Locked On Titans - Daily Podcast On The Tennessee Titans - Locked On Titans- Dec.13- Four Downs on Tuesday

Episode Date: December 13, 2016

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Your daily source for all Titans news and information with your host Terry McCormick of TitanInsider.com, Greg Arias and former Tennessee Titans all-pro left tackle Brad Hopkins. It's Tuesday and Terry McCormick, Greg Arias with you for this Tuesday edition here of Locked on Titans. Terry, a lot of things to get to today. Obviously, on Tuesday, we do our four downs where we go over things concerning the Titans. Today, we've got one that's a little bit off Titans topic. We'll get to that a little bit later on.

But let's jump right in with the current news, and the Titans make some roster moves today, promoting one player from the practice squad and releasing another. Yeah, they brought Mehdi Abdesmod, who was an undrafted rookie who actually made the team initially out of training camp and was on the roster for about a day before he was released when they claimed Jason Morrow from waivers and wound up back on the practice squad.

But they brought him up because there's a little bit of need for depth in the defensive line right now, and they put David Fluella on waivers, and if he clears as expected, I would think they would re-sign him to the practice squad. You mentioned the need for Matty Abdesma to come up because obviously Jarrell Casey's still not 100%. There's a possibility that he could miss a second week.

Now, you and I were down on the field Sunday pregame, and Jarrell was out there in his shorts and a hoodie and had on his cleats, and he tried to go. He did some light running, some cutting, some pushing against another offensive lineman and strength and conditioning coach, Steve Watterson, and then the decision was made that he would not play. And obviously, that is precautionary to make sure that he gets to be 100% healthy and doesn't

injure himself worse. But it looked to you and I when he was warming up like, and certainly we know from his reaction that he wanted to play and felt like he could. I think the decision was made outside of his control with the training staff and Mike Malarkey and John Robinson. Yeah, I think you're exactly right. I think some of it may be that they don't want to worsen it or run the risk of worsening it.

And the other part is maybe how much pain tolerance can he have and how effective can he be at less than 100%. So I think they erred on the side of caution Sunday. You'll have a couple of days off. The players had Monday off after the win, and they'll have Tuesday off. So there will be a couple of days of rest for Jarrell Casey, and they're just kind of taking it day by day to see what they're going to be able to get from him, if anything, this week.

The other news, Carl Klug, who played well, got a lot of pressure and was in the backfield disruptive against the Broncos on Sunday, strained his Achilles, so there is a possibility that he, too, could be either limited or out this week going to Kansas City. Thus, Abdesma getting up to the roster, and perhaps we could see both he and maybe even Austin Johnson if both Klug and Casey are out on Sunday, those two guys to be active against the Chiefs.

Yes, you know, way too early to know what Carl Klug's status is going to be. Mike Malarkey said he probably wouldn't be able to practice on Wednesday, but I guess they'll continue to monitor him throughout the week. You know, obviously Achilles is nothing to mess around with. You know, there have been some guys who have popped in Achilles, and that's very, you know, a very severe injury. You know, obviously Kalouf not that bad, but they certainly want to give him some rest to make sure that he comes back

okay from that. And there was one more injury, linebacker Sean Spence, who left yesterday's game with a left ankle sprain, probably won't practice Wednesday, but the injury is not considered to be very serious. So the Titans still relatively healthy, though, if there is a question mark. It's all at one spot on the defensive line with this team, which obviously against Kansas City,

I don't know that it makes that much difference, Terry, on the defensive line with this team, which obviously against Kansas City, I don't know that it makes that much difference, Terry, when you go against this team as far as obviously it could against the run, but with the way Kansas City's offense operates, that quick Alex Smith catches the snap, takes the snap, and that football is out of there. He doesn't get a lot of pressure because he doesn't hold the ball long enough for people to get there. So Casey, while would certainly be an absence, I don't know that it's that big of a deal as far as the pass rush is concerned going up against this offense coming up on Sunday.

