Locked On Titans - Daily Podcast On The Tennessee Titans - Locked on Titans: Logan Ryan done for 2018; Confidence in the offense

Episode Date: December 18, 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, how are you tonight? Doing pretty good. What's up, man? Not too much. We've got a few things to talk about. Logan Ryan's season-ending injury. And then we'll look at some overall thoughts on the offense, what we can expect for the next couple weeks going forward. Maybe look at the schedule, look ahead at the Redskins and the line a little bit. Before we do that, I want to remind you to be right for me to see miracles.com. We cover the Titans for SB Nation. You can follow us on Twitter.

I'm at jmortismcm. Terry's at tlambertfb. Follow the podcast account, App of Titans. And you can get your podcast wherever you search. Wherever you get your podcast, you can get the podcast. Just search out Locked on Titans. So Logan Ryan broke his own injury news today. He has a broken fibula.

And obviously will go on IR, miss the remainder of the season. It's a big blow for the Titans defense, secondary that has been playing better of late. Logan Ryan has been really probably the most steady guy this year out there. You know, a very versatile guy. They can play outside and inside. It's been their slot corner all year. So you've got a hole there now. And now you've got three guys in Malcolm Butler, Adoree Jackson, LaShawn Sims,

who I think we all have at least a little bit of confidence in. But the issue is all of those guys are mainly outside guys. So one of them is going to have to be able to play inside. Of course, Mike Braybill wasn't willing to commit to any of them today in his press conference. They'll kind of figure it out as the week goes along. But I think LaShawn Sims played more snaps in the slot than Adoree did after Logan Ryan got hurt.

So I guess maybe that's the way they're leaning. And then you would have, obviously, Butler and Adoree in base, and then LaShawn Sims would come in and play the nickel. But maybe they'll make the move. I don't know. Maybe it'll kind of depend on matchup. But it does just kind of put the defense in an uncomfortable position because you're going to have somebody that's basically playing out of position.

Yeah, LaShawn got 15 snaps versus Adoree's seven. And I just wonder if that changes with some games. Maybe they feel more comfortable in a game week throwing Lashon Sims on the outside where he has played more. Adoree Jackson, if you go back

to when he was drafted, the talk is, well, are you just going to pigeonhole him as the slot cornerback? It turns out he hardly played there at all. So really interesting spot for the Titans. Kind of an unknown. So it would make sense to me to kind of throw Adory Jackson into that slot role. You know, like we said, it's probably not going to matter this week.

You've got Josh Johnson leading the Redskins passing attack. Just not a lot going on there. But a week after that, you've got T.Y. Hilton, the Colts, coming back. You know Adore Jackson is going to get his fill of T.Y. Hilton. That's the matchup that we're all wondering about, and let's just hope they get it figured out before the Colts come to town. Yeah, and it makes sense, I think. Like you said, it could be different with game planning.

It makes sense in a game to play LaShawn Sims there more because if you move Adoree in there, then you've kind of got a new guy playing and a guy playing out of position. Whereas if you just bring LaShawn Sims and let him play in there, at least Adoree Jackson and Malcolm Butler are still doing what they've been doing. So I think that makes sense from an in- know, when it happens in-game perspective, but that things could change. And we saw, you know, when the Titans played the Colts the first time,

I mean, the Dory basically followed T.Y. Hilton. It didn't work out very well for the Titans in that game. But, I mean, I don't think, I think that's a matchup that he can't be successful in. He had a bad game in that one, had the one play where he was there in coverage and just didn't make the play and then didn't make the tackle. So, you know, I'll say he played that number as well.

But, you know, that was a bad game. I don't think it's a matchup he's necessarily going to win, but I don't think it would be as bad every time as it was in that first game. So we'll obviously keep an eye on that. And then the defense as a whole, I mean, we didn't get any news on Sharif Finch. We talked last night about how, you know, we don't know what the status is on Brian Arakpo, who wasn't able to play this past week. But you right now have three healthy outside linebackers, Harold Landry, Kamalei Correa, and Derek Morgan.

So if Finch and Arakpo are both going to be down this week, then they're going to have to bring somebody in. You can't go into a game with just three of those guys. They've got a couple guys on the practice squad that could be candidates. They'll obviously have to bring in a corner as well. They've got Durden on the practice squad. He's kind of been up and down and was obviously in camp with the team. So I would imagine at this point they stay in-house with those guys

because of the familiarity with the defense and the fact that, you know, I mean, maybe not who the corner is, but whoever they bring in to play outside linebacker is going to have to play some snaps if it's just the three that we talked about being healthy. Just with the way they rotate those guys in and out, you're going to have to have somebody that can come in and play this week. Welcome to Week 16 of the NFL season. You know, this happens to every team just about every year.

Titans have been pretty fortunate in the past couple seasons, but, you know, it wasn't too long ago where the Titans were signing tackles off the street. Will Svitek was the starting left tackle for Zach Mettenberger. So it just happens, man. It's a long season, and it's just about how you respond to those injuries. So going back to the defensive side of the ball, thank goodness Malcolm Butler has figured things out.

If he was still playing poorly like he did to start the season, this would be a real issue. Now, obviously, it's a huge loss. That's your most steady cornerback there but not as bad as it could have been i think malcolm butler has held his own you know we talked about derrick henry's confidence last night i think malcolm butler has gotten a bunch of confidence so uh it looked like it was just the case of uh and it looks like he's straightened out so interested to see if they're comfortable giving him a big role.

You know, maybe he gets some of those snaps on T.Y. Hilton in Week 17. That would be the story to end the season. Yeah, sure, and for all the talk of, you know, that contract and, you know, how bad it was at the beginning of the year and all that kind of stuff, if, you know, if it turns out that he plays a significant role here down the stretch on a team that ends up going to the playoffs, that contract's going to look pretty smart.

The dollars are attached to it just when you lose a guy. And, again, this is the reason we talked about it. I mean, you've got to have three anyway because you've got your nickel package on the field so much now, the way the NFL is, but then injuries and all that kind of stuff. So, yeah, this is week 16 of the NFL, so next man up. So hopefully they've got guys that can fill in and play those roles and we'll kind of keep an eye on it.

I mean, we talked about this a little bit too last night, but with a guy like Rashawn Evans, he gives you a little bit of versatility off the edge, and you've got, you know, they're there with Wesley Woodyard playing as well as he is. Same thing with Jayon Brown. Evans can rush. Jayon Brown leads the team in sacks. So they've got some options there.

I think that the depth is maybe not as big there as it would be if you didn't have those three guys in the middle. So anyway, we'll kind of see what they do. I would assume that we'll get some news on that tomorrow being Tuesday because the Titans are going to start practice tomorrow would is it would be a normal wednesday uh since the game this weekend's on saturday so um be interesting to keep an eye all right coming up we'll have some a few more thoughts on what the offense was able to do against the giants all right so i mean i think the thing uh just looking at stuff today, that stood out to me the most was Dennis Kelly.

He played in this game. I think PFF graded him out as like an 89. He was the second-highest graded player on the offense behind Luke Stocker. We've been talking about this for a few weeks now, about how Dennis Kelly's been better than Conklin. I don't know if Conklin was still hurt or whatever it is, but it was getting time where they needed to have Dennis Kelly in the lineup. And he came in and he played well.

And with the news earlier in the week that his dad passed away last week and he missed the day, but came back, was able to play well. I mean, you saw the scene in the locker room with Frabel giving him the game ball. So, I mean, obviously you love to see that for that guy with everything that he's got going on. But good that we spent, and spent and i just i mean everybody spent a lot of time talking about how they needed to get dennis kelly the lineup you know it wasn't working with with conklin all that stuff so good to see you know when he gets his first full game in there that he was able to play like he had in the smaller sample stuff yeah i picked up right where he left off. And like we said, this offensive line is better with him.

So I know I wasn't surprised. I know you weren't surprised if you probably weren't surprised either. You know, like we said all along, Conklin just wasn't right. So happy to see them shut him down for his long-term future and get the guy in that's playing well. So that was cool. This offensive line, it's suddenly getting a push. that's playing well. So that was cool. This offensive line, it's suddenly getting a push. It's playing well.

You know, I don't think they faced the toughest front that they're going to face last Sunday. And then you throw into the fact that they faced the Jaguars, who have just laid down the Redskins beat the Jaguars, too. They're just done with that season. So hoping it's not fool's gold, hoping they can put together another performance on Sunday. Tough Colts front seven coming to town on week 17, so that'll be another tough test.

But biggest surprise for me, Anthony Ferkser only played 15 snaps. I mean, we just assumed that that guy was going to step in for Johnnie Smith and be the pass catching tight end. Turns out it was Luke's, oddly enough. You know, Ferkser has caught all of his targets so far. That one doesn't make much sense to me. This coming from a guy who went all in on him on DraftKings on Sunday and took that loss too.

So that was surprising to me. I just don't understand the rationale behind that decision. Yeah, this coach staff, man, they like Luke Stalker. And I don't really know why. They didn't throw the ball to him at Tennessee, right? I mean, he hasn't been a receiving tight end wherever he's been. You know, he talked about after he got that fourth and one carry that he hadn't carried the ball, he thought, since back into high school.

But, yeah, he can block and all that stuff. I mean, I'm not saying he doesn't have a role on this team. I mean, he's not important. But, like you said, you just assumed that some of that past game work would go to, you know, that some of that past game work would go to what was missing with John Smith being out would go to Ferkser, and for whatever reason in this game, it didn't.

They didn't throw the ball that much. I mean, I think that's definitely a part of it, but only 15 snaps, Ferkser not getting any targets. Stocker got three or four, at least. I don't know. That was an interesting part of it. See how it changes this week, you know, in a different environment,

different weather, all that kind of stuff, being at home and stuff. I would imagine Ferguson would get more run, but who knows. And I'm with you, man. Ferguson at 2,900, man, that was too hard to pass up on DraftKings, but obviously it didn't work out. Took a goose egg there. And then again, back to Derrick Henry. I talked last night. There's this narrative going around that the Titans have done more stuff

to get the ball in his hands when he's already moving and all that kind of stuff, and I don't think that's necessarily true. Something has changed in Derrick Henry's approach to how he runs the ball. I think you could see it when, you know, coming out of the bye, we talked a couple weeks ago about his yards per carry and how much better they've been since the bye. But you saw them hit the ball in short yardage, and he was able to pick that up.

And that had been our biggest criticism of him around here was just that, you know, being as big as he is, why can't he pick up short yardage? Why can't he be that guy? He's turned into that guy. And I think he's gained confidence as he goes. And you saw how confident he is in his stiff arm and how effective that's been. And so, I mean, I really think that it's just him.

I don't know if it's him getting comfortable in the offense, whereas maybe he wasn't earlier in the season, or what it is. If it's just running these plays over and over and finally getting a feel for it, I mean, whatever it is, he's obviously a different guy. And then Evan Silva tweeted this out earlier today that in Derek Henry's career, he averages 5.34 yards per carry in December, and he averages 4.19 yards in September through November.

And look, I mean, you know, all that's awesome, but when the weather gets like it is, teams resort to running the ball more. I mean, you can just see it throughout the league, the teams that are six-full, especially in December, and heading into the playoffs are the teams that can run the ball. And the Titans have obviously found that with Derrick Henry. So I don't see any reason for them to go away from it until it stops working.

That's the thing, again, we talked about these people that have been out here yelling, they've got to give him 30 carries a game, they've got to give him 30 carries a game. That's fine as long as on the first 10 carries he's effective. The problem was earlier in the year he wasn't, and so you can't give him 30 carries when it's going like that. But if he keeps running like he has the last couple of weeks, and like you said, different fronts and all that stuff in the next couple weeks, but if he keeps doing that,

there's no reason not to do what they've been doing with the offense. Yeah, that Colts game will be interesting because I think he's got a good chance of running all over the Redskins again. The Colts defense is pretty good. So are they going to stick to that? What happens when he has 10 carries for 12 yards? Are they going to give him the 11th and 12th to open the next drive? I don't know.

They certainly have been sticking with it working. I don't think you blindly trust that anymore. But, I mean, I'll take it. It wasn't, what, two weeks ago, three weeks ago, we were kind of saying Derrick Henry was done in Nashville and and all this and now suddenly he's back But I'm with you. I don't think they've changed anything You know, I thought they could have have jolted him to get him going by you know Getting him more touches in space getting him some screens and stuff

When he gets going he is really scary in space. The only problem is when they tried to drop the ball. I remember him punching a ball up into the air and almost causing interception. I'm happy to see him do it in a conventional way. Something's changed. I don't know what it is. Like you said, maybe it was the threat of him not playing anymore. Maybe they made a threat of him not playing anymore and maybe they made a

threat of trade i'm not sure but somebody got in there ticked him off got him running right and it's good to see because you know that the knock on him was he's six three 250 pounds and runs like a scat pack uh that had a pace the past two weeks so uh yeah maybe it's just a confidence thing uh and if so the titans have to find a way to keep that going. I certainly think they can do that this week. It just gives them another option. There was a point in the season where we were talking about they didn't have any options. Now, when you've got Derek Henry running well, you hope that when you need Marcus Mariota, he's going to be

there. We've seen him be a little bit more successful really in the second half of the season. Hopefully, the offense is really clicking on all cylinders now. I hate to look past this Redskins game. The Redskins are coming here

7-7. They've still got a lot to play for and all that kind of stuff, but it seems like a good matchup for the Titans with their state of play for and all that kind of stuff. But it seems like a good matchup for the Titans in their state of their offense and all that stuff. So it's the Colts game that I keep looking forward to. And listen, with the injuries they have on defense, with what we've seen from Andrew Luck throughout his career, his history against the Titans,

I would like nothing better than for them to be able to give the ball to the Colts in that game. I mean, I think that's their best path to success. But, again, he has to be effective. And I'll just say this. I have more confidence in him doing that now than I ever have. I mean, this is the first time, at least that I can remember, these two games together back-to-back.

It's the first time that – I mean, I have more confidence in this team because we talked about it last week. This just felt like the spot coming off of a big win where they go to on the road again they should win and they lay an egg and they didn't do that they came out they were firing on all cylinders in that game um you know the first drive stalled with the taewon taylor drop but you know they got touching on the second drive you felt good about where they were the whole game so i don't know i have more confidence in this team than I have in a while. Now, again, that's been a recipe for disaster in the past.

And I've just got – I'm scared of, you know, heading into week 17 with a win or go home game against the Colts. But, you know, you'll take that over a game that doesn't mean anything, you know, not having a chance to get in. So, anyway, all right. So, we'll look forward to the game in just a sec, a little bit, talking about the line and kind of what we can expect, at least from a high level, in this game.

All right, so I saw a lot earlier today, Titans 10. I think it's up to 10.5 in some spots now. You know, it's a pretty big number for this team. You know, again, with the Redskins coming in here, it's not terrible. I mean, they're 7-7. They've been decimated by injuries. I mean, if you look at all the guys they've lost, they've lost almost their entire offensive line.

They're down to their fourth quarterback now, all that kind of stuff. So they've got a lot going on from that perspective. I really thought it would be Titans by a touchdown. But, you know, again, this is a game that if the Titans come out and play well, they shouldn't have any trouble with. But, you know, you don't see many games where the Titans are favored by 10. Yeah, there's nothing that scares you, at least from the outside looking in, about this game considering how this Titans defense is played

you get Josh Johnson they're going to run a college style offense with plenty of quarterback runs Titans defensive run has been playing outstanding you know these Titans have their run game going too the odds just feel stacked against the Redskins there

so that number at 10 feels about right to me. I'm not sure I'd play either way. I'm never comfortable playing anything involving the Titans. But it's a spot, again, where the Titans should come out and take care of business. Now, it reminds me of the Jets' spot, too, where the Titans came out totally flat and spotted them 16 points and had to furiously come back. And we're really, really fortunate to win that football game.

So once again, every week Titans have to come out and start the game. I thought they did a really good job of that last week. You know, the first drive kind of fell apart, but at least their attitude was right. And they seem to be executing at a high level until they got into the red zone. So hopefully they can start fast and bury the Redskins. attitude was right, and they seemed to be executing at a high level until they got into the red zone. So hopefully they can start fast and bury the Redskins. There wasn't too much drama there. Yeah, and again, I mean, I don't, the Redskins still do have something to play for, but if you can get them in a situation where you've kind of been, you know, pounding on them all

day long, they're going to be a little bit more likely to clinch as the last two games that the Titans have seen. But I still think if you can jump out to an early lead, then you're going to see kind of a similar type result. So it's going to be two home games left, everything left on the line. The Titans are obviously having a little bit of trouble selling tickets. I've seen a bunch of ticket packages advertised everywhere. Listen,

if you go to this game, go to this game. I've got two family Christmases on Saturday, so I won't be able to go, but there's a reason not to go out and support this team. You've got two home games left with the chance to win in the playoffs, the army to win and get in the playoffs. Saturday's a huge day because the Titans play 3-30,

and then the night game is that Chargers-Ravens game, which the Titans need the Chargers to win that game to control their own destiny heading into Week 17 against the Colts. Now, they just need either a Chargers or a Ravens or a Steelers loss, and the Steelers go to New Orleans. So, I mean, the two teams that they need to lose both have really tough games on the road in Week 16. So you feel pretty good that one of them will get the result they would like to see.

But, you know, you'd like for it to go ahead and be taken care of on Saturday night. Yeah, absolutely. Like you were saying, go to this game. I mean, it's a good chance to go have some fun, see the Titans. They should get a win. They should win comfortably. And you can probably get some tickets cheap. It's been kind of frustrating to see the stands the way they are, but I certainly get it.

This team has been so up and down. They've been inconsistent It's just not a real exciting brand of football But if you're gonna have Derek Henry running for 170 yards a game stiff arm people and throwing people to the sidelines Yeah, I can get up for that. So give them another chance Playoffs are on the line. They're still alive and that's really all you can ask for Yeah, and I don't know. I just feel confident in this team than in the team last year. I feel like that, you know, we talked last night about how right now

there's a possibility the Titans would go to Foxborough. Now, I don't feel great about the game, but I feel a lot better about it than I did the game last year. I mean, I gave the Titans zero chance to win that game last year. This year, we've seen the Titans, you know, dominate the Patriots. Now, I mean, I get odds of them doing that twice a year and all that stuff.

I mean, I understand all that, but we've seen them do it, so we think they can't do it this year. So, I don't know. This is a team I think we can get behind and we can believe in. Now, are they going to the Super Bowl? I mean, I don't think so. I don't think we're there yet. But, it's not like last year where you felt like, okay,

I mean, we did last year. We were having these conversations down the stretch about how we didn't want Mike Malarkey. We didn't know if they got in the playoffs, if they won a playoff game. You didn't want to root against them, but you also wanted to see the change. We don't have any of that this year.

This year you want to see them succeed, want to see them do what they can build off of kind of stuff. So no reason not to be excited about where they are and all that stuff. So hopefully, I don't know, hopefully they don't crush us on Saturday, get us to week 17 and see if we can get the Andrew Lucky monkey off of our back. All right, that'll do it for today's show. We'll be back tomorrow, crossover episode, and then we'll do our Redskins preview on Thursday, or Wednesday. We'll do our Redskins preview on Thursday.

Yeah, sorry, getting confused here. All right, in the meantime, we've got musicseemiracles.com. We'll have a lot more this game and obviously previewing the Redskins as we get going throughout the week. Follow us on Twitter. I'm at jmorrismcm. Terry's at tlambertfb. Subscribe to Locked on Titans wherever you get your podcasts.

Just search us out. You'll find us there. For Terry, this is Jimmy saying thanks for listening, and we will talk to you again tomorrow.