Locked On Titans - Daily Podcast On The Tennessee Titans - Cam Ward PERFECT SUMMER for Tennessee Titans Breakout Season & Femi Oladejo INJURY MYSTERY REVEALED

Episode Date: July 12, 2026

The Tennessee Titans needed a perfect summer from Cam Ward as he looks to breakout in his second season and he is in the midst of exactly that. Currently working out with teammates like Carnell Tate and Wan'Dale Robinson, this is what you hoped Ward would be up to. Add that to his football camp and it's hard not to think Ward has his head on straight. We got some news over the weekend of what was ailing Femi Oladejo during offseason workouts and regardless of the cause the real issue is the time missed. Oladejo is at a critical development juncture and this time missed will be a hinderance. Finally, Peter Skoronski made a recent ranking of the top interior offensive linemen and while the praise is nice, the sour taste of Jeffery Simmons getting second at his position is still not gone.   LOCKED ON TITANS EVERYDAY CLUB: https://lockedontitans.supercast.com/   Subscribe to the TicTacTitans Film Channel:  https://www.youtube.com/@TicTacTitans   TicTacTitans Merchandise: https://dixons-dream.square.site/shop...   Follow Tyler on Twitter @TicTacTitans   Follow the show on Facebook @LockedOnTitansPod   Subscribe to the Locked On Titans YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@LockedOnTitans   Everydayer ClubIf you never miss an episode, it’s time to make it official. Join the Locked On Everydayer Club and get ad-free audio, access to our members-only Discord, and more — all built for our most loyal fans. Click here to learn more and join your team’s community: https://lockedonpodcasts.com/everydayerclub Support Us By Supporting Our Sponsors! FanDuel Today's episode is brought to you by FanDuel. From the opening whistle to the final kick, Let There Be Goals on FanDuel. Visit https://FANDUEL.COM to get started nowSquare Get up to $200 off Square hardware when you sign up at https://square.com/go/lockedonnfl! #squarepod Indeed Listeners of this show get a $75 Sponsored Job Credit to help give your job the premium placement it deserves at http://Indeed.com/podcast. FANDUEL DISCLAIMER: 21+ in select states. First online real money wager only. Bonus issued as nonwithdrawable free bets that expires in 14 days. Restrictions apply. See terms at sportsbook.fanduel.com. Gambling Problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER or visit FanDuel.com/RG (CO, IA, MD, MI, NJ, PA, IL, VA, WV), 1-800-NEXT-STEP or text NEXTSTEP to 53342 (AZ), 1-888-789-7777 or visit ccpg.org/chat (CT), 1-800-9-WITH-IT (IN), 1-800-522-4700 (WY, KS) or visit ksgamblinghelp.com (KS), 1-877-770-STOP (LA), 1-877-8-HOPENY or text HOPENY (467369) (NY), TN REDLINE 1-800-889-9789 (TN) Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Cam Ward and Carnell Tate were working out together this weekend, and it continues what's been a perfect summer break for Cam Ward. I'll explain why on today's edition of Locked on Titans. You are Locked on Titans, your daily Tennessee Titans podcast, part of the Locked on Podcast Network, your team every day. Welcome to the Locked on Titans podcast. I am your host, Tyler Rowland Titans fans. Today's edition of the Locked on Titans podcast is brought to you by Kaushi.

For a limited time, download the Kauci app and use the code locked on to get $10 when you trade 10. Kauci trade on anything. On today's show, we're going to recap a ton of news from over the weekend for the Titans. We've got to talk about the ESPN rankings list where Jeffrey Simmons got disrespected, but Peter Skoronsky got his respect. We got to talk about the big news that is finally, dropped about why Femiola-Dajio missed off-season workouts. I'll tell you exactly what the injury is, but we have to start with the news that Cam Ward was working out with his teammates

in Texas over the weekend, which is exactly what I wanted on his summer checklist. And it continues a perfect summer break for Cam Ward. And this is exactly what Cam Ward needed going into year two. He needed smooth sailing. He needed to check all the boxes. He needed to do everything exactly the way that he is supposed to do it. And that has essentially been not only the summer, but the entire offseason for Cam Ward has been a perfect checklist. Like everything that you want to see, everything that needs to happen, everything that truly matters. Cam Ward has checked off those boxes so far. Now, of course, does that mean that he's going to check off the necessary boxes on the field during the fall and the winter. We can only hope so.