Yeah, I think, you know, the Chiefs, you know, they're not going to beat you really with a whole lot of deep throws and things like that. They do, like you said, a lot of quick three- and five-step drops. Got to watch out for Travis Kelsey, their tight end. He's been, I think, three straight 100-yard receiving games. So that's always been an Achilles heel for the Titans anyway. But, yeah, if they're missing Casey and or Klug on the defensive line,

I think it's going to hurt them in a couple of ways. Maybe not so much the pass rush, line, I think it's going to hurt them in a couple of ways. Maybe not so much the pass rush, but in terms of being able to stop the run and hold up there and set that edge and that sort of thing, too. Let's jump into our four down segment now, Terry, and talk a little bit about, obviously, the four subjects that we've chosen for today. Obviously, the four subjects that we've chosen for today. And when we look at those four subjects, we start with a little bit of controversy that arose Sunday during the game.

Obviously, the Harry Douglas hit, some considered dirty. Certainly, Chris Harris Jr. of the Broncos, Aqib Tlaib, felt like it was a dirty hit. Gary Kubiak didn't comment on it, or at least I have not seen anything from him publicly other than what he said post-game on Sunday where he said it was a hit. He didn't really go into detail. But Mike Malarkey had some pointed comments that he made Monday during his press conference

about that Harry Douglas hit. Yeah, Mike Malarkey basically said it was legal that he's been around Harry Douglas for six years. That's the way that Harry plays. That's what he does. And he said he had no problem with the play and the way that Harry Douglas executed the hit. Now, you and I talked to a couple of former players, and I don't want to put anybody on the spot by naming names,

but one player in particular felt like that maybe it was a little bit on the edge of, he wouldn't come out and qualify it as dirty, but certainly close, I think, was what I took away from the comments. Yeah, I think so, and I think when you look at it, maybe it was a little bit unnecessary. You know, maybe, you know, legal, you know, I don't know if I would go so far as to say it was dirty, but I think that it was a situation where maybe it was a little bit over the top and a little bit more than certainly the Broncos would have wanted. Well, the good news is that for Chris Harris Jr., he missed a play or two,

but was able to come back in the game. There was nothing injured, apparently, that he was able to come back and play at least. And certainly, obviously, his career not over as he insinuated that Harry Douglas was trying to do to end his career with the shot. And I don't think that there was any intent for that. You and I have been around Harry over the last couple of years, and he doesn't seem like a guy that would go out and intentionally try to do something to end a person's career in that nature. So I think while obviously being upset, Chris Harrison, he could have the right to be if

he feels that way, and that's his feelings about it. I don't think that was anything that Harry Douglas, he was trying to throw a block, but I don't think he was trying to injure the guy. No, I don't think he was trying to injure the guy no i don't think he was either i think he was just you know going about his job aggressively and i think uh you know in that regard i think that's probably you know if you're the titan you probably want him to err on the side of being aggressive i don't think that harry's the type that's going to go out and just intentionally cheap shot somebody but it certainly was a play that, you know,

looked right there kind of on the borderline, shall we say. And you and I sitting in the press box, we didn't even see the block when it occurred live. Obviously, we saw Chris Harris down on the field. They went back. They showed the replay. You could tell from the players' chippiness that began some talking. Tlaib, of course uh was involved in that right away that there there was some upset over it but then you kind of had to go back and

play catch up a little bit to see the replay to see what had happened and initially i didn't think it was that big of a deal uh when when i watched it the first time and obviously after going back and looking at it and hearing what people have said, I guess it's open for interpretation, and probably if you ask 25 people, you might get 25 different responses. Yeah, that's true, and I think when you talk about the whole thing and how it played out, certainly the Broncos were upset, and Aqib Tlaib was the most vocal in that. But it'll be interesting to see. Somebody said that they didn't think Harry Douglas would be fined over the play.

