Locked On Titans - Daily Podcast On The Tennessee Titans - Locked On TItans- Nov. 17- Thursday Players, Coaches Corner & more.

Episode Date: November 17, 2016

Thursday Players, Coaches Corner & more. #BHop #TerryMc #GregA Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

That's for my crazy day. My packed commute. All those unread emails in my inbox. But I'm getting stronger, faster, and pushing myself further every day. I don't care if I'm not like everyone else. This punching bag is the best way to end my day. Fearless is knowing yoga isn't your style. That's the power of the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Federal Employee Program.

Learn more about our healthy benefits at fepblue.org slash getmore. 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. Terry, it's Thursday, which means Brad not with us. It's just you and I to hold down the fort, and we've got a lot of things to cover today.

As always, we start with current news. We'll have our coaches and players' corners on Thursday, where we will take comments from Colts head coach Chuck Pagano and wide receiver T.Y. Hilton to get to a little bit later on. But some big news today, Terry, and you actually broke the story on Titan Insider in our current news about Taylor LeJuan. Yeah, Taylor LeJuan told me today that the NFL has fined him $30,000 for his ejection for bumping a game official during Sunday's victory over the Green Bay Packers.

That's a pretty hefty sum, no matter how you slice it. He did say that he plans to appeal it, and he hasn't lost his sense of humor about it either. He said that he's probably going to start a GoFundMe account online to try and pay for the fine. Yeah, that's a year's worth of salary for a lot of people in the country, and he's going to be out that just one lump sum, and obviously he doesn't actually have to pay that himself per se

because the way it works, Terry, correct me if I'm wrong on this, but the team will take that out of his paycheck and forward that on to the league for him. Yeah, that's pretty much how it works. He won't ever see the money and have to hand it over to the league. It will just be automatically deducted from his weekly paycheck. I guess that makes it a little bit less painless when you don't have to hand over the money yourself because you and I and the rest of the general country, when we have something

like that where we have a speeding ticket or something, and even if we have to hand over $100, we do it begrudgingly. So I guess that makes it a little bit easier. Oh, there's no doubt about it. You know, anytime you have to, you know, hand over money that you weren't expecting to, it's, you know, certainly not something that's welcome. And you mentioned that he hadn't lost his sense of humor.

I guess that's a good thing, though, for somebody in that situation to be able to, and he does that a lot play things off with humor as opposed to uh being one of these guys that's sullen and withdrawn and gets uh upset and i guess maybe in a funk would be a good way to describe it he doesn't do that light-hearted kind of guy just kind of goes with the flow he knows it's the the situation and what's coming and And so why be sad about it? Just go on and go with it.

Yeah, I would agree with that. And I think, you know, Taylor, you know, usually has a fairly happy-go-lucky outlook on life. And I know, you know, that there are times, you know, on the field that he certainly doesn't show that side of his personality. But in the locker room, he usually has a, you know, a happy-go-lucky type of approach, and maybe that will help soothe the blow in this one.

In other current news, the injury report. It's a big thing weekly and obviously coming up on Thursday as we close in on the Sunday meeting with the Colts in Indianapolis. For the Titans, when you look at it, only one player, Terry, listed on the injury report today. That's good news. Now, he did not practice, but it's not necessarily bad news that he didn't practice. And of course, I'm speaking about DeMarco Murray, who's still battling that foot situation. But today, pretty much like last week, they give him some time off just to rest.

It's not anything that we feel like that's going to keep him out of Sunday's game. Just a precautionary day of rest for DeMarco today and then we'll probably get back on the field Thursday later on this afternoon and get some practice in as he prepares for Indianapolis. Right, and Mark, the third straight Wednesday that DeMarco Murray has been given off to rest those injured toes that he has and I think probably the Titans just erring on the side of caution. I would expect Murray to be able to do at least something tomorrow and then probably be a full go again by Friday.

On the other side of the ledger, when we look at the Colts, it looks like a mash unit. There are 11 players listed on the injury report. Six did not practice on the day, though three of those guys, Terry, were given off with non-injury-related absences from practice. Cornerback Vontae Davis, running back Frank Gore,

and linebacker Robert Mathis all did not practice. Again, non-injury-related. While tackle and guard Denzel Good did not practice with an illness. Kendall Langford, the defensive end, out with a knee. And Patrick Robinson, the cornerback, a groin injury, also did not practice today for the Colts.

And then Mike Adams was limited, while Henry Anderson, Chris Carter, Jack Muhort, and Joe Ritz all were full participants with various injuries that they were able to go and practice with today on Wednesday, or yesterday, rather, on Wednesday for the Colts. Right. I mean, but you can't really look into that too much, and here's why. Because the last time the Titans played the Colts,

which was about a month ago at Nissan Stadium, Indianapolis had like 20 players listed on the injury report. They came in, you remember, they were without Jack Newhort, one of their best offensive linemen. They were without Dwayne Allen, the tight end. They were without Dante Moncrief, the wide receiver. The defense, especially the linebackers and the secondary, was all beat up. Really didn't have a whole lot of weapons on either side of the ball,

but they still had Andrew Luck, and they still managed to come out of Nashville with a victory. So if you're the Titans, you look at the injury report, you take it into consideration, but you certainly don't take anything for granted, especially against this team. Absolutely not. And they're also, Terry, coming off a bye last week,

which in some of the comments, and we'll get to some of those a little bit later on here in just a moment, Chuck Pagano made talking about that bye week last night coming at a good time because obviously with a bye week, and the Titans have theirs coming up in a couple of weeks, but you get some rest, you get some guys back, you get the ability to get away from football for two or three days there where the guys kind of rest and regroup

and recharge. So the Colts have gone through that. That is a little bit of an extra advantage. They will certainly be the much more rested and fresher team come Sunday. Yeah, and I think that was one of the reasons that Mike Malarkey gave his players off on Monday. One, you know, there are actually two reasons. One, they had a convincing victory over the Green Bay Packers,

so he gave them an extra day to celebrate that. But two, the Colts coming in very well rested coming off the bye. He didn't want his team to be, you know, worn out and still recovering from the game, so he gave them an extra day off and allowed them to kind of get away from football and recharge a little bit and enjoy the victory on Sunday and the day off. And then they came in, a lot of the guys,

including Marcus Mariota, came in yesterday and they started getting a head start on prepping for this week's game. And let's be honest and give away a little trade secret here of the Titans, Terry, because you and I go to practice and have gone to practice and watched this team as they go through their weekly practice sessions. And it's not exactly like training camp.

They're not exactly doing as much stuff. It's more installation. It's more working on specifics of getting ready that week and getting the game plan in. So getting that extra day off is better for the team health-wise, I think, than getting more work on something that they're probably right now pretty good at and don't necessarily need as much. So it really wasn't a big deal that they get that extra day off

as far as the practice standpoint of things is concerned. Oh, I would agree with that. And I think, you know, at this point, you know, right now, you know, at this juncture of the season, I think rest and recovery are as important or more important than just about anything else you can do as a football team. Obviously, you've got to have your game plan in and you've got to execute it and you've got to have the timing down between

quarterback and receivers, between offensive linemen and whatnot. You can't underestimate how important time off is to rest and recuperate and just kind of recover your body and get over the bumps and bruises that you've been taking week after week after week as the season now approaches week number 11 for the Titans. Absolutely. And I said this on the Wednesday podcast, Terry. I think that this is a must-win game for the Titans.

Now, we've said that a few times. We've kind of gotten away from that in the last two to three weeks of saying these are must-wins. But really, to me, this is a must-win game because, as I said, exercising the demons. They've never won at Lucas Oil Stadium. They've never beaten Andrew Luck. The 10-game win streak that the Colts have over the Titans, all those things are things that make this, to me, a must-win game

because you get those out of the way and you build even more confidence on top of what they were able to do last week by taking down Aaron Rodgers and the Green Bay Packers. Oh, there's no doubt about it. You've got to build on what you did last week with beating the Packers and Aaron Rodgers. And I think when you look at that, this is really one of the last obstacles,

major obstacles toward restoring this team back to respectability is to get on even footing with the Indianapolis Colts, a team that has had their number over the years. Fifteen out of sixteen, the last ten in a row, all won by Indianapolis. And we're talking not just losing to Peyton Manning and Andrew Luck. There's a loss to Curtis Painter in there. There's a loss to Josh Freeman in there. So this is something that is as much mental as it is physical for the Titans

in terms of how they've fared against the Indianapolis Colts over the years. And, Terry, we'll give away another little secret here. This is our secret, by the way, just for our listeners. The Monday edition coming up of Locked On Titans will be, Terry, recorded live on Sunday night from Lucas Oil Stadium. You and I and Brad will all be in Indianapolis Sunday for the game, and we're going to record the Monday edition up there from Lucas Oil Sunday night for people to be able to listen to here on the network on Monday.

So I look forward to that. I always have fun when the three of us are able to get together and do the broadcast or the podcast together. But then certainly to be able to throw in doing it from the press deck at Lucas Oil Stadium would be a little extra added fun for you and I and Brad. Oh, there's no doubt about it, plus the road trip. Yeah, well, you know, we always have fun on road trips. Those can certainly be interesting,

and I've got a feeling, and not to get too far afield here, but we've never been to Indianapolis at any time it wasn't cold, so I'm expecting to need long johns and wool hats and gloves and things because any time, even if we went up there in July, I think it would still be like five degrees and a wind factor up there in Indianapolis. It's just always that way. I think you're exactly right.

Even if we went up there for training camp, I think they would find a way to have a cold front come through. It's just the way it is. Speaking of cold fronts, the Titans, of course, cold for the last ten in a row versus the Titans. And as we jump into our coach's corner today, that was the subject or one of the subjects that was spoken about by Chuck Pagano, asked by the Nashville media in a conference call on Wednesday about the Colts and the 10-game win streak.

And as you would expect, Terry, and I know you heard the conference call, Pagano played this off really is not much. And in a sense, he's right. But as you said a moment ago, I think it's more mental. But this was the comment that Chuck Pagano had in reference to that 10-game winning streak. Yeah, it really doesn't have relevance. What's in the past is in the past, and history is history.

The record is what it is. They're a different team. We're a different team, even from less than a month ago, rather, when we last played. We've got to prepare accordingly. We know the challenges that we face, and certainly nothing that we've done in the past is going to have any bearing on this ballgame if we don't do all the little things that I just talked about from execution standpoint, blocking, tackling, running, and catching

and all those kinds of things, then we don't have a chance in this game. And certainly, Terry, that's a valid point that history, though, it favors the Colts, really doesn't have any relevance, perhaps, other than maybe mentally in the minds of the Titans. I agree. I think it's one of those things, too.

And, Greg, maybe college is a little different than the NFL in this regard. Certainly there are different aspects of the college game that are different from the NFL and all. But you know in rivalry games, whether it's Tennessee and Florida or whether it's Alabama and Auburn, when one team gets the upper hand and they reel off six, seven, eight wins in a row against the rival team, then it does get in their head. No matter what you say, there is a psychological advantage to being the team that has dominated the team across the way from you,

and especially if that team is one of your rivals, and certainly the Colts are a Titans rival because they're inside the same division. So tell me if you agree or disagree with that. But I agree completely. I think completely it's a psychological advantage when you own a win streak over an opponent. Oh, absolutely. I agree 100%. Now, there certainly have been times when the Colts were by far a better team overall than the Titans during this streak.

Obviously, in the last couple of years, even though the Colts had some down times, of course, Andrew Luck being injured, but still, there have been games in this stretch where the Colts should have won the game. They were the better team, but right now, Terry, when you look at these two teams on paper against each other, it's hard to say that the Colts are the better team in this matchup. When you look at the two and the way that they're playing right now, even though it's in Indy, and granted Indy's probably going to be favored. I haven't looked at the betting lines on it, but I would say that the Titans are the better team going into this game. Now, that

certainly does not mean I'm predicting they're going to win or that they will, but I think at this point, playing better football, and both have a win over the Packers, but what the Titans did, certainly very convincing in the way that they handled the Titans. I think they're a little bit better right now. I would agree with that. And the thing is, I thought they were the better team when they met here a month ago, but it didn't work out that way because the Titans

had critical turnovers, an interception and a fumble. The fumble being returned for a touchdown, that was during the time where Marcus Mariota was going through his struggles with turning the football over, you know, and, you know, that was not the case last week against the Packers. If he can avoid the turnovers that have plagued him, I think you're exactly right. I think the Titans are the more complete team. The X factor, of course, is Andrew Luck,

because Andrew Luck has pretty much dominated the Titans throughout his entire career. He's found a way to beat them in almost every instance where he's been on the field against them. He has dominated even when he didn't have the better personnel around him. Let's move on to our players' corner where Terry had the conference call today with T.Y. Hilton, the outstanding wide receiver for the Colts, and he was asked about what stood out to him from the first matchup versus the Titans a few weeks ago, and this is what T.Y. Hilton had to say about that matchup. Their defense, they played great

together. The front seven is doing a tremendous job helping out those guys in the back end who are playing as a unit as well. McCourty, Cox, McCain, they're doing a great job in the back end and holding their own whenever they're in man coverage. Now, certainly T.Y. Hilton is not going to go out, Terry, and disrespect an opponent and say, oh, they're garbage, we can do this or we can do that. Anything of that nature, anything inflammatory that is going to incite the other team, inspire them, fire them up, or motivate them. But you kind of think about that and go, well, you know, yes and no.

I mean, the Titans made some plays in that game in the secondary, but they also gave up over 300 yards passing to Andrew Luck in that game. And other than T.Y. Hilton, he was playing with a bunch of nondescript, if you will, players with the exception perhaps of Jack Doyle, who has done a few things in the NFL, but a lot of guys largely that we hadn't heard a lot about in their NFL careers. Oh, there's no doubt about it. I think, you know, when you talk about the way he's done things

and the way he's been able to get things done. It's amazing. He's a lot like Phillip Rivers. He's a lot like what we've seen Aaron Rodgers have to deal with this year. The Colts have dominated, and they've dominated mainly because of Andrew Luck and his ability to get the ball to guys like T.Y. Hilton. Now, they're going to be a little bit more healthy. Dwayne Allen comes in this week, should be healthy. Jack Doyle is healthy once again, of course.

And we've seen the Titans, Terry, struggle with tight ends. So put on your coaching hat now. Play Dick LeBeau for a minute. I know you're not quite as much of a veteran as he is, but what would you do defensively, just off the top of your head, to try to combat what we think we're going to see? Because I've got a feeling we're not going to see the Colts with that three-tight-end Max Protect look this week that we saw from them a few weeks ago.

Well, I think you're going to have to disguise coverage and you're going to have to disguise your blitzes, which is what Dick LeBeau loves to do. And I think maybe at times maybe you even put a spy on Andrew Luck. Maybe you, you know, if you trust your secondary, which I'm not sure the Titans completely do, but if you trust your secondary, maybe you put a Sean Spence to spy Andrew Luck to keep him from scrambling around and beating you. And maybe you, you know, and you pick your spots where you blitz.

I wouldn't blitz all the time, but I would pick my spots to blitz and I would send it from unconventional areas. Maybe a nickelback. Maybe an inside linebacker or something like that to do some stunting and that sort of thing. I would try to surprise him as much as possible and I'm sure Dick Lebow will have

some tricks up his sleeve. Well, you know, we saw a little bit of that against Aaron Rodgers last Sunday. Kevin Byard having a sack coming from the safety spot on a safety blitz where he had actually came up in what would have been kind of a nickel position on that particular play and came off the edge and was able to get there for the sack. So as you said, I think we're going to see some of that, but I think that's the key, Terry, getting to Andrew Luck, not just affecting him because he certainly is accurate and dangerous when he's moving around. They've got to get sacks. They've got to get this guy on the ground if they're going to have a chance to win.

And I'll get into that a little bit more, because that's part of my final thought, which, by the way, it's time for the final thought, so go ahead and take it away with yours for today. Alright, my final thought in terms of this ballgame, I think about some of the guys that have really been around the Titans for a long time, and they've not had any success against the Indianapolis Colts. I'm thinking about guys like Jason McCourty, like Brett Kern,

like Jarrell Casey, Derek Morgan, those types of guys. And I think this game, to get a win in Indianapolis, to get that 800-pound gorilla off their back, this game means a lot to those guys if they're able to get a win. Because not only does it keep the Titans in playoff contention, it allows them to finally do something that they've not really been able to do much of in their career let me read you a quote from a story that i'm working on for tomorrow i'll go ahead and uh let the quote out out there

but this is derrick morgan talking about just the titans and being able to have a chance to play meaningful football down the stretch which is something that would happen if and being able to have a chance to play meaningful football down the stretch, which is something that would happen if they're able to get a win on Sunday. He said, quote, it's been miserable going out there and losing and beating your body down for nothing. Now it's like you still get bumps and bruises, but everything doesn't hurt quite as bad after a W.

That's Derek Morgan talking about what it means to him to finally be on a competitive team again. So these guys are going to be extra motivated on Sunday, I think, to go out there and try to finally turn the tables on the Colts. My final thought, Terry, and that was great. I really like that quote and think that obviously Derek Morgan is a very, very smart young man and is a quiet leader on this football team.

And for him to say that says a lot, and hopefully his teammates certainly will hear that, read that, and I'm sure he's probably telling them the same thing and take that to heart. But for me, this game on Sunday comes down to two things, and Derek Morgan is part of one of those two things. It's the Titans defense versus Andrew Luck. I think that the Titans offense, certainly the way they're playing, putting up points, they are going to be able to score points against this Colts defense on Sunday. The defense for the Titans has to be able to

not just affect Andrew Luck to make him scramble around and make plays on the run or make plays with his legs, which he's certainly capable of doing. They've got to get sacks. They've got to beat this guy up, and I don't mean that in a bad sense. I mean that in the sense of a football game. Get to him, hit him within the course of the play, sack him, make him uncomfortable to the point where he can't do the things that he does

to beat you. If the defense can have that kind of game, the Titans offense, I think, scores enough points. And I think the Titans certainly can go in there and finally exercise the demons and get rid of this Indianapolis curse, so to speak. That's going to do it for us. Remind everybody, we'll be back on Friday. Brad, will we join us? And we will have our predictions on who we think will win the game on Sunday when the Titans travel to Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis. Until then, we'll see you next time. You are Locked on Titans, your daily Tennessee Titans podcast. Part of the Locked on Podcast Network, your team every day.