Locked On Titans - Daily Podcast On The Tennessee Titans - Locked On Titans- Oct27- It's GAMEDAY for the Titans

Episode Date: October 27, 2016

It's GAMEDAY for the Titans and we get you up to date on those injured and out and who is questionable. We also have out Coaches & Players Corner segments in more. #BHop #TerrMc #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 Titan Insider. It is Thursday, which means game day. Titans get set to host the Jacksonville Jaguars

tonight at Nissan Stadium. And we woke up on Thursday morning to a little bit of rain in the Nashville area. The temperatures are still fairly mild, but rain outside. And the forecast, though, does seem to favor the fact that that might be gone by time for kickoff tonight. Yeah, it's a little bit of showers early in the morning, but it's supposed to clear off. It's really supposed to be a pleasant night for football at Nissan Stadium. As our players and coaches' corners on, we also use, and of course, the current news, Terry, once again, are out for the game tonight, and the two more remain questionable to be able to participate for the game tonight,

and the two more remain questionable to be able to participate in the game tonight. That's right. The Titans have already declared, obviously, Quentin Spain and Parrish Cox out. We kind of knew that early in the week from the injuries that they suffered Sunday against the Colts, but a little bit of a surprise, Rashad Johnson, the starting free safety, is also out for tonight with a neck injury. So look for Kevin Byer, Damian Stafford, and Denoris Searcy to split most of the safety reps back there. The Titans have been using a rotation.

Also questionable tonight for the Titans, linebacker Kevin Dodd still dealing with the repercussions of that foot injury that he had surgery on back in May. And Tajay Sharp, the rookie receiver who was the big hit of training camp, slowed a little bit in practice by a knee sprain. It'll be interesting to see how much the Titans will be able to get out of him tonight. And certainly those are some key injuries for this Titans team, especially Rashad Johnson, as you mentioned, Terry, the way the Titans have been rotating their safeties back there. That

means that there's one less guy in the rotation, and perhaps that might force the Titans to have to use someone else at a safety position in case of an injury, especially tonight, if one of those three were to go down. That's true. I would look for Curtis Riley to be active tonight, probably helping out on special teams mostly, but if somebody were to go down, there's a chance that he could find himself in that rotation on the defense as well. To me, it's a pretty big concern that you've got two starters in the secondary that are not going to be able to play tonight because the passing game and the receivers and Allen Robinson and Allen Hearns, that's the strength of the Jacksonville Jaguars.

If you throw in tight end Julius Thomas, who actually is questionable with an ankle injury, if he's able to go, the Jaguars may try to exploit the Titans secondary given that they're without two of their key performers. And not only that, but the fact that when you look back the last two weeks, we've seen it, Terry, here at home. The Titans have given up over 300 yards passing. I know we keep harping on that,

but that is now magnified with the fact that two starters will be out of there. And you've got to think that the Titans have been pretty good against the run, that the Jaguars know this and will want to come out and try to take advantage of that secondary, especially since they feel like, and I feel like, and you probably do as well, that there's an advantage for the Jaguars with Hearns and Robinson at wide receiver over what we've seen the last two weeks from teams

that have been able to do this with far less talent on the outside than those two. Oh, absolutely. I don't think they've faced a team, except maybe the Raiders this year, that has that same type of one-two punch that the Jaguars have on the outside. Raiders with Marty Cooper and Michael Crabtree. But most of the teams that they've faced have really only had one weapon on the outside. You know, thinking of guys like T.Y. Hilton, DeAndre Hopkins, Golden Tate, you know, this will be really only the second time this year that the Titans have faced a team with two good threats outside.

So it's going to be a challenge, especially with a couple of guys in that second year. And, of course, I think that initially put more pressure on the pass rush. We saw the Titans two weeks in a row with six sacks. We saw them last week with just one being able to get to Andrew Luck. Now the Colts did play a lot of tight ends, keeping sometimes two and three in to max protect for him. But that means that the Titans just have to find a way with this secondary

in the situation it's in to get pressure on Blake Bortles and not just hit him but get him on the ground for sacks tonight if they're going to have a chance to help out this ailing secondary. Right, and I would think that given Blake Bortles' struggles in terms of hitting the guys in the other jersey with the football, I would think he'd want to get that pressure on him to try and rattle him, maybe get some turnovers. Now, Dick LeBeau is a master of defense. We know he's an innovator.

He's done a lot of things. Could we see him maybe pull some type of rabbit out of his hat tonight with some type of new defense or scheme or look to something to give Bortles here in this situation, knowing that he's a couple of guys down back there and trying to help out that secondary? I think that's a possibility. I would think that when you look at where they are in terms of personnel,

I would think that he would pull out all the stops and try to get as much of an advantage as he can. And you know Dick LePo, he's going to try to do whatever he can to create havoc back there in the pocket and make that quarterback as uncomfortable as possible. It certainly means that there's a lot of pressure on the Titans front tonight to perform at a higher level. And Terry, I did a segment last night on Sirius Fantasy Radio talking about the game. And I'm not the biggest fantasy guy in the world.

In fact, I don't really play it. But I was asked a question on social media by one of their listeners afterwards about would he start the Titans defense. He had them tonight, and a lot of people are saying start this defense. I don't know if I would start them if I were a fantasy owner tonight considering. Yeah, I think it's an easy proposition. I mean, I know you've got the Jaguars who don't have much of a running attack. You've got the Titans down a couple of people in the

secondary, and you've got a Jaguars team that has a penchant to turn the football over. I would think that the reason you would start there would be Jacksonville's bad habits of turning the football over, thinking that the Titans' defense might be able to get some takeaways in that regard. But you have to also remember this. This defense has not forced a fumble this entire season. That's hard to believe through seven games that you've not forced one fumble. Not even a fumble that they didn't get back. They just haven't forced one, which is almost unfathomable at this juncture of the season.

You're almost halfway done. I think if I'm a fantasy player, if I don't have any other options, I probably would start with tight defense. But if I've got another decent option out there, I'd probably go with that, given that they're shorthanded. Okay, Kevin, for the grand prize of $1 million, what color is the White House?

Um, I know this, I know this i know this i know this um five seconds oh switching to geico could save you a bunch of money on car insurance okay judges that's true kevin bill allow it congratulations you're a winner ge Geico, because saving 15% or more on car insurance is always a great answer. You're listening to Locked On Titans on the Locked On Podcast Network. Football is back, and SeatGeek is the smartest, easiest way to find tickets for the games you want to see up close and in person this season. There's nothing like being in the stadium for the biggest plays of the year, and with SeatGeek, it's never been easier to get the seats you want for a great value. SeatGeek has the best deals on every ticket in the house wherever you want to sit whether it's the 50 yard line the club seats or the upper level. I have the

SeatGeek app on my phone yes I really do and it's by far the easiest way I've found to shop for tickets. I can be anywhere and with just a few taps I can instantly find seats for this weekend or any game this season. With SeatGeek you always get the best deal on every ticket because SeatGeek price compares for you by searching multiple ticket sites. Prices can vary depending on where you shop but SeatGeek will always find you the lowest prices available and SeatGeek wants to help you get the most bang for your bucks. That's why every ticket on SeatGeek is given a grade based on value. You'll immediately see any underpriced seats and be able to find the best deals that fit your budget. Plus, every ticket you buy on SeatGeek is backed by their 100% guarantee. Best of all, our listeners get a $20 rebate off their

first SeatGeek purchase. How do you get this rebate? It's pretty simple. Download section on your phone. Download the SeatGeek app. Go to the settings tab. Click add a promo code. Enter the promo code LOTITANS and SeatGeek will send you $20 after you've made your first ticket purchase. Again, download the SeatGeek app.

Go to the settings tab. Click add a promo code. Enter the promo code LOTITANS, SeatGeek will send you $20 after you've made your first ticket purchase. Download the SeatGeek app and enter the promo code LOTITANS today. Terry, as always, on Thursday, we like to do... And now, insurance-minded speeches from GEICO. Hardship. My grandmother would go through it every month to pay her insurance bill. First, she would handwrite a paper check in cursive.

