Locked On Titans - Daily Podcast On The Tennessee Titans - Locked on Titans: Breaking down the struggles with Jonathan Hutton

Episode Date: October 18, 2018

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Welcome in to another edition of Locked On Titans. I'm Jimmy Morris, joined as always by Terry Lambert. Terry, how are you tonight? Doing pretty well. What's going on with you, man? Not too much. We had Jonathan Hunt with us tonight as well. We will bring him on in a minute. Before we do that, I remind you we write for MusicCityMiracles.com where we cover the Titans for SB Nation, so you can check us out there. You can follow us on Twitter. I'm at jmorrismcm. Terry's at tlambertfb. follow us on Twitter. I'm at jmorrismcm. Terry's at tlimbertfb. You can get the podcast wherever you get your podcast.

Just search out Locked on Titans. Subscribe so that you get the newest episodes as soon as they are available. Like I said from the beginning, we have Jonathan Hutton from Titans Radio in the Midday 180 with us. You can follow him on Twitter at Hutton1045. Hutton, how are you tonight? Guys, it is great to be back on the show. I appreciate it, and I'm doing well.

Getting ready to travel to London on Thursday, which is uh just in a few hours so um looking forward to it and looking forward to arriving on friday morning and hit the ground running a little bit there yeah i mean obviously a big week uh something different than what the titans have ever done so kind of give us uh i know you're traveling with the team so kind of give us what the plan is for the team basically from thursday through the game you know it they have a detailed itinerary that has been mapped out and combed over uh since prior to training camp they they have a full travel staff that does nothing but plan road trips. And that includes everything from if they were to take a trip to Fort Campbell in the offseason, to taking a major trip like last year to Arizona

for the week, or taking this trip this year. And they have been planning that since the schedule came out. They have mapped out exactly what they want to do based on advice they've received from other teams, what has worked in the past, what hasn't worked in the past. And I'm sure that last year's trip out west where they stayed for a week and different planning things and schedules there factored into how they will approach this week. And I asked about that. I said, why travel and arrive on a friday instead a little bit earlier and they feel like getting the the extra work at their own facility and and certainly playing at home this past sunday played a factor in that decision they felt like that was the best case scenario for them the titans uh players they worked a bit on Tuesday, worked on Wednesday.

They'll work briefly on Thursday, and then they'll depart for the charter, which will depart late afternoon, early evening, and they'll arrive, will arrive in London early in the morning, roughly 5.30, 6 a.m. The key in all of it, and I've been told told that that it is it's not mandatory but they are stressing to the players they want them to sleep um it was stressed to me that uh where i'm sitting we need to be quiet maybe more quiet than usual because of the players sleeping on the plane so they want to make sure that between the normal hours of what will be like 6 p.m to midnight of national time that the players are getting as much rest as possible because they'll have a practice at what will be team headquarters

on Friday and Saturday, just like they normally would back in Nashville as they prepare for the Chargers. And the Chargers will be doing sort of the same schedule, obviously on different sides of the London map as they prepare for kickoff on Sunday. I wanted to dive into the problems of this offense a little bit. I'll leave, Jimmy, the Marcus Marietta question, but I want to focus on this offensive line.

It's kind of my working theory that it's just kind of handicapping this offense. You can't run the ball. Last Sunday, you can't protect the interior offensive line. It has just not been very good so far. So I think that has to get fixed before other areas can get fixed. What's your opinion there? Are we still in that area where Titans are still trying to figure out LeFleur's system? Is it just a personnel issue?

Is there a change that can be made there? I think they're still working out some of the assignments up front, just like Mariota will be doing within LeFleur's system. And I think specifically to that, I think it comes down to picking up blitzes on assignments. Because, you know, Jim Schwartz, I always go back to what worked in the Eagles game. Because Mario, he had time in the pocket. He delivered the football on the outside. He looked really good throwing the football.

And, you know, in thinking about that,im schwartz is a coordinator who relies on getting to the quarterback by rushing four down linemen and that's it he doesn't blitz a whole lot um that the successes defensively against what the titans are doing i think have been against the blitz we saw that against baltimore uh buffalo sent some at times. We'll see it this week. I know that in the past what we've seen from this defensive coordinator

maybe isn't exactly blitz-centric, but I do think they're blitzing more often than what they have in the past. How could you not assume that they would bring the heat a little bit this week with L.A. based on what they've seen on film? I think it makes too much sense.

