Locked On Titans - Daily Podcast On The Tennessee Titans - Locked On Titans- Oct. 5- It's Wednesday and it's jam packed today, but you have to listen to get it all.

Episode Date: October 5, 2016

It's Wednesday and it's jam packed today, but you have to listen to get it all as today's show includes our What Others Are Saying, Hump Day Happenings, Pro Scope and Final Thoughts segments and as always, our Current News. #BHop #TerryMc #GregA Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Hey, where are you going, Jim? The elevator's over here. Taking the stairs. But our meeting's up on 8. Yeah, I know. But that's 8 floors up. That's like 8 times... I don't... a lot of stairs. That's the point. I've already lost a few pounds and earned almost $100 in wellness incentives. Whoa, you're getting rewarded for working out? Yeah, I know. I'm just as surprised as you are, Bob.

Fearless is full of surprises. That's the power of the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Federal Employee Program. Learn more about our healthy benefits and sign up at fepblue.org slash choose blue by December 11th. You are locked on Titans. Your daily podcast on the Tennessee Titans. Your team every day. Okay. And welcome to Locked on Titans, your daily source for all Titans news, with your host, Terry McCormick of Titan Insider, Greg Arias, and former Tennessee Titans Pro Bowl left tackle Brad Hopkins. Guys, it is Wednesday, which means Brad is back with us today, Terry,

and we have got a lot of things in store for you, including our current news segment, what others are saying, our hump day happenings, which I think is really going to be good today, some interesting things in that segment, and then our Pro Scope where we look at things from around the NFL. Let's jump right in, guys, and start with the current news, and I want to open up with Brad because, Terry, you and I spoke about this yesterday,

but I want to go back and get Brad's thoughts on this. The firing that was announced of special teams coach Bobby April on Monday. Brad, obviously you've been through similar things probably at times in your career. Your thoughts on that move by the Titans? Well, I understand basically in a nip and tuck ball game where it's back and forth, particularly you being on the road, a special teams play shouldn't be the team that sinks you. And I know that it never really comes down to just one play, particularly you being on the road, a special teams play shouldn't be the team that sinks you. And I know that it never really comes down to just one play, particularly in 60 minutes, but that was a huge momentum swing for the Titans.

And you just can't have those kind of breakdowns. I don't think that it was that play particularly. It might have been a culmination of things, you know, up to that point, but that was probably just the cherry on top of the sundae as far as them needing to make changes in the special teams to not be a hindrance in the game itself. Other current news and happenings, and guys, this is a potential development that could arise because of Hurricane Matthew that is scheduled to hit the East Coast and Florida sometime over the next couple of days. There is a small potential, and Mike Malarkey mentioned this on his radio show last night,

that the game with Miami could be moved to Nashville because of the hurricane. And, Terry, obviously this would be a dramatic move by the NFL, and how would they go about trying to do this? Because certainly nobody in Nashville has a ticket to the game, and I doubt 60,000 people from Miami are going to drive to Nashville simply to watch an NFL game on a Sunday. Yeah, this would certainly be a serious dilemma for the NFL, the Titans, and the Dolphins to try to figure out exactly how they wanted to do these things

as they have to move this ballgame. So I think it's going to be very interesting to see exactly if this comes to pass, how the league's going to handle it, and how all these moving parts are going to be put in motion. Brad, you went through a similar situation. You guys in Miami, as a matter of fact, back in 2004, where they actually moved the game up one day so that you could get it in and then be out of town ahead of a hurricane that was about to hit at that time. Yeah, Terry, that's exactly what I was going to say,

was that maybe they moved the game up maybe by a few hours or even maybe by a day, but I just don't think that them being able to move the venue all the way from Miami to Tennessee would be advantageous for the Dolphins, who obviously are looking for this week's home paycheck. I think that you might see a time adjustment as far as, say, if it was a 1 o'clock Eastern Standard Time kickoff, it might be 10 o'clock. They might try an early afternoon or late Saturday afternoon ticket as well. If it seems like the sprint is moving in, we'll have an effect on the game. In other news, and Terry, you wrote a rebuttal to this in Titan Insider,

and we'll let you speak on that and get Brad's thoughts as well. But the Tennessean had an article that came out this week asking about Mike Malarkey, and is he on the hot seat? Just four games into the season now, a one-in-three, not the best record in the world, but this is his first year rebuilding. We know all of the details that go around it. Kind of give us your thoughts on that

and why you wrote a rebuttal to that in Titan Insider. Well, you know, to think that, I mean, I know people look at the firing of Bobby April and saying, well, there's, you know, Malarkey's doing this to, you know, to think that, I mean, I know people are looking at the firing of Bobby April and saying, well, there's, you know, Malarkey's doing this to, you know, save his own skin and that sort of thing. But to say that Malarkey, who was handpicked by ownership and was given the okay by John Robinson when he accepted the job, that he would be okay with Mike Malarkey being the head coach, you know, to say that he's on the hot seat and that he could be fired, you know, just

four games into the season, that's jumping the gun just a little bit, I think. You know, they're going to give this guy the opportunity to implement his plan and to get, you know, his type of players in here to try and turn this thing around. He and John Robbins are working together. I think most everybody knew that when the Titans went into this season, they were hopeful that they would be better and looking for better results on the field. But I think most everybody understood that this is not a one-year rebuild, that this team was so far gone that it was going to take more than one draft,

more than one offseason in free agency to try to fix what was wrong with this team. You know, they've fixed a few things. They've improved the running game, improved the offensive line, and that sort of thing. But they're still, you know, short at wide receiver. They're still short in the secondary. They still, you know still lack depth in some

areas of the roster. So I think when you look at it, it's really crazy to even think that they would junk what's going on a quarter of the way into the first season. Now, if they go 3-13 again, then yeah, maybe you can start that talk up. But let's

wait and see how this season unfolds before we say that Mike Malarkey's job is a danger. You know, I think that, you know, Greg Terry, when a team has been dysfunctional for the number of years that the Titans have been, it's easy to kind of get back into that same mindset, that same thinking when it's reoccurring as far as the season goes. But I think when you look at Amy Adams' commitment, when you look at John Robinson and Mike Malarkey,

they're togetherness, basically basically them putting together this roster and that one-mind thinking and how they're developing Marcus Mariota, those are the changes that you want to see happen. Change isn't immediate. And I think that it's just easier for people to kind of look at the situation that the Titans are in now being one and three. Like this is a mirror of the past few seasons that we've seen. What's the difference? Well, the difference is the level of expectation that has been raised since all the changes have transpired over at the facility,

from the rebuilding of the indoor facility, the bubble, to giving the players locker room a spritzing to make the guys feel good about coming to work in the morning. All of these things will have an effect ultimately, but just maybe not right this very second. So let's just pump the brakes on the changing of the guard, so to speak. You're listening to Locked on Titans on the Locked on Podcast Network. And, guys, it's time for our next segment, What Others Are Saying. And we jump into some things from Pro Football Focus that talks about, and I'm going to change up on you guys

because I actually found something that we talked about that is a little bit more poignant than what we discussed in our pre-show meeting, but it has to do with the offensive line struggles. And when you look at the grades from Pro Football Focus, Taylor LeJuan and Jack Conklin, both grade high, LeJuan 81.4, Conklin 77.8, but it's the inside blocking trio of Ben Jones and guards Quentin Spain and Josh Klein that have struggled in pass protection as they combine to give up

nine total quarterback pressures on Sunday versus the Texans, guys, and I think certainly that is telling about what's going on because they also struggled to run the football on the inside, just 41 yards on 14 carries between the guards and the center in that game. Yeah, I'd go first here if you want, Terry.

Sure, you are the offensive line expert, not me. There has to be a level of continuity. We know that. There has to be a level of cohesion, those guys understanding each other. And when parts are interchanging, you know, it doesn't allow them to be consistent. I think when you look at the talent, you know, between these two young tackles, these bookends, as they develop,

they're going to be the future of this franchise, I do believe. But if you also look at the interior of this offensive line, you know, it's piecemeal together. You know, some of these guys are journeymen. Some of these guys are commitments from the Titans, you know, ever since they came into the league. But for the most part, you know, them not necessarily having the minutes logged in playing with one another

definitely shows on Sunday. I'm not saying they're the most talented group in the middle either, because they're trying to make changes to find the right mix, the right guys. But I just think that you obviously see by statistical analysis just how formidable our bookends can be. And they're just rookies, except for Taylor, of course. But still, they're very young guys that are developing into these positions, playing very well at this point.

But they need the interior of that line to establish the thing that they've been talking about the most, Jerry, which is that run game. If you can't get the line pushed in the middle, if you can't create the holes between the center, Terry, which is that run game. If you can't get the line pushed in the middle, if you can't create the holes between the center guard combinations, then there's really no place for the running back to go, and they usually end up in the backfield anyway with no momentum. So they have to, if they want to get back to that philosophy that they talked about, figure out what they need to do to get the best, most punishing rushers,

I mean run blockers up front, and then be also pretty good in pass protection, which is a hard balance in itself. But they have the ability to do to get the best, most punishing rushers, I mean run blockers up front and then be also pretty good in pass protection, which is a hard balance in itself. But they have the ability to do it. Yeah, I agree. I think this offensive line has been probably a pleasant surprise. I know that they were adamant about wanting to

fix the offensive line this year and get it corrected and get those types of things behind them in terms of all the problems that they've had not only protecting the passer, but in terms of running the football. They've been able to do that for the most part. I know there have been some penalties here and there, but I think for the most part this offensive line has graded out very well,

and I think that it's really one of the strengths of this football team. I would agree with that, even though the numbers from that game, and certainly that was a one game sampling, things obviously change week to week in the NFL. What doesn't go right one week could very well the next. And so I still think, though, that there is a little bit of issue, but I think Brad touched on it, and we talked about the cohesion. Remember, Chance Wormack goes out, Josh Klein comes in. He has only been in the lineup for two games now, and so that is still a work in progress with he, along with Ben Jones and even Jack Conklin, to his right as

the right tackle, trying to figure some things out. So give them a little bit more time there, and let's see how that changes, but certainly also give credit to Houston, I think, as well, defensively. They're not bad up front. They made the Titans look bad in some areas because of their talent. Yeah, I would say, though, that if you think about what, like, you know, Taylor LeJuan matched up against Stevion Clowney. I thought Stevion Clowney might have won the run, you know, stopping thing as far as those

guys going up against one another. But, you know, these are two first-round picks. When you look at Quentin Spain, he's a college free agent, you know, stopping things as far as those guys going up against one another. But, you know, these are two first-round picks. When you look at Quentin Spain, he's a college free agent, you know, last year. Ben Jones was an unrestricted guy coming out of Houston, but yet obviously they thought he was serviceable because he's not with the Houston Texans anymore. And Josh Klein, he was waived by the Patriots. So if you think of the interior of the offensive line, there's youth,

there's journeymen, you know, there's just not the commitment that we see with the bookends being first-rounders, and that's obvious by the way they're playing right now. Let's move along to our next segment, Hump Day Happenings, guys, and we've got two things to discuss here that are going to take place this week with the game with Miami. One of them, first off, is the return of Rashad Matthews going back to Miami. Of course, he was signed by the Titans as a free agent in the offseason. He will face his old team, not for the first time, technically.

He went there, you know, the Titans went in the preseason and faced these guys. That one didn't count. This one will. Thoughts on how it will be for him going back against his old team? And Terry, we'll start this one with you. Yeah, I think any time a guy goes up against his old team, you know, no matter what he might say, he doesn't want to be a distraction, doesn't want the focus to be on him. It's a big deal because you want to show the team that didn't want to keep you or let you

go, that sort of thing. You want to show them that they made a mistake, and you want to show them that this is what you could have been doing for them, and instead you're doing it now for the team that's going to try and beat them on Sunday. So I think it's a big deal for Rashard Matthews, even if he tells us this week during practice that it's not a big deal. Yeah, I agree with that 100%. I think the guy that's been in the league, Terry Gregg, for five years,

he understands about weathering emotions. We saw how it affected Odell Beckham Jr. this week with the Vikings basically getting in his head. And I think that it's a situation where Rashard Matthews knows that, hey, look, there's going to be a lot of eyes on him. There's going to be a lot of familiarity with his style from him on defense. And he has to be able to go out there and make plays. But it's also advantageous for him, too, because he's most familiar with that defensive front.

He understands exactly what they're going to try and do against him. So him being a veteran, being able to table his emotions, and also being familiar with their style of defense and what they're going to be trying to do to take him out of the game should be able to help him as well. Our second thing in hump day happenings, and Brad, you segued into this perfectly when you said defensive front because the coach of the defensive line for the Miami Dolphins is a guy that you know a little bit. You spent a little bit of time,

even though you weren't necessarily working under him, but working with him, Jim Washburn, the line coach there. He was a favorite of pretty much everybody around here back in his days with the Titans. Yeah, you know, I'll say this. When I did the broadcast boot camp for the NFL a few months back, I knew I had to really start learning defenses. That way I could speak articulately about both sides of the ball. So I reached out immediately to Jim Washburn.

And Jim told me then, he said, you know, Brad, I'm down here helping train these guys in Miami. I'd be more than happy to help you, but I'm just not in Nashville anymore right at this very minute. So then I knew when he went down there to rejoin Indomitian Sioux and the rest of that vaunted pass rush that they were going to be different this year. He is an extreme difference maker.

Terry, you've seen him up close and personal, what he can actually do with the talent that we have on this team. Sometimes he can be a little brash, but for the most part, he's very effective and can reach his guys. I expect this to be a formidable challenge because they have one Jim Washburn back in the fold. What do you think, Terry? Yeah, Jim Washburn's been one of my favorites. He's a salt of the earth guy and kind of salty sometimes in the way he goes about it. But he is a guy who what you see is what you get with Jim Washburn. If you're playing well, he's going to tell you about it.

If you're not playing well, he's going to tell you about that even more. And he's got a lot of talent to work with down there. He's got Mario Williams, Dominick Su, Cameron Wake. He's got a pretty good group to go with there with that Miami Dolphins defensive line. So it's going to be interesting to see. It's funny, if he were still here, I can't help but think that guys like Jarrell Casey and Carl Klug would be some of his favorites. Absolutely.

Yeah, he was a guy that I think between he and Mike Heimerdinger, the late Mike Heimerdinger, the Titans staff at that time might have led the league in colorful language, shall we say, back in those days. There was always some fun, and we won't get into what was said, but I'm sure all three of us have some memories of comments made by those two guys at times to players on the field. Yeah, don't get us wrong. Vance Joseph is definitely the defensive coordinator, but when you look at assistants like Jim Washington, have some memories of comments made by those two guys at times to players on the field. Yeah, don't get us wrong.

Vance Joseph is definitely the defensive coordinator, but when you look at assistants like Jim Washburn, their value cannot be discounted. Just like Terry mentioned, he's going to have in Dominican Sioux, Cameron Wake, Mario Williams, he's going to have them at a fever pitch because they're going to play his old team. So it might even be a little bit more on it, the fact that they get to host them and get the Titans into town. Let's move along to our next segment. This is called Pro Scope, where we look at things from around the NFL.

And, guys, obviously the big news this week, Brad, Tom Brady returns to the New England Patriots as if they didn't need any help already. They did fairly well in the first four games without him, considering they used two different quarterbacks during that time. Still, Brady returns. Yeah, I think that, Terry, Greg, this is a situation where the New England Patriots did a phenomenal job of preparing for Tom Brady's exit

because they've had, you know, it didn't matter what quarterback was under center, they were playing at a high level. Obviously until last weekend, Jacoby Brissett was very ineffective, but that's almost as to be expected with a young guy like that. 3-1 is an extremely welcome record, I'm sure, for the Patriots as they get their field general back into the fold. I think there might be some, obviously, simple adjustments like getting into shape, football shape, things like that, since he has been away from the facility for a month. But this is Tom Brady, Terry.

This is a guy that, especially against the Cleveland Browns defense this weekend, he knows them. He knows exactly what to do, especially in this system, which he's most familiar. I expect a dirt road whooping this weekend. What about you? Yeah, I think so. It's good of the league to give him a preseason game with the winless Browns on the schedule to get started so he can come back. But it's good for the league to give him a preseason game with the winless Browns on the schedule to get started so he can come back.

But it's interesting. You know, the Patriots go 3-1 without Brady, and they use not only Jimmy Garoppolo, but they're forced to use Jacoby Brissett. It's interesting to me, you know, Bill Belichick had things really rolling, and then, you know, the shutout loss to the Bills, which I think is a little bit of an anomaly. You know, to me, Bill Belichick is the best coach in the league, and it's not even close.

And I think the fact that he has the Patriots at 3-1, still largely in the driver's seat to win the AFC East again without their field general in Tom Brady. You know, it just speaks volumes about this organization and what type of coach he is. I think dirt road whipping was a great way to put it. Brady gets the preseason game, guys. That was some good stuff.

Our other thing in ProScope we want to look at today quickly is TV ratings. They've been down, apparently, according to some numbers that Brad brought to us. Have you got those numbers handy, Brad? Yeah, as a matter of fact, I do. They were looking at the stats of this past weekend's game, the Vikings and, of course, the Giants. And the tail of the tape from week four last year to week four this year is they're down about 8%. Even the Sunday night game this past weekend was down also a percentage. Now, they were saying that maybe the presidential debates this past week, you know,

had something to do with the numbers of people, you know, tuning in. But essentially, I think people are maybe finding something else to do. You know, they're finding more diversity in their sports entertainment. Now, sure, the NFL is still the juggernaut, and they've got a lot of influence as far as the television dollars. But for the most part, I think that when fans are finding options or they're not necessarily happy with the direction that the team is going, they're finding other things to do.

What do you think, Terry? Yeah, it sounds that way. And I think the ratings, as the weather gets colder, I think you'll see the ratings come around. I think, you know, right now it's still warm outside and most of the country people going and finding stuff to do, like you said. But I think once you're sitting around and the fireplace is rolling and it's a Sunday afternoon and it's cold outside, you'll see the ratings pick back up. I think part of it, guys, might have to do, and call me crazy, feel free to do that, but

is with the oversaturation of things. You know, when we were kids, you had Sunday football. You would get one or two, maybe three games on a Sunday. Then you would get a Monday night game. So you really only got four, maybe five games depending on where you live. Nowadays you get every game obviously with the NFL network. You get replays. You got red zone. But you've got Sunday football where you get games all day long. You've got Sunday night football.

You've got Monday football. You've got Thursday night football. It's just so much out there that people can find it anywhere they want. And I agree with what you said, Terry, about when it gets a little colder and there's not as much stuff to do outside. But I also think maybe that has a little bit of something to do with it as well because people are not necessarily interested in seeing some of the games at times, like coming up next Thursday, the Titans and the Jags.

I'd be interested to see what the numbers are on that. I think they might be fairly low outside of those two markets. So that's just kind of where I go with that. You know, I'll just kind of expound on that a little bit. Football was the unique sport to where you only play once a week. And there's the processional up to that point. You know, there are people who really kind of look. All of a sudden, you've got a Thursday game.

And as we know, the season changes. There's a Saturday game. Then there's a Sunday game. Then've got Thursday game. And as we know, you know, the season changes. There's a Saturday game. Then there's a Sunday game. Then there's a Monday game. It's like, you know what, this isn't baseball. You know, but they're not playing more than once a week. But it's kind of hard for, you know, everybody when they're used to tuning in on Sunday to watch their team all day long.

Now that you can kind of find out when they're playing, I think that does kind of screw the whole timetable thing up a little bit, maybe just because you're having so many options of when to see it. You know, they're not tuning in all the time. Absolutely. That brings us to our final thoughts on the day as we close out another edition of Locked on Titans here on the Locked on Podcast Network.

And, Terry, we'll start with you for your final thought. Well, my final thought is that you know the Titans are at one and three and they're going down to Miami and I think you're talking about a team that is now being nitpicked in terms of why they're not winning and Marcus Mario is being analyzed and overanalyzed by everybody wondering what's wrong you know why he's not performing like he did last year why he's not performing like he did last year, why he's not performing like he did at Oregon, why he's not making progress.

To me, it's time to just simplify everything, turn the kid loose, let him play football. If he makes mistakes, let him make mistakes, and just see what it's time to take the bridle off of him, and let him go, and let's let him see exactly how far he can take this team. I think the one good thing that Mike Malarkey is doing is not adding pressure to Marcus Mario, even though he's continuing to make the mistakes.

I think that they see the preparation and they see exactly how he wants to be better and will be at some point in time. So I think it's good to have a coach like that that understands, just like you said, Terry, the growth of a young quarterback like that and that it's going to take some time. I know that we just talked about the interior of the offensive line and them sometimes being inefficient

and how daunting the pass rush is going to be for the Miami Dolphins. But just being honest, tail of the tape, this Miami Dolphins team is very susceptible to getting beat. Obviously, both teams are 1-3. Both quarterbacks have thrown five interceptions. The one good thing for the Titans is that fourth in the league in rushing the football is to where the Dolphins are 29th.

You know, past yards per game, the Dolphins are 16th compared to the Titans 27th. That might be an added advantage for the Dolphins, but, you know, yards per game. You know, the Dolphins are right down there near the bottom at 26th, and points per game 28th. So this is a very susceptible team. Without the mistakes the Titans have made over the bottom at 26, and points per game, 28. So this is a very susceptible team.

Without the mistakes the Titans have made over the first few weeks, this team could definitely go down to Miami and get a W. They're that easy to beat, in my opinion. My final thought leads me to a word of the day for Titans fans, and that word is patience. Let's pump the brakes on the malarkeys on the hot seat. We've got to get a different coach. Perhaps that's the case, but let's get through this season and see what transpires before we decide to do that the

same goes for marcus mariota i was looking at some numbers and we'll talk about this on friday when brad rejoins us then guys but through 16 games of his nfl career marcus mariota has better numbers than steve mc McNair in the 16 games that McNair played, not the games that he sat on the bench, obviously. So patience. Let's pump the brakes. Let's just hold on. Don't get too excited that things are bad and that this team is going to be what it's

been over the last two years. We're seeing improvement. We're seeing them play closer games with teams. They are in games having a chance to win, and that's something that we didn't see over the last two seasons. That's going to do it for us today. We'll join you again on Thursday. Brad will be back with us on Friday. Until then, enjoy the rest of the week.

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