Locked On Titans - Daily Podcast On The Tennessee Titans - Julio Jones Returns to Titans Practice, Roster Cuts to 80 & Update on Mike Vrabel

Episode Date: August 25, 2021

Julio Jones did his most work at Titans' practice since getting hurt on August 2nd. Tyler recaps everything you need to know from his return and all the other team takeaways. Continue recapping Tuesday's practice as Tyler goes over the individuals that stood out Tuesday including Elijah Molden continues to ball. Finally, Tyler discusses Tuesday's roster moves and Mike Vrabel's recent comments about his status.Follow Tyler on Twitter @TicTacTitansFollow the show on Facebook @LockedOnTitansPodSubscribe to the Locked On Titans YouTube page:https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCP3332GMOh4y5PX3q9NFybwSupport Us By Supporting Our Sponsors!Built BarBuilt Bar is a protein bar that tastes like a candy bar. Go to builtbar.com and use promo code “LOCKED15,” and you’ll get 15% off your next order.BetOnline AGThere is only 1 place that has you covered and 1 place we trust. Betonline.ag! Sign up today for a free account at betonline.ag and use that promocode: LOCKEDON for your 50% welcome bonus.Rock AutoAmazing selection. Reliably low prices. All the parts your car will ever need. Visit RockAuto.com and tell them Locked On sent you. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Welcome to the Locked On Titans Podcast. I am your host, Tyler Rowland. Titans fans, this Wednesday edition of the Locked On Titans Podcast is brought to you by the Locked On Podcast Network's Ultimate Season Preview 2021. The NFL season is about to begin and nobody covers it like the Locked On Podcast Network. August the 30th through September the 8th, is about to begin and nobody covers it like the Locked On Podcast Network.

August the 30th through September the 8th, Locked On's Ultimate Season Preview is taking you through every team and every division with the help of Odyssey's lineup of NFL experts. Follow the Ultimate Season Preview 2021 feed on the Odyssey app or wherever you get your podcasts and make sure to tune in starting August the 30th. But we have a ton to go over on this Wednesday edition of the Locked on Titans podcast. We are going to start off today's show talking about all the big takeaways from Tuesday's

Titans practice, and we got the return of a major star after weeks and weeks and weeks missing from the practice field. So excited to tell you guys that news. Then we're going to dive further into Titans practice on Tuesday and talk about some of the individual standouts and some of the individual tidbits that we need to go over as part of our practice recap. And then finally, to cap off our show, the Titans did make a few roster moves on Tuesday to get down to the 80-player limit that was required by 4 p.m. So I'm going to tell you how they got down.

Underneath 80, one player was waived, two players added to the COVID list. And speaking of COVID, we got a COVID update about Tennessee Titans head coach Mike Vrabel from the man himself. I'm going to tell you what he had to say as well. So a big time Wednesday 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. Yo, Titans fans, it is a Wednesday episode of the Locked on Titans podcast. As I said, we are going to kick off today's show diving into the big team takeaways from Titans practice on Tuesday, including the return of the megastar himself, Julio. Now before we get into that, do got to remind you guys, I'm going to be putting out daily Monday through Friday, Tennessee Titans content here on the Locked on Titans podcast, not only during the preseason, not only during the regular season, but all year long. There's not another Titans content creator that can say that.

Make sure that you never miss an episode of the number one Tennessee Titans podcast in the world by subscribing to the Locked on Titans podcast on whatever platform you do stream and make sure that you subscribe to the Locked on Titans YouTube page and smash that notification bell so you know when a new episode goes live. I also want to remind you guys that the Locked on Titans podcast is on every platform and always is free, but let's dive right into Tuesday's practice. And obviously I teased it at the beginning. The number one headline coming out of practice is the return of Julio Jones, who has not practiced since August the 2nd. People were starting to get a little concerned,

not only about Julio Jones's health, but about the continuity of the offense. He is a longtime veteran, been one of the best players in NFL history, so it's not like the guy needs a full training camp, but he has also never played a season on a new team in his NFL career since his rookie year. So building that chemistry with Ryan Tannehill, knowing exactly where he needs to be, not only what the route needs to look like, but the depth that Ryan Tannehill likes it at.