And the Titans are going to have to prove they can block it and protect it. That's the key to this game. I think they'll try to bring some more pressure and see how the Titans adjust to picking up assignments up front. I think that's the key. And it's not just the five offensive linemen in that. The Titans struggled last week with Baltimore, with Max Probe, with Max Protection, and that includes the tight ends and the running backs. So it was a team issue as much as it was an offensive line-specific issue when it came to the pass rush.

Now, as for the run game, I'm just as surprised as you are that it is to the point where it is right now. Some of the best runs for Derrick Henry, I think, the most aggressive runs, have been in the Wildcat. And Deion Lewis, his best production has been in the passing game. Maybe those two things aren't the biggest surprises based on what we've come to know about Lewis and how we hope they would utilize him. But when it comes to Derrick Henry, I would sure love to see more

north and south runs. And I think he's done that primarily with what he's done in the Wildcat formation, at least consistently well. All right, coming up, we will have more with Jonathan Hutton. Before we do that, I'll tell you about MyBookie. MyBookie is back sponsoring the podcast. We appreciate them doing that. If you've listened for a while, you know what we say about MyBookie. You play, you win, you get paid. The best thing about them is you know you're not going to have to chase your payouts

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All right, so on Marcus Mariota, I mean, I think that kind of a couple questions. One, where do you think he is in the progression on the injury? And then two, we're getting to the point now where they're going to have to make some decisions on him. Now, obviously, they can do nothing this offseason. He can play out his fifth-year option of his rookie contract, and they can push that decision off another year. But Terry and I have been staunch Mariota defenders. You know, we get people coming at us all the time, calling us Mariota homers and apologists and all that kind of stuff.

But, you know, at this point, I would say my confidence in his ability to be that, like, transcendent guy guy is probably an all-time low. I'm not ready to give up on him yet, but, you know, it's just the inconsistency that we've been seeing that, you know, those best quarterbacks in the league, you just don't see that from. So, one, like I said, where do you think he is as far as the health? And then two, kind of where are you on that spectrum of, you know, believing he's absolutely the franchise guy or kind of back into that questioning mode? You know, I'm not as down on him as Paul and Chad seem to be on Midday 180. And I kind of feel like you guys at times, I feel like I'm having to defend him when I'm really not even trying to.

I just think maybe you guys feel the same way. I'll set up where i'm coming from and you tell me if i'm defending him to the point where it's unfair uh to to where you think i'm not being critical enough uh with the injury he gets injured during the miami game um just a bad performance overall for the offense but he gets injured during the Miami game, misses the Houston game, and then has to play off the bench where they didn't really want to play him. And gets a lot of production against the Jacksonville team that looked inept defensively in stopping him on the run.

That's why they won that game is because Marcus used his legs to the best of his ability. His receivers didn't help him, by the way, in that game. Rashard Matthews dropped some passes. There were some other problems there. But nonetheless, he ran the football. They win by a field goal. Week four, they return home, and we see the game that everybody points to as,

okay, this is the turning point where things seem to be clicking and sinking in for the LeFleur offense. And he was throwing the ball well, albeit with the glove on his hand, but he was throwing the ball well. The receivers went up and made plays. We know the result. It was an overtime win against a Philly team that we thought was a very good team at that point.

So fast forward to Buffalo. We see what happens in Buffalo, a bad performance by Marcus Mariota, and I'm basing that solely on results and what the offense has done. He's the leader of the offense. The pressure in this league is on the quarterback position. I get it. And then last week, I don't really, I mean, there were some bad moments for him. I think he got skittish in this game. But against the Baltimore Ravens, I also did not see a quarterback that had much time to do anything in the pocket.

And an offensive line that at times, if it was third down, Mariota was better off taking a knee than taking the hit that was coming his way from multiple players, not just one. So as I evaluate where we are right now, going into week seven against the Chargers, which I know you guys have talked to Dan Orlovsky. We've certainly talked to Dan Orlovsky, who has played within this offense and has taken calls from Matt LaFleur in the preseason with the Rams, he said there will be a learning curve for any quarterback and that you can circle week seven or week eight for that development to really start to take the turn for the better.

There will be growing pains along the way. So with that in mind, from a quarterback who's played within this system and knowing that we really only have, based on what I am evaluating, one really good game against the Eagles, a bad performance by the offense against the Buffalo Bills, and then the Ravens game where all hell broke loose in the pass rush, I'm not yet ready to say I'm confident or not in how Mariota is picking up this offense. Now, give me a couple more weeks give me this week matters a lot we'll see how they play in london and then the bye week

is where we were told by someone who played for this for this coach what to expect and where we should start to see the turn for the better that's what that's where i've been having things circled anyway so i'm i'm not trying to to defend him as much as i am defend my position that i had in the preseason which was i'm willing to to ride this out for a bit to see how long it it takes here to determine whether or not he's right for the offense while the defense carries the load and and so far that's what they've had to do. I don't think it's been off script as much as people want to make it out to be. The injury has played the biggest factor.

But again, that's how you would define his career to this point, and I don't deny that. Yeah, and just one quick follow-up on that. If Nick Williams catches that ball in Buffalo, how much different do you think the conversation is? I mean, that doesn't change his numbers overall that much in that game. But if Nick Williams catches that pass, they probably win. I feel like that people would be at least a little bit higher on the team as a whole

and on Mariota just on that one play. It's a great point. I mean, I don't think that buffalo goes down and gets a touchdown you would force that would have it's early in the fourth but it would have it would have forced buffalo to drive the football to get six points instead of three at some point in that quarter based on the way things played out so i'm with you on that uh but even with that catch there were still there were still issues within the offense I don't think it would be as glaring as it's been because they lost to Buffalo and then followed that up.

The thing that was most disappointing, not just with Marcus, Marcus is included in this, by the way, but with the entire group, is the Baltimore Ravens, going into that that game both teams were coming off bad losses as much as people want to talk about the Cleveland Browns being improved and they're improved that they won a home game for the first time in like three years um this this is not that was a bad loss for the Baltimore Ravens and Buffalo was a bad loss for the Tennessee Titans and both teams came off of that game and what I thought was a matchup where we would see two teams slug it out for a potential and and I still I think it will factor in to the wild card race we saw one team show up and the other

team not and and that's what's most concerning in back-to-back weeks, having a bad loss and then following it up with a very flat performance and now going on the road the way they are. It starts at the quarterback position, but it also starts with protection. It starts with the different pieces of this offense, and I don't think there's a lot of cohesion around him right now as much as we're seeing him try to sort out certain reads and defenses and play calls from Matt LaFleur. I think it's a combination of things that lead me to want to wait for a few more games

to assess where he is right now within the whole mapping out, okay, how do they move on from him or how do they extend his contract? I get all the talk and it's all relevant, but I'm not willing to place my chips on one side of the table or the other yet. Yeah, that's kind of where I am too. This is his third offense as he's been in the NFL too, so there's just been no consistency around him, I guess. You brought up a good point about what's around him.

You know, Dane Krupschank is the fifth leading receiver on this team. So, you know, it's just staggering. That's shocking. So, you've got Corey Davis, who's really exploded against the Eagles, kind of disappeared last week against the Ravens. But, again, it all comes back to that offensive line. I don't know how you're supposed to produce anything. We've got heat like that. Just kind of give me your thoughts on the rest of this receiving core.

It seems like that's going to be what the Titans are kind of stuck with. Taewon Taylor and Tajay Sharp and just virtually nothing at the tight end spot. Just kind of give me your thoughts on that and can it get any better? It has to get better if this team and this offense is going to live up to expectations this year. Let me preface this by for those that are yelling at their monitor

and the headphones while they're working out listening to this and saying Hutton's defending a bad offense, I get it. It's been bad. And they have high expectations for a reason. They got rid of a coach that won nine games in a playoff win. I get it. I look at this wide receiving core and will factor in Mariota to this discussion, too, because he plays a factor in their overall play.

But I want to see that group, and again, that includes number eight, have timing and rhythm in the passing game. And I'm trying to rewind before Baltimore because, again, you give up six or seven sacks in the first half, any quarterback is going to get off the mark and speed things up a bit. Corey Davis admitted that they were breaking off routes quicker because they anticipated Baltimore getting to the quarterback faster than what they had prepped for.

I mean, that's what he told Paul, and that's what Paul said on our show Monday. With that in mind, I'm looking at what they've done with Mario in the game prior to Baltimore because of what happened with the sacks if you look at the timing and rhythm in the passing game it was not there in Buffalo it was there in Philadelphia and we just rewind for those two performances we need to see more consistency of course from Corey Davis who can take over a game he was elite against the Eagles but he was elite against a bad Eagles secondary he needs to take advantage of any matchup he needs to that he has to be the go-to player I agree on that outside of that the pieces need to be complementary pieces

to Corey Davis's overall game Taewonon Taylor, I asked him specifically in training camp about, is he willing to be the unselfish player that gets some touches to set up things for Corey Davis? Because I think that's how you can utilize him as an overall piece to the puzzle. And then Tajay Sharp, I think you can go to him more than what he's been asked to do. I think he's been consistent over the last two to three weeks, and I think he deserves some more touches. Where they have to improve is with John O. Smith.

If they can find a passing game in the middle of the field, something that is just every now and then, that is going to lead to more success outside. Until they find that, teams are going to trigger on everything going to the right or to the left and not up the middle. And that's where they miss Delaney Walker the most, is on some key third-down passes where Mariota would simply look to 82 on the middle of the field

or on a wheel route or something to get him outside, but it would normally start right off the line and normally wheel his way outside the hashes down the sideline. We've seen that pass a number of times. That's the route that I haven't seen them run with the tight end, and they don't have it. John O. Smith, for a stretch there until last week, was no different than having Phillip Supernaw on the field because they weren't throwing to Phillip Supernaw

and they weren't throwing to Jonu Smith. He's got to be better than that. He doesn't have to be Delaney Walker, but he's got to catch the football when it's his turn. They don't need to look his way and then look in opposite direction because they see his number flash he needs to be someone they can count on and i think they need to keep uh keep giving him opportunities because right now he's the best option they have i know they called up ferkser but i i've seen um smith make some a number of plays in practice that would make me think that he they continue to want to try to integrate

him into what they're doing. The question is, can he do it? And I think there's a lot on his plate to prove right now. I think he's key to everything as we move forward. All right, coming up, we'll finish up our conversation with Jonathan Hutton, get into everybody's favorite scapegoat right now, Malcolm Butler. Before we do that, we're going to tell you about Vivid Seats. Vivid Seats is back sponsoring the podcast. We appreciate them doing that. We're trying to get to Titans game. You don't have tickets.

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If you look at, you know, things like Pro Football Focus, I mean, he's among the worst-rated corners in the entire league. Mike Vrabel was asked about him this week and said, you know, it's obviously not an effort thing. It's a technique thing. We talked during training camp, and, you know, all of the talk during training camp was either about Mariota, Corey Davis, and then Malcolm Butler.

And, you know, the plays he was making, the interviews, bringing all that kind of stuff. It hasn't translated on the field. You know, it got to the point in the game last week where in base they had gone to Adory and Logan Ryan, whereas at the beginning of the year, Malcolm Butler had been out there in base. What have you seen from Malcolm Butler so far that gives you any hope that he can turn around what so far has been a disastrous

season? He's admitted that too. you any hope that he can kind of turn around what so far has been a disastrous season yeah and he's admitted that too i i enjoy the players who will stand up and say yeah i've sucked and i'm not happy about it um instead of you know either saying no comment or giving two-word answers uh butler butler stood up and said that um earlier this week and inside the locker room so that's one thing um but again that's talk uh butler he has always been known for being a gambler on the outside at corner he is he is the book on him and talking to a mcginnis or greg cosell or it just any any draft analyst that studied where he was in college compared to what he became, talking with Blake Bedingfield about how he developed up in New England.