I guess we'll find that out maybe in a day or so. But I think Aqib Tlaib might be facing a fine as well, just for the way that he reacted and carried out those actions in his anger against Harry Douglas for the hit. I would think so. To me, at this point, and obviously the NFL has a mind of its own that doesn't always follow logic of people that try to use it when discussing these matters, but if there's any fine against Harry, it might be for some of the altercation that occurred

when those two kind of got into it and really mixed it up pretty good on that sideline. There might be some fines for some other Broncos, too, because there were some guys that left the bench and came out onto the field. So we could certainly see that, I think, as well. I don't know how the NFL would go about finding the Titans, guys on the sideline that came over to try to break things up that technically didn't leave their bench. So we'll have to see if there's anybody else that gets anything out of that.

I think the NFL probably will go through and watch the film and see if there's anything in there that they can decipher to maybe assess some other fines for some other people for that. Yeah, I think that is something that will have to be monitored throughout the week. I think the league usually sends those things out on Tuesday or Wednesday, and then you usually have to go to the players to try and find out, because the league won't confirm anything usually until a Friday. Let's move on to second down.

We want to talk a little bit about Marcus Mariota, and obviously he struggled yesterday, or Sunday rather, against the Broncos, completing just six of 20 passes for 88 yards on the day, a long completion of 26 yards, a quarterback passer rating of 45.4. By far his probably worst day, I would think, as an NFL quarterback, Terry, as far as those numbers go. But there's a very positive note in that. Of those 20 passes that he threw with only six being completed, there's a big zero on that interception line. Yeah, that is true. And the other thing, too, if you're looking at this from a team perspective, the Titans had pretty much ridden Marcus Mariota's

performances over the last five or six weeks as they righted the ship uh this season yesterday you know marcus didn't have his a game but i think when the fact that the types were able to come out would not only come out with a win but come out with a win against a quality football team the defending super bowl champion denver broncos i think the fact that they were able to do that without Marcus delivering a lot on the offensive side of the ball, I think that is certainly a sign that this team is growing up and improving and getting better maybe in all facets of the game

and not just quarterback play. Now, obviously most weeks a lot of it's going to be dependent upon Marcus Mariota. But I think if you're the Titans, you do take a little bit of consolation in the fact that you can win a game against a good team when your quarterback is just a little bit off in his performance. Absolutely. But I think and obviously I think you will agree he's got to have a better performance. Now, he doesn't have to have four touchdowns and throw for 400 yards or any Marino-type numbers that he put up in his day, but he's certainly got to have a better than 6 for 20 performance

on the road against Kansas City, who sports a pretty good defensive football team. But I think this Titans team can compete if they get just enough balance from the passing game that Kansas City can't come up and try to stack the run and say, okay, we're just going to take DeMarco Murray and Derrick Henry when he's in the ballgame away because we don't think Mariota can beat us.

No, I agree with that. I think Marcus is going to have to kind of right the ship, so to speak, and bounce back this coming week against the Chiefs. And that won't be easy because, you know, the Chiefs certainly have a ball-hawking secondary led by Eric Berry, who is very familiar to local people here from his days at the University of Tennessee.

And then they've got, you know, obviously Justin Houston, who spearheads that defense as a pass rusher, one of the very best right up there, probably ranks right there, along with Von Miller and J.J. Watt, whom the Titans are familiar with. It's going to be a tough day, much like it was against Denver, to try and throw the ball and throw it consistently.

But, yeah, it does have to be better probably than it was against Denver yesterday. One thing that might play in the Titans' favor, the uncertainty of Derek Johnson, the fine inside linebacker, veteran for the Chiefs. He was injured, and it was an Achilles injury against the Raiders in that Thursday night game. He went out, did not come back. After he left the football game, Terry, the Raiders were able to run the football more effectively against that Kansas City defense, so that might be a silver lining. Certainly, I'm not saying that I'm happy that Derek Johnson is injured, but if he can't play, obviously he is a force in the run game, and his absence could allow the Titans to find some things to be able to run the football. Yeah, you know, Derek Johnson being missing from that Kansas City lineup,

that's obviously a blow to that defense, which, you know, has really kind of struggled against the run to begin with. And I think when you look at, you know, that Kansas City defense, he's one of the leaders. He's been there for a long time, very consistent player. And them not having him because of that season-ending Achilles injury is certainly a mark in the Titans' favor, and they need to try and take advantage of that

