Locked On Titans - Daily Podcast On The Tennessee Titans - Cam Ward's WORST TRAIT EXPOSED, but it is a GREAT THING & Titans Defense 'Fights' Back At Practice

Episode Date: August 13, 2025

Cam Ward had a better day at joint practice between the Tennessee Titans and Atlanta Falcons, but his worst trait of his early NFL career was exposed at the end of practice. This may seem bad, but this is actually a GREAT thing for Cam Ward moving forward. On defense, the Titans brought the fight, as in actual fighting, but they didn't really stop the Falcons offense much AND we got some big position battles taking place on that side of the ball. Finally, Brian Callahan's big trip is coming to an end and it is hard to feel like the Titans are in a better place for it, but this is something Callahan thinks will pay off in the future. Subscribe to the TicTacTitans Film Channel:https://www.youtube.com/@TicTacTitans TicTacTitans Merchandise: https://dixons-dream.square.site/shop/tictactitans-gear/C3AAPNWXSXA6SBYG3USV2I7R?page=1&limit=30&sort_by=category_order&sort_order=asc Follow Tyler on Twitter @TicTacTitans Follow the show on Facebook @LockedOnTitansPod Subscribe to the Locked On Titans YouTube channel:https://www.youtube.com/c/LockedOnTitans/videos Support Us By Supporting Our Sponsors!Yahoo FantasyPresented by YahooFantasy #YahooPartner. Play Now at https://yahoofantasy.com/lockedonnfl.GametimeDownload the Gametime app, create an account, and use code LOCKEDONNFL for $20 off your first purchase. Terms apply. Download Gametime today. What time is it? Gametime.FanDuelToday's episode is brought to you by FanDuel. Football season is around the corner, visit the FanDuel App today and start planning your futures bets now.Monarch MoneyTake control of your finances with Monarch Money. Use code LOCKEDONNFL at monarchmoney.com/lockedonnfl for 50% off your first year.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)

Cam Ward's worst habit got exposed on Wednesday at joint practices, but I think it's the best thing that could have happened for him. I'll break it down 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. On today's show, I'm going to break down everything.

You need to know coming out of the Tennessee Titans final joint practice with the Atlanta Falcons, we're going to talk about Brian Callahan's big trip that he's had for the team and what it could mean going forward. We're going to talk about how the Tennessee Titans defense showed some, quote-unquote, fight at practice on Wednesday. But we're going to start with what I think is Cam Ward's worst trait. early in his NFL career getting exposed at the end of practice and why I think it's the best thing that could possibly happen for him going forward before we dive into all of it though do

want to thank you for making Locked on Titans your first listen each and every day remember Monday through Friday Tennessee Titans content all year round always for free make sure that you get subscribed stay subscribed it's your team every day here on the locked on Titans podcast Speaking of every day, shout out to my everydayers out there. Tune in Monday through Friday. Couldn't do it without you guys. If you aren't an everydayer, you need to be one. I'm gonna have a preseason week two game preview telling you what I'm gonna be watching for on tomorrow's show.

I'm gonna be live immediately after the game ends on Friday night to break down everything. You need to know, comment out of that and we'll get ready for the final week of the preseason starting next week. So again, make sure you get subscribed, stay subscribed. It's your team every day. With that being said, though, again, I think Cam Ward's worst trait so far that we've seen from them got exposed at the end of practice against the Falcons on Wednesday. So what happened is in the team period, the final team period of the day, Cam Ward doesn't have anybody open, rolls out,

doesn't have anything, and just throws the ball away. The problem is the ball did not get out of bounds and it was intercepted by an Atlanta Falcons defender ending the drop. for the Titans and the final drive that the ones had against the Falcons for joint practices of two days. And what happens when I see that, you know, Falcons reporters, Titans reporters, everybody talking. I mean, Paul Kaharski, which we know how Paul is, but he said that it was a Will Levis level throw. I saw all Falcons reporters say he had no idea who Cam Ward was throwing it to. And Cam Ward talked about it after practice and I thought it was really funny.

