Locked On Titans - Daily Podcast On The Tennessee Titans - DeAndre Hopkins DOMINATES Tennessee Titans Training Camp, Harold Landry's Back & Offseason Awards

Episode Date: July 26, 2023

The Tennessee Titans had their first practice of 2023 training camp and new receiver DeAndre Hopkins made his presence felt immediately!! Also, the Titans saw the return of Harold Landry to the defense after his ACL tear and Landry looked great. Finally, Tyler goes over the Titans offseason awards and why we shouldn't put too much stock into it, but maybe we should?Follow Tyler on Twitter @TicTacTitansFollow the show on Facebook @LockedOnTitansPodSubscribe to the Locked On Titans YouTube channel:https://www.youtube.com/c/LockedOnTitans/videosSupport Us By Supporting Our Sponsors!BetterHelpThis episode is brought to you by BetterHelp. If you’re thinking of starting therapy, give BetterHelp a try. Visit BetterHelp.com/Lockedon today to get 10% off your first month.eBay MotorsFor parts that fit, head to eBay Motors and look for the green check. Stay in the game with eBay Guaranteed Fit. eBay Motors dot com. Let’s ride. eBay Guaranteed Fit only available to US customers. Eligible items only. Exclusions apply.LinkedInLinkedIn Jobs helps you find the qualified candidates you want to talk to, faster. Post your job for free at LinkedIn.com/LOCKEDONNFL. Terms and conditions apply.FanDuelMake Every Moment More. Don’t miss the chance to get your No Sweat First Bet up to TWO HUNDRED DOLLARS in Bonus Bets when you go FanDuel.com/LOCKEDON.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) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

DeAndre Hopkins made a major impact on day one at Tennessee Titans training camp. I'm telling you everything you need to know from Tennessee Titans practice on today's edition of the Locked On Titans podcast. Let's get it. 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.

Training camp practices have begun and DeAndre Hopkins is already dominating out there. We're going to discuss all of that and more on today's show. I'm going to tell you about Harold Landry's return to the Tennessee Titans. We're also going to talk about Tennessee Titans off-season awards because Mike Vrabel handed those out on today's show. We'll dive into all of that before we do. I do want to thank you guys for making the Locked on Titans podcast your first listen each and every day. Remember, Monday

through Friday, Tennessee Titans content all year round on all apps and always for free. Make sure you get subscribed, stay subscribed to the Locked On Titans podcast where it's your team every day. Tomorrow, we're going to be breaking down even more from

Titans training camp practice, talking about the right tackle position, talking about some of the rookie performances, but we got to dive into today's episode and today's news, and it's all about DeAndre Hopkins and the Tennessee Titans quarterbacks who had an absolutely fantastic practice on Wednesday, but we're going to start with Hopkins. Of course, Hopkins looked fantastic out there in that number 10 jersey. He looks smooth. He looked quick. I mean, throwing a couple of pictures up there for you guys right now, it just looks beautiful. It looks fantastic. Saw Hopkins going through drills as well. He looked, again, smooth, clean. He does not look

like a player who's going to experience some incredible decline from averaging 75 yards per game last year. DeAndre Hopkins caught three passes from Ryan Tannehill in the first five plays of Titans training camp. He was targeted instantly. He made an impact instantly in the first team period of the year. Do I have to say this? The very first pass, the very first pass of Titans team period,

Tana Hilda DeAndre Hopkins for a completion. It's hard not to get excited. I know you guys can hear it in my voice, and you guys should be excited as well. So DeAndre Hopkins, a great first day. Only one pass, only one pass that was thrown to Hopkins wasn't completed, and it was when Tannehill was a little behind him on a slant. So a great day overall for DeAndre Hopkins,

and I tell you all of that to say this. He was only there for half a practice. DeAndre Hopkins. And I tell you all of that to say this, he was only there for half of practice. DeAndre Hopkins left practice early to go catch a flight. If you remember, I mentioned this yesterday, my everydayers will remember, but if you missed it, Mike Vrabel said that Hopkins would miss some time in the first couple of days of camp because he had a prior obligation that he committed to before he signed with the Titans. So he got on a flight to go deal with that personal obligation and left practice a little

early, but it's not an injury. It's not anything like that. So no worries there. What we really need to focus on here is that immediately from the start of practice, DeAndre Hopkins went in there and made plays. He was targeted. Him and Ryan Tannehill had a good rapport early on for it being the first day of training camp.