This all doesn't guarantee that nothing in life is guaranteed at the end of the day. But I think this does set Cam Ward up as best as possible to make the situation happen. It's like if you wanted to get some rain in the desert, yeah, it's going to be very, very difficult. But you could set yourself up by putting a bucket out and things like that. You know what I mean? like there are things that you can do. And Cam Ward's doing those. Before the summer break took place or as the summer break was beginning,

I talked about what I wanted to see from the Titans, what did I wanted to see from Cam Ward in general? For the Titans, I wanted them to be boring. And sadly, what's the only real Titans news that's happened? It was the Chris Johnson announcement. And again, anything that comes out during the summer, probably not going to be good news for where the Titans are at right now. I don't see them making some kind of big time trade

or a big time signing or anything like that during this time. If anything like that would happen, it would happen much closer to training camp than in the middle of the summer here. So again, be boring. Cam Ward for the most part has been boring. But again, what I love most about Cam Ward is it's all about football. So you have the workouts this weekend. He's throwing passes with Carnell Tate, Wondell Robinson in Texas. That's one of the boxes that I wanted him to check this summer. Stay quiet, no trouble, no drama, nothing out of the ordinary.

play football, organize some camp with your teammates, gain some chemistry, and things like, and listen. I mean, I'm describing Instagram clips from Cam Ward's quarterback coach at the end of the day or quarterback development team. Select QB on Instagram if you want to go watch them for yourself. But, I mean, they're dots, baby. They're absolute dots. And as a Titans fan, it gets you absolutely fired up to see Cam Ward working with

his teammates and doing exactly again, checking all the boxes. it doesn't guarantee you don't fit him for the Hall of Fame jacket right now, but seeing him check these boxes of, you know, doing the right things, taking care of his body, changing his diet, becoming more of a professional, studying the offense, getting good coaching, getting in a rhythm, bouncing back after a bad OTAs to deliver during mandatory mini-camp. Like, you know, he's doing what you want to see your second-year quarterback doing.

They're going to be more struggles or head. They're going to be bad training camp practices. I mean, when the OTA struggles were happening, we were already throwing out the Drake May and Caleb Williams training camp articles about their struggles. Like, it's a new system, and they are going to be coached hard.

You know, it's funny, it's like, everybody wants something until you find out what it takes to get it. And it's like, everybody wanted Cam Ward to have better coaching. And then he's going to get it, and he's going to be challenged, and he's going to struggle, and there are going to be issues,

and there's going to be learning and Brian Dable. And Robert Sala even said this. Remember Robert Sala talked about how Brian Dable is putting him in the most difficult scenarios possible to test him. Because we want to test him now. It's like one of my favorite shows is Bar Rescue, right? With John Taffer and he would go in there and he would just pack these mom-and-pop little bars that just suck.

You know what I mean? Just slam them, you know? And they would crumble. They would fall apart. but you kind of have to stress test stuff to find out exactly what needs to get better and what you have to do better and what needs to improve and where you're good, where you're not good and all those different things. So like Cam Ward is going to be challenged and there's still going to be ups and downs,

no doubt about it. But again, we were talking about, you know, the Caleb Williams, the Drake May, that's going to happen. So I'm not saying it's all going to be perfect like every throw, every moment, but when you look at the big picture, each individual milestone may not be, this rousing success, popping bottles, A plus performance. But when you look at the big picture of everything that's happened, again, it's been a perfect offseason and a perfect summer break for Cam Warden,

even like his football camp that he had for Under Armour, where he was coaching younger quarterbacks, high school, maybe college level kids. He was being really tough on some guys, and he was given precise information. I think a lot of guys are just so talented that they don't have to think about the game in a way where they have to be super precise. about everything. That's why the greatest players of all time in most sports are not the best coaches. It's the role players or the end of the bench guys because they have to think more deeply about how to succeed and what is required than a guy with more natural talent who doesn't necessarily

have to think as deeply. That's a reality. So I think when you're looking at all the little things Cam Ward has done, adding in that quarterback camp where he's really coaching these guys up because He was a zero-star recruit. He really thinks, like, Cam Ward is truly all football. He's all football. I can go back to the video with him and Shador. I play football. I play football.

I'm never too focused. And he even makes content. Cam Ward has a YouTube channel. Like, he's not like some grandpa kid in this, who doesn't do anything. You know, he's posting a picture of him soon on Instagram. Like, he is a mom. modern kid doing modern kid things.