Cam Ward said that after he did it, he felt really just pain. and he talked about how he just needs to throw it to the other coach and stuff but it made me remember and if you watch my film breakdown on Tick-Tac Titans that I put out on Cam Ward's performance my worst play from Cam Ward's film breakdown the play where I think it was the worst rep for him was the first third down of the preseason

where they went three and out where he did the same thing he rolled out he was on the sideline nobody's open and instead of throwing the ball to the sideline or throwing the ball in the bleachers for all I care throw it out of the stadium. What does it matter? He doesn't throw it further enough out of bounds and it lands inbound. Now, the two Tampa Bay defenders that were really close, they didn't get there. They didn't get there.

But if you do that enough, there's just no reason. There's just no logical reason. So I'm glad that Cammore did that and it got intercepted because even when he was asked about that interception after practice on Thursday, he even said that's the first time that I've done that. But it wasn't the first time. just did that against Tampa Bay, you just got lucky that they didn't get there. So, out of all the things that we've seen from Cam Ward early on,

that is what has been most alarming to me is that he did that in Tampa Bay and then he comes back and does it again here at practice in Atlanta. You cannot, here's the interceptions that I'm fine with. I'm fine if he's like the one of Tampa Bay that was almost intercepted where he's trying to fit it in in a cover two and the hole on the sideline. Test that. Use your arm, see what happens, trying to make a play, running around, throwing it into a crowd of people, you're giving your guy a chance.

All of those are way more understandable and acceptable than these kind of brain fart throws that he's having on the sideline. So seeing it once against Tampa Bay and then seeing it happen to him and actually get bit by it against the Atlanta Falcons, that is the best thing that could happen because those are unacceptable interceptions and unacceptable mistakes that just can't happen. they're so simple to correct and fix. So Cam Ward has to make that correction.

He has to make that fix. And if he wasn't worried about the third down in Tampa Bay and that wasn't pointed out to him and something on his mind, then I'm glad that this happened. So he can see that, hey, I've got to be more diligent. And he even said, I just got to throw it further. I got to throw it to the coach on the other team. So clearly he knows now like, hey, I got to be a little more careful

with how I do that because those are the turnovers that will get you killed. Those are the turnovers that we can accept that aren't just playing hard trying to make something happen. Those are just brain fart situations. Again, and we saw too many of those last year just completely kill the team. So I'm glad that he learned this lesson in joint practice and he needs to make sure that he takes it forward going forward. But again, we talked about the Titans needed to bounce back at practice and outside of that interception from Cam Ward where he's going to learn that lesson,

The Titans offense did bounce back in this practice. Calvin Ridley came off the field and was yelling at Titans reporters, we won today, write that down. And I would say the offense, it did look like the offense got back on track. And I want to stay with Cam Ward to start, because if you saw the picture from the Tennessee Titans that they release after practice, the whole team is down after yesterday's terrible practice for the Titans.

And Cam Ward is talking to him, and you could just see in his face that he's trying to rally his guys. And the leadership of that, and for him to put it on display. Cam Ward was able to get multiple completions to different people, Tyler Lockett, Chica Conquo for a touchdown in low red zone, Van Jefferson. He threw a deep bomb in a team period to Calvin Ridley.

Calvin Ridley burned A.J. Terrell was pointing at him, was going at the crowd and everything. Like, they bounced back. Cam Ward had some, you know, good moments within the practice, but again, punctuated by that bad interception to cap things out, and it comes on his worst, his worst, His worst possible trait, his worst possible habit that he's had early in the games, and the things that we've actually seen and heard about and practice and the preseason game and all of that.

Like, his by far worst trait has been these little sideline throws that he just doesn't quite get out of bounds because they're so dangerous and risky. So I'm glad that they bounced back in practice. Cam Ward was able to have some good moments, some good plays. They were able to get some good momentum, especially on offense. but also glad that he gets the lessons of the mistakes. So this is like a perfect practice for Cam Ward, not because he played perfect,

but because they had successes, they fought back, they battled through adversity. Cam's best trait so far, talk about his worst trait. His best trait so far is bouncing back to adversity and responding to things. Have a bad practice, come back better the next day. Have a bad three-in-out drive, come back better.