Just a great start for DeAndre Hopkins. And listen, if you've been a Titans fan as long as I have, there's some PTSD with these veteran wide receivers joining the Titans in their 30s. So for Hopkins to come out and have a great day on day one, absolutely love to hear that. Think that's great for the Titans. But it wasn't just Hopkins.

The Titans quarterbacks overall, in general, all three of the Titans quarterbacks had a fantastic day. We're going to start with Ryan Tannehill. Absolutely sharp to start. Tannehill was nine for 10, nine for 10 during team periods on the day. The only incompletion, the one we already talked about that was a little behind DeAndre Hopkins on the slant, but Tannehill hit four of his first five passes, completed passes throughout drills the rest of the day. He's QB1, folks.

Tannehill looked the part out there on Wednesday. But it wasn't just Tannehill. Malik Willis, once again, very good day. Malik Willis was 4-4 to start his day. He completed a pass over the middle to Kyle Phillips on the very first rep that he got in. He was throwing bullets, apparently. That's a quote, throwing bullets all over the field. Malik went 6-8 to end the day. He had a pass batted down at the line of scrimmage by Chance Campbell on defense, that was a good play. But overall, Malik Willis, the glaring improvement Mike Vrabel talked about yesterday, four for four to start practice today. Willis looked good out there.

And again, according to Jim White, he was throwing bullets. So a very good day for Malik Willis. But Will the Thrill Levis. Six for six on the day. He played very well, looked much more comfortable than OTAs. I do want to throw in there for Malik Willis that Malik went six for eight, but he also had some really nice runs. And if you notice, Tannehill nine for ten, Malik six for eight,

Levis six for six. It descends in order ten attempts, 8 attempts, 6 attempts because Tannehill and Malik Willis are getting more reps overall because they're quarterback 1 and quarterback 2. So that's why all their reps aren't the same. But 9 for 10 from Tannehill. 6 for 8 with good runs from Malik Willis. 6 for 6 for Will Levis. A great day for the Tennessee Titans quarterbacks

that combined with an excellent debut from DeAndre Hopkins. So great stuff there. Excited to hear all of that. Really fun day at practice for those guys. And we're going to continue talking about some great news coming out of Tennessee Titans practice. Harold Landry is back, and my God, he looks fantastic out there. He just, whoo, that was my number one takeaway.

I know it's not the biggest story of the day. That's Hopkins and the quarterbacks, but man, Harold Landry looked amazing. So we're going to talk about that. Arden Key had a sack on the day. We're going to dive into that. Plus, updates on Kyle Phillips, Traylon Burks, Chigga Conquo. We're going to talk about the right tackle position. We're going to talk about who wasn't at practice for the Titans.

The kickers! My God, the kickers were even balling out for the Titans. A very exciting day to be a Titans fan with training camp practice kicking off. So I'm going to continue my recap of practice. Before we get into it, though, I do want to let you guys know that today's episode is brought to you by eBay Motors. eBay Motors, man.

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just look for the green check. Get the right parts, the right fit, and the right prices at ebaymotors.com. Let's ride. eBay Guaranteed Fit only available to U.S. customers. Eligible items only. Exclusions apply. Titans fans, we're going to continue today's recap of the first day of Tennessee Titans training camp.

We talked about DeAndre Hopkins. We talked about the quarterbacks. Now I want to dive into some other notes, talk about some edge rushers, namely Harold Landry returning from an ACL tear. Going to talk about some wide receivers who balled out as well, including Chika Konkwo at tight end, give an update on attendance, and talk about the kickers.

Right, Tech? I mean, we have so much content to dive into still on today's episode. Before I get into all of it, do want to thank you guys for making the Locked on Titans podcast your first listen each and every day, Monday through Friday, daily Tennessee Titans content on all apps, always for free. Make sure you get subscribed.

Stay subscribed to the Locked on Titans podcast where it's your team every day. Tomorrow we're going to continue breaking down some of the biggest news coming out of Titans training camp and I'm going to be doing recaps just like this every single day after practices.

