Munchak will stick with Griffin-Johnson at safety

Through two games, opposing quarterbacks have thrown for five touchdowns and one interception against the Titans, compiling a quarterback rating of 118.5 – the fourth-highest in the league.

But Titans coach Mike Munchak said Monday he has no plans to make changes in the team’s safety tandem of Michael Griffin and Robert Johnson.

“I’m sure we’ll continue that way going into this week,” Munchak said. “Again, when you’re not winning, you’re going to look at everything. Everything always seems worse than it really is.

“It’s not as hard to fix as you may think, so as far as that combination, we plan on moving forward. If we feel there’s a better way to do things, we’ll do that. But for right now, we obviously feel we’re doing it the best way we should.”

The Titans finished 14th in the league against the pass last season, when Griffin was playing free safety and Jordan Babineaux was playing strong safety. Babineaux led the team with 117 tackles.

But Munchak said the decision to move Griffin to strong safety and insert Johnson as the free safety began to take shape during training camp.

“I just think it was an accumulation of (Babineaux’s) play during training camp,” Munchak said. “I think it was that they started liking the (Griffin-Johnson) combination, the more we worked those guys in preseason. In training camp practices, we thought they played well together.

“In (the first preseason game), Babineaux started. We compared that with when we made the change the next week. We liked the way Griff was playing. We liked the way Griff and Johnson were playing when they were together. That combination outperformed the other. So that’s why we went that way.”

Babineaux was on the field for just 18 of the defense’s 81 snaps yesterday, but Munchak didn’t rule out the possibility of giving him increased time in the future based on match-ups.

“Hypothetically, there’s always a possibllity of anything happening at any position,” Munchak said. “But for right now, we’re not making any changes. Babineaux still is on the field in certain packages, so it’s not like he’s not playing at all.

“There may be weeks where that’s a better fit, and maybe (Babineaux) starts playing better with that combination and there will be changes. As coaches, what we have to try to do is always put the best guys out there. For what we’re asking to do , we have the best combination out there now.”

Source: Titans Insider