All of that stuff really does matter. Now, Julio Jones didn't go through the entire practice. He wasn't out there during team warm-ups. He wasn't out there during wide receiver individual drills. But more important than that, Julio Jones did join the team for 11-on-11 jog jog throughs later in practice. And being involved in 11 on 11 stuff is much more important to me than going through the individual wide receiver drills.

So Julio Jones not fully back to practicing all the way through, but getting in some reps in 11 on 11, that is a very positive sign going forward. Also, do have to mention that A.J. Brown was back out there. He went through individual drills, then took a little bit of a break, and then, like Julio Jones, was involved in those 11-on-11 jog-through team periods. Julio Jones followed, or A.J. Brown followed Julio Jones around like a puppy, according to all reports throughout practice. So definitely still his idol.

But good to see that dynamic duo back out on the field, participating in things that we need to see them do. Also, we do got to talk about all the players who did not practice on Tuesday. And that list included tackle Kendall Lamb, wide receiver Josh Reynolds, wide receiver Chester Rogers, although Chester Rogers did ride the bike during practice, so some activity there. You like to see that. Safety Dane Cruikshank, defensive lineman Kyle Petko,

running back Darrington Evans, safety Brady Breeze, cornerback Chris Jackson, center Daniel Murner, and edge rusher Harold Landry. Now, I do want to mention though, Darrington Evans was riding the bike like Rodgers, so that's good to see some activity there. And then offensive lineman Chandon Herring also did not participate in practice on Tuesday. So the Titans are still dealing with some health concerns and some injury concerns as they press forward to their last preseason game of the year.

Now, I also want to mention a little bit of an update on Mike Vrabel. Mike Vrabel did a press conference at 4.30 Central Time to give us an update on his COVID status. Mike Vrabel did say that he was feeling very asymptomatic. The symptoms are basically non-existent for him. Said he was feeling fine. He'd been monitoring practice. Mike Vrabel was still involved in all the full squad and team meetings through Zoom.

So the big news, though, is Mike Vrabel has yet to have a negative test. And to rejoin the team prior to the 10-day quarantine period, And to rejoin the team prior to the 10-day quarantine period, you have to produce two negative COVID tests within 48 hours of each other. And Mike Vrabel did say on Tuesday afternoon that he has not had a negative test yet. So that's not what you want to hear. I don't think this is super debilitating. It's good that Mike Vrabel isn't feeling any significant symptoms. That's important, but it doesn't look like Mike Vrabel with that news is going to be back out on the field in the quickest timeline possible. It's going to be on the later end of the possible

timeline. He's still hoping to be out there on Saturday for the preseason game, but again, I'll monitor that for you guys and keep you updated as best as possible. So that's all the big takeaways you need to know from Tuesday and Tuesday's practice for the Titans. We are going to continue this Wednesday edition of the Locked on Titans podcast by discussing some of the individual tidbits and some of the individual player notes from Tuesday's practice. Before we get into that, I do want to remind you guys about the quickest and easiest way to bet on all your sports action,

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Now we're going to dive into some of the individual notes from Titans Tuesday practice. Before we get into that, just want to remind you guys you can find me on social media at TicTacTitans on Twitter, at LockedOnTitansPod on Facebook. Check those out for additional content. I always put up my film content on Twitter. And if you listen to the show and you like what we're doing here on the LockedOnTitans

podcast, you've got to check out the film stuff that I put up throughout the season on Twitter at TicTacTitans. But diving into some of these individual notes before we end the show, talking about the roster changes that were made, I continue coming back to this name, Elijah Golden Molden. He had an incredible interception on Ryan Tannehill on Tuesday. Cameron Batson was trying to run a deep post route, and him and Elijah Molden both jumped up for the football,

and it was kind of a struggle, but Elijah Molden was able to rip it away and win that battle and get the interception. The kid just keeps making plays. That's why they call him Golden. But speaking of another rookie, Dez Fitzpatrick continues to crescendo and get better and better

as the time goes throughout the preseason. He had a 70-yard bomb from Ryan Tannehill over Christian Fulton. So not one of the low-end cornerbacks on the second team. Fitzpatrick was out there with the Titans' first team offense, 70-yard post-drought to the house. So you love hearing that. Des Fitzpatrick caught that touchdown pass in the preseason game on Saturday, and it looks like he is, to use a new buzzy coaching term,