Butler is known as being a tough and physical corner, and you do not want to take that away from his overall game because that is what got him to where he is but he tends to peak at the quarterback if he's in man coverage and there are some zone looks where he's still in man on the outside so he's peeking at the qb and quarterbacks are now firing his way quite a bit because you're going with the guy who's been struggling you're looking for the advantage the only way that he overcomes some of that and and stops having the qbs look his direction he's got to put the fire out and he's got to make a play i mean the the corners in this league are under a lot of scrutiny even though the rules are stacked against them this is a case where i think brable is is speaking the truth i mean i don't think he's beating around the bush when he

says it's a technique issue and from from hearing everything from cosell to mcginnis they'll tell you that it's it's peeking at the quarterback a little too early and saying instead of defending the man um we saw a bit of that on the touchdown that he gave up this past Sunday against Baltimore. And the long, lengthy receivers that the Chargers possess in this game, I'm sure Rivers will be looking his way there too. But it's not just one or two games. This has been a consistent theme throughout.

And the only way for him to quiet those critics is to go out and make a play or defend a few passes that get tipped in the air and the Titans come away with a turnover or take away. That's the only way that the talk quiets down for him right now. Because I agree, it hasn't been good to begin. And Butler agrees with that too. He's not hiding from it. And he knows that he's motivated to come in

and prove why he was worth the contract and worth the money he's one of the top paid corners in the league and the titans are counting on him playing like it so far he hasn't lived up to those expectations uh but i think you have to keep rolling him out there I really do because he is a streaky player. Corners in the league are streaky top to bottom and I think he fits in well with the other players of the secondary as far as the mix is concerned. I like what they have with Butler

on one side. Again, I'm talking about the physical tough, aggressive play compared to a Dory on the opposite with Logan in the slot. I think that fits all three skill sets. But at some point, if you're going through a game and quarterbacks are simply looking his way and firing his direction without going through progressions,

I understand why they took him out of the base defense last week. The defense, maybe Butler aside, has been pretty good overall. They couldn't get off the field last week, but I think that was more of a product of maybe not having Wesley Woodyard available. Rashawn Evans was asked to do a lot of things probably way too early. How would you assess his play right now and how much did this team miss Wesley Woodyard? They missed him a ton and and especially in the run game uh against buffalo i i think he factored

his absence factored in more to that game than he did his absence against baltimore uh the the i think the the issues with the ravens were simply not being able to get to the quarterback. If you're playing zone and you can't get to the quarterback with the down lineman and the outside rusher, chances are the middle of the field is going to be open at some point, and that's exactly what happened. You were right. The time of possession was way lopsided last week. I thought what was encouraging is despite how the team overall has performed, they did not give up the big points to Buffalo.

And with all of the third down conversions, time after time after time, the 12 conversions, the 37 minutes time of possession, they only allowed 21 points in that game. And that was a game that felt like 35 or 42 to nothing. I mean, it was just a beating. But it was 21-0 and only 14-0 when you looked up at the halftime scoreboard, when you expected it to be maybe one or two scores more than what it was. I think that's the encouraging part, is if you're looking for the light at the end of

the tunnel over the last two weeks with what you can point to and what you can hang your hat on, the defense, even when they're giving up big yardage, they're doing a good job of either holding them to field goal attempts, the opponent, or holding them and getting a play that keeps them out of scoring range for the most part. holding them and getting a play that keeps them out of scoring range, for the most part. There were some big plays, and look, I think what helped them against Baltimore is that the offense didn't turn it over. They just could not move the football at all.

But field position play factor, for sure, it certainly was a key in the whole Buffalo issues that went on. So I think two separate things for Woodyard there. Going to your Evans question, It certainly was a key in the whole Buffalo issues that went on. So I think two separate things for Woodyard there. Going to your Evans question, I think playing next to Wesley either this week or when Woodyard can get back, I think it will be a huge improvement for Rashawn Evans. I think we saw more improvement from him in the run game this past week. He was one of the bright spots to point to for a guy who missed some things and some tackles against Buffalo and then came up to make some big stops and played physical, I thought, in a couple of plays and a

couple of rundowns against the Ravens. And I think playing next to Woodyard will settle him down even more and it'll keep him from thinking as much. I think playing next to Woodyard will settle him down even more and it'll keep him from thinking as much. I think he'll improve when the veteran gets back out there with him. All right, last thing before we let you get out of here. At Smitty0417 on Twitter asked the question, when is it time to start talking about John Robinson's decision with the rosters?

