Locked On Titans - Daily Podcast On The Tennessee Titans - Locked On Titans- Sept 14- It's Wednesday and we look at what others are saying about the Titans and more.

Episode Date: September 14, 2016

It's Wednesday and we look at what others are saying about the Titans plus Hump Day Happenings, Pro Scope and our Final Thoughts. Join #TerryMc, #BHop and #GregA Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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Visit Cintas.com. 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 Titan Pro Bowl left tackle Brad Hopkins. We are locked on Titans for a Wednesday edition of the show. And have we got a bunch of stuff to get through today, guys.

We're going to start, of course, with what others are saying segment. We'll follow that up with our hump day happenings. We'll look at ProScope, which is about things around the NFL. And then, of course, our final thoughts to wrap things up. And as I welcome in my co-host, Terry McCormick and Brad Hopkins, guys, let's start, as always, with our current news. And what the first topic we have this morning is a report that Avery Williamson, of course, who wore those special designer cleats on Sunday, will not be fined by the league.

And certainly, Brad, that's something, having played in the league, that you certainly maybe not know about firsthand dealing with fines from the NFL, but guys that you played with that experienced that. They are guys that are designated to go around and make sure that everyone is in compliance with what the league says your uniform should look like. They want uniformity. They want, you know, pretty much to have a say in everything that the guys have on because this is their industry, of which they make money, so I understand that.

But when you look at Mike Malarkey and him addressing this issue, he told Avery Williamson, I'd have a problem if you didn't. Now, to me, that speaks volumes. He's behind the players. You understand that this is something that obviously is very important to Avery Williamson to have done this. It's an excellent commemorative, but we also understand it's outside of the rules.

So the fact that there's so much support, whether it's from Mike Malarkey, whether it's from the police department here in Metro Nashville, or even around the country, I've even heard some people respond to that. If he were fine, they would actually help him. the police department here in Metro Nashville or even around the country. I've even heard some people respond to that. If he were fine, they would actually help him. Not like he needs it, but he had to go to showing the support, not only from a, you know, getting behind him, but from a financial standpoint too.

So I think it's pretty telling that whole situation and how the Titans franchise handled it, guys. Yeah, I agree. I think the other point though is I'm glad to see common sense prevail in this thing. It's not like Avery Williamson was trying to flaunt some cause or be disrespectful. He just wanted to show his appreciation and honor the people who were involved in the 9-11 attacks. And, you know, this was his way of doing it. And I applaud him for that. doing it and uh i applaud him for that and then there was also a report that came out yesterday that the league is thinking about allowing players during week 13 this year to wear cleats to support

whatever charitable cause that they want to uh represent if they will donate those cleats to charity and the proceeds go all the proceeds go to that charity. So maybe the league is starting to feel a little soft-hearted. Well, that's certainly a good thing, if a league will actually go through with that in Week 13. And I agree with you guys. This was not a self-serving thing for Avery Williamson. It's not like he had something on there that was about or for him. He was doing this in remembrance and to help out a cause, and certainly I think

that is a great thing, and I'm glad and proud that he went through with it. Moving on to the other items on this morning's current news, Alex Tanney, of course, returned to the practice squad yesterday. He was waived as the Titans continue, guys, to shuffle some players around on the roster with some new additions. Of course, anytime they add someone, they have to subtract. Tanney now goes to the practice squad as still the number three quarterback, and should something happen to one of the two guys in front of him, he would then come up to the active 53-man roster. Interesting thing to me about Alex Tanney is I thought there was a chance

some team might claim him because it's a very quarterback-poor league. And Alex Tanney showed during preseason and when he finally got a chance last year in the regular season finale that he can play a little bit in this league. And I know that, you know, you bring a quarterback in from another organization or bringing a guy in off the street, you know, there's the learning curve, and it may take him a little while to get up to speed and all, but I think the Titans were probably fortunate to get him back

and be able to stash him on the practice squad because, you know, there are certainly worse options out there at the quarterback position that teams are employing right now. Exactly, and they do, Terry, at this point, still need depth. You know, Matt Castle is obviously the backup in this situation, but he can't do everything like run the scout team, you know, get the number one defense ready to go on Sunday, all those things that the emergency quarterback is able to do.

