Locked On Titans - Daily Podcast On The Tennessee Titans - Locked On Titans- Dec. 21- Coaches, Players Corner & more.

Episode Date: December 22, 2016

Coaches, Players Corner & More. #BHop #TerryMc #GregA Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Hey, where are you going, Jim? The elevator's over here. Taking the stairs. But our meeting's up on 8. Yeah, I know. But that's 8 floors up. That's like 8 times... I don't... a lot of stairs. That's the point. I've already lost a few pounds and earned almost $100 in wellness incentives. Whoa, you're getting rewarded for working out? Yeah, I know. I'm just as surprised as you are, Bob.

Fearless is full of surprises. That's the power of the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Federal Employee Program. Learn more about our healthy benefits and sign up at fepblue.org slash choose blue by December 11th. You are Locked on Titans, your daily podcast on the Tennessee Titans, part of the Locked on Podcast Network, your team every day. And welcome to Locked on Titans, your daily source for all Titans news and information Your team, every day. As always on Thursday, we've got a lot of great stuff for the listeners, our coaches and players' corners, where we get information from this week's opponents, the Jacksonville Jaguars in this case. But as always, Terry, current news to kick off the day, and we start with perhaps bad news on the injury front,

where Derek Morgan, dealing with an injured ankle, did not practice on Wednesday. Yeah, he seemed to do something, tweak the ankle. Tuesday's practice, but managed to finish. And then Coach Mike Malarkey made the decision to hold him out yesterday. They're hopeful that he'll be able to do at least a little something today. And I think the plan is still to try and have him play on Sunday. Obviously, they need all hands on deck.

Anybody that's healthy enough to give it a go, they're going to need them in this fall game because down to two weeks and the Titans are looking at things as if pretty much every game is a playoff game from here on out if they want to make the actual postseason. Yeah, they've been in the playoffs basically for two weeks with two weeks to go just to decide if they can get into the playoffs. And certainly that would be a huge loss with Kevin Dodd already being out. And you take Morgan away from one side of that pass rush opposite Brian Arakpo,

and that certainly would change the dynamic of the Titans' defense. Yeah, it certainly would. I mean, they would be getting David Bass back, but the next man in line would probably be a rookie in Aaron Wallace, who has had some moments this year, but still a seventh-round rookie. You don't know, certainly wouldn't expect him to play to the level that a Derek Morgan would, so I think the Titans are holding out hope that even Derek Morgan at, you know, 85% or 90% should be able to give it a go. In other injury news, it looks like Jason McCourty,

ever so closer to not playing this week, Terry, did not practice again on Wednesday, not expected probably to do anything on Thursday. And while he's not been ruled out 100% yet, it looks like we're probably heading in that direction. Yeah, I talked to Jason a little bit yesterday. He said there's still a lot of soreness there, and it's basically a matter of not only a pain tolerance,

but getting some of the soreness out so that he can have a range of motion in the shoulder and the chest area, that sort of thing. Mike Malarkey said yesterday when asked about McCourty that if he didn't practice today, that that probably would mean he won't play on Saturday. So not looking real good for Jason McCourty's chances unless he gets some sort of Christmas miracle going in the next day or two. In preparation for the potential absence of McCourty, the Titans made a move, Terry, and part of it was expected.

Carl Klug with the torn Achilles going on IR to fill his spot on the 53-man roster. They bring up cornerback Dajon Smith, who is 5'11", 193 pounds. He was the 65th overall pick by the Indianapolis Colts in the 2015 draft, Terry. That's the third round. But he's a guy that's had some issues, was released by the Colts, released by the Detroit Lions, and now finds himself with the Titans. Is this a guy that can help this team? Well, potentially.

I think he's there right now as an insurance policy. This may be one of those down-the-road type of deals where he gets an audition here late in the year, a chance to maybe do some special teams work, provided he's active on Sunday, and then work his way up the ladder. I think Smith obviously has the talent, or he wouldn't have been a third-round pick.

