Titans' new routine: Move on to next foe immediately

NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- In order to make sure the Titans didn't dwell too much on giving away their season opener to the Minnesota Vikings, coach Mike Mularkey had them move on to preparation for the Detroit Lions on Monday rather than Wednesday.

"One thing we changed -- it's the first time for me: On Monday, we watched the game film, we studied it, did all the corrections and then we came back and we had a team meeting right afterwards, and we just went right into the Lions and had an evaluation in all three phases," Mularkey said. "So when those guys walked out of the building, we were over the last one and on to Detroit on Monday.

"And that's typically not the case. You leave, you go away, you don't hear about the Lions until Wednesday. Now, they've been fed a good bit about this team starting Monday to get their mind right for the week ahead. That's going to be the routine."

Mularkey said one of his assistant coaches brought that idea to the table during offseason planning, and Mularkey said he liked it well enough to implement it for the regular season.

"Talking through it with some of the coaches, one coach had done that. I thought it was a good idea; and, after doing it now for one week, I really like the idea," Mularkey said. "I think the players like it. I know I felt ready to move on after. What we're doing is we're letting other coaches other than myself talk, letting them talk about the opponent so they're hearing different voices. It was really productive."

Quarterback Marcus Mariota liked the change as well.

"Yeah, definitely, because that gives you an opportunity just to put whatever game that was that past weekend behind you and get ready for next week," Mariota said.

Mariota had two critical turnovers in the game -- a pick six and a fumble exchange with DeMarco Murray that was returned for a touchdown -- as the Titans came unraveled in the second half. Still, Mariota said he cannot dwell on those mistakes -- something he learned in college and something he said he has gotten better about over time.

"I think when I was at Oregon my freshman year, we had a pretty good season going on. We had lost one late to Stanford. I remember as a freshman coming into the locker room and just being upset," he said. "I came back that next Monday, I was pissed off and upset and frustrated. I looked at some of the older guys who were there. I can still remember guys like Kenjon Barner and Dion Jordan who just said, 'You've got to move on to the next one. You're going to make one loss turn into two.' From that point on, I can remember those instances and it's kind of helped me through whatever happened the past week."