Have a penalty, it's first and 20. Have two bad plays. It's third and last. He bounces back every time. So Cam Ward is always ready to go even when things don't go well. And you add that to the leadership he showed after a bad practice and then coming back and walking the walk, not just talking to talk. I think that's important while also having those lessons in there. Now, some other things that I want to throw in from the offensive side of the ball coming out of joint practices against the Atlanta Falcons. We saw Tony Pollard long touchdown

coming out of the reports. The Atlanta Falcons people were even talking about how Tony Pollard got loose and got for a touchdown. Sometimes you would think, oh, these plays are probably blown dead early. But no, even the people on the Atlanta Falcons side of things were like, Tony Pollard just had some juice and got to the end zone. So good to see that the Tennessee Titans' offensive line

is opening up some holes in the run game. Cam Ward said in his post-practice press conference that he thought they were averaging five or six yards a run at practice on Wednesday. So really good success from the Tennessee Titans' run game in certain spurts of practice. And that's not just on Wednesday, that's also on Tuesday as well

so I think it's important for the Titans to have those successes because I talked before practice about with the concerns we discussed yesterday around Cam Ward it's so important that the offensive line is good and that the run game is good if the wide receiver group isn't necessarily going to be great he can't have subpar at both spots so hearing good success from the run game

that's really good stuff Calvin Ridley again another good practice really impressive throughout and I also found a tweet from Buck Rising from 104,5 The Zone. Someone asked about Chigacanquo rising. And Buck retweeted it and said, Tide End 2. Now, I have been saying since the draft that I think Gunner Helm is Tide N1 and I'm working on an offensive line film breakdown right now

that should come out either Wednesday night or on Thursday. And in it, Gunner Helm did a much better job blocking than Chigaconquo did on those couple of drives against Tampa Bay. So I have been saying that I think Gunner Helm is going to be tight end one and hearing how many plays he makes and then seeing them on the field and the blocking execution from both. I think we're getting closer and closer and closer and I think we might already be there to Chick may have more yards or catches but Gunner Helm's going to lead the tight ends and snap. So that's my thoughts on Cam Ward where he's at the rest of the offense some good some bad in there as well. The Titans did figuratively bounce back

at least on the offensive side of the ball. Now on defense, the defense fought back, but I don't think we should be overly impressed by the defensive performance. Today's episode is sponsored by Yahoo! Fantasy. It's the best time of the year, NFL kickoff is almost here, and that means fantasy football season is back in full swing. And this year, Yahoo Fantasy is turning things up with a fantasy football experience like never before.

I'm going to be playing on Yahoo Fantasy, and you should too, whether you're a first-timer or a veteran making their millionth league. Yahoo has been doing this for a long time. They have a great draft day experience. They have a great app experience. Two things that are crucial. And to celebrate 28 years of their fantasy football greatness, Yahoo Fantasy is dropping 28 big new features over 28 days throughout August. To kick it off, they dropped Yahoo! Fantasy Gillotine Leagues, a killer new way to play fantasy football on Yahoo, where the lowest scoring team gets eliminated each week. until there's one team left standing.

With the season right around the corner, now's the time to get your league together and give this new mode to try. If you're more into the classics, you could still play in head-to-head private leagues or join a public league. Stay tuned for more killer announcements and start playing Yahoo Fantasy football now

at Yahoo!Fantasy.com slash locked-on NFL. Titans fans, let's continue today's edition of the Locked on Titans podcast. Breaking down everything you need to know coming out of the Tennessee Titans second joint practice against the Atlanta Falcons. We talked about Cam Ward's worst trait getting exposed, those close calls on the sideline. I'm glad he finally got intercepted on one of those so he can recognize the issue, start to work on it. And based on what Cam Ward had to say after practice, after it happened. It sounds like he knows that he needs to be better there.