I think pretty much in the same spot that Kevin Byard was this year with one of the top picks in the third round. But he suffered a knee injury his rookie year, played only four games for the Colts. They were expecting him to join into camp this year to contend for a starting cornerback spot at Indianapolis, but he suffered a high ankle sprain and he got kind of caught in a dumper's game. They couldn't wait for him to get healthy, so they waved him injured. And then he wound up going to the Lions.

It was on their practice squad for about two months before they let him go. And then the Titans worked him out and signed him to their practice squad. And now after just a short stint on the Titans practice squad, about three weeks, here he is. He is out of Florida Atlantic University. And, Terry, the interesting thing when I read his stats and college bio is the fact that he was a kickoff returner. 47 kick returns.

He averaged 23.3 yards per return. Not a bad number. So that's a potential spot if he sticks with this team that they could be looking at him for next year, certainly as we try to decide what the situation is going to be in that area. Yeah, that is an option. A lot of guys who are from these smaller colleges especially, they handle an extra role on special teams, whether it be punt returner, kick returner, in addition to playing their regular position.

Usually with return men, they're either a defensive back or they're a wide receiver or a running back. So Smith, with some experience in that area, remains to be seen if the Titans will look at him as an option there. But right now, I think he's probably just happy to be back on an NFL roster and able to contribute to a team with some playoff aspirations. Well, one thing's for certain. The Titans definitely needed the body there to back up what I assume

will probably be LaShawn Sims starting at one cornerback. And, of course, we see Valentino Blake and Bryce McCain handling the other corner and slot positions coming up this week against Jacksonville. Right. Plus, if McCourty's unable to go, it's going to push Kalen Reed in the mix. He would be the first man in if they go to a rotation or if somebody's injured, he would be the first man in.

And that would mean that Smith, provided he's active, would would be the first man in, and that would mean that Smith, provided he's active, would probably be the second man in. So he goes from being on the practice squad to potentially having to be a part of the game plan here on pretty short notice. It's not a good time of the year for the Titans to be having injuries, especially in the secondary, but that is the case that the Titans are facing this week, Terry. And with that, obviously a way to help the defense is for the offense to be able to come out in this game

and move the football and do some things and keep that defense on the sideline. If you've got the football, that defense is not going to be exposed. So certainly I think that might factor into the game plan and how the Titans approach this thing. I think it might because that's exactly what they did the first time they played the Jaguars. They dominated in terms of being able to control the ball. They did it with the pass game.

Marcus Mariota was spot on in that ball game. They had a strong rushing attack, obviously, with DeMarco Murray and later Derrick Henry in that ballgame. And, you know, that was one that they really jumped out and just kind of, you know, put it away in the first half. I think that game was something like 27-0 at one point. I believe that's correct. So you're talking about a team that in the Jaguars that are reeling a little bit,

knowing that they are in a nine-game losing streak, knowing that the Titans have a lot to play for. The Jaguars will come in and they'll have a puncher's chance, and the Titans need to do what they did the last time, not let them hang around, not let them feel like this is a game that they can stay in and have a chance to win at the end. You've got to go ahead and try to deliver that knockout punch early like you did the first time if you're the Tennessee type.

Let's move on, Terry, to our coaches and players corner segments where we look into comments from the opponents this week. It is interim head coach Doug Marone in the coach's corner and mid-state prep, Jalen Ramsey, the cornerback slash safety defensive back, I guess, is the best way to describe it for the Jacksonville Jaguars. Of course, prepped at Brentwood Academy here in the Mid-State area. They were on a conference call with the local media this week

and made some comments. And let's take a look at Doug Marone, who obviously, Terry, is in a difficult situation having to replace Gus Bradley, who was fired last week as the interim head coach. So a lot of things going on in Jacksonville. And Marone was asked about the biggest challenge of taking over head coaching responsibilities

late in the season, and this is what he had to say. Well, I think it would be a challenge if there were not a lot of things that we felt we had to change from a standpoint of our approach to the players, what was expected of them. Obviously, we've been close on some games, really haven't been able to put all three phases together to play a complete game, so really the challenge is understanding the feelings of the assistant coaches and players, be able to talk about the professionalism of the league, what our responsibility is to our organization,

and the ability to go out there and do the best job we possibly can to overcome the adversity. So really, Terry, he said a lot there, but he didn't really say anything that you can take away. He's just obviously filling the seat, if you will. He is auditioning. I think he is interested because of some of his other comments in perhaps being the full-time head coach.

And, of course, as we talked about earlier in the week, he actually interviewed for the Titans job here prior to Mike Malarkey being hired. Right. I think, you know, what I took away from the comments there by Marone, you know, obviously, you know, not wanting to say a whole lot, but I think he basically just said, look, this is a team that you owe it to the organization, you owe it to each other, you owe it even to Gus Bradley

to go out there and make a good showing in this fall game, not just go out there and bail it in like we saw the Rams do in their first game under John Fossil after Jeff Fisher was fired. They played Seattle on a short week and just turned in a terrible performance. I think that's what he's talking about here. You've got to pick up the pieces. You've got to somehow go out there and look like a football team that can compete despite the circumstances of the head coach being fired at a season that's kind of spiraled out of control.

You mentioned, of course, doing it for Gus Bradley. He also commented on that when asked about potentially becoming the permanent head coach. He said, I feel a great sense of responsibility. I feel a great sense of not being able to get the job done for Coach Bradley. So for me, my focus is if Coach Bradley were here, how would he want this team to react? How would he want the coaches to react? So I think certainly some of that is let's do it for Coach Bradley

because, hey, we're part of the reason that he's no longer here, the underperformance of this team. And it's not like, Terry, when you look at this roster, this team is totally talentless. There are some players there, especially on the defensive side of the football. Oh, there's no doubt. You mentioned Jalen Ramsey before. They've got Malik Jackson. They've got Miles Jack.

They've got Dante Fowler. They've got Cedric Marks, the former Titans defensive tackle. You know, there's some players here who can, you know, have a decent college and NFL pedigree, and it's just a matter of for some reason the pieces haven't fit well together. And I think, you know, the defense has really come along. They are, I think, number eight or so in the league overall, which is almost unheard of for a team with a 2-12 record

to have a defense rank that highly. But I think when you look at the troubles that Blake Bortles and the offense have had getting over this year, the run game has not been good at all. They've had problems along the offensive line at times. And then you compound that by Bortles and his interceptions and his regression this year after what looked like a breakout here a season ago. his regression this year after what looked like a breakout here a season ago, and it's just added up to trouble for the Jaguars almost from the get-go.

This is because this team, not the Titans in most people's minds, this was the team that was supposed to take a giant leap forward into AFC South and maybe win eight or nine ballgames, but instead we've seen the Titans come together while the Jaguars are basically disintegrating. Yeah, you touched on what my question was going to be, Terry. I think the biggest question mark for this team moving forward, because when you look offensively, they've got some running backs. They do have some questions on the offensive line.

They've got the two Allens, the receivers, Hearns and Robinson outside. The biggest question mark for me is Blake Bortles really the quarterback in Jacksonville? The biggest question mark for me is Blake Bortles really the guy quarterback in Jacksonville? As you mentioned, had a breakout type of year last year, has totally gone 180 the opposite way this season. Is he the guy moving forward? And I think that's a question that the Jaguars have to figure out with whomever the new coach is and make a decision prior to the draft. Are they going to draft another quarterback? Are they going to stick with this guy and play it out and see what happens? Yeah, I think that's

a big part of it. You've got to wonder, going forward, can Bortles be resurrected? Can he be fixed? I think that's the biggest question they have because you've got receivers and Alan Hearns and Alan Robinson on the outside. Now, Julius Thomas is injured and out, but he's a weapon at tight end. At running back, they don't really have the glamour guy. They've got, I think, Chris Ivory at former Alabama running back, TJ Yeldon, neither of whom has really been able to get going this year,

but I think some of that falls on the offensive line. You know, the C's have some decisions to make. You know, if they can fix Bortles, then maybe do they go get a bell cow back somewhere at the draft and fix the offensive line and try to become, you know, for lack of a better term, use the Titans' blueprint by running the football and taking the pressure off of portals. But, yeah, there's the next head coach and maybe the next general manager,