So make sure that you stick with me here on the Locked on Titans podcast. See a lot of you guys in the chat on YouTube right now. Thank you all so much. Throw a thumbs up on the video if you're watching right now and you're in the chat. The show's always free. All I ask for in return is the press of a button. So I would appreciate it if you guys showed some support and hit that like button.

But moving right along. Harold Landry. Kevin Byard said this. Play one. Play number one of the day. First team offense versus first team defense. Kevin Byard. Welcome back, Harold.

As Harold Landry went to his edge rusher spot with the first team defense. Harold Landry is not only healthy enough to be back at training camp practice already, but he's healthy enough to be a starter on first team defense in team periods, and he's healthy enough to not wear a knee brace on his surgically repaired knee. Harold Landry was moving, ladies and gentlemen. Some of his movements and individual drills were so smooth,

so clean, so explosive, so aggressive. I watched Harold Landry come off, well, through the videos and everything, don't want to try to misrepresent the situation at all,

but Harold Landry just working individual drills against an offensive tackle. Boom. Quick step to the outside, makes a move back to the inside. Settles himself. Man, no knee brace on. It just

looked like Harold Landry. It looked like, and I have talked, it's funny because I am such a huge fan of Harold Landry and what he brings to the Titans defense. When we were in the contract situation with Harold Landry last offseason, there were some people saying that Harold Landry wasn't worth the money.

This and that. I disagreed with that all along. Harold Landry is what unlocks the Tennessee Titans front on defense. Because Harold Landry can put his hand in the dirt and be a defensive end in a four-man front. Harold Landry can stand up as an outside linebacker and an edge rusher in a five-man front. Harold Landry can also drop back and be an off-ball linebacker as an outside linebacker and a 4-3. The ability for Harold Landry to play all of those positions allows the Titans defense to rotate back and forth between a four-man front, between a five-man front. They can have Harold Landry kick out and be overhang over a slot-wide

receiver. Harold Landry's versatility unlocks this defensive front. So not only to have Landry back out there looking like himself, I mean, let's all be honest. Harold's probably, it's probably going to take a little bit for him mentally to be back where he was before the injury. A lot of professional athletes tell you it's the mental side of an injury that's actually harder to get over than the physical side. But there have been big advances in ACL technology. Well, I guess other than whoever Taylor LeJuan went to. But there have been big advances in ACL technology where guys are coming back even better from ACLs

than they ever did before. They're coming back quicker and all that. But the thing is with Harold Landry, Harold Landry tore his ACL before the season. So if anybody is going to be on schedule and ready to go now, it would be a guy who tore his ACL back in September of last year or the end of August. I forget the exact date that it was,

but it was right before that first game of the year. So just absolutely awesome that Harold Landry looks so good out there. Kevin Byard liked having him back. I do want to throw in one note that we got from Jim Wyatt that on the very first play of first-team defense against first-team offense, Jeffrey Simmons whooped whoever he was going against, whatever guard it was, and he literally screamed,

this is too easy. It's a family program. I'm not cussing, but you guys can fill in the blank however you want, but Simmons is rearing and ready to go. As for the other edge rusher, Arden Key. Arden Key, ladies and gentlemen, is going to be a fan favorite. He's going to make a much bigger impact than maybe I even expected.

He was flashing throughout the day. Arden Key also had a sack on Ryan Tannehill where he beat Andre Dillard to the outside. Of course, he didn't take Ryan Tannehill to the ground. It's training camp practice, but it would have been a sack. So Arden Key bringing the juice, bringing the energy. Love his vibes. Love his positivity.

I think he's going to make a big impact for the Titans. And right now, in my opinion, I think that Arden Key is the starting outside linebacker or the starting edge rusher opposite of Harold Landry. That would be my prediction right now. I think that's probably the favorite, but Rashad Weaver is there too, but I think Arden Key is going to be the guy out there starting for the Titans at edge. Outside of the two edge rushers,

Arden Key, Harold Landry, update on Jeffrey Simmons. We got to talk about some of the wide receivers here because it wasn't DeAndre Hopkins alone. I said that Hopkins caught about three or four passes. Well, the quarterbacks made a lot of completions outside of that because the quarterbacks had such a good day. Kyle Phillips had multiple catches and the Titans do a drill where

you take a couple steps backward and then you flip around. One guy has the ball, one guy has the tackler, and you got to try to juke out the tackler. Tackler has to make a form tackle. Just individual little form tackling drills, and Kyle Phillips shook a guy out of his shoes. Kyle Phillips had a great week one.