No doubt about it. But everything, every single aspect of what he does, the center line and the heartbeat, the drum of all of it is football. Like, when Robert

Sala had that quote about, you know, guys like Cam Ward don't fail because they care too much. He has too much talent. He cares too much about football. Football is his life, man. and to see the better coaching, the better weapons, him to check these boxes, gaining chemistry with his teammates, being a leader, on and off the field,

giving it back to the sport of football, even as content as him helping people, like he just, he's a football man. He is a football guy. And that gives me more hope than anything. So this has been a perfect summer break, in my opinion, for Cam Ward so far. A couple weeks left. were what, not good at math, 16, 17, 18 days away from the first training camp practice for the Titans. So hopefully we just see probably all week, Cam Ward in Texas

working out with his teammates. I would imagine, I mean, what more could you ask for? You can't really ask for anything else. Hopefully this just continues right up into training camp where Cam Ward is ready to take the steps to have a second year breakout. But I think everything that's happened so far from the coaching hires to the roster additions to the offseason program, it has been a perfect lead-up for Cam Ward heading into training camp. It's a perfect summer break. I even brought out some summer attire if you're watching on YouTube and wear my favorite summer shirt. You know what I mean?

So shout out to Cam Ward, shout out to the Titans. But one Tennessee Titan who I would say, if Cam Ward had the ideal perfect offseason and summer break, I would say Femiola Dejos has been the exact opposite. And now we know why. Do want to let you know that today's episode is brought to you by Indeed. When workplace chaos hits and you need the right hire, Indeed sponsor jobs helps connect employees with candidates

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podcast. Again, we're breaking down all the news from over the weekend. Cam Ward working out with his teammates. We've got to talk about the ESPN rank list where Jeffrey Simmons got disrespected, but Peter Skoronsky got his respect. So we'll cap off with that. But I want to talk about the big news about Femi Oladajio's injury. We finally know why he was missing all of the offseason workouts.

Before I tell you, do want to thank you again for making Locked on Titans. Your first listen each and every day, Monday through Friday, Tennessee Titans content all year round. Always for free. Make sure you get subscribed. Stay subscribed. Again, it's your team every day. But according to a report from Paul Khorstki, good old P.K.,

he said, quote, Femiola-Dazio missed spring practices because of a hamstring injury. But he'll be ready when the Titans opened training camp July 29. So we knew that he was banged up in some way. it was obvious. With the amount of time that he missed, I remember talking during OTAs when he was in his uniform watching

from over by the facility or whatever, they were saying, I was like, okay, if he is not out there for mandatory minicamp, then it's a confirmed injury. They could have him on some sort of plan, maybe the change, blah, blah, blah, this and that.

Who knows? Maybe the practices that they're not visible. Maybe they're doing something special with them. They don't want them to be, seen, there could be a bunch of ten foil hat theories as to why. But I said, if he's not out there for mandatory minicamp, then we know that he's hurt. And he wasn't. And Robert Tallah said, yeah, he's banged up.

You know what I mean? And then now we know that it's hamstring. And that makes my concern with Femiola Dejo even worse. Even worse. Because the worst kind of injury that you're not. can have that's not, you know, Achilles, ACL, out for season, something like that. The worst thing you could have is soft tissue like a hamstring. Because it could just linger and linger.

And when you're a guy like Femiolidazio, who's going to play edge and play on this Tennessee Titans defensive line, what is this Titans defensive line all about? It's about aggressively firing off the line of scrimmage. Aaron Whitecotton's a rabid raccoon or whatever he called himself in the press conference. They're talking about you should only be able to play three snaps and then you have to rotate out because you're so tired. Well, that requires fierce, explosive movement, which with hamstring, I'm not a doctor,

but feel like you're in a position to aggravate that, doing it that way. It's like wide receivers. They're running and cutting and going full speed every play, it's easier to have those soft tissue injuries. You know what I mean? So being defensive end,

firing off the line of scrimmage over and over and over again as fast as you can, trying to run that loop, trying to be powerful and getting somebody's chest, that could put your hamstring in a lot of strength. And with that being a lower body injury, it can affect conditioning, that lower body strength and power

if he's not able to do lower body lifts. You know, strength training sounds more official, whatever. Old school. But again, it just adds to the concern that was already there of he is missing valuable development time. Third straight year in a row, he's going to be playing a new position, third straight year in a row,

he's going to be playing in a new defensive scheme. he has not been able to settle, and he is going from linebacker to edge to defense event, or linebacker to outside linebacker to defense event. Now, edge, defense event, but DeNard Wilson did have him dropping back in coverage a little bit throughout the year when he was out there, like he was playing an outside linebacker role.

That's not how Robert Sala does things. He's not dropping his defensive ends and coverage super off. I'm not saying it'll never happen, but I'm just saying it's not like that's going to be part of something that Femmy's doing consistently. No. You're putting your hand in the dirt and you're driving forward.

That's what Femmy's going to be doing now. So it's just like when you have all of that and we talk about, sometimes I have to think about the inverse, we talk about how great it was that Cam Ward was healthy and the shoulder wasn't a major problem so that he could be fully involved in a new off, in a new coaching program with a new playbook and a new scheme and new teammates.

And all of that applies to Femioledasio in the negative way. And when this team went out and got Keldrick Falk, went out and traded for Jermaine Johnson, they basically used Tevondre Sweat was a second round pick. So second round pick, Keldrick Falk move up, first round pick. They basically used a second and a first.

this off season on the same position that they used the second on last draft. I think that right there is maybe telling you Mike Organzi going, all right, I got it wrong. I got it wrong. Femmy's not going to be who we wanted him to be.

And listen, I'm not saying that we should give up on Femi. I don't, that's not the conversation. I'm not giving up on Femi in the summer of this second season. like he deserves a chance to get back healthy, get out there. And if he gets out there for training camp, and he's healthy throughout the rest of the season, relatively healthy, everybody gets banged up. But if he's relatively healthy enough to where he doesn't miss development time,

maybe he turns into who we hope that he could be. But it's just hard for your confidence meter, and Femmy, your faith in Femi. It's hard for your faith in Femi to not be shaking a little bit here. right? There's no way that your confidence in Femio from the moment he got drafted has not fallen. And realistically speaking, we could talk about us as fans and, you know,

our thoughts and feelings on Femi. But I think that again, the moves we saw from Mike Borgonzi are not just, oh, they changed scheme, they change systems. That's why they went out, they got, you know, Salas Guy and Jermaine Johnson. Folk is an inside outside guy and they're putting an emphasis on D. That doesn't mean anything about Femi. I think that's coloring it way too optimistically. I don't think that that's fair.

I think it is fair to say, now I'm not saying that again, we're trying to find middle ground. Let's not be extreme. It doesn't have to be Femi is going to be the goat or Femi's going to be a bus. And I know that's what the comments will be. It's bust or Femmy's going to be great still.

And maybe it's somewhere in between. Maybe it's somewhere in between. but realistically, it's not insane. and I don't think it's some hot take to say that Mike Borgonzi, Mike Borgonzi might be thinking, we might need to start planning for if this guy isn't, a starter on defense.

It is not, I'm not saying that I believe that that's the end and here we are and that's it, like a lot of you guys are going to do, but they have to at least be considering it. And I think action speak louder than words. And we're seeing it. Now, work noting that in Paul Karski's report,

he did say at the end, the Titans believe the setback won't prevent him from making up that lost development in training camp. And that's a great sentiment. And hopefully that's true. But I'm sorry. And as someone who is, I feel old, man. I know that I'm not that old, but I'm aging.

You know, I'm as old as I've ever been. and man, time flies. Time flies, man. I am telling you. So like, don't tell me that you can make up for lost time. It's like sleep. They say, you know, you can make up for law. I got to make up for lost sleep.

You never make up for lost sleep. It's not how it works. It's a pass or fail grade. Okay. You passed or you failed for the night. And that's it. Like the off season, workouts and practices were a fail.

I do not believe you can make up. for that lost time. It is time you did not take advantage of. And now you're doing that in training camp when you could have done it in OTAs in a much less stress environment. Training camp is about fighting for your spot. Training camp is about fighting for your role in the pecking order.

Offseason workouts and OTAs and mandatory minicamp is about learning. It's like the difference between high school and college. You know what I mean? Like in high school, you're just trying to learn to get ready. In college, it's competitive. There's scholarships and there are,

I mean, the end of high school, you're fighting for scholarships and stuff, but there are internships and scholarships and limited programs and things get a lot more competitive in real world when you jump up to college. And I just feel like training camp, when you're learning a new position and you're going to be trying to work on things

and learning new techniques, I wish Femi would have done all that during OTA so that he knew everything and then in training camp he could be the best version of himself and just prove that he's better than Keldrick Falker, better than Jermaine Johnson or better than Jacob Martin or Jalen Herald

for that matter. Femmy might be fighting with Jalen Herald for opportunities. So tough, but now we know it's a hamstring. Now great, we can monitor that as we go but I want to finish with some other things

from the last couple of days in Titan Let's land. Jeffrey Simmons, disrespected again, like, feel like it's been a common theme for weeks here on the show. But, hey, Peter Skoronsky did get his respect. So let's talk about that.

Titans fans, let's cap off today's edition of the Locked on Titans podcast. Again, we talked about Cam Ward having a perfect summer, his workouts over the weekend, the camp that he had for Under Armour and all that. It just all is absolutely perfect. we talked about

Femio la Dejio the injury news. Now I want to cap off with some of these ESPN rankings list and where the Titans appear and who I think might be able to make an appearance at some point in time. Before we get into it, I want to thank you again for making Locked on Titans your first listen each and every day for your second listen.