you know, unless Dave Caldwell survives this, is going to have some tough decisions to make when it starts with Bortles. You mentioned a bell cow running back. Their record's going to put them high in the draft. There's a guy named Fournette that might be an attractive option. I don't know if I'm the Titans' defensive coordinator that I would want to see that guy if they find a quarterback to go or Bortles gets fixed, to go with those

two wide receivers they've got. This could be a franchise, and it's certainly, I think, going to be attractive to head coaching candidates that might want to step in and take a shot at this Jacksonville franchise. Oh, I definitely think so. I mean, like you mentioned a little bit ago, there are pieces here to work with. It's just a matter of adding a couple of more pieces, seeing if you can fix Blake Bortles, and then trying to make those pieces fit together into a cohesive team.

You know, there's talk that they may try to bring Tom Coughlin back there. You know, I think that's the type of guy that would certainly be capable of whipping a talented young team into shape and getting them to play much better than they have over the last couple of seasons. And, of course, you know, Brad suggested to us that perhaps Jeff Fisher could be a name that surfaces in that. I would find great irony and humor in that if that were the case. But I guess, Terry, certainly we can't count that out 100% that he wouldn't be a candidate there. Well, I mean, certainly I guess all options are on the table.

You know, I myself, you know, and this is nothing against Jeff, I would be surprised if Jeff got a job immediately back in the league as a head coach simply because how toxic the Rams situation became this season, not only losing ballgames, but, you know, the issues that he had with Eric Dickerson, the issues of the offense being ranked last in the league and not being able to, you know, show any signs of potency this year. You know, there might be, you know, but as I think it was Mike Florio

on Pro Football Talk said, it only takes one team to be attractive for Jeff Fisher to get another job. But I would have a hard time seeing a team willing to overlook the warts of his Rams regime to give him a job right away. It might take a year or two out of it for his name to resurface in my mind, but you never know. If I'm the Jaguars, I'm thinking younger head coach, Terry. Not Tom Coughlin. No disrespect intended to him, but he's an older guy.

Of course, you just went through the litany of reasons why Jeff Fisher is probably not a good option, and I wouldn't even consider him personally. But Coughlin with his age, I'm thinking I want a guy that can grow with this team and be a long-term head coach with this situation, and want a guy that can grow with this team and be a long-term head coach with this situation and not a guy that's going to come in and maybe win now but then have us back in this situation we're at the we're at the bottom of the pack again trying to figure it out trying to rebuild from scratch once this window that might potentially be in the future for these guys closes as we know they all do in the nfl well it might be a good place for a guy like josh mcdaniels who had who has previous head

coaching experience obviously didn't go very well at denver but he's grown up he's matured a little bit and maybe he's deserving of another chance you know some guys are able to rehabilitate themselves somewhat when they go back to being a coordinator and then get another chance. I mean, I know that kind of was the case for Lane Kiffin at Alabama when he went there to be the offensive coordinator. He got another head coaching job because he was able to rehabilitate his image and his approach after he had been severely damaged at Tennessee and Southern Cal.

after he had been severely damaged at Tennessee and Southern Cal. So maybe a Josh McDaniels might be the type of guy that the Jaguars will look at because he's an offensive mind. Now, obviously, he wouldn't be bringing Tom Brady with him, which would be a big detriment. You have to wonder how much of McDaniels' success in New England is precipitated by Brady's presence. A lot. But certainly that's somebody I think that would be on the Jaguars' radar.

Let's move on to the players' corner segment where Jalen Ramsey is the player that spoke to the media. Of course, as I mentioned, he's a local product, but he talked about the Titans' offense, Terry, and this is what he had to say about what stands out to him. Yeah, I mean, more than anything, I think that's what sticks out is their running game. They have two really, really good backs who can cause a lot of damage.

Also, they have Delaney Walker. He plays like he's still like a young guy. I mean, he's not that old, but he still plays very, very well. They have a couple of good guys who can make plays for them. Overall, they play well together. I think that pretty well describes what this Titans offense has been. It's not spectacular. The running game perhaps is in the number of yards that they've been able to turn out

and certainly the offensive line playing well. But overall, yeah, not spectacular, but they play well together. Right, and I think that's the key because I think they're better than some of their parts, and that's especially the case at the end of Patrick's game. You know, the running game, you've got some star power there. You've got Taylor LeJuan and Ben Jones and Jack Conklin up front leading that offensive line.

