Locked On Titans - Daily Podcast On The Tennessee Titans - Locked On Titans- Sept. 13- What's the status of injured Titans Derrick Morgan and Kendall Wright? Find out in today's edition.

Episode Date: September 13, 2016

What's the status of injured Titans Derrick Morgan and Kendall Wright? Find out in today's edition, plus what the Titans have to do to win Sunday in Detroit and more in our 4 downs. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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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. And welcome to 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. Terry, it's Tuesday, which means Brad's not with us, of course, on Tuesdays and Thursdays,

so it's just you and I today, but a lot to talk about as we're locked on Titans, and let's jump right in with our current news. All right, Greg. Yeah, current news. As part of that yesterday, Titans made a roster move. They let go of third string quarterback Alex Tanney, placing him on waivers. And by making that move, they also brought back cornerback Cody Riggs, who was let go last week to make room for Josh Klein.

So Cody Riggs returned yesterday. Alex Tanney placed on waivers. And the bringing back of Riggs, obviously a move to help special teams and in the secondary. And an interesting move because you and I and most people that follow the team and cover the team closely had kind of felt like that the Titans would not keep a third quarterback at the end of camp when they went to cut. They did, and now all of a sudden they make this move because, of course, they went out

and added an offensive lineman in there, which forced them to do some shifting around that included releasing Riggs, and now they get him back. So it's kind of interesting what's going on with the roster at this point, what John Robinson is thinking. Yes, it is. And it's also interesting the timing of the release of Alex Tanney because, yes, I know with a quarterback, they have to get well-versed in the offense.

We saw that Sunday as the Vikings elected not to start Sam Bradford. But by releasing Tanney, they are opening up themselves to the possibility that he could be claimed. Cleveland lost Robert Griffin III Sunday to a shoulder injury Danny, they are opening up themselves to the possibility that he could be claimed. Cleveland lost Robert Griffin III Sunday to a shoulder injury and put him on injured reserve. So quarterbacks who can play a little bit in this league, even as a backup, are a pricey commodity. And with some of the quarterback play we saw last night, we saw the Rams struggle, not scoring any points.

You know, it wouldn't shock me to see Alex Tanney get picked up by somebody, but I'm sure the Titans are hoping to get him back on the practice squad as their third guy. Now, if they re-sign him, if he clears waivers and they re-sign him, they will have to make a corresponding move because the practice squad is full right now with ten current players. Is that correct? That is correct.

They would have to let go somebody on the practice squad full right now with 10 current players. Is that correct? That is correct. They would have to let go somebody on the practice squad, but they go ahead and they release Taney on Monday, hoping to add him back to the practice squad if he clears waivers at the end of the day today. Who would you speculate might be the odd man out if Taney returns to the practice squad? Well, if they brought in an offensive lineman to add to the 53-man roster

by adding Klein last week off waivers from the Patriots, so the logical move would seem to be that they would probably get rid of an offensive lineman off the practice squad, but certainly no guarantee as to what they'll do. It all just depends on how the numbers shake out at other positions. In other news, Avery Williamson on Sunday decided to wear those commemorative cleats designed for remembrance of 9-11, and Mike Malarkey at his press conference yesterday said that he would pay the fine if the NFL levied one.

Interesting development there, and Mike Malarkey, of course, also, Terry, saying that he was proud of Avery Williamson for taking a stand on that so that was an interesting development yes it was and I think you know a lot of people applauding Avery Williamson for going ahead even though he defied the league stance on it uh wearing the cleats and uh Mike Malarkey technically the club and people who work for the club cannot pay the fines, but it sounds like it will be taken care of if the league indeed decides to fine Avery Williamson for showing his support for the victims of 9-11. In other news, something that you touched on, Terry, momentarily a little bit ago, the Rams last night.

They struggled, did not score any points offensively, and that has a direct correlation of interest to the Titans and their fans because the Titans currently, after the trade of the number one pick last year, hold the Titans' first-round pick in 2017, which means that most Titans fans are probably rooting against their former head coach Jeff Fisher and the Rams. The worse they are, the higher that pick will be, and the more draft commodity or draft capital, as John Robinson calls it,

he could potentially get in a trade or, of course, a player in that position as well. So that is something of interest to watch as the Rams again lost last night. Yes, I think when you look at the value of that pick, the worse the Rams play, obviously the more valuable that pick is going to be. And with the Rams not scoring any points last night against the 49ers, who a lot of people predicted to struggle this year as well, it could be a long season in their first year back in Los Angeles. So I think a lot of Titans fans, especially watching with interest what goes

on out there on the West Coast in Southern California with the return of the Rams to Los Angeles. Yes, and those were two teams, as you said, that most people had picked towards the bottom of the league, and the Rams were supposed to have a pretty good defense, but obviously that wasn't the case last night either. No, they really struggled. And obviously the 49ers, not exactly an offensive juggernaut in their first year under Chip Kelly,

but they get three rushing touchdowns and also a passing touchdown by Blaine Gabbard in the ballgame. So, you know, very interesting to see, you know, what's going to happen there and if they can regroup the Titans, obviously looking on with great interest there as they watch from afar. Let's move on. It's Tuesday, of course. We do our four downs. First down, second, third, and fourth down and talk about four subjects of interest for the Titans. And today, Terry, as we start, we want to talk about injuries and there are two significant injuries for this Titan Titans. And today, Terry, as we start, we want to talk about injuries, and there are two significant injuries for this Titan squad.

Of course, Kendall Wright did not play on Sunday against Minnesota. We know his situation. We want to update the fans on what condition he is, if there's been any improvement. And, of course, Derek Morgan, who went out injured on Sunday against Minnesota. He was a key to the defense, and the defense lost a little something when he left the field on Sunday, didn't they? Right.

With the injury to Kendall Wright, that's a situation that the Titans are going to continue to monitor that. They're going to continue to watch Kendall Wright. Mike Malarkey said he needs to see Kendall Wright run full speed on the side before he's going to allow him to return to practice. You know, they had Kendall Wright come back to practice during the final week of the preseason, and he re-injured that hamstring, and it didn't quite work out for him to be back, and now he's still out missing the opener. Wouldn't surprise me if he's out again this week.

As for Derek Morgan, you know, Mike Malarkey said that he would not practice tomorrow on Wednesday, and he would be questionable for this week. Usually with a hamstring injury, those sorts of things linger. It's a pull in the left hamstring. They don't believe it's anything serious, but they have not yet done an MRI on it. So I think it's a situation where Derek Morgan is in kind of wait-and-see mode, and if he is unable to go this week, then it's going to be a bigger role for the rookie, Kevin Dodd, who himself is coming off an injury and missed a lot of camp with that foot injury.

Now that's interesting because both Kendall Wright and Derek Morgan are dealing with hamstring injuries, and we've seen how long it's been for Kendall Wright to try to get back, got back for the one practice. Obviously, there are different kinds of athletes. Kendall, quicker, faster, more elusive, shifty, little guy. Morgan, more of a powerful, straight-ahead type of rusher. And so while the treatment is kind of the same,

their functions and what they're going to have to have from that hamstring to be able to perform at a top level is a little bit different for each player, isn't it? Yeah, it is, because they have a different skill set. Kendall's got to be able to cut and run patterns and things like that. Morgan really is more of can he shed blocks and can he get to the quarterback and can he fend off the guy that's in front of him to make tackles. So I think it is a different skill set for both of those guys even though they're dealing with the same type of injury moving on to second down we've got to talk about defense terry with this uh upcoming

game against detroit because they put up a ton of points on sunday in their win and it starts with slowing down the Lions offense and getting pressure on quarterback Matthew Stafford. Yeah, it really does. And the Titans on Sunday got zero sacks. Even though they played very well on defense against the run, they got no sacks with Sean Hill. And Hill was able to move the chains and convert some third downs

and things like that. So it's going to be interesting to see if the Titans can dial up some pressure with some blitzes or with that front three or with those outside linebackers, whoever it may be. They're going to have to get some pressure on Matthew Stafford or else they're going to get picked apart. You know, the interesting thing to me about the Lions, you know, with this Titans secondary,

the interesting thing is that the Titans are going to have to send more than just Calvin Johnson. Calvin Johnson retired in the offseason. He had been the go-to guy there in Detroit for years. Now you've got Golden Tate. You've got Anquan Bolden. You've got a number of options that are on that line of theme. They're spreading the football around more, which in one sense might make them even more dangerous for that secondary. All the more reason that the Titans are going to have to manufacture some pressure of some sort to keep that secondary from having to cover for too long. I totally agree. And I didn't think, and obviously without going back and watching the film and knowing the play calls and things,

but that the Titans did a lot of exotic blitzing on Sunday against Minnesota. Most everything looked kind of basic in what they were doing. And, of course, Minnesota, obviously a division winner a year ago and a very good playoff caliber team. Their offensive line's pretty good. I think they might be a little bit better than Detroit's offensive line at this point in time. So that could hopefully help the Titans in that aspect of getting to the quarterback.

But you're right. They're definitely going to have to dial up some things and do some things. And the secondary is going to have to step up and have improved play because, as you mentioned, they're spreading the ball around a lot. And Minnesota, of course, only had really Stephon Diggs. Now, they had some other receivers that made some plays, but he was the big force for them on Sunday. And with Detroit having the variables of the different people and spreading the ball around,

it's certainly going to be tougher for the Titans. So again, great pressure has to be applied. And it's got to start, I think, with actually Brian Arakpo, who was kind of taken out of the game, if you will, on Sunday. Minnesota did a great job of chipping and getting extra help on his side to slow him down. And Derek Morgan, of course, had a good first half at the same time. And then that kind of went down the play on that side once he went out. Yes, you're exactly right. I think a rack pose, a guy that's going to have to step up. And then the other part of that is the Titans had

Jarrell Casey off the field for 17 plays trying to keep him fresh. Mike Malarkey said yesterday he'd like to keep him even a little fresher and reduce his snap even more. But I'm not sure how you can afford to do that right now at the expense of your pass rush. Now, obviously, the Titans sold out last week to try and stop Adrian Peterson, and it worked. But this week, they're going to have to be a little bit more creative because the Lions don't have the same type of rushing attack, but they do present much more of a

challenge as a passing offense. So I think you'll see Dick LeBeau get more creative this week, and you'll see the Titans throw some more blitzes and find a way to throw Matthew Stafford off of his rhythm and try to disrupt this Lions offense. Well, I said last week going in that I thought the defensive line had to have a good game, and that extended beyond Jarrell Casey, who we knew would be a force, to Al Woods and to Daquan Jones. Those two guys had a good game stuffing the run, but they've also got to find more pass rush from those guys as well, because if they can get inside pressure along with Casey, that means that it opens up Brian Arakpo a little bit more on the outside.

So they've got to help from the inside out, if you will, in that sense. And those two guys, again, I think will be important keys this week, stepping up and getting a little bit more pressure on the quarterback in passing situations. Oh, there's no doubt about it. And don't forget Angelo Blackson, who had a big game Sunday, had a couple of tackles for loss. He was a guy that was in that Vikings backfield a couple of times. So he's another

guy that's going to have to be accounted for by the Lions on Sunday. Yeah, they've got some players on this defensive front that can do some things. They've just got to, I guess, produce at a higher level. And perhaps Minnesota's offensive line might be a little bit better than we gave them credit for. Not that we were disparaging them in any way, but certainly they had a great game in the sense of pass protection more so than they did run blocking on Sunday against that Titans front. Absolutely. I think the Lions have Amir Abdullah in the backfield.

With all due respect to him, he's not Adrian Peterson, but it's a much more balanced Lions offense the Titans are going to have to tend with on Sunday. Well, and he's a little bit different type of back. Adrian Peterson, obviously the power straight ahead. He'll lower the shoulder and try to run you over, where Abdullah, a little bit easier to tackle, but a little bit shiftier in space. Not Barry Sanders by any sense of the imagination, but a similar style of guy with much less ability obviously. Yes. So we move with much less ability, obviously. Yes.

So we move on to second down, Greg. Before we do that, let's remind everybody, of course, we are Locked On Titans on the Locked On Podcast Network, and you can find all the teams under their Locked On header. You can also find Locked On the NFL, where you can get all updates and all news. Again, that's Locked On Titans, which we are, and Locked On NFL on the Locked On Podcast Network. The first week of the NFL season is officially in the books. How did your fantasy team do this week? Did you get in on the fun over at FanDuel?

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I'm sort of like the officials in the Central Michigan-Oklahoma State game, and I apologize. No problem. We want to talk about the Titans' offense and their importance in this game and helping their defense as well, And that starts with running the football, something that they did well in the preseason, but statistically struggled a little bit with against Minnesota. Now, obviously, the Vikings have a very good defense,

but still you would like to see the Titans' run game produce a little bit more. They got some production from Murray, obviously two touchdown receptions from DeMarco Murray on Sunday. Derrick Henry had the nice reception that he turned what looked like a very short, if any, gain into a 29-yard gain. So they got production from the backs, just not as much in the ground game and eating up that clock as we had seen in the preseason. And that's something they're going to have to do against Detroit on Sunday.

Oh, there's no doubt about it. I think it becomes even more imperative, one, to run the football effectively, and two, not to turn it over. You know, 14 points that they gave away with the interception return for the touchdown, fumble return for the touchdown. Titans offense, I think, lacks a little bit of explosiveness, and I think we saw that on Sunday against the Vikings. They played it very close to the fence. They wanted to control the clock and run the football with some success. They were not able to do that as much as they wanted to do. But I think they're going to have to find some way to stay on the field

and keep that Detroit offense on the sidelines. And in doing so, they can make this a much closer ballgame maybe than it looks like on paper right now because of Detroit putting up 39 points against Indianapolis on Sunday you would think that the that the Lions explosive this is something that the Titans have to concern themselves with not only are they going to have to try and get the defense to create some turnovers they're going to have to have the offense to find a rhythm make that Detroit defense be play them honestly without you know trying to take guys like Delaney Walker away.

And I think you're going to see this Lions offense, this Lions defense, going to have to play the Titans offense straight up if the Titans are going to have to have some success here and try to get the ball to the outside on occasion to guys like Tajay Sharp and Andre Johnson. But you're also going to have to see them run the football and have balance and be consistent on Sunday. I think you hit on something in one of your comments that you made there, talking about this Titans offense and the explosive plays. They have T.J. Sharp, who was very good, seven receptions, 76 yards on Sunday, Rashard Matthews, but they lost, Terry, in the preseason.

They're two guys that were considered explosive players. Now, they lost them by their own decision, trading DGB away, cutting Justin Hunter, because obviously those guys weren't producing at the level their athletic ability said that they should be able to. So I think that's one thing that they're going to have to find coming up in the future next season in the draft, or at free agency, is that explosive type player. But you're right. They've got to go for a balance, and I think it starts with running the football if they can run

the football at the Lions effectively and average four four and a half yards a carry like they did in the preseason that's going to force Detroit to do some things that will open up the back end and allow Marcus Mariota to be able to be effective throwing the football and they've got to figure out a way to hit some downfield strikes even even if it's not for necessarily 70-yard touchdown plays, but 40, 45-yard gains that force that defense to back up a little bit and cover deeper and more down the field and can't come up as much to cut off the shorter routes, which is what everybody knows right now that the Titans are probably looking to do more so because they don't really have that vertical thread. Right.

And one of the things that Mike Malarkey was asked about yesterday, and this is a good point as well, I think, with this offense, if they want to run the football, and teams know that they want to run the football, they may not be able to do that right out of the gate. So one of the ways that they're going to have to do it is they're going to have to subscribe to some Bill Walsh principles. not be able to do that right out of the gate. So one of the ways that they're going to have to do it is they're going to have to subscribe to some Bill Walsh principles, even though they're not a West Coast-style offense. They're going to have to get the ball into the hands of DeMarco Murray and Derrick Henry,

maybe on some screen passes, some little pats, some little flares to the flat. Get the ball in those guys' hands, even if it's in the passing game, sort of like they did a couple of times on Sunday, and let those guys move the chains and move the football and do those sorts of things. And I think that's how you try and get things done with the Titans, by keeping that offense, keep the Lions defense honest, by using the passing game as an extension of the running game. We're almost out of time. Just about a minute and a half left on things.

That brings us to fourth down, and that's something that, Terry, you mentioned Delaney Walker. They've got to get him more involved. He's got to be a part of this offense. And produce not necessarily at the rate he did last season, but he's got to be an option. And Minnesota basically took him out of things on Sunday. They really did until the Titans were behind by two scores.

They really didn't look a whole lot for Delaney Walker. The Vikings did a good job with Harrison Smith in taking him away. Now the Lions' secondary is not quite as formidable. They don't have a Harrison Smith back there, but they do have capable corners and safety. So the Titans are going to have to find creative ways to get Delaney Walker more involved earlier in the ballgame. And I think if they can do that,

then they're going to be able to provide the balance that they need to keep the Lions off balance on defense, but with a good mix of run and pass. We just don't have enough time on this show, Terry. We are against it again, out of time, so much to talk about. That's a little bit of information. We hope it was enough for a Tuesday, and that will do it for us. Brad will be back with us on Wednesday, and we look forward to speaking with you then.

You've been listening to Locked on Titans on the Locked on Podcast Network. Have a great day, everyone.