Locked On Titans - Daily Podcast On The Tennessee Titans - Locked on Titans: Harry Douglas and moving on to the Colts

Episode Date: November 21, 2017

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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 good. What's going on? Not too much. Big news today. Your boy Harry Douglas back in practice. No. So, basically, the way this works, right, so Harry Douglas and Aaron Wallace are on IR, and they can bring one player back per year from IR. They used to, you know, at the time, used to when they put somebody on IR,

they had to designate that person to return. They could only do that once a year, and it had to be that person. They removed that rule, and now anybody that goes on IR can be brought back after six or eight weeks whatever it is um but you can only bring back one person so douglas return to practice this week i haven't seen anything on aaron wallace i don't know uh where he is as far as his recovery goes

but give me your thoughts on the fact that you know harry douglas could be on this 53-man roster as early as this week. Man, I just don't want to do this. Let's just not go down this road. The Titans have drafted Corey Davis and Taewon Taylor. Why is there a need for Harry Douglas? I just don't understand. I don't understand how he survives a cut-down day. They put him on IR, I guess for insurance. Maybe they weren't so sure about Corey Davis.

But what does he bring to the table other than being a veteran? I mean, is he better than Taylor? I don't think he is. He certainly isn't as talented in this stage of his career. The only thing you can argue for him is that he knows the playbook and he'd probably be in the right spot if called upon. But you're talking about a guy that had 15 catches last season. And I know for a fact that two last-second-as-the-clock-expired passes came his way from Mariota last year. So for whatever reason, Mariota went to Harry Douglas with the game on the line last year, which is just mind-blowing. So your decision here comes down to Aaron Wallace, a pass rusher, which just about everybody feels is a need, or Harry Douglas.

So to me, that's an easy question to answer, assuming that Aaron Wallace is healthy. You know, he flashed some things in preseason, and he ended up winning that. I think it was the Panthers game with a sack fumble. So it's a spot where the Titans don't have any depth, and it's a spot where the Titans could use some athleticism. To me, it's a no-brainer. Well, first of all,

you do understand why Harry Douglas was kept on IR. They were. Yeah, Mike Malarkey loves him for whatever reason. Loved him in Atlanta. Brought him here. For whatever reason, he has this obsession with Harry Douglas. Yeah, I mean, the biggest problem for me here is, well, number one, he's just not very good.

But secondly, if they have him on the roster and if he's up on game day, then he's probably going to take reps away from someone. We were talking a little bit before we got started here how he doesn't play special teams. So, you know, if you're going to have him up, then there has to be some role for him. And who does he take reps away from? Do you want him taking reps away from Rashard Matthews?

Obviously not. Corey Davis? Obviously not. Eric Decker? No. You know, Taewon Eric Decker, no. Taewon Taylor is probably, I would say, the guy that's the most likely that Douglas would take reps away from.

That's just stupid at this point. I get that, like you said, he's a veteran, and there's something to be said for that, but you've got Matthews and Decker, so it's not like you don't have any veteran presence at that position. Taylor just has so much more upside. And to think, you know, as we move throughout this season and even down the road next season and a year beyond, you want to get Taylor out there and get him, you know, in these spots

and used to, you know, making the – I mean, he made a mistake, I think, pretty clearly. Taylor did in the game against the Steelers, the ball that Mario threw. He thought Taylor was going to be one place. He went the other. I think we give the benefit against the Steelers, the ball that Mario threw. He thought Taylor was going to be one place. He went the other. I think we give the benefit of the doubt to the third-year quarterback in that situation. But you want him to be able to work those things out now

so they're not having to do that in a year or two years. So, I don't know. It concerns me if they do put him back on the 53-man roster that he is going to take snaps away from somebody that's just better. And like you said, with Aaron Wallace, and I was trying to look around and see, and I don't, I mean, it's been nothing on him, so I don't know what,

there's something here on Titan. But anyway, so I don't know what the situation with him is, but like we're talking about, I mean, currently the Titans have four outside linebackers on the roster. And Kevin Dodd has not been active on game day the majority of the time. So they've been keeping three outside linebackers active on game day. So it would make sense, right, from a position depth, a position scarcity point,

that if Aaron Wallace was going to be able to be back in the next couple of weeks, that you would keep that spot open for him because he does bring something in a position of need, something that they, especially if one of those guys gets hurt, which is very possible. I mean, Morgan and Arakpo have both been banged up at different times during the season. Now, they haven't missed games. They haven't missed games. They haven't missed very many plays even in a game. But they're guys that are older.