So they're a little thin at the quarterback position. Obviously they need someone that understands the system, has a little bit of an ability to, you know, to function within that offense and has a rapport with the players. So, unfortunately, he didn't make the 53, but at least he's still in Nashville. The final item of news that we have this morning involves the former, now Titans, Vice President of Communications, Jimmy Stanton,

who announced his resignation effective immediately yesterday. And, guys, I'm sure most of the fans really have no idea who Jimmy is. Obviously, all three of us know him to some extent, have been around him a little bit. This was a little bit of a surprise move, but certainly something that the Titans will move on from. The press release read that they would start a search effective at the end of the season to find a replacement. least read that they would start a search effective at the end of the season to find a replacement. Yeah, Jimmy actually was part of the caravan that went down to Atlanta when we played the Rams in the Super Bowl.

So he's been around for a while, took a little bit of a hiatus, Greg, and did some baseball front office stuff before coming back. I think it was in May of 2015. So yeah, it is quite a surprise, especially when you're looking at this current regime and how they handle not only the players, but the front office seems very accommodating. So there's been a lot of questions as to why Jimmy left. Probably, obviously, another excellent opportunity,

I would assume, Greg. One of the things that I wanted to say about Jimmy Stanton, I've known him since his first tour of duty here with the Titans back in around 99, 2000. You know, always a very congenial guy, a guy who's very friendly and willing to help. And he's had some great stops in his career, been with the University of Tennessee, the University of Kentucky, the Houston Astros, and back to the Titans. Certainly wish him well in his future ventures.

The Titans certainly wish him well in his future ventures. And certainly, as we move forward, we will take an opportunity, guys, to talk about what others are saying. This is a segment that we started last week, and in looking around media in the NFL, the top subject of conversation, and in fact there were two of them for the Titans, but one of them surrounds rookie Tajay Sharp, who had a breakout game one against the Minnesota Vikings on Sunday, and certainly it was not that much of a surprise, guys,

to us who have been around and seen this young man perform, but Pro Football Focus ranks him as the number five rookie in their top ten for this week, and what they said reads like this. Tajay Sharp's meteoric rise from fifth round pick to Marcus Mariota's favorite target is one of the most astounding storylines of the early 2016 season. Against the Vikings, he led the Titans in targets with 11, receptions with 7, and yards 76. Quite a start for the 15th receiver off the board last April. It's interesting, too. One of the things that Mike Malarkey said in his press conference Monday

was that Tajay Sharp was actually guilty of shortening his routes a little bit, something that a lot of first-time NFL players are prone to do because they get in a hurry and they're ready to catch the ball. They don't finish out the depth of their route. And he said that once he gets that problem corrected, he can be even better than what he put up on Sunday, which was seven catches for 76 yards, Brad. than what he put up on Sunday, which was seven catches for 76 yards, Brad.

That's a great point, Greg. I will say that we saw this early development, though, in preseason of the rapport between these two. Marcus Mariota really loves the Rastatazi sharp runs, and maybe it's just the fact that there's not a lot of tape on him to kind of give defenses a beat on what he actually brings to the table. But I think that we can see him, as long as Kendall Wright is nursing an injury and he's not 100%, we can start to see more of a development between these two. And hopefully when Kendall Wright is healthy, we'll have some legitimate options

as far as moving the football down the field other than running it. The other stat guys taken from pro football focus this week concerns Marcus Mariota. He was the lowest ranked quarterback in the NFL after week one. 34.6 was the grade, but that's really not the most key and important stat when looking at the numbers. Marcus was 6 of 16 for 95 yards on passes of 10 yards or more, which is a telling stat, guys, because this team wants to and needs to be able to throