Locked On Titans - Daily Podcast On The Tennessee Titans - Locked On Titans- Dec.8- Joined by Locked On Broncos edition

Episode Date: December 8, 2016

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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 with your host, Terry McCormick of TitanInsider.com, Greg Arias, and former Tennessee Titans all-pro left tackle Brad Hopkins. It's Wednesday, which means Terry and I have the honors today of bringing you this podcast edition of Locked on Titans. And Terry, a lot of things to get to today,

including we're having a crossover segment today with the guys from the Locked on Broncos podcast. We'll get to those here in just a minute. But as always, let's jump right in and take care of the current news before bringing on our special guest. And of course, that news today involves the fact that Jarrell Casey did not practice with the Titans yet again, meaning that he is still going to be questionable and perhaps even a game-time decision

for him to go against the Broncos coming up on Sunday. He did do a little bit of running on the side today and looked to be moving okay. I think one of the reasons they held him out was probably because it was a full pad practice and there's no sense in exposing him to that and risking any further injury and give him another day to heal. Both Mike Malarkey

and Casey himself have said that they're hopeful that he's going to be able to play, but we're going to have to see how this progresses as the week goes along and you may very well be right it may come down to a game time decision for them other news and good news on the injury front that the fact that demarco murray practiced on wednesday for the first time in five weeks meaning that the week off looks like it's done the trick for that injured toe, and he certainly will be ready to go on Sunday versus Denver.

Right. Murray was able to practice on Monday and then practiced again today. He had been getting Wednesdays off prior to the bye, had actually set out four straight practices. But DeMarco Murray able to give it a go today and was a full participant so that certainly is good news that uh you know he may be able to give it a go and be full you know probably we know he's going to play but maybe at a higher level maybe than he has been health-wise over the last month or so there is some news about a potential starting position for the Titans,

obviously with the release of Parrish Cox a week ago before the bye week. The thought was that it would be Valentino Blake or rookie LaShawn Sims to get the start. Not so fast, as they say. Bryce McCain has now entered his name as a potential suitor to win that starting cornerback spot as opposed to staying in the nickel where he had been throughout the course of the season to this point. Yeah, they have not made a decision. They're going to probably have a rotation at that spot between McCain, Valentino Blake, and rookie LaShawn Sims.

You know, Mike Malarkey said Monday that Sims and Blake would be in that mix, and then today he added that Bryce McCain, who will be in the nickel when they're in sub packages, also could get some consideration to be that outside cornerback opposite Jason McCourty. So it's going to be interesting. That decision will be made as the week moves along, but probably will still wind up being a rotation of some sort no matter who gets to start. Some fun news to talk about.

Fans might have recognized over the last couple of weeks, if you'd watched the Titans either in person or on television, that Marcus Mariota had been sporting a mustache, Terry. That no longer the case. It has gone the way of the dodo bird, so to speak, and he shaved it off. So obviously he's not superstitious that, you know, kind of like Samson in the hair, the mustache wasn't doing anything to improve his game, and thus he will be clean-shaven

or at least no mustache come Sunday. Yeah, it's interesting. On Titan Insider, there's a video that our friends over at A to Z Sports made, and it appears on Titan Insider and just kind of talks about Mariota's mustache, a little lighthearted look at it. But you've got to credit Marcus for at least not being superstitious and thinking that he needed to protect the streak or something, as they say in baseball, and going ahead and getting rid of the mustache because he felt it wasn't a good look for him, but he got

rid of it even though he was playing very well with actually the AFC Offensive Player of the Month with the mustache. I would have to agree with him. He just doesn't seem like the mustache type to me. I kind of wondered why he was growing that when it first appeared. But, yeah, I think he made the right decision there. And I'm not a superstitious person, so I don't think it will affect him one way or the other.

He's going to come out and play his game, regardless of whether he has a mustache or a beard or whatnot. Yeah, I would agree with that. I think Marcus' play speaks for itself, the way he's been playing. He was actually playing pretty well even before he grew the mustache and then played well all throughout the time that he had it. So he's going without it again, and the Titans heading into the stretch run. We'll see if the mustache has any effect on his game.

You're listening to Locked on Titans on the Locked on Podcast Network. It's now our pleasure to bring in from our affiliate network sister station, bring in from our affiliate network sister station, if you will, Locked On Broncos, Chad Jensen and Luke Polglaze that do an outstanding job hosting that show. And guys, thank you for taking the time out to join us here today to talk a little bit about this coming matchup on Sunday between the Broncos and the Titans. Our pleasure. Thanks for having us, fellas.

Great to be here. Thanks for coming on, guys. Let's jump right into it. We'll go ahead and ask you some questions about the Broncos. Obviously, one of the big questions on people's minds here is, who's going to be under center? Will it be Trevor Simeon returning to the lineup, or will it be Paxton

Lynch, who played his college football about three hours down the road in Memphis? You know, if I had to bet on it today, I would say that all signs at this stage, you know, just to play it safe, you kind of have to expect Paxton Lynch. Trevor Simeon was taken out of the boot that he had for his spring foot. Over the weekend, he's been walking around. He was at practice on Wednesday. You know, Kubiak, Gary Kubiak said that, you know, they asked, well, did he throw?

Well, you know, he did everything we asked him to do. How does he look? Well, he looks like he's okay day to day. And then hearing it from Simeon, too, you know, they're very careful in their verbiage. It's all day-to-day. And then hearing it from Simeon, too, they're very careful in their verbiage. It's all day-to-day stuff. So that's a tough injury to come back from real quick. If I had to bet today, I'd say Paxton Lynch. Hello? Yes, Luke. hello yes luke let's uh let's uh get you in here momentarily and uh when you look at this uh

broncos unit offensively obviously some changes from a season ago uh of course peyton manning retires brock Osweiler takes off down to Houston. How much of a difference would Osweiler have made with this team had he stuck around and been the quarterback? Because obviously he struggled in Houston. He's not exactly been what they thought they were getting to this point in time during the season. Would he have made a discernible difference for this Broncos offense? Yeah, well, I think the offense, compared

to this one, is kind of a very similar story. Last year this offense was plagued by just inefficiency and inconsistency. We saw that in the passing game with Manning and Osweiler. We saw that in the run game, and most particularly on the offensive line. This year,

it's like looking in the mirror. That offensive line is, again, the big kind of Achilles heel of this team. No matter who they try on that line, they just haven't really had success. So I think at this point, any quarterback is likely to struggle behind that line. And based on the way the Osweiler has looked,

in your division in Houston, at this point, I was high on him last season, but at this point, I just can't say that he would be a noticeable upgrade over what they have right now. One of the big concerns here with the Titans is, how are they going to block Von Miller? Now, obviously, they have Taylor LeJuan and Jack Conklin, two of the brightest young tackles in the game right now.

But I don't think these guys, except maybe when LaJuan may have gone up against J.J. Watt, outside of that, these guys haven't faced a challenge like Vaughn Miller and haven't faced it this year. What type of dynamic does Miller bring to that Denver defense in terms of just making everybody else around him that much better? Yeah, I mean, that's the thing with Vaughn Miller is he's good at pretty much everything. He doesn't, you know, a lot of these times you can look at a top player at their position

in the NFL and you can pick apart their game and say, you know, yeah, he's great at doing this. You know, he's got a great bull rush maybe, or he's got a great spin move inside, but he doesn't have a great first step and he can't bend around the edge or whatever combination, if you will. Von Miller can do all that stuff. And so what it does is it ends up drawing attention to him, and he'll still beat double teams.

He'll beat triple teams at times. But what it does that really has helped out Wade Phillips in terms of calling the defense is it gives guys like DeMarcus Ware, you would never think you want DeMarcus Ware singled up on a tackle, but it gives him one-on-ones, and then the Broncos are remarkably deep at the edge rush position. You've got Shaquille Barrett, you've got Shane Ray, last year's number one pick, so he's a guy you've got to worry about in and of himself. Taking him out of the game is one thing, but then you've got to account for all these other guys.

And we've just seen game after game how it's become a very tall task for opposing offensive coordinators to account for. One of the things, too, that impresses me about the Denver defense is their cornerbacks. I mean, you look at there's Aqib Tlaib, who everybody knows about. There's Chris Harris and Bradley Roby, who plays in the slot a lot. Is there a better – I don't know if Seattle gets a lot of attention, but is that maybe the best cornerback tandem in the NFL?

It sure seems like it's in consideration at least because those guys really do seem to be around the ball a lot. I think it has to be really considered one of the better ones in the league if you look at just the depth of it and the way that they've performed for so long. I think Bradley Roby would be a number one or number two cornerback on most teams around the league

and yet really in Denver he's kind of relegated to nickel status. I would have to imagine yeah, Seattle's one of the teams that's really come to mind as being one of those top cornerback defensive units which for being such a passing league, I'm actually kind of

surprised that I can't think of anybody really immediately who comes to mind quite as much in terms of just sheer depth of cornerback right at the top. Yeah. Another question I have for you in terms of how the Broncos are preparing for this game, and I know that today they kind of had a practice that was really a walkthrough according to what the reports are out there. is really a walkthrough according to what the reports are out there.

Normally you wouldn't think this is a big deal, but will it affect the Broncos negatively, the fact that they made a cross-country trip to Jacksonville last week, then they go back home, and now they've got to make another cross-country trip to Nashville this weekend while the Titans are coming off a bye and coming off added risk? Do you think that has the potential to factor into this game at all? I would say absolutely. You know, it's the second trip in as many weeks to the Eastern Seaboard, essentially.

And, you know, for the Broncos, they're, you know, they've had a few injuries that they're dealing with, defense and offense. And you've got a Titans team coming in that's rested coming off the bye, that for a game that is just setting up to be a pure physical heavyweight bout, I can only imagine that Tennessee coming into this game, having been on a couple weeks of rest, will benefit them. But that being said, the Broncos are treating this game basically as a playoff caliber type of game.

And in those type of situations, we've seen over the last couple years with Kubiak at the helm that his guys are always prepared. You mentioned, Chad, that this is a playoff type of game this week. And obviously right now the Titans in a three-way tie for their division lead. The Broncos, the defending Super Bowl champions, looking up at the Oakland Raiders at this point in time. So in essence, that really is a playoff type of game because Denver needs this win just as much as the Titans do

if they want to keep pace with the Raiders and try to win that division. Yeah, I mean, essentially what happened is when the Broncos lost to the Kansas City Chiefs in Week 12 at home, they gave up any margin of error that they had going down the stretch. It was a crushing game for them in that regard. It basically, not absolutely, but for all intents and purposes, also took them out of consideration really for the one seed. You've got the Chiefs a game ahead of them, a game and a half now that they beat them at 9-3.

And then the Oakland Raiders at 10-2, two and a half games ahead essentially because they also have beat them in their one head-to-head matchup. So the only upside for the Broncos is they've got to win them all. They get Tennessee this week, next week they get New England, and then they close out the season with Kansas City and Oakland respectively. So they have a chance to make up some ground, but really if they even want to sniff the opportunity of being even close to their position

going into the playoffs that they were last year, they basically have to win out, and that's going to be a really tall order. Luke, the Denver defense we hear about, and Denver offense really, we hear about the Stars, the Von Millers, the DeMarcus Wares, Aqib Tlaib, the guys that mean so much to this team. But who is the one unsung hero that maybe people in Nashville and throughout the NFL don't hear as much from this Denver Broncos team, but is a key contributor in a lot of ways to them?

Yeah, so the one guy I would highlight would be the safety, Darian Stewart, who he kind of made headlines a couple weeks ago when he got this four-year contract extension. But otherwise, he's really flown under the radar. People like to highlight T.J. Ward as being the other, you know, the kind of headline-grabbing safety in Denver. But, you know, arguably, Darian Stewart is a far better tackler. He's a veteran presence in the center of the field.

He plays that middle of the field safety position so well. He's a hard hitter. I mean, I've seen him deliver some absolutely giant hits. And this is the guy who's a veteran leadership presence. He's not afraid to speak out. Really, the team does flock to him, especially that aggressive secondary. They like to play tough. They like to play physical.

And Darian Stewart is really, I think, an underrated part of that back end of the defense. Guys, because we're in Tennessee, I'll ask a question that has to be asked. Do you sense any indication, and I know Peyton Manning was fading there at the end of his career in Denver last year, but do you get any sense that the Broncos miss his leadership and miss what he brings to the table in any way? Without a doubt, you know, it left a void. And really I think the void was an accountability type of thing, and especially on offense.

I mean, it trickled down to all aspects and phases of the roster. But Peyton Manning just kind of not only did he give guys a spark, you know, in terms of confidence and, you know, when they get out on the field, all things are possible when you've got the sheriff, but it also just, you've heard defensive guys talk about it even this year that, you know, they wanted to play for Peyton. They didn't want to let Peyton down. Maybe they would have talked or said things to the media

at a certain point in the season, but thought twice about it because they didn't want to let down Peyton or stir anything up and get him on their butt, so to speak. So, I mean, you can go down the list, and there's just no getting around it that losing Peyton Manning has had a pretty heavy effect. And the flip side to that, though, is it's forced other guys to step up into leadership roles. And as a relatively young team, I mean, you've got your elder statesmen like DeMarcus Ware,

you know, Aqib Tlaib's up there. But guys like Vaughn Miller and, you know, your Chris Harris Jr., even Trevor Simeon, these guys have had to step up to the plate and grow their ability as leaders to raise all ships. So, you know, it's hurt them, but at the same time, it's kind of that adapter guy mentality. And so far, you know, they're 8-4. I think they've adapted to it about as well as you could expect with a first-time, second-year starter at quarterback. Okay, guys, we certainly appreciate you taking the time out of your busy schedules to be with us.

