Jerry Gray moved quicker to clarify his comments than any of his players have reacted to anything on the field this year.
The Titans defensive coordinator stepped in a pile Thursday when he told the Tennesseean he wanted his players to hit without worrying about fines, saying: “You have to say, ‘This is my territory between the numbers, and if you throw the football you better bring the Gator truck.’ And that’s how you have to play. You can’t play timid in the NFL.”
Since the Gator truck is what a lot of teams use to “cart-off” injured players, and since Gray used to work for Gregg Williams, it didn’t take long for people to connect those dots.
ESPN’s Ed Werder reports the league is reviewing the comments, and Gray himself apologized and said he wasn’t encouraging players to hurt opponents.
“This is football, but my choice of words under the circumstances was probably bad,’' Gray said. “If I could take that part of it back, I would. I don’t want guys thinking about injuring people and, when you say ‘Gator Truck’ that’s probably what comes up. I just want our guys to be tougher.’'
The Titans are currently last in the league in points allowed and next to last in yards.
And after what you can only assume was a good talking-to, Gray is already beginning to choose his words more carefully.