For the first time since 2009, the Patriots are playing on Wild Card Weekend, as they will host the Titans Saturday night.
The Patriots are playing in the game after losing to the Dolphins in Week 17, while the Titans enter the game winners of five of their final seven games and earned a playoff spot the final week of the season.
Led by their head coach, and former Patriots linebacker Mike Vrabel, the Titans feature the NFL's leading rusher in Derrick Henry and also the best quarterback, Ryan Tannehill, in terms of quarterback rating.
The two teams are very familiar with one another having had joint practices in Nashville over the summer, and also Tennessee beating New England, 34-10 last season.
Here's what the Titans were saying this week ahead of the matchup.
Mike Vrabel on "The Patriot Way": "Isn’t that the street the movie theater is on? I don’t know. I didn’t come up with it, so I don’t know."
Mike Vrabel on facing the Patriots at Gillette Stadium: "We're going to have to go on the road in a tough environment. The Patriots are no strangers to winning playoff football games at home. I know what is ahead. We are basically walking into the viper's den. We are going to have to go on the road and beat a team that's won a lot of playoff games up there."
Mike Vrabel on Stephon Gilmore: "If we want to throw passes towards Gilmore that we'll have to be very accurate and we'll have to run great routes because if we don't, the best thing that it'll be will be incomplete, if it's not intercepted. So, every week is different and the reason that great corners are great corners is they play with a lot of confidence each and every play and each and every week. We understand that it'll be a great challenge if we want to try to throw the football against the Patriots."
Logan Ryan on facing his former team: "Now we face New England, the defending Super Bowl champs. It's a tough test, but we are excited. I love this team, and we've stuck together all season. We are playing well, but we know we have to play even better."
Logan Ryan on Tom Brady: "I know how (Brady) operates. He's the best of the best. It's going to be a great challenge for us, but I think we'll be up to it. We've had some big games against them, and things always change. (Ryan) Tannehill wasn't our quarterback when we last played them."
Ryan Tannehill on the game: "It'll be fun. It's a place I know well and a team I know well, so looking forward to the opportunity."
Ryan Tannehill on Patriots defense: "This is a team that plays at a very high level on defense and will always throw something at you that you haven't seen on tape or change something up on you, so you have to be able to adjust within the game. But at the end of the day it is football, and you just have to be able to play and execute. … I am just trying to find a way to win one game, and then we'll handle the next one after that. (We just) need to do everything we can do this week to beat the Patriots and then whatever happens after that happens."
Derrick Henry on the challenge of playing in New England: "We know how tough it is to win in that stadium, in that environment. They're a real disciplined team, and they play different in the playoffs, so we've got to be extra locked in in all three phases."
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