You're handing the ball to DeMarco Murray, who obviously is a Pro Bowl player. You've got backing him up, last year's Heisman Trophy winner who's starting to come into his own with Derrick Henry, and then you've got Mariota, who obviously can take off and run with the ball either by scramble or design run plays out of the read option. But in the pass game, I agree. You've got Delaney Walker, who's a late bloomer who came to the Titans

and had been a blocking tight end. Now he's one of the best tight ends in the league, as evidenced by his Pro Bowl selection for a second straight year. You've got Rashard Matthews who's really come into his own, coming over from the Dolphins. Not a really heralded guy. He's not going to make anybody forget A.J. Green or Julio Jones, but he's a solid, dependable receiver.

And you've got a quarterback who's putting the ball on the money in Marcus Mariota. And, you know, the sum has been greater than the parts in some instances. He also, Terry Ramsey, that is, had a comment, and you mentioned Mariota, and he talked about that and what he said about Marcus being effective as a quarterback. He has the ability to extend plays. He goes to his targets and the guys he feels comfortable with. He doesn't have a lot of interceptions either, and for the most part makes pretty smart decisions.

That's a pretty high compliment coming from even a rookie defender that has gone against him. And I know this guy has watched film and seen what Marcus is doing and how he has evolved in taking that next step for him that the Jaguars thought Bortles was taking. Instead, it's Mariota that's doing it for the Titans. Yeah, it is. I think, you know, when you look just how far Mariota has come

just over the course of this season, I think, you know, a lot of people felt like that eventually he would get it. He would be a good quarterback, but I think his arrival ahead of schedule has probably been as big a factor as anything in why this team is now where it is. Why they're 8-6 and fighting for a division

title as opposed to what most of us, a lot of people felt like that it would be a big leap forward if this team managed to win somewhere between 5 and seven games. Terry, time for our final thoughts on this Thursday edition. Your final thought for today. My final thought is that, you know, the type, obviously, you know,

we've talked about this a little bit before, but you simply cannot overlook Jacksonville Jaguars, despite their struggles. Yes, they've lost nine in a row. They've not won a game at home all year. If they lose Saturday, it would mark the first time in the franchise's history that they've not won a home game. Titans fans certainly know how those sorts of things feel, not being able to win in front of the home crowd.

Like I said, they've already fired the coach. The season's been disarrayed. But this is a dangerous team, and I think the Titans have to be aware. I think they have to know this because, you know, this is a team that, to use a Christmas reference, that certainly, despite all their troubles, this would be a season-maker for them if they could somehow win this ballgame and damage the Titans' playoff hopes.

It would certainly be a lump of coal in Titans' stocking if they can't go down to Jacksonville and take care of business. My final thought on this week or this Thursday is, as I said before, and I'll say it again, Terry, you touched on it there. It's a must win because if the Titans lose to the Jaguars and if the Texans were to win, that would put the Texans a game ahead of the Titans for the division. Of course, they play each other in the final game. But, Terry, the tiebreaker in this,

even if the Titans were to come back and win against the Texans to get back to even and be 9-7 and be tied at 9-7, the Texans hold the tiebreaker being the division record in this thing. So the Jacksonville Jaguars not only can hurt, I think they can stop the Titans' playoffs hopes if they win this game. The Titans have to win out. They've just simply got to win the last two. They needed wins at least one of the two against Denver and Kansas City. They got both. Now they have the Jaguars who are struggling.

Yes, it's a road game. They won't have to battle the inclement weather and the cold and the conditions they did in Kansas City. It'll be warm. They should be able to go down there and take care of business. This is a must win. If they don't get it done, I think we can kiss the playoffs goodbye for this team this season. That will do it, Terry, for us.

Great job as always. We'll see everybody tomorrow when Brad returns. We'll give you our predictions on who will win when the Titans face the Jaguars coming up this weekend. Enjoy the rest of your day. You are Locked On Titans, your daily Tennessee Titans podcast. Part of the Locked On Titans, your daily Tennessee Titans podcast.

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