Before we let you go today, we want to get your prediction. And, Luke, I'll start with you. Who's going to win this game on Sunday when the Broncos visit here in Nashville? This is actually going to be a little bit surprising, but we are going through the rest of the Broncos schedule. I think it was last week I gave my predictions for how I think everything shakes out. I actually do think Tennessee wins this one.

They need it more than Denver just to stay afloat in the division race. I think Denver, they drop this one, and they're going to have to scramble to get that sixth seed in the playoff. I think Tennessee wins this one 24-20. Chad? Yeah, this is a tough one for me because I'll tell you what, if I knew for a fact that Trevor Simeon was healthy and that he was going to start, I would pick the Broncos.

And with Paxton Lynch there, the possibility of him starting, I mean, the Broncos went 1-13 on third down last week in Jacksonville with Paxton Lynch under center. And so that kind of convolutes it matters for me, but I just got to believe that Gary Kubiak, the whole team, all the way down understand the stakes of this game. And I think the Broncos, as we've seen week in and week out, dating back to when Gary Kubiak took over as the head coach in 2015,

these games are played close to the vest. They come down to the wire, and whichever team blinks last in the clutch comes out on top. And more often than not, since Kubiak's been in town, that's been the Broncos. And I'm going to pick them this week. I think the Broncos win a single-score game, something like 27-24, but I'm not 100% confident in that.

Guys, I've got one more question for you before you go. And this one is a sentimental one. As I grew up a Denver Broncos fan, can you please get them to consider going back to the Orange Crush uniforms? Yeah, I think there's a lot of people in Denver that would like that. We kind of got a little bit of a glimpse

of kind of the older look, you know, when they did the color rush jersey a few weeks back on Thursday night. I think it was week six. You know, they had kind of a play on the old helmet. Not the same color orange, but it wasn't orange. And, you know, there's some fans I think that would really get into that. But the Broncos, they're pretty invested in where they're at, I think,

with their current, you know, colors and style. Chad Jensen, Luke Pogleys, Locked On Broncos. Guys, thanks so much for the time we've enjoyed it best of luck coming up this week and throughout the rest of the season and we'll talk to you again soon absolutely thanks for having us, best wishes guys

well Terry good stuff from those two guys from our Denver affiliate site and as we always do to close the show it's time for final thoughts Good stuff from those two guys from our Denver affiliate site. And as we always do to close the show, it's time for final thoughts. Your final thoughts on this Wednesday edition. Well, my final thought is that, you know, whoever is a quarterback for the Broncos,

and certainly I would think that at this stage of their careers, Trevor Simeon would give them a chance to be a little bit more dynamic offensively. But whoever is at quarterback is probably going to take the time to look the way of whoever starts opposite Jason McCourty at quarterback to see if it's Bryce McCain, if it's Valentino Blake, if it's LaShawn Sims, if it's some combination of those three in a rotation, I would think that they're going to send Demarius Thomas and Emmanuel Sanders toward that guy and throw them the football as much as possible

just to see if they're up to the task. You make a great point there, and I can certainly see that being part of the game plan for the Broncos. My final thought is the Titans' offensive line. If they can handle the Denver front seven and be able to run the football effectively in this game, and certainly DeMarco Murray being healthy, Derrick Henry should be healthy and ready to go. If the Titans can run the football and run it effectively

and get just enough out of their passing game and hold up and not get Marcus hit a lot and potentially hurt in this game with the pass rushers that Denver has. I think they have a chance to win this football game because the Denver offense has struggled. It looks like that Paxton Lynch might be the starter. He hasn't played a lot of football this year in the NFL. He is a rookie, obviously,

and I think the Titans' defense and Dick LeBeau can do enough to get a win, but it all starts and ends with the Titans' offensive line and what they do against this pressure. That will do it for us on this Wednesday edition. We'll be back with you on this Thursday edition. Rather, we'll be back with you on this Thursday edition. We'll be back with you on our Friday edition when Brad rejoins us and we will give you our predictions

for who wins the game coming up on Sunday. Until then, have a great rest of the day and we'll talk to you again tomorrow. You are Locked On Titans, your daily Tennessee Titans podcast. Part of the Locked On podcast Network, your team every day.