And I understand that I am probably considered a Kyle Phillips detractor at this point. I think I'm just being honest about his evaluation. But that would be fair. But Kyle Phillips caught multiple passes, made that play, kind of reminded everybody what he's capable of when he's healthy. But let me say this. Without the pads on, Kyle Phillips is always going to look better

because he's a smaller guy. So let's just take everything with a grain of salt. My guy, Greg Arias, who works with me at Sports Illustrated, was at practice. He told me Traylon Burks looks incredible. He caught a few passes out there. Said he just absolutely looks the part. Looks way different from last year. So love hearing that. Chigga Conquo had the play of the day where he made a diving catch on an out route. I think the ball came from Will

Levis. The pass came from Will Levis. The pass was incredibly on target. Conquo bobbled it a little bit, but it ended up diving and making the play. So, love hearing those highlights from Phillips, Burks, and Okonkwo. No Josh Wiley at practice. Looks like that might be injury related. He wasn't injured

during OTAs earlier this summer, so maybe something happened in between then. Hopefully, we get an update on that soon. Nicholas Petit-Ferrer was in shape. He did take responsibility for not understanding the gambling rules. And then Hassan Haskins was also in the building as well and basically said no comment, can't comment on anything. But NPF and Haskins were both out at practice.

So the Titans, two problem children, were at least out there. But that is just a taste of the recap that I have for you guys. We got a lot more to dive into on today's show. We got to talk about the kickers. Mike Vrabel gave out off-season awards for the Titans. I'm going to tell you who won those awards and why. It might not necessarily be a list that you want to be on based on what happened last year with those all-season awards,

but we'll dive into more practice recap in just a moment. Titans fans, we are going to cap off today's edition of the Locked on Titans podcast. A recap, a full breakdown of day one of Tennessee Titans training camp practices. Before we continue, I just want to take a recap, a full breakdown of day one of Tennessee Titans training camp practices. Before we continue, I just want to take a moment. All of you guys are in the chat. I really appreciate it. How good does it feel

to have the Tennessee Titans playing football once again? It may just be practice. It may just be training camp, but they're out on the field. Throw a Titan up in the chat right now. Throw a Titan up in the chat right now. Throw a Titan up in the comments right now if you're watching. It just

feels good to have the Tennessee Titans back in our lives. We're talking about real football. Ladies and gentlemen, Titan up, man. Titan up in the chat. Titan up in the comments. Shout out to all you guys listening right now. Thank you for making the Locked on Titans podcast your first listen each and every day.

Remember, I'm going to be recapping practice like this basically every single day that practice happens. The Titans are having practice on Friday and Saturday. Might have a little bonus episode for you guys to break it down. Throw your boy a subscribe. Throw a thumbs up on the video. Monday through Friday, Tennessee Titans content

all year round. Always for free. You're not going to beat that anywhere else. It's your team every day here on the Locked on Titans podcast. But number one I want to mention, Trey Wolf and Caleb Shudick

both went 5 for 5 on the day. I saw some contradicting reports. Someone said that Shudick was 6-for-6, and then Wolfe was 4-for-4. I saw a couple reports that both kickers were 5-for-5. Either way, both the kickers made all their kicks. All of them.

And with both of those kickers being young guys, Shulik didn't play at all last year after being an undrafted free agent. Trey Wolfe is an undrafted free agent rookie from this year. The Titans need those guys to play well because they have put themselves in a tough position. So every positive report that we get about these kickers, I'm going to relay to you guys

because that's something that we have to watch. But what I really wanted to dive into here is two different things. One thing that I want to talk about tomorrow and then the Titans offseason awards. So Mike Vrabel announced the Titans offseason awards on offense. Ryan Tannehill, Thomas Odukoye, and Corey Levin. He said honorable mention to Malik Willis.