So I'm happy about that, some good, some bad on offense. But now I want to talk about the defense because there were so many fights between the Tennessee Titans defense and the Atlanta Falcons offense. There were like four or five scuffles including a couple big brawes during this practice and most of it was the Titans defense

against the Falcons offense. And look, I am happy that the Tennessee Titans came out and showed some fight. I'm happy that the Tennessee Titans came out and showed some pride out there and just wouldn't just take it but the reality is they were starting fights

and the Titans didn't start all of them all right there was a report from East and Freeze who said it's not like the Titans are 100% you know to blame for all of these the Falcons were ready to fight as well but of course we know how it goes but it seems like a lot of these fights

came after great plays for the Falcons the biggest fight that happened of the day came after like a 60-yard touchdown pass for the Falcon's offense. And we saw Michael Pennix talking after practice. And in his press conference, Michael Pennix was talking about like, I don't know what those guys were up to. They had a lot of words to say, you know, I was just giving words back. And a lot of it seemed like, a lot of it seemed like the Titans were getting in fights with guys after they were getting their butts kicked. You know, they'd give up a huge play, they'd give up a touchdown,

they'd give up a big one, and then there'd be a fight. Well, what? What's really happening there? You know what I mean? What's really happening there? And I had a Falcons fan actually reach out to me who was at practice and say, you know, I'm not like trying to be biased or like, you know, any kind of way.

I'm trying to be objective. But it seemed like the Falcons were like chirping and getting cocky because they were winning so much and the Titans' defense didn't like that. So they were going back at them and being mad and starting fights and stuff like that. Now, I'm not there to confirm that that's the case, but it didn't sound like, you know,

the guy was lying either and based on the reports that were getting out of practice from both sides, it seems like that would be the case because it'd be like, oh, the Falcons just threw a 60-yard touchdown pass to one of their wide receivers from Michael Pennix. Now, you know, there's a fight breaking out, like immediately after. And it just seemed like that was happening. So I'm glad that the defense, like, fought back, quote-unquote,

but I would have loved to have seen it not come after big plays for the Falcons because that just kind of seems like sour grapes. But now, again, like we talked about, with the Titans' offense and with Cam Ward, Yeah, there was some bad in there But there was some good In there as well Like the Titans defense definitely played better today I even saw some of these Falcons reporters

That have been doing a good job covering the practices Say that the Titans played much better today Much more impressed with Cam Ward today All of that like the last team period We talked about Cam Ward throwing the interception The last team period though I saw multiple people talking about Arden Key might have just had you know three sacks

Arden Key had three at least pressures in a row, the final one, a sack, no doubt, the other ones could have been sacks, and it ended the Falcons team drive. So it's not like, you know, the Titans were the only offense out there that was having their struggles. The Titans' defense got some get-back.

Simmons might have had a would-be sack, according to a report from Toronto Davenport. I saw someone who was at the practice, like a Titans fan was saying Femi got a pressure and caused an overthrow for Michael Pennix. Marcus Harris, and we're going to talk about Marcus Harris, the Titans' rookie cornerback, more here in just a second, but Harris

has a PBEU on a long pass down the sideline in the low red zone period. And I was looking at the Falcons reports because sometimes you know you get the information from the opposite side of it you're still getting that information and there are Falcons reporters like Michael Pennix wasn't very good in the low red zone period today. He went

one for four, had a couple passes blocked away. So the Titans defense winning in low red zone. The Titans defense getting some sacks, getting some pressures. That's good news. You know what I mean? And, you know, Drake London's still out his moments.

And again, the Falcons still had some deep touchdowns and some success. But again, I saw Falcons people talking about Michael Pennock saying, you know, this wasn't his best day after those fights. There was what I think Falcons Wire is who they write for was at practice. Adnan might be the guy's name, if I'm trying to remember correctly. But he was saying, you know, after the fights happened, Michael Pennock's kind of really slowed down and didn't have his best stuff the rest of practice. And I like hearing that, I can spin that as a Titans fan and be like,

okay, the Titans were kind of getting the work to them again. They got mad. They started some fights. They started being physical. And then the Falcons kind of didn't respond to that as well. And the Titans finally, you know, it's like they got punched in the mouth enough where the Titans were like, no, screw this. We're going to punch you back literally if we have to.

And then once the Falcons got hit with a little bit of physicality and some John, they didn't necessarily have their best stuff. So it's like once the Titans defense finally rose to the occasion and of course Cam Ward is given the speech yesterday after practice and his offense is having some good moments and rising to the occasion a little bit. You know, that's what you want. The Titans were getting stops against the Falcons run game

with Bijan Robinson being such a good player that was something coming into practice that we talked about in my preview that I wanted to see the Titans run defense do a good job and the Titans got some good run stops in these low red zone periods. So overall, again, like, I feel much more confident right now that the Titans are not going to be close to seven wins. They're going to be more four or five, maybe six wins at best. I guess my ceiling for the team has come down a little bit and my floor for the team has come down a little bit.