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Obviously, more wins would certainly have you closer to being locked up to a spot, but at least they control their own destiny at this point in time. Yeah, they do. If they win their remaining four games, or remaining three games, I should say now, then they will qualify for the playoffs, and they will be the AFC South champion. You know, obviously they don't have to win all three. They could still get in, but they might need a little bit of help here or there. You know, the biggest thing working against them is probably their division record.

The fact that they are only one and three in the division, the best they can do is be three and three. And the Texans are four and O currently in the division. So, you know, they're not going to win that tiebreaker, and the Texans are 4-0 currently in the division. So they're not going to win that tiebreaker with the Houston Texans if it comes down to best division record. So I think when you look at the Titans, as long as they can keep winning, they control their own fate. And the other thing is, too, they could still manage to get a wild card with a certain scenario plays out.

They are one game behind currently the Dolphins and the Broncos, who are battling for that sixth and final spot as the wild card. But they have wins in hand over both of those teams. So if they get into a tie with one or both of those teams and there are no other teams, like, say, the Ravens or the Steelers involved in that tiebreaker, then the Titans would go to the playoffs as a wildcard based upon their head-to-head victories over the Dolphins and the Broncos. Well, it's a little bit complex, but it's really pretty simple. You win, you're in. The Titans take care of their business.

They win those final three games. Obviously, the Colts have fallen out of the three-way tie now, and if the Titans can win out, they would have a win over Houston head-to-head. And, of course, if Houston were to drop another game along the way there somewhere, that would put the Titans in as the division champ. So that's pretty simple to say, at least, but perhaps more difficult for the Titans to pull off. Let's jump over to fourth down, Terry,

and the big news coming out on Monday afternoon, the termination of Jeff Fisher as the head coach of the Los Angeles Rams. Obviously, Fisher, the longtime coach of the Titans, he's the man that took them to the Super Bowl in their first year at the Philadelphia Coliseum back in 1999. Let go by the Rams today after a 42-7 beatdown by the Falcons on Sunday out in Los Angeles. Yeah, I think the writing was starting to be on the wall for Jeff Fisher.

Really started to look like the way things looked here in 2010 when things kind of came unraveled. There were all kinds of controversies and media fires surrounding Fisher from the fact that the team was not playing well to his little spat with Eric Dickerson that became public in the media to the comments about the personnel department where he kind of threw them under the bus saying that, you know, draft picks didn't work out and that sort of thing.

You know, kind of a lot of that repeated itself from what was happening here in 2010, his final season. A lot of people remember that. That's when, you know, all kinds of things were happening. Vince Young tossing his shoulder pads into the stand. Fisher at odds with management because he wanted to add his son to the staff, and the Titans refused to do that. It's interesting here.

I'm going to read you this quote, if I can find it here, yes, from owner Stan Kroenke. This is very, very telling as to how far things have fallen under Jeff Fisher. And the fact that the Rams are struggling so badly right now is, quote, we are all focused on improving as an organization and building a team that makes Los Angeles proud. Our mission is to celebrate a Super Bowl title with our fans in Los Angeles. Today is the first step to bringing us closer to that goal. So they obviously felt that Jeff Fisher was not going to get this organization to a Super Bowl anytime soon, as he had had nearly five years to do so

and had not posted one winning record. And five consecutive seasons of losing records for Jeff with the Rams there. But the funny thing is, Terry, obviously a couple of days ago or about a week ago maybe, he was given a two-year contract extension. And you think, okay, how does this guy get a contract extension with the facts of how the situation and things were? And by the way, the loss on Sunday ties him with Dan Reeves for the most losses ever as an NFL head coach.