And I went through this the other day, did a fairly lengthy post on kind of the pros and cons of what John Robinson has done since he's been here. And, I mean, I think you can't argue that overall it's been very positive. You look at the roster that he inherited versus what they have now, it's night and day different. There's no question about that. But I think the biggest question right now is, did he miss out this offseason by not adding another playmaker on the outside? And again,

it's a little bit of an unfair question, because I think at that time you had to assume they were going to have Delaney Walker, they were going to have Richard Matthews. So I mean, that does factor into this. But we had kind of talked all summer about how it would be a good idea to bring in another veteran receiver. Now, not Sammy Watkins, Allen Robinson. We didn't think they'd be involved in that. But somebody in that next tier. And, again, you look at Baltimore, who they faced last week,

what they did to rebuild their receiving core, bringing in John Robinson, Michael Crabtree – or not John Robinson, John Brown, Michael Crabtree, Willie Sneed. They were able to kind of rebuild that group and they're completely different than what they were last year. So do you think he maybe overestimated what he had or is this just a product of, you know, the things that look pretty obvious, like I said, with Walker and Matthews? Was that an okay? Was he okay to kind of stand pat there?

I think there's another factor in all of this that is, it's not a huge factor, but I do think as a part of the overall plan, the thought was one of the undrafted wide receivers was going to stick on the roster either that be deontay burnett or someone else that had had some issues either with an injury or didn't run well or whatever it was uh but guys that were productive in college that were coming to camp at a position where you could come in and battle. He knew he was going to be able to sell a spot to one of the undrafted free agents.

And Burnett's a great example of a guy who was Sam Darnold's number one target at USC that they end up cutting, and he's on a practice squad with the Jets. So I think that's a smaller example of part of the plan. Of course Delaney Walker is a huge factor in this. That can't be overlooked. But I do buy into the idea that you... We discussed this. The depth at receiver was the one area where you felt like they could add one more piece in the draft with their six overall picks and i think coupled into that the decision to

move up to get evans the guy they loved um and the guy that brable and robinson both agreed could could really help this defense and then on day number two to have the opportunity to move up and get Landry who they were considering drafting in the first round throughout the draft process I think when they made those two moves it shifted to a different plan scenario of okay how do we fit these pieces together what can we do to lure some free agents here, undrafted guys, and see where we are and see where the dust settles? Now, all that said and done, on-site being 2020, yeah, they should have drafted a receiver instead of going with the quarterback in the sixth round.

But, again, they rolled the dice and decided they would go with a Burnett-type player in the eighth round of this draft, the undrafted round, just to see where things played out. The one piece to the puzzle that I don't know if they thought would be a major issue and if they thought it was going to be a major issue, they probably didn't expect it to be in week three, is Rashad Matthews quitting the team,

especially after they gave him the renegotiated contract in training camp. I think that had to ease their minds a bit, that they got him on the deal that they had him on, and in an offseason where they were handing out extensions, Matthews' name was also out there as a guy who could latch on for another year if he wanted to. So I think that was a bit of a surprise. Maybe it shouldn't have been based on Matthew's history in Miami

that I think John Glennon did a wonderful job pointing out. But nonetheless, it is a position right now that they are one injury away from having a critical issue with their roster. Depth right now is so thin right now at that spot. And, yeah, I mean, of course, I think if you could go back, based on the way the roster sits today, you would address that more than what they ended up doing. And then the other guy is Campanaro,

and I don't think Campanaro plays a major factor for this team. But Campanaro does things on special teams and other factors that threw them for a loop a bit. Deontay Burnett didn't make the roster because he didn't play special teams very well. So there are other issues that factor into why you keep a receiver and why you don't on the back end. And I think all of those things factored into why they they released some of the guys they did and then again a follow-up to that i mean obviously now everybody wants them

to go out and trade for somebody um you know and you've seen amari cooper's name folded out there at devante parker whatever whatever it is do you think they need to make a move i mean obviously you're not giving a first round pick for amari cooper which you know is reported this week that that's what the raiders are asking for. But do you think they need to make a move for somebody if they can get, you know, use kind of a later round pick to get somebody like a Devontae Parker? And, again, anybody that you're going to trade for, obviously, at this point, is going to have question marks that come along with them.