So overall coming out of, you know, this stuff, I'm not as high on the team as my hopes had me before training camp kicked off. Like, I'm okay, you know, I don't feel super optimistic about the team, but maybe, you know what I mean? And now I just feel less confident that that maybe is really possible. But we'll talk about that more because Brian, this is Brian Callahan's big trip, right? Brian Callahan had wanted this big trip with the team away, all of that. We're going to talk about that. But I do got to tell you guys something very interesting. Got a report, I believe it was Terry.

I feel bad. Terry McCormick reported that Marcus Harris and Cedric Gray were getting some rotation with the first team defense. And I find that very, very interesting. Marcus Harris rotating with Daryl Baker Jr., that's not great news, to be honest with you. But Marcus Harris, as a rookie, getting that kind of opportunity, that is good news. But the thing is, the Titans are just counting on Daryl Baker to be like the Legerius Sneed backup with how uncertain

Legerius Sneed situation is. And if he's in a position battle with Marcus Harris, well, that doesn't mean they're certain about that. And again, I saw another tweet, now, you know, they're all running together. But outside of Jarvis Brownlee Jr. and Roger McCreary, the Titans' cornerbacks are terrible or trash or garbage, some sort of adjective that means bad. And it's like, yeah, we know that.

Like, Daryl Baker had good moments last year, but at the end of the day, Daryl Baker was a, a roster cast off, you know, who the Titans were able to pick up right before the season last year. It's not like, you know, we can hope that he turned into a solid second starter overnight because we can't count on speed. But that's probably not the reality. He's probably still a five or six cornerback and asking him to be your starter. Probably isn't going to work out. It's probably not going to go well. And we've heard for both days about what Drake London and the Falcons wide receivers have been doing in these

practices. So obviously there's cost for concern, but The most interesting one is Cedric Gray getting those first team snaps. It seems like James Williams has closed that door and he was going to be the starter. Maybe they're just trying to get a better look at Gray with the first team guys, but I didn't think Cedric Gray played very well, at least early on in the preseason game. I thought James Williams had some bad moments, but overall played better. So I guess I'm a little surprised that now would be the time that they'd let Cedric Gray get some first team snaps over James Williams. But that's definitely going to be something that we need to monitor.

and maybe they give Cedric Gray first-team snaps in the preseason game to see how he looks next to Cody Barton. I think that'll be interesting. One last final thing I want to throw in here. Two things. Kevin Winston, Brian Callahan said he might be back at practice next week. Might be back next week. So hopefully we see that as the Titans start to ramp up for the season.

But finally, I had multiple people who were like there watching say this to me. And if you look at some of the reports, you're going to see it too. Johnny Hecker was bad. Titans new punter, Johnny Hecker, 35 years old. They let Ryan Stonehouse go, and they brought in Johnny Hecker because Bones Fossil wanted him. He shanked his first punt. All of its punts after that weren't good, not good hang time.

Johnny Hecker, low-key, was not very good against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers as well. If you go back and watch the film of that game, of all the things that, you know, we thought we weren't going to have to worry about, special teams, hoping that was in a good spot. if Johnny Hecker is washed it's bad news for the Titan so let's hope it's just rust

for an older player, an older punter he's gonna knock it off and once the bullets start flying and the games come and he's having more action he's going to be just fine let's hope because can't have another hole in the boat right now. With that being said though let's talk about this long trip

that Brian Callahan took this team on and where they're at coming out of it. Today's episode is brought to you by Monarch Money. Most people can't name all their financial accounts or even what they're worth whether it's 401's properties or investments when you don't have the full picture you can end up leaving money on the table and that's why there is Monarch money it's an all-in-one personal finance tool that brings your entire financial life together in one clean

easy-to-use interface on your laptop or your phone. Monarch does the heavy lifting for you you can link all your accounts and minutes see clear data get smart categorization of your spending and finally feel in control of your money without ever touching a spreadsheet. I didn't realize just how many subscriptions that I had until I started working with Monarch money. It lets me review all my finances and now that I've been doing some investments and things like that having my investments my spending my goals all of that financial stuff all in one place. It's super easy to read and easy to interpret well it makes sure that I don't let any financial opportunity slip through the cracks and you got to make sure you don't let any financial opportunity slip through the cracks use the code locked on NFL at monarchmoney.com in your browser for half off your first year that's 50% off your first year at monarchmoney.com with the code locked on NFL Titans fans, let's cap off today's edition of the Locked on Titans podcast, breaking down everything you need to know coming out of the Tennessee Titans second joint practice against the Atlanta Falcons.

They had a terrible practice on Tuesday. They bounced back sort of and wasn't great, wasn't perfect, but they did have some bouncebacks at practice. Cam Ward had his worst trait exposed, and I'm glad because he can learn from it. The Titans defense gotten a lot of fights, but also showed some fight as well. Now I want to put the focus back where I think the focus really needs to be for this team, and it's Brian Callahan. Because now it's done. The trip is done. Brian Callahan talked about this big trip that he was taking for training camp.

He wanted the team to bond together. He wanted it to be tough. He wanted to go on the road. He wanted to be away from home. He wanted it to feel like a real old school training camp that a lot of teams used to do where you went somewhere. together and it wasn't at home so you can't just go back home and laying your bed at night and be away from your teammates you guys got to be together they went to Tampa Bay they were

in Tampa Bay for multiple days they went straight from Tampa Bay to Atlanta they've been in Atlanta they're going to be in Atlanta until Friday night's game and then they're going to come back home all right so this is the trip and here's what Brian Callahan had to say about the trip he said I think we're getting everything I wanted out of this road trip there is the adversity factor trying to get comfortable being uncomfortable, going to be times in the season when the feelings are familiar. That's the idea. Make it challenging.

Make it hard. Not being in normal surroundings in our beds, all those things. Are guys tired? Yeah, of course. That's the idea of camp. Supposed to be hard. That's the idea of the trip, the key element. We'll go through some hard stuff.

It's a chance to draw on these things as you experience bad stuff in the season. So the idea that the Titans had a tough practice against the Atlanta Falcons and they had to bounce back and they had to have a team meeting and they had to come together and show some fight and have each other's back. The fact that they've had these slow starts and they're working through it and then they're trying to get better. Like that is what Brian Callahan wanted. At the end of the day, that's what he wanted.

And he added that padded practice and had him work real hard five out of six days before they even left. He wanted this training camp to be physical. He wanted it to be difficult. and he got what he wanted, right? He said, I think we're getting everything I wanted out of this road tip. And we've seen on people's Jeffrey Simmons' Instagram, there's guys singing songs on a stage while the teammates are around,

and I think it was Taj Spears is holding up his crutch in the air because he's enjoying it. You know, those team bonding things can matter for the team. Some would argue that those things are more important than anything, that togetherness and really wanting to fight for your brother because it's not just about getting paid. That can't be your only motivation is I want to play well, so that I can get paid because I'm a professional.

Part of the motivation has to be I don't want to let the guy next to me down. Football's too physical of a game to just care about the money. It's far too physical of a game to only care about the money. You have to care and have accountability to the guy next to you, in the locker next to you.

Football is the most militaristic sport there is. It's not the military. It's not fighting in a war and active combat and all of that. But it's the closest thing in the sports world to that because of the physical battering that you take playing football that isn't really replicable in any other big-time sport. So with that, you have to have some sort of love and care connection to the guy next to you, and that's part of the reason you fight more.

Think about the way you fight for your family. Would you fight for a stranger like that? Most of the time, the answer is no, because the connection you have to that person. So creating that connection does inspire people to do more. And that's what Callahan is looking for. But here's what I would say. While they may have done that,

I think it's also fair to say that coming out of this trip, no matter what happens in this preseason game against the Falcons, because the joint practices are way more important to the success of the football team in the season than the preseason games when it's mostly not the starters. You know what I mean? And we'll talk about in my preseason preview episode on tomorrow's show, we'll talk about who's going to play,

who's not going to play, what to look for, that so make sure you don't miss it. Get subscribe, stay subscribed to your team every day. But ultimately, I don't think the team is ready. And Brian Callahan was asked before practice if he thinks the team is ready and he said, of course not. But he said, you know, nobody's ready right now because there's still, what, 18 days until the game comes around. But I'm sorry there's 18 days. And the Titans have had a bunch of slow starts and even their best practices haven't been good practices. They haven't been impressive practices for the most part. They've just been, you know, the Titans have bounced back a little bit.