he is stacking success. So you love to see that from Des Fitzpatrick, and quite frankly, he has to if he wants to make this roster with all of the depth at wide receiver. And speaking of that depth at wide receiver, Mason Kinsey, machine gun Kinsey, continues to show out. He had two impressive touchdown catches on Tuesday. One of them was a deep in about 20 yards out into the end zone. Another one was a corner route in seven on seven where he was able to go up the field and then break towards the pylon,

keep his feet in bounds and make the touchdown grab. One of those catches came from Logan Woodside. One of them came from Matt Barkley. So it doesn't matter who's throwing the ball. Mason Kinsey is getting it done. Now, speaking of one of those quarterbacks, Matt Barkley, who obviously you guys know I'm pot committed now. I'm in with Matt Barkley. But Matt Barkley had a very good day on Tuesday, was incredibly precise throughout practice and threw two touchdown passes back-to-back in red zone period.

So you love hearing that. Ultimately, all we really want, whether you're a Woodside guy or a Barkley guy, it's funny that, you know, it's Woodside Barkley. I'm sorry, guys. I'm sorry. I had to point that out. I can't help it. My brain, it's just wired this way. I can't help it. But either way, no matter what side you're on, what we all truly want is a good backup quarterback for the Titans. So hopefully that's what we end up with. Now, on a little bit of scary side, a little bit scary news here, Jayon Brown injured his right knee during practice.

He got up, he slammed his helmet, was yelling profanities. But, to calm you guys all down, Jayon did return to practice later in the day. It doesn't appear to be anything significant. Even after practice, Jayon mentioned that he may in fact have a flair for the dramatic. I mean, he's dramatic. He loves Batman. He's an undersized linebacker.

I love you, Jayon Brown. I just love everything about that. That's why he's my favorite personality on the team. I connect with that. I resonate with that. Okay. Moving forward though, from a team perspective, the run defense was excellent in team periods. The Titans defense would not allow the Titans to run the ball. Now, Derrick Henry got his first full go 11-on-11 reps in Monday's practice. I don't know if that took place on Tuesday.

There was no report on whether or not Derrick Henry was a part of that failure to get the run game going, but either way, the Titans defense, man, I say it all the time, I'm ready to be hurt again. I'm optimistic, I'm believing, I'm trying to keep it with a large grain of salt, but it's just very exciting to see the Titans defense be confident, not only in the preseason games, but in practice as well. Now, I did say earlier that Des Fitzpatrick had a nice catch

past Christian Fulton for a touchdown, but Fulton had some nice plays as well, breaking up some balls. He had a really good pass breakup against Marcus Johnson in 7-on-7 during practice. Love to see Fulton rebound. He's been one of those stellar camp guys for the Titans this year. And then ultimately, we talked about Julio Jones being involved in jog-throughs, but he was able to catch a few passes, and his first catch did come over rookie cornerback Caleb Farley. Now, always going to give you an update on the kicking battle. Nashville hot Ficken.

Sam Ficken went 5-7 on the day, so still a solid performance from Ficken. He's got this job pretty much locked up. Now, just a little bit of, like I said, we're talking tidbits here. Got a really good tidbit from Titans offensive coordinator, Todd Downing, and he said that today, or not today for us, it was on Tuesday. Today is Wednesday.

But on Tuesday, the Titans for the first time went with their kind of in-season model. So during training camp, it's a lot of the Titans' first team against the Titans team, or the Titans first team offense against the Titans whittles down and then you get to the season, only 53 guys are going to be on the roster. And then you're going to have 16 on the practice squad. So that, I mean, quick math, that's only 69 guys. Nice. But about 70 guys,

you don't have the opportunity to have full first team, second team, third team defense. You just can't do that. So during the season, the Titans create a scout team for the offense and the defense using the practice squad and the low end of the depth chart guys. Well, the Titans held that model in Tuesday's practice. The number one offense got to go against the scout team. And Downing did say one of the big reasons

for that is teams play different defense than what Shane Bowen and the Titans do on defense. The Titans are going to see defensive looks that they would never see from Shane Bowen's defense, so you got to practice against those looks as well, and that's why the scout team and that's why the end of the depth chart guys, that's why they matter so much during the season. But speaking of the 53-man roster and roster cuts, the Titans had to trim down their roster from 85 to 80 by 4 p.m. Eastern time on Tuesday. Now they were already at 82, so only a couple of things that they needed to do, But we saw three players have moves surrounding them. I'm going to tell you who those players were, where the Titans sit right now,

and when we can expect the Titans to cut down to the final 53, which is coming very, very soon. Football is here, ladies and gentlemen. But before we get into that, do want to tell you guys about the best-tasting protein bars ever from our friends over at builtbar.com. They have a ton of delicious flavors on their website, something for everyone. They really like to celebrate the freedom of choice. All the bars are covered in 100% chocolate. I'm not even on a diet or anything like that to be eating protein bars, but the bars taste like candy bars.