Check out Locked on NFL scouting. His training camp gets closer and moves are being made. Host Kyle Craves and Joe Marino will make you the most informed NFL fan this all season. Find Locked on NFL scouting on YouTube or wherever you listen to podcasts,

but I know we've talked all about the disrespect and listen, Jeffrey Simmons got number two on interior defensive linemen. It is absolutely ridiculous. No question. Whatsoever, absolutely ridiculous. The money tells the truth.

Like, he's the best interior defensive linemen in the league. I don't care that Leonard Williams won the Super Bowl. Quite frankly, Leonard Williams won the Super Bowl, I think Leonard Williams is really good, but Jalen Carter is better. Chris Jones, Derek Brown, right there, Quinn and Williams, Dexter Lawrence, one step below. Then you have

Zach Allen, Milton Williams, Jordan Davis. Byron Murphy, I think, should be in there over Jordan Davis, in my opinion, from Seattle. DeForest Buckner, Vita Vair, are there. John Franklin Myers didn't even get a mention, which I think is kind of whack. But, listen, Jeffrey Simmons has been getting

disrespectful all season. I hope he goes absolutely nuts this year. I just there's not much else more to say. What I want to do, though, is I'm going to talk about some respect. Peter Skoronski came in number nine on ESPN's executive coaches and scouts rankings of the top guards and centers. So all the centers and all the guards in football in a list, and Peter Skoronsky was in the top 10,

and I think that's 100% fair. Tyler Smith, the guard from the Dallas Cowboys, was number one in the league. perfectly fine with me. He's amazing. Quentin Nelson, Colts, we know he's number two. We know. He's still great. Creed Humphrey from the Chiefs. Center, though, number three. He's a center.

So that's the first center. Quinn Miners from the Denver Broncos. The guard, very good player. I think, quite frankly, that Pete is pretty close to him. Joe Thuny for the Chicago Bears, number five. I think he maybe should be number one on this list, number two, quite honestly. So that's four guards that I would have over Pete.

Chris Lindstrom from the Falcons, Trace Smith from the Chiefs over Pete, then Tyler Linderbaum, then Peter Skronsky, and then, hey, Aaron Brewer, at the end. But that's six guards over Pete. I would have Pete over Chris Lindstrom from the Falcons. I think he's kind of living on name. Still a very good player.

in both facets. Trace Smith, very good player as well. I can't really complain. I mean, Quinn Miners, Chris Lindstrom, could Pete be over them to get himself into the top four, top five? Yeah, probably. But the fact that Peter Skoronsky, a Tennessee Titans player, made it on this list,

I can't be mad. As someone who has been complaining about respect, respect, all that different stuff, all offseason. How in the world could I sit here and complain when Peter Skronsky has made the list? He made the list and he deserves it. And he's going to get his money. He is going to get $22, $23 million per year. Absolutely.

100%. Now, who could be next? Off ball linebackers come out July the 14th, Tuesday. It goes quarterbacks on Monday. Cam isn't going to be in the top 10 quarterbacks. Wide receivers are on Wednesday. They're not going to put Cornell in there.

Wondale isn't going to be in there. Safety is not a chance. I think Kevin Winston could get in there, though. He could get in there. It'll take two seasons, in my opinion, but he could get in there. Offball linebacker, though. Cedric Gray.

Cedric Gray is a top 10 linebacker in the NFL, right? But at least an honorable mention. You got to think Fred Warner is going to be number one. Ernest Jones, Aziz Al Shire. God, I hate doing this live, you know, because then I forget names. Patrick Queen, Roquan Smith, that's who I was really trying to think of.

Carson Swashinger will probably get in there from the Browns after he had a really, really good first year. Cedric Gray should get in there. Cedric Gray should get in there. I believe that. So hopefully he at least gets an honorable mention. But I do plan some content planned. I think I might do it later this week.

Who could be on these lists for the Titans by this time next year? And who do I feel pretty confident will not be? So that's coming later this week. It's time to get into training camp previews, folks. Training camp is about two weeks away. So I'm going to go position by position, tell you who I think is a lock to make the roster, who's on the bubble, and who is a long shot at every...

We're going to talk about every single person on the Titans roster between now and training camp. So, a lot to get into. Now is the time to lock in, folks. You could smell the football right around the corner. That's going to do it for me today, though. As always, I am your host, Tyler Rowland, and this was locked on Titans.