It's been a little good and a little bad. So I just don't know if this team is firing on all cylinders right now and ultimately what it comes back to for me is Brian Callahan. And it's crazy to think, but think there are primarily, there are primarily two styles of coach in the NFL. You have the CEO style coach, which is your Dan Campbell's, Nick Sirianis, your Mike Vrables, your John Harbauls, your Jim Harbauls, people like that. And then you have your scheme gurus, which are like your Sean McVeys, your Mike McDaniels,

your Matt LaFleurs, your Ben Johnsons, your Kyle Shanahan's, you know what I mean, usually those. And Brian Callahan is one of the scheme guru guys. That's where he would fit. Well, the problem with the scheme guru guys, like you're seeing with the Miami Dolphins, is that even if you're good at the scheme stuff, you still have to be a leader of men. And I'm worried that Brian Callahan doesn't inspire the team, doesn't motivate the team enough. Does he have that side of being a head coach? Is that grade high enough for Callahan to become a good enough head coach? Because I don't think that the scheme stuff is a high

enough grade. Like Brian Callahan did well with the scheme last year, but if you put Sean McVey on the Titans as their head coach last year, if you put Kyle Shanahan as the head coach of the Titans last year, if you put Matt LaFleur as the head coach of the Titans last year, don't you put you think that the offense is better than it was under Brian Callahan. Like, you know, like those guys are better they would just get more out of the talent than what Brian Callahan was able to get.

I think Brian Callahan, right now, I'm very confident that Brian Callahan would be a good offensive coordinator. I'm confident Brian Callahan would be a good offensive coordinator. I really do believe that. I just don't know if he has the other traits, the intensity,

the motivation, the leadership. I don't know if he has. those right now quite not saying he can't in the future and he could be a head coach down the line and do better but I'm just super skeptical of whether he has those components that you need I am confident that he could get the scheme stuff right enough I think he could be really good with that stuff it's the other and it's funny because the CEO style coach like we had with Mike Brable it was the other way completely like Mike Brable could inspire and motivate and get guys ready

to play and always had his team ready to chew through the wall and all of that different stuff. But the scheme stuff was too rudimentary. He couldn't find another good offensive coordinator. The game passed Arthur Smith scheme by and there was no answer after that. And even on defense, Mike Vrable wasn't able to get a scheme in place consistently that everyone seemed to be happy with and that worked consistently to create a good enough defense that they could rely on. It's just like, you know, it's one way or the other.

Vrable had the issues that Callahan doesn't have. but Callahan has the issues that Rabel didn't have. It's like total opposites. If you could just put them together, you would have a great coach. But, you know, that's what I worry about right now. And this trip that Brian Callahan took the team on to create togetherness and all that, that's great. But when Jeffrey Simmons is coming off the field saying,

we're off the slow starts just like last year. And Chica Conquo said, yeah, it's concerning. And Jarvis Brownlee Jr. is this. And Legerius Sneed isn't playing. And, you know, even though they bounced back a little bit today, you just wonder... You just wonder if the, maybe the worst parts of Brian Callahan's scouting report are going to be the parts that are ultimately the team and his undoing.

You know, it's just impossible not to worry about that right now if you're being a logical fair Titans fan, in my opinion. But with that being said, got a preseason game, the trip is over now, and the Titans have two weeks. Really, after this weekend, the Titans have two weeks from Sunday to get ready to go to Denver, and they can only practice against themselves. And that preseason game, that third one,

we know that it's going to be a heavy emphasis on the depth players. So, like, there's not that much time left. So a lot of people saying yesterday, oh, it's early. It's really not that early. It's not that early. They need to get it together as quick as possible. But with that being said, that is going to do it for me today. Folks, as always, I am your host, Tyler Rowland.

And this was Locked on Titans. You know,