And people were thinking, okay, he's going to have that record all by himself after next week. Well, the Rams kind of did him a favor. Now he'll at least stay tied with Dan Reeves on that list for a little while until and if he is ever able to get another head coaching job. Yeah, you know, that's the thing. I wonder, you know, you know, Jeff is 58, so he's probably, you know, at the point in his life where he's going to have to make a decision if he wants to try and stay in coaching and get another shot coaching somewhere.

I think given how poorly things went with the Rams and how poorly things went his last couple of seasons with the Titans, you know, it's going to be hard. He's going to be damaged goods for a while, and it's going to take him a while. You know, no fan base is going to be excited about a team that brings Jeff Fisher in as the head coach right now. Maybe not even the Cleveland Browns or the 49ers would be excited about that prospect with the way Jeff's teams have struggled, especially on the offensive side of the ball

the last few years. So, you know, he may have to go in and do TV or something like that. He certainly would have a future in that if he wanted it or work for the league or something like that. Perhaps, you know, Jeff might even have a future in politics, you know, with his ability to, you know, maintain an image that, you know that has kept him employed despite a lack of real success for a number of years as a head coach. So I think he's got a number of options out there.

I'll be interested to see if he wants to give coaching another try or if this is it on his coaching career. Well, that certainly remains to be seen, and I'm sure that will play out over the course of things here in the next few weeks as the season winds down. But certainly the Titans fans and the Titans themselves are interested in what happens with the Rams the rest of the way, because right now if the NFL draft was held today,

the Titans would have the number five overall pick. That currently owned by the Los Angeles Rams, but of course was dealt to the Titans in that move up last year when the Rams jumped up to take the number one spot overall to draft Jared Goff as their quarterback. Terry, we're running out of time again today. It goes by quickly, but it's time for the final thoughts. Your final thought on this Tuesday edition. but it's time for the final thoughts.

Your final thought on this Tuesday edition. Well, my final thought, you know, is the fact that, you know, the Titans secondary, which has really struggled all year long. And, you know, I think, you know, they showed some promise yesterday. And I think when you look at the way that they played Sunday against the Broncos and, you know, LaShawn Sims, I think you have to be encouraged with that. And even Valentino Blake, who has, you know, been much maligned in terms of the way he has performed,

especially on special teams this year, came up big with a couple of plays. So things are looking up for the defense and secondary. It'll be interesting to see if they can maintain that going forward again this week against the Chiefs. You said something a moment ago in your comments about Jeff Fisher that led me to my final thought. I had a final thought all planned out, but this came to mind, and I want to go and jump into it. And you said about Jeff Fisher the fact that no fan base would be excited,

even Cleveland and San Francisco, at the prospect of hiring Jeff Fisher as their head coach. We went through that recently here. Very recently, in fact. Just last season during the offseason when Mike Malarkey took over as the interim head coach for Ken Wisenhunt, went through the process. He was hired as the head coach. The reaction by the fans, pretty much unanimously.

There might have been a few people that said, okay, let's give the guy a shot. But for the most part, it was pretty negative about Mike Malarkey and him being the head coach of the Titans. But the man deserves some credit. This team is 7-6. Granted, it's not the best record in the NFL. But what he and John Robinson have done, and they laid out their vision at a press conference that Terry, you and I attended

when both were announced as the hires of the new general manager and the head coach. They told us what they were going to do, and they set about doing it despite the fact that people doubted it. And we're seeing the proof and the fruits of that effort and labor and what their vision was for this team. And they are in contention and hold, if I can say it, their own destiny to get into the playoffs. And Mike Malarkey certainly, I think, should be a candidate for Coach of the Year in the NFL. That's my final thought for today.

That will do it for us. We'll be back with you on Wednesday when we'll have another edition of Locked on Titans. Have a great day, everybody. You are Locked on Titans, your daily Tennessee Titans podcast. Part of the Locked on Podcast Network, your team every day.