to be. But you've got to be out there to learn. To take the live bullets. To take the shots.

Chris and I have talked about that this week, and I think we've got a good game plan for Sunday.

I love (running), ... I love being outside of the pocket, making plays happen. That's why you get paid. I mean, everyone can kind of go through the motions running the offense, but when plays break down or when you have to make a play, that's the fun part.

I didn't feel comfortable, didn't feel like we had any rhythm in our offense. It's not really frustrating. But you kind of question why you didn't go out and execute.

They were the best defense I've played against, ... We just couldn't get anything going.

I never thought in a million years we'd play like that, ... That was unbelievable.

As far as the records go, that has to be thrown out the window for right now when I go talk to the guys when I'm trying to get them encouraged and get them pumped up and ready to play. We have to lock it up, run the right route. I'll hit you and then we'll worry about the record later.

(The Colts) are going to do exactly what teams have done that have beat us so far, ... So until we show that we can block that up and then make some plays down the field, they're going to keep doing it. And this is the best team that does it.

It starts with running the ball, but No. 1A is getting Andre involved in the game, ... He can turn a five-yard route into a 30- or 40-yard play.

It is unbelievable that someone would go out as a professional and even think about something happening like that.

That land has been hard to come by. It's crazy to be selling it off to meet short-term budget needs.

That's the hardest thing I had to learn,

That's the hardest thing I've had to do, ... It's the feeling of helplessness what do we do?

That is a microcosm of our first five games. It's just rough. Our guys did a decent job of adjusting on the run, but we were still 32 points behind them.