Locked On Titans - Daily Podcast On The Tennessee Titans - Locked on Titans: Igniting the Fire Ep. 3 review; Steve McNair 9 years later

Episode Date: July 5, 2018

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Welcome in to another edition of Locked on Titans. I'm Jimmy Morris, joined as always by Terry Lambert. Terry, did you have a good Fourth of July? I did. Lots of pool and lots of meat. Yeah, that's the way to do it, right? That's right. We're looking at Kirk Cousins' grill, if you haven't seen that. You've got to check that out on Kirk Cousins' Instagram and try to figure out what he's cooking. It seems to be a big mystery that no one has been able to solve.

try to figure out what he's cooking. It seems to be a big mystery that no one has been able to solve. So he said you ate steak, we had burgers, so a lot more identifiable things going on in our places. But anyway, I hope everybody had a good holiday. It was the ninth anniversary of the death of Steve McNair, and we'll talk about that a little bit later

in this episode. Before we get to all that, remind you, we're at communityofmiracles.com, so you can check us out there. Follow us on Twitter. I'm at jmorsmcm. Terry is at tlambertfb. Follow the podcast at LockedOnTitans. You can also subscribe to the podcast, LockedOnTitans, iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher, wherever you get that kind of stuff. You can check us out there. On Tuesday night, which was, I guess, the third, we had a new episode of the Fire Titans Facebook video series they're doing.

So if you haven't checked that out, that was episode three, so you can go back and watch the other ones. You can find that on their Facebook page. This time was about the running backs and got a little bit more insight into the new running backs coach and kind of their work there. So, Terry, kind of tell me what you took away from this episode. It was a look at Tony Dews and the running back room. I thought it was interesting to hear his focus. I think he talked about pass protection with each back, Deion Lewis, Derrick Henry, and David Flayland, too.

He talked about Derrick Henry's length and talked about Flayland's length as well and said that both could be really good in that area. And let's go back to that Kansas City game. Derrick Henry just misses a block that's clearly supposed to be his. Marks and Marotta gets killed. He's lucky to get up. And he's lucky that that play didn't derail the Titans' comeback there. So little things like that

really get overlooked by us and fans and everybody. So that's the time. This is now the time to fix all that. That's clearly a focus. And that's something that Derek Henry is going to have to do

if he wants to be that every down back. So the other thing I thought was really interesting was how he talked about Derrick Henry, talked about him as a home run hitter. He said he can score from any part of the field, and he talked about how he's working with Derrick to finish his runs, to use that body. He talked about how he's working with Derek to finish his runs, to use that body. He talked about how strong he was and how when he throws out a stiff arm,

how people just fall off of him and explode off of him. So it sounds to me like Tony Duz is really kind of feeling like, you know, Derek Henry, there's more there, kind of frustrated with how he is, how he doesn't finish runs like he should, like that 6'3", 250-pound body should. So it was interesting to hear him talk about Derrick Henry the way me and you talk about Derrick Henry. Yeah, that's the thing. And remember last year, you know, throughout the season,

we were yelling for Derrick Henry for time time and and you know they kept running to mark them are out there we didn't understand it blah blah blah and then we had to a little bit um admit that we were that the coaching staff knew what they were talking about in one aspect because he was bad in pass protection with the kansas city game um you know you understood kind of after what you saw in a couple games there why they kept DeMarco Murray on the field as the third down back as much as they did. You know, and so I don't think it was as much of a knock on Derrick Henry, you know, not being a good receiver as it was.

If the ball wasn't going to him and they were counting on him to protect Mariota, they had zero confidence in that. And again, that kind of showed once he was out there more. So good to see that they're working with those guys. I mean, Deion Lewis, for as small of a guy as he is, has generally been regarded as very good in pass protection. So they've got that from him. And, again, you want both backs to be interchangeable in that, you know,

you don't want it to be a tale when they've got somebody on the field what they're going to do. So if you can get Derrick Henry to be going to pass protection, there's more stuff that you can do there. And, yeah, the other thing, you know, like you mentioned, the home run aspect of Derrick Henry's game, I think so many people think of Derrick Henry as a bruiser. Like, you know, that's what he looks like,

and that's what his body type would tell you that he is. But, you know, we saw last year, and we talked about it a little bit, that he's not really a power back. That's not really what has been the strength of his game to this point. And you saw multiple times last year. I mean, the Kansas City game ripped off a big run. The Jacksonville game where he caught the screen pass and, you know, took it to the house. He has that home run ability,

and he's especially fast when he can get up to speed. And again, we can go back and listen. We've talked about all this stuff about how he's not fast in the short area, but as he can get to his stride, how fast he is. There were those times last year where they would do the thing, and he ran faster than any running back in any week or any player in certain weeks, you know, on those big runs. So we've gone over all that. But, again, just to see a little bit more of that, like you're saying, if he can get to the point where he can get in the open,

if he's got a guy who can run over him and then keep going, that's just going to make him, you know, that much more valuable. And, like you said, just having these two guys here, I'm just excited about what they have in this backfield this year i'm excited about what this offense is going to do with these two guys and so it was good to get a little bit more insight into what they're working on this time of year and and that kind of stuff i still want more of the player to player interaction instead of the player to coach interaction which is what we've mainly been getting in these first episodes.

Next week it's going to be Kerry Coombs, so I'm sure that'll be entertaining because everybody's talked about just the energy and stuff that he brings on the field. But that's just my takeaway from the series as a whole. I'm glad that they're doing it, and I think it's neat to even see the coaches and what they're working on and hear from them and that kind of stuff, because you don't get the opportunity to do that with these position coaches very often.

But I would still like to see more of the interaction with the players on the team. Yeah, I obviously agree with that. And I think you'll get that in training camp. But for now, it seems like they're going from coach to coach and really introducing each coach to the fans, which is fine. I just hope that it gets ramped up through training camp. But on this episode, it was, of course, the running backs coach, Deuce. He just seemed like a player's coach to me.

There was a moment on the video where Derrick Henry comes up to him and says, hey, man, I need to work on this. And Deuce says, all right, well, let's do it. And he calls all the running backs up, and he just kind of reroutes his practice a little bit. So that was interesting, and maybe it's just edited that way. But it seems like, you know, some of these coaches, they're so arrogant and they're structured and, you know, Ken Wisenhunt, for example.

So just kind of open to saying, hey, what do we need to work on? What do you guys think we need? So that was cool to see. And then the most surprising thing to me of the whole thing was spotlighting David Flewellen. We've talked about how he's on the roster for now, how he's probably on the bubble. You know, Mike Keith told us that he's probably undervaluing his special teams presence. But you've got Akram Wadley behind him.

It seems like he's safe to me. Maybe I'm reading too much into that. But if you're spotlighting him on this big offseason project that you're doing for Titans Facebook, he might be a little safer than what we initially thought.

Yeah, and again, I think like Mike told us back then, that there is a lot of value to having a guy that can play special teams. And it can also help on offense if the need comes up in a game. Because the thing that they don't want is guys that are not, you know, regular contributors to either the offense or defense, just special teams guys. When you've got to come up with your numbers for game day, those kind of guys tend to be the ones that don't make it up just because of, you know, what can happen with injuries

and that kind of stuff during the game. And we've seen Flewell is a serviceable guy. You know, if the offensive line can give him a hold of a run through, he can run through it, and we've seen him have big preseason games and that kind of stuff. So, I mean, I think there is some value to him. And, yeah, I mean, and we'll talk about, we were actually talking about this before we came on today.

You know, we're today, we're three weeks away from the first training camp practice. So we'll get into some of the training camp battles and stuff over the next couple of weeks. And, you know, again, you just have to watch how that stuff sorts out, you know, the numbers as if Flu Ellen will be able to make it or not. And, again, you know, a guy like Akram Wadley that we talked a little bit about before, an undrafted guy, can he contribute on special teams? I mean, I think his upside as a running back is definitely higher than Flewellen's.