Malik Willis was right there, is what Mike Vrabel said. On defense, Mike Vrabel said Arden Key, Jaden Peavy, and Jack Gibbons. Now let me just say this before we go any further, okay? Last year, the Titans offseason award winners were like Des Fitzpatrick, Dylan Radins, Caleb Farley, Amani Hooker. Like, if you made the offseason awards list last year, you did not have a good season.

So, just keep that in mind. But, Tannehill has been in the building since February, rehabbing his ankle and learning the new offense inside and out. He has been an absolute leader despite the trade rumors, despite his contract situation. Ryan Tannehill has been absolutely incredible. Not surprised to see that. Thomas Odukoye is a low end of the depth chart tight end

who came out of the International Pathway Program. I believe Odukoye is from the Netherlands, is where he hails from. But Mike Vrabel shouted out Thomas Odukoye a couple of weeks ago and said he's made a massive improvement and the coaching staff has been talking about him. So maybe Odukoye can a couple of weeks ago, and said he's made a massive improvement, and the coaching staff has been talking about him. So maybe Odukoye can get onto the Titans roster this year at tight end.

I think they're going to keep four tight ends. I think that fourth tight end is definitely going to be Kevin Rader. But, hey, you never know what could happen. Odukoye could improve enough to steal that spot. Outside of him, Corey Levin. That's good to hear. Corey Levin may challenge. If Aaron Brewer doesn't come out and play well early on,

I think it'll be a quick hook to go to Corey Levin. Levin had some really good moments last year. He made three starts for the Titans, had a good performance at guard, had some good performances at center. So not surprised to hear Corey Levin had a good offseason. Again, he did mention Malik Willis as an honorable mention. Mike Vrabel cannot help himself but give did mention Malik Willis as an honorable mention. Mike Vrabel cannot help

himself but give praise to Malik Willis. He must really be happy about how Malik has responded to what they asked him to do in the offseason. Mike Vrabel talked earlier in the offseason about everything they asked Malik Willis to do from last year to this year, and he must have done it tenfold because Vrabel has gone out of his way to praise Malik Willis at every step of the way, it seems like. So he just must personally be happy with what Malik's done over the offseason. On defense, Arden Key. I already talked about Arden Key earlier, but Key being a free agent and coming in and setting the tone like that to win an offseason award, I think that's big. Jaden Peavy.

I talked about Peavy when we did our roster prediction show earlier this week. My everydayers will remember. Let me know if you're an everydayer down in the comments right now. Shout out to you guys. But Jaden Peavy has made big improvements is what I'm hearing. And I think he's going to be a primary backup. Like instead of DeMarcus Ware, or DeMarcus Ware, instead of DeMarcus Walker, instead of a guy like Kevin Strong,

Jaden Peavy has a chance to get a real role with this Titans defense. And then Jack Gibbons, Dr. Gibby, baby. Dr. Gibby back. Had some really good games last year. He had one game where he's really good in pass protection, or pass coverage. I think that was Jacksonville. Had a really good game in run defense. I think that was the Cowboys game. Jack Gibbons. Linebacker is going to be incredibly competitive this year

with the six guys they have at the top of the depth chart. I think the Titans keep all six of those guys, but who gets the reps and who gets the snaps and all that, that's still to be determined, and Gibby is definitely trying to put his best foot forward. Do want to mention this before I go. This will be the last thing that I talk about to recap today's events.

Mike Vrabel mentioned specifically Jamarco Jones and John Ajuku. That's it. I checked. I got it double sourced. John Ajuku from Boise State, the undrafted free agent offensive tackle. Him and Jamarco Jones are splitting first team reps right now. And quote unquote, John Ajuku got significant reps at practice today. Mike Vrabel showered him with

praises. That's what we're going to be talking about on tomorrow's show. So the Tennessee Titans do practice tomorrow on Thursday, but it is not open to the media. So I won't have anything for you. We're going to talk about some leftover stuff from here and anything new that pops up. The Titans do have open practice on Friday and Saturday. And as I said earlier,

might have a little bonus emergency episode to recap the biggest stories from those two days as well. So that's what's on the horizon for the Tennessee Titans. But man, I just cannot wait to dive into all of it with you guys. The Titans are back. DeAndre Hopkins is balling. That is going to do it for me today, folks. As always, I am your host, Tyler Rowland, and this is Locked on Titan.