And, I mean, to me, you would keep that open. But I guess Jim Wyatt said today that Aaron Wallace is not – they're not considering letting him practice anytime soon. So, I mean, I guess that does play into this a little bit, but I still don't know why you would bring Harry Douglas back. I agree with everything you said, 100%. And let's not forget, they created an off-season award and gave it to Harry Douglas. I mean, we literally haven't seen this award come back out.

We've never seen it before. They gave it out one time, and it was to Harry Douglas. So that speaks to the staff's love of Harry Douglas. So I don't know. I've been waiting for two years for the Titans, one, to get good enough at the receiver position to where they didn't have to play Harry Douglas, and two, to cut Harry Douglas. So I thought we were there back in August. Apparently not.

So I just don't know. If they activate him and he comes in and Tywin Taylor doesn't play anymore, I'm going to be pretty upset. Yeah, and like you said, I mean, you thought, once they drafted taylor after drafting for davis obviously i mean you thought okay that's it for harry douglas right i mean that was that was the thing that seemed to be the nail in the coffin especially after they signed eric decker

later on because then you just get into a numbers game right at that point they had signed eric weems i mean i thought he might be a long shot to make the team coming into camp just because you didn't need him as the returner anymore with the Dory Jackson there. But still, he's here. He's hanging around. They're manufacturing touches for Eric Weems now. Yeah. I can't even get on that.

And so, yeah, I mean, so, and we don't even know how they feel about Eric Weems. We know they love Harry Douglas, so they'll start putting plays in the playbook for him. There you go. Anyway, so it's something to watch hopefully hopefully nothing comes of it because again and and two to bring him back to the 50 man 53 man roster they got to cut somebody and i'm sure there's there there are people on the roster that are the guys in the roster they

could cut and we wouldn't necessarily notice but i i can't think of a position that really needs any less Harry Douglas than receiver. And, you know, they kind of are places they struggle. And, like I said, we don't play special teams. I mean, that's just – there's really no point. So the Titans were on the practice field today. Obviously that's what sparked this conversation. But, I mean, I think it was more just really a walk through anything else since they were since they had been gone since

they played on thursday um you know quentin spain came out and said that he played bad in the game uh on thursday night and so while you would just you know hope that he would play better um it's good you're you see a lot of accountability out of this team. Corey Davis came out and said that two of the interceptions that Mario threw were on him. Mario obviously took the blame for all four of them. So, I mean, it's good to see these guys stepping up and being accountable when they make mistakes because that hasn't always been the case with the guys here. Oh, yeah. I mean, for me, you're talking to a Tennessee fan who has endured five years of Butch Jones

who didn't ever own any mistake he ever made. So, yeah, to see a team come out and kind of fight over whose fault it was, it's nice to see. You saw Corey Davis come out and say, I've got to play better. Those routes weren't right. We weren't on the same page. And you see Mariota, he's never going to throw anybody under the bus. So that's a good trait to have.

But, again, at some point you've got to stop and clean up your mistakes. But at least, you know, it seems like everyone in the locker room genuinely loves one another and will do anything for each other. So from that standpoint it's good but again you know we've i feel like we've seen i feel like every week we hear malarkey say well that that interception wasn't necessarily on mark if someone was in the wrong spot that that seems to happen a lot is that just me no absolutely and you know you kind of wonder if he's trying to protect his quarterback in those situations but there's a few of them and like we talked a little bit last night

about the the one the first one to cory davis i think that cody since the ball got i mean you can tell that davis just didn't run a good route there i don't know exactly what he was supposed to run or what mario to saw that stuff but it. But he didn't finish it out. You can tell that much by watching what happened there. So, yeah, it's good to see. And those things don't necessarily translate to wins on the field. But, like you said, when guys are being accountable and they have each other's backs and that kind of stuff,

it speaks to what's going on in the locker room. And chemistry is important. I think you can overplay the importance of chemistry but i think you can definitely underplay it as well and like i said i mean there we've seen i mean delaney walker talked about some of the some of the how toxic the locker room was in years past and how guys just didn't care and you know they would never take the blame for anything so that that that's changing that culture has changed in the times locker room and that that's important now again that doesn't always translate to wins but i think it's a step in the right direction and we've seen

we've seen a lot of growth in those types of areas from this team and we've seen a growth and you know obviously performance in the field i mean again you know we're down after what happened in pittsburgh but think about sitting here at six and four i mean for years and years you know through munchak and wizen hunt and all that stuff we didn't kill to be at six and four even coming off a performance like that for sure and i think it kind of speaks to the differences of uh wiz and hunt and what you're seeing now with the current staff so uh and i think you saw that change pretty immediately uh starting with that saints game so uh you can say what you want about malarkey uh you know i i certainly was not excited when the titans chose to to keep him around but i think he's transformed the locker room. I think he's done plenty of good, more good than bad to this point. You can certainly have your gripes.

But from a locker room standpoint, getting this young core together for what looks like is going to last for a decade here in Nashville, that's pretty important. Yeah, absolutely. And another thing that came out today or that malarkey's ever practiced today is basically that they're still pretty healthy um they they weren't required to report to have any kind of type of injury report today um with being a money practice coming up the thursday game but i don't think i don't think

there's any concern right now that anybody will miss. We talked about how just uncommon it is for them to be as healthy as they are, to have no one with an injury designation heading into that game against the Steelers. And it sounds like we can see that same thing again this week. So that's pretty remarkable. And, again, it just sets up well for this team down the stretch. And we talked about how important the next four games are especially. And so obviously you have a better chance to win when you're healthy and the Titans are there, so that's a good thing.

So we've got the Colts coming up next. So coming up we'll talk a little bit about what's going on with the Colts right now and the woes that the Titans have had playing in Indianapolis. Alright, so the Colts are coming off a bye, but you pointed out to me before we started the show that Jacoby Bursette is still in the concussion protocol.

Now that you said Pagano expects him to play, but it's something that he still doesn't clear that protocol even after the bye week. Yeah, and it's interesting because

he came back into that game, and that's a little odd. So, to have a week off and to still be in protocol, that's sketchy to me. But, Pagano says he's going to play and you know you were talking about a guy that played pretty well

in Nashville good enough to win probably just didn't make the plays late and the Titans kind of turned it on I'm interested to hear kind of how you're feeling about this game I feel terrible about this game

I'm pretty scared going up to Indy. It just seems like things go wrong up there. It's been a house of horrors for the Titans lately. I think the Colts are playing well enough to beat the Titans right now.

I'm not sure the Titans can go up there and make the mistakes that they've made the past few weeks and escape with a win. Yeah, so the Colts opened Lucas Oil Stadium in 2008. The Titans had never won there. And you're talking about some Colts teams that weren't very good. It's not like they've had these just stellar teams this whole time. You know, it's not like they've had these just stellar teams this whole time. I mean, there have been some games where, you know,

the Titans really should have been able to go up there and win, and they haven't done that. The last win in Indianapolis was in 2007, and you might remember that game, right, seven, that's what we said. Yeah, that's right. Yeah, the last one was 2007, and that was the Week 17 game where Peyton Manning played like one series, and then you got a heavy dose of Jim Sorge. The Titans actually needed that game to get into the playoffs that year.

That was Vince's second year. And so they won that game. Before that, you had to go all the way back to 2002, the RCA Dome, which I'm pretty sure doesn't exist anymore. that was the last time the the titans won there so like you said i mean you you feel like you should feel good about it because the colts are not very good they have issues all over the field offense defense whatever um so you you like titan's chances titans are favored we talked about that last night. But at the same time, it's just you have this, I guess, battered fan syndrome, right,

from seeing all these times that they've gone up there and just not shown up for whatever reason. I think this team is different. I think, like we talked about, the culture and all that stuff. I think there is something to all that, and so I don't think you'll see that as much. And I don't know how much of a mental thing plays into it because there's so much turnover in the NFL roster from year to year. So even if you want to talk about how many games they've lost in a row, the majority of these guys haven't been around for the majority of those games. So I'm not sure how much there is to that.

But it's definitely not a game that I'm 100% confident the Titans are going to win. Yeah, it's a weird spot that the Titans haven't been in this year. Yeah, they got blown away by Houston, but that was with a half of Matt Castle. They lost a heartbreaker that

they really shouldn't have against the Dolphins. How will they respond to that awful, awful second half in Pittsburgh? I'm interested to see how they get up off the mat. The Colts are, on paper, they're dreadful. But you saw them hang with the Steelers. They gave the Steelers a really good game, a better game than the Titans did. And, you know, we've just laid out the facts that the Titans struggle up there.

So it's a hurdle, you know. It's a spot where the Titans have to get over this Colts hurdle. You know, I wrote that over the summer. If the Titans are going to make the playoffs, they've got to get past the Colts. Things have changed since then, obviously. But still, sweeping the Colts after not beating them since 2008, I think that would be

a pretty big step, no matter who's playing quarterback for them. Absolutely. If you want to keep pace in the division, which they do, you're going to have to win. Jacksonville has easy games in games that you would expect them to win. I think we talked about Joe to have to win. Jacksonville has easy games, you know, and games that you would expect them to win.

I think we talked about Joe to Arizona this week, playing a revenge game. I'm still holding out for that one. That would be so awesome. But anyway, you expect the Jaguars to win that game. And so the Titans want to keep this thing where, you know, we talk about who controls the division, but the bottom line is if the Titans don't lose again, they'll win the division.

Do I expect them to win the rest of their games? No. But do I expect that game in Week 17 where Jacksonville comes to Nashville, do I expect that game to be for the division title? I do. I think that's what we'll see. Because I think the Titans will drop a game. I think Jacksonville will drop a game,

and then you'll be looking at that game where if the Titans win it and obviously have the same record, they would have swept the Jaguars, and so they would win the division. I mean, I think that's a very realistic possibility. But that possibility takes a big hit if they can't go to Indianapolis and win. You know, I think the reason that I'm encouraged is we saw how well this offense played against Indianapolis last time, and that was with Marcus Mariota on one leg. Now that he's back healthy, I just think that that gives them so much more that they can do.

And so, I mean, from that standpoint on paper, I feel good about it. But there's just a lot more that goes into this from a titans fan psyche than just how good the teams are this current year so that that's what that's what has you a little bit worried you know and the the really the most surprising thing about that first game was how well the titans defended ty hilton now i know he's you know more explosive obviously on the turf and all that stuff but i was really surprised at how well they were how well they kept him in check in that game. And, I mean, he's the guy that I think when you really look at it, he's the one guy that really scares me on this offense.

There's no doubt about it. You know, we talked about Marlon Mack last time this came up. And, you know, Chuck Pagano really hadn't let him out of his cage yet. He seems stuck to his guns with Frank Gore, which is just bizarre. But Marlon Mack's another piece of the puzzle that could go off and score from any point on the field.

And Jacoby Brissett, I've been impressed. I think even if luck were to retire, I think the Colts are in a decent spot with Brissette. I think he's probably in that 25 or below in the starting quarterback range. So he's been good. And, you know, like I said, he played well in Nashville.

So this is no gimme game. You know, I think we've kind of glossed over this part of the schedule, and rightfully so. When you look at the quarterbacks they're going to face, there's no reason the Titans should lose this game, but we've seen stranger things happen. And with a mistakes-prone team, inconsistent team, a team that can't run the ball,

a pass rush that we don't know really what we're going to get moment to moment, it can happen. Sure. Yeah, and that's the thing. I mean, and we'll tomorrow get into more of the specifics of what the Titans did to take T.Y. Hilton away in that game and kind of some keys there. And like you said, I mean, Marlon Mack is a guy that if they ever start using him, you know, after a bye, what's the mycological place to do it?

Now, like you said, the Chuck Pagano love for Frank Gore is, you know, bordering on Mike Malarkey's love for Harry Douglas, right? I mean, just things that don't necessarily make any sense. And Gore has been, obviously, a very steady, productive player for a long time in this league. But Mack has just shown, you just shown the ability to be explosive, and that's something that any offense wants, but especially when you've got a quarterback who's young in his starting days.

You'd think you'd look to get some more of that on the field. So that may be something they do coming out of the bye. We'll just have to wait and see. But, yeah, I mean, I think that these next four games are really big. The Titans need to win at least three of them. They really need all four of them. But, you know, three I think keeps them in a good spot in the division, in the wild card, all that stuff.

But, you know, they're going to be favored in all of them like we've talked about, but they're not gimmies by any stretch of the imagination. I don't know how many of those there really are for the Titans. But it all starts here. And, again, like you said, just to get that Indianapolis monkey off your back and to have already beaten them once this year, but to sweep them, man, I think that would do a lot for this team, for their psyche going forward. So, you know, it's a really important game.

And, like I said, tomorrow we'll get a little bit more into the specifics of the matchups and all that stuff and what we're looking for. Anything else, Terry, we need to hit tonight before we get out of here? I think that'll do it for tonight. Alright, so like I said, come back tomorrow. Tomorrow will be our last podcast of the week.

Heading into Thanksgiving. We'll break down the matchups a little bit more and talk about that. As always, you can check out our work on musiccitymiracles.com. You can follow us on Twitter. I'm at jmorrismcm. Terry is at tlambertfb. So for Terry, this is Jimmy

saying thanks for listening to Locked on Titans, and we will talk to you tomorrow.