But if he can't contribute on special teams, you know, Flewellen might make the team over him. So anyway, that'll be stuff that we'll get into a little bit more as camp nears. And like I said, it's only three weeks away. So we're finally, we're getting close. So that's obviously good. We can get through this month and it'll be you know the season will be here and obviously that's what we're we're all sitting around

waiting for um all right so coming up we'll talk a little bit about the ninth anniversary of steve mcnair's death okay so uh yesterday uh julyth, was obviously, like I said, the 9th anniversary of Steve McNair's death. On 104.5 The Zone, they did kind of a special that they ran all day, just talking to different people about Steve McNair. And I was looking for it online earlier. I didn't see it anywhere. I hope they'll podcast it at some point because I heard bits and pieces of it just different times I was in the car. I didn't get to hear the whole thing. because I heard bits and pieces of it just different times I was in the car.

I didn't get to hear the whole thing. But, you know, if you were a Titans fan when they first came here back in 99 and through that first era that we talked about when we went over the Jeff Fisher episode, you remember just the importance of McNair to the team and all that stuff. And I was saying to Terry before we came on, I mean, he was probably my last sports hero. I think as a kid, you kind of idolize these guys a little bit more. As an adult, you're fans of guys, but you don't look up to them like you did when you were younger. And he's just, I think, that last guy for me that was like a hero.

You know, like all the different stories of all the stuff that he went through and still showing up on game day and playing well and all that kind of stuff obviously you know the events surrounding his death were tragic and you know unnecessary and all that stuff and it it really sucks that that's the that's the way he went out but i mean i'll never forget that we were on the lake that day and i had gotten back in the boat and i had calls from my dad uh g ramsey if you're on mcm you know who that is and then august west who was one of the original mcm guys and we used to do mcm radio together back in the day um and so i knew something happened with titans obviously had no idea that it was going to be what it was and then i just remembered all the coverage and

all that stuff that came after it but you know try I've tried to, as much as I can, not remember him for that, remember him for his career with the Titans and just all the great things that he did. And, you know, he was great in the community. You know, that's the thing that I heard a lot of guys, Blaine Bishop was talking about yesterday on that radio special on 104.5 about how people would just come up to him when they would see him out and ask him to come to some event or something, and he would just show up there.

They wouldn't get his number or anything. He'd show up. He did that kind of stuff all the time. He's a real down-to-earth guy. And, again, it goes back to that first group of guys that were here, Stephen Ayer, Eddie George, Frank Wycheck, Blaine Bishop, guys that were really, really good in the community, really guys that you could kind of look up to

and they carried themselves well publicly. Now, obviously, you know, there have been some events that have changed that impression since then, but they were out doing stuff, being helpful in the community and that's something that the Titans have maybe gotten away from a little bit over the last few years and they've talked about wanting to get back

to now, is being more active in the community and giving back stuff. That group did that kind of stuff, and they won. And I think the combination of those things is why you saw the fandom be what it was back then. Yeah, if you're building a Nashville Mount Rushmore, I think that's the first face you've got to put on it. Just what he did, not only on the field, off the field, like you said. It was just a pillar to lose him the way that we did.

It was just a gut punch. It was just so unnecessary. You just wonder why he was in that situation. But like you were saying, you choose to remember his on-the-field stuff. For me personally, I hate that his career ended with the Ravens. Obviously, at the end of your career, you still want to play. You'll take wherever you can get. But of all places to go, the Ravens?

It just seemed like to go to the Titans' bitter rival at that moment. It really stunk. But at the same time, the way it ended in Nashville, you can't blame them. So, yeah, I don't know why the organization hasn't gone ahead and retired the nine. If you're not going to let anybody wear it, I don't know why. I don't know what the holdup is for a formal announcement that nine officially retired. And like you were saying before we went on, Eddie George too. They let somebody, I think

Chris Henry wear it in training camp, but immediately took it from him. So if you're not going to let 9 and 27 be used again, go ahead and retire it. So those are probably the two best players in franchise history. So I would love to see them properly honored sometime in the near future.