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We started out talking about all the big team takeaways from Tuesday's practice, including an update on Mike Vrabel's COVID designation. Then we went into some individual tidbits from Titans practice and talked about some of the standouts there. Now, like I said, talking about the roster moves that were made to get the Titans under that 80-player limit that they were set at at 4 p.m. on Tuesday by the NFL. Before we get into that, do want to remind you guys that betting on the Titans

does not have to be a guessing game. If you listen to the new Locked on Bets podcast hosted by your boy Q and handicapping expert Lee Sterling, you get daily picks, blowout specials, wrong team favorite picks, and Lee Sterling's lock of the day. Follow the Locked on Bets podcast brought to you by betonline.ag, wherever you get your podcast. So going into the day, the Titans were at 82 players. So they had to, at minimum, cut two players off the roster in some way.

Well, we actually saw three guys taken off the roster, but here's the kicker. Not all of them were cut or waived or released or whatever term you want to use. Two of those guys were actually placed on the COVID list. So that's three Tennessee Titans this week, excluding head coach Mike Vrabel, who have been put on the COVID list. So that's three Tennessee Titans this week, excluding head coach Mike Frabel, who have been put on the COVID list. We saw yesterday defensive lineman Anthony

Rush, and today we saw linebacker Nick DeZubnor and running back Jeremy Mick Nichols. Now when you're on the COVID reserve list, you don't count towards the active roster. So just those two guys alone would get the Titans down to 80, but that wasn't it. For the second time in this preseason and training camp, the Titans have cut cornerback Kevin Peterson. Man, poor Kevin Peterson getting cut twice by the same team, that has to be hurtful. But, you know, when you're cut earlier in the process and then you get brought back on because of injuries and things like that, you have to know that the writing's on the wall. But for Kevin Peterson, getting a couple extra checks in there for an extra week on the roster, getting a couple extra checks in there for an extra week on the roster,

getting your name out there. Maybe some other teams will take advantage and maybe bring you on. All of that is very important, so you're never going to turn down the opportunity or anything to stay in the NFL. But either way, Kevin Peterson, gone again. Another time, it had to be a tough conversation for John Robinson to say, Hey, I know we brought you back, but we're going to have to let you go again. And especially when you consider that the Titans didn't have to do that. They were at 80 players with DeZubnar McNichols going on the COVID list.

The Titans are now down to 79 players. And I would expect at some point in time here in the next 12 to 24 hours, the Titans would actually add another player to the roster. There's no reason to have 79 guys when you're allowed to have 80, especially when you're dealing with all the injuries and all the issues that the Titans are dealing with right now to their debt. So I would expect the Titans to make an addition. Here is the next thing we have to talk about. The reason I expect that is the Titans thing we have to talk about. The reason I expect that is

the Titans don't have to cut down the roster to 53 and then decide who they want on the practice squad until a week from Tuesday, August the 31st at 4pm Eastern Standard Time. So with that much time between the next cut down

it only makes sense to add another player and as soon as they do I'll let you know exactly who that player is as things stand right now don't have that answer but it should be coming soon but that's going to do it for me today folks we recap Tuesday's practice

saw the return of Julio Jones love to see that got an update on Mike Vrabel and his COVID status talked Talked about the individual tidbits from Tuesday's practice and talked about the roster moves that the Titans made on Tuesday. Cannot wait to be

back with you guys for a Thursday edition of the Locked on Titans podcast. Make sure that you never miss an episode by subscribing to the Locked on Titans podcast on whatever platform you stream podcasts and subscribe to the Locked on Titans podcast on whatever platform you stream podcasts and subscribe to the Locked on Titans YouTube page. And remember, on every platform and always free. That's going to do it for me today, folks.

As always, I am your host, Tyler Rowland, and this was Locked on Titans.