That's why their team is looking to move on from them. But do you think that's something that they're going to be entertaining up until the trade deadline? I would. I would. move on from them but do you think that's something that they're going to be entertaining up until the trade deadline i would i would and let's just let's focus in on amari cooper i don't know what the price tag would be for him but do you offer say a fourth round pick to to see what and and i'll i'll go back to i'm under the assumption in this hypothetical that they're interested do you offer a fourth round pick to see what it would take to to get him and how willing the raiders are to trade him the raiders aren't using him and that's what's so bizarre is they're not even targeting him uh much he'll go from 100 yard performance to a 17 yard performance on four targets in a game it's just the it's the strangest thing within that offense and that quarterback that they have

that they're not throwing the ball to Cooper's direction. The guy that would know everything is Rob Moore, the Titans wide receiver coach who coached Amari Cooper with the Oakland Raiders, and he would know about the rumors that are out there that are circulating that Amari Cooper just really doesn't love the game all that much um so you factor all those things in and if you can get a talent like cooper and plug him into what they're doing guys i i think this is the week that you would make a move like that you bring him in he's in concussion protocol by the way you bring him in and then you

have a bye week to get him up to speed. And when I say up to speed, get him within a playbook, and then you continue to work him into what you're doing. If you're going to make a move, it's going to be soon, because of where the bye week falls for them. That would be a critical piece to the trade puzzle here. But I would inquire about it. but the guy i would talk to first is is coaching for the titans roster and that's rob moore he would have all the answers that i would need to know before i even picked up the phone and made the phone call and if they don't if they don't make the phone call we'll know why because rob moore uh would certainly give his honest

assessment on that as far as other players, I think you're looking for, look, it's tough to find elite talent that are available. Everybody's got an issue if they're on the trade block in the NFL. You're looking for the guy that can fit what they're lacking right now, and I'm looking for somebody that can stretch the field or play up the middle of the field. And I would open up scenarios for tight ends as much as I would be looking for receivers, if that's the case.

They need help in those two areas. A burner, again, those guys don't exist on the trade block unless something's going awry. Or someone that can work the middle of the field and be an outlet for a quarterback that's under duress and looking for that dump-down pass. That, to me, is what they're lacking overall, top to bottom, in the passing game. Absolutely. Well, Jonathan, we really appreciate you joining us. Listen, I'm not just saying this because Hutton's on with us right now.

Midday 180, you need to be listening to that every day. He referenced Greg Cosell, Blake Bedingfield. There's not a radio show probably anywhere, but definitely not in this market, that has the guys that they have that can break down film. They've got Blake Bedingfield on every week. They've got Greg Cosell on every week. Give us your schedule. Y'all are live from London on Friday, right? We are live from London, guys, Friday. Friday we're live from London, 4 to 8 p.m. London time

at the Barrel Boy and Banker Pub. I'm going to get that right at some point. And we're going to have – I'll go ahead and tell you who – I'll tell you guys who we hope to be joined by. We haven't said this on the air yet because we don't jinx it. I don't believe in jinxing, so I'm going to tell you. Eddie George, Javon Curse, Keith Bullock. We will have Neil Reynolds of Sky Sports.

Jimmy Manua. I hope I'm saying his last name right. He's like the number five ranked light heavyweight in the UFC. He's the most popular MMA fighter in London and for England. He will join us at the pub. That will be really cool. And we'll have Coach Mack and we'll have Mike Keith and other guests throughout the day that will join us from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on 104.5 The Zone.

And it's all a part of The Zone's top-to-bottom coverage, which will be excellent. And we're happy to be out there. You know, Paul and I, we would be out there anyway, and then we were able to get Chad there through the help of some sponsors. So it's going to work out well, and we've been hoping this could happen, that we could do Midday 180 live on location in the U.K.,

and we're getting that chance to do that. It's going to be pretty cool. Absolutely. Sounds great. So, like I said, Midday 180 today on 104.5 from 10 to 2 local time, so check them out. Hutton, we really appreciate you taking the time tonight to join us. Absolutely. Anytime, guys.

Always enjoy being on with you. All right. So, again, follow him on Twitter at Hutton1045. You can follow me and Terry. I'm at jmorrismcm. Terry's at tlembertfb. We appreciate you listening to Locked on Titans. And we will be back Sunday night with a recap of the game against the Chargers.

So, for Jonathan Hutton, for Terry, this is Jimmy saying thanks for listening, and we will talk to you again next week.