Yeah, that's the thing. And we talked about this, I think, a little bit before, that Bud Adams had the rule that he would only retire a number if that person made the Hall of Fame. And listen, I'm the biggest Dean McNair fan in the world. He shouldn't be in the Hall of Fame. He didn't have a Hall of Fame career. He had a very good career for a period of time,

but he's not a Hall of Fame quarterback. And same thing for Eddie George. He was great for a period of time, but he's not a Hall of Fame quarterback. I mean, same thing for Eddie George. He was great for quite a few years, but just when you look at his just raw numbers, I mean, yards and that kind of stuff, when you look at yards per carry and that kind of stuff, not necessarily what you would call a Hall of Fame resume. But what they meant to this team, what they meant to this community, and just, again the the birth of professional football in nashville uh i mean that that can't be you know you can't say enough about

that and so like you like we're saying i mean if you're not gonna let anybody wear it there's no point in not retiring it um and and clearly they're they're at the point where they're not going to let anybody have those numbers so yeah hopefully that'll be something that um that can be done and again you know we we've talked a lot about amy adam strunk and and the strides that she's made as an owner and i and i think you're finally starting to see the the general public fan warming up her it took a long time because there was that you know just that whatever for a while the ownership didn't care and they you know had, but they didn't want it and all that kind of stuff. She's clearly done a lot to get rid of that. I think there is still a section of the fan base that feels like the team would be better off with somebody else, which I think is ridiculous at this point.

But if you really wanted to see her approval rating, which is not really a thing, but if it was, if you wanted to see that skyrocket, But if it was, if you wanted to see that skyrocket, make that announcement, have a game where they're going to retire those two numbers, have Eddie there, obviously have McNair's family there, and do all that kind of stuff. I think that would go a long way. Just, again, the feelings about the fans, about this franchise that have taken a hit over the last few years just because the team quite honestly

very good yeah i think it's a good time to do it too you know it's a new era uh you can kind of retire 9 and 27 get that behind you you know to honor them the right way and and let vrabel steer this this franchise into a new era you know let marcus become the next star and hopefully another another couple of stars emerge along the way. But it's up to Marcus Mario to take that next step. He's the obvious heir apparent, being the quarterback that he is, being the flashes, showing the flashes that we've seen. So he's set for a bounce-back year.

So, yeah, I would love to see that, and I have no idea why it hasn't been done. You know, Bud's rule, he's been gone. I mean, maybe this is just Amy Adams strung carrying on what his wishes were, but at some point she's got to call an audible, I believe. Yeah, absolutely. So we'll see. We'll see if that happens.

And, you know, I think it will. I think it gathers a little bit of momentum every year and people out there. So we'll see. We'll see if that happens. I think it will. I think it gathers a little bit of momentum every year in people out there, so we'll see. All right, so that'll do it for today. Like I said, we will move into more training camp on the field type stuff as we move along. So we've got really two more weeks here with nothing, and then that third week we'll have the beginning of camp.

And Jim White wrote an article that said, actually, the rookies and the quarterbacks report to Nashville on the 22nd of July. So that's like two and a half weeks. It's here. Yeah, it's here, and that's awesome. I mean, like I said, it's been a long summer trying to come up with topics for this, but I think it's all gone pretty well. And, again, now we'll have a plethora

of things to talk about. We'll be doing four shows a week and that kind of stuff as we move forward into that. Stay tuned for that. Again, check out museummiracles.com. We'll have stuff going there. We've got some exciting news coming up there, bringing a couple guys on in

an official capacity. I think the site's going to be better this year than it has been in any other year. So I'm really excited about that. So check us out there. And, again, we'll keep working on the podcast and hopefully trying to improve that. Follow us on Twitter, at jmorphsmcm, at tlambertfb.

Podcast at LockedOnTitans. And then subscribe wherever you get your podcasts. For Terry, this is Jimmy saying thanks for listening, and we will talk to you again next week.