Then, using her own tongue, she would wet a stamp for an envelope. Today, however, we need not weary our hands and tongues. Today, we can pay our Geico bill with the Geico app. Away with hardship. In with bill pay with the Geico app. Away with hardship. In with bill pay on the Geico app. Thank you. What we call the players and coaches corner, where we take comments from the opposition,

in this case Gus Bradley, the head coach, and Blake Bortles, the quarterback, and tell you what they said on their weekly conference calls. But I'm going to throw a curveball at you today, Terry, because we're also going to add a quote from Marcus Mariota, who we've talked about a lot this week because of his struggles. And he was talking in his media availability yesterday about the short week, and this is what Marcus had to say.

Well, less time to prepare, less time to recover from a Sunday afternoon game. That's part of it. We're excited we get the opportunity to play on Thursday night at home. It's an awesome opportunity, and you just can't wait to do it. Obviously, Terry, I think probably excited is the right word, but preparation time for an offense and for a quarterback that struggled a little bit on Sunday, that is a little bit concerning to me. Yeah, a little bit.

But, you know, I think if you flip that around, it's a chance to put what happened Sunday behind you if you can turn in a good performance tonight. So I think, you know, it's kind of a 50-50 proposition. Yes, there's less time to prepare. There's less time to recover from the after effects of the game. But it gives you the early opportunity to try and put behind you the disappointment of Sunday's loss and how that unfolded for the Titans.

It's going to be interesting. I think Marcus last year against the Jaguars had that 87-yard touchdown run, and that turned out to be one of the highlights of the season for the Titans. And, you know, that turned out to be one of the highlights of the season for the Titans. And, you know, I think he's had good luck against the Jaguars in his first outings against them last year as a rookie. So I would look for that to continue because I think that the Jaguars are a team, you know, defensively that seems to, you know, he seems to be able to exploit with his skill set. Let's move along and jump into Gus Bradley's comment.

He was asked yesterday, Terry, obviously about Parrish Cox being out of the game. And certainly he knows this. I'm pretty sure Blake Bortles knows this. In fact, I'm sure on the flight up here yesterday that they were probably watching game film of the Titans secondary in the air. That's just a thought. But here's the comment from Gus Bradley. Yeah, you know what? I've got a lot of respect for him.

He's referencing Parrish Cox here. I know he's a very good player. We'll see what happens with him with the concussion. It's the NFL, and there are a lot of good players in this league. They have a lot of good players there too. Their coverage concepts, I know what they do on defense. It's been well proven and it gives a chance for a guy to step in and do very well so he's obviously setting the stage there

terry in my opinion for um whatever happens there if uh blake bortles is able to exploit the titans to be able to say yes and then if he struggles against it he can say well you know i said this in my comments that their concepts and things certainly are struggles against it, he can say, well, you know, I said this in my comments, that their concepts and things certainly are very good, and another player can step in. Yeah, I mean, one of the things about Dick LeBeau's defense when he was with the Pittsburgh Steelers, you know, they always said that the way that his own blitz was created

and the way it worked, that you didn't have to have a Darrell Revis or a Charles Whitson at cornerback. You didn't have to have a Darrell Revis or a Charles Whitson at cornerback. You didn't have to have that dominant shutdown guy that teams covet so much and that are so rare in the NFL. But I think that's a good thing in the fact that you should be able to plug another guy in, whether it's a Bryce McCain or Valentino Blake or even a Sean Sims or Cody Riggs, they'd be able to get similar production.

But the other thing is, this group has struggled, as we've talked about, especially recently. They've struggled collectively. They've given up several big plays down the field and yards after the catch at times. And I think, you know, that to me is the big concern tonight going in is can the Titans manufacture enough pressure on Blake Bortles to not allow him to get comfortable in the pocket so that he can pick on McCain or Blake or whoever might be on the field because Parrish Cox is not in the lineup.

You mentioned, Terry, the potential for the players that might step in and replace Parrish Cox tonight. Valentino Blake, of course, got a lot of play in that spot on Sunday against the Colts once Cox went out. Bryce McCain could also be there. Cody Riggs looks to be up. But LaShawn Sims is the guy that's intriguing to me because he was a mid-round or actually a late-round draft pick of the Titans

with some pretty good skills but a little bit raw coming from a smaller program. Could we see him get a shot in there tonight for the Titans to figure out what they've got in this kid? Probably only as a backup. I would think, you know, they have talked a little bit about a rotation. That might be possible that he could sneak in for a snap or two there. But I would think that they would probably be more comfortable going with the veteran guys first,

that being Valentino Blake and Bryce McCain. Yes, and Bryce McCain. I would think that that would probably be the two guys who would get the first crack at it, but the other guys would be ready to answer the call if need be if there happened to be another injury in the secondary. With all due respect to McCain and Blake, those guys just don't inspire a lot of confidence in me at this point in time, considering their past history.

Certainly Blake was the most picked on cornerback in the NFL last year as a member of the Steelers, and I've got to think that teams, if he's going to be there for any length of time, will certainly find him knowing those numbers and want to try to take advantage of him again, even though he's wearing a different color jersey. Yeah, that may be the case. In fact, I think he does have a little bit of history. I think he previously played with the Jaguars for a little while. So it's going to be interesting.

So they should know him very well. Let's move on to our next comment, and it came from quarterback Blake Bortles, and he was asked what he attributes his interceptions. It's been a little bit of everything. There's been a couple of accuracies. There's been a couple of accuracies. There's been a couple bad decisions. There's been a couple bad luck. It's been pretty cool highlight reel of interceptions.

It's a continuous thing that I'm trying to work on. We talk about it all the time, taking care of the ball and doing all that. I have to make conscious efforts every week to kind of do that and take better care of it. So basically, he's kind of throwing it all over the place. He's made some bad choices. He's been inaccurate. He's had some bad luck, which could be from tipped balls, obviously, that you can't control.

And he's saying that the guys have made some pretty good plays against him. Right. I mean, it really sounds similar kind of to what we've seen from Marcus Mariota when he was running through the little streak where he had several passes picked off. And I think both these guys, I think it's just typical. Young quarterbacks still learning what they can and can't do. And some guys get it quicker than others.

Like you look at a guy like Andrew Luck, he figured it out pretty quickly. You look at other guys, it takes a little bit longer for it to sink in and then to know exactly what's being done and what they can get away with and what they can't get away with, which is where I think both Mariota and Bortles are at right now. And then some guys never figure it out. And you hope, for their sake, if you're a fan of either of those teams, you hope that your guy doesn't sink into that category uh by continuing to make those sorts of mistakes well when you listen to social media

and i understand and know what social media is and take it for what it is obviously the fans can voice their opinion but a lot of the uh things coming out of jacksonville of late are questioning bordles as being the guy can he be the franchise quarterback for this team? And certainly we have begun, Terry, to hear some rumblings of that here in Nashville concerning Marcus. I just think it's a little bit too soon, probably on both accounts, to try to start saying those things about these two young quarterbacks because both these teams still have some deficiencies, if you will,

on the roster around their, quote, franchise quarterbacks. I would agree with that. And I think, you know, I think both of these guys, with where they're at right now, neither one is capable of putting a team on its back like you saw with Luck or like you see with guys like Phillip Rivers, to just take a team that has, you know, very average or even below average personnel

and make a competitive week in and week out. I think both of them probably are guys who, at least right now, they may get to a point in the future where they can carry a team on their back, but right now they need the players around them to step up and help them and make plays for them. And you're right. When you look, the Jaguars are missing a running game. They've struggled on the offensive line.

They've struggled to find a featured back that's going to be able to, you know, carry the load for them. The Titans have right to the opposite problem. They've got a great running game. You know, they've got such a good running game that they've got DeMarco Murray tearing it up and can't find a way to get Derrick Henry on the field. But at wide receiver, they're a little bit lacking in terms of consistent playmakers on the outside. So when you look at it that way, both these quarterbacks probably at this juncture

of their young careers need a full complement of playmakers to help them be successful. And right now, they're both missing some ingredients. We did our predictions yesterday on Wednesday. I'm glad you're here with us, and I'll go over those again a little bit later. But I think we've got to be able to get a victory in this contest. I think we've got to win the turnover battle. I really do. I think that's going to be key.

The Titans have had issues with turnovers at times this year. The Jaguars have had issues with turnovers. I think whoever comes out on the plus side of the turnover battle is probably going to be the team that winds up on top. I think so. Go with Terry running football. The Titans can run running football. Football, the Titans can run the football.

They're one of the best in the NFL at doing so. And I think to help this secondary with the issues that it could potentially have for the Titans tonight, the more time they can take off this clock with Derrick Henry coming in hopefully to get some carries tonight, DeMarco Murray having a big night, Those two guys combining for a huge game. That means that Bortles and those receivers stay on the sidelines. Now, granted, Bortles has struggled at times this year, but I'm just concerned about this secondary, especially after the last two weeks and how many yards they've given up.

And if they get into a shootout with this team, I just don't know that the Titans can win in a shootout. They have to make this a grind it out kind of game to me to have a chance. That's a possibility. It certainly is and your point is well taken as far as Titans needing to control the ball and control the time of possession.

We are closing in on the end of our time today and I will tell everybody this for the listeners that might not have heard the broadcast yesterday. Brad took the Titans to win this game 31-21. Terry took 34-30, a Titans victory, and my final score, the Titans winning 28-21. So all three of us, Terry, have picked the Titans to win this ballgame. I think they will, but again, that's why they play the games. Absolutely.

I don't think it's going to be easy by any stretch of the imagination. We're talking about a team that struggled two weeks ago against Cleveland and managed to put them away. We're talking about a team that had a chance to win late last week against the Colts and couldn't put them away and wound up on the short end. So nothing really comes easy for this Titans team. You know, I don't expect them to go out there and win 38-10 tonight. You know, I think it's going to come down and be a pretty close ballgame.

You know, and like I said before, the team that probably turns it over the lead may be the team that's winning this ballgame. Time for the final thoughts. Go ahead and give us your final thought for this game day Thursday. Well, it's something that we've harped on all week ever since the game against the Colts ended. Tonight's game is basically a loser-leaves-town match. The winner of this game is going to be right in the thick of a mediocre AFC South.

The loser of this game, even though they might only be a game or a game and a half out of first at three and five, is going to be really behind the eight ball, especially if that team is the Titans, because they already have division losses to Houston and Indianapolis. They can't afford a division loss to Jacksonville, especially at home. If they go to 0-3 in the division, pretty much their chances of making the playoffs this year, and I know that

that's something that a lot of people thought was far-fetched at the beginning of the year, including myself, but the way the division played out, they are in things right now. So, if they want to harbor any chance of being in this playoff hunt and playing meaningful football into December, then they've got to win this ballgame tonight.

You are 110% correct on that. That is exactly my final thought. But my other final thought was to add this. Yes, it is a big game. It is a must-win for the Titans, but I think the team needs to just forget that. Just go out, play the game, have fun, do what they know how to do, have fun on a Thursday night, and play loose. If they can do that, I think it certainly helps them.

If they come out tight with that, oh, no, we've got to win this game kind of mentality, that could be a bad situation for them to be in. So play loose, come out, have fun, and let's see what happens. That will do it for us today. We hope you've enjoyed it. Enjoy the game tonight. We'll be back with you on Friday where we'll break down Thursday night's game between the Jaguars and the Titans.

Until then, have a great day. You've been listening to Locked on Titans on the Locked on Podcast Network. You are locked on Titans. Until then, have a great day. You've been listening to Locked on Titans on the Locked on Podcast Network. You are Locked on Titans, your daily Tennessee Titans podcast, part of the Locked on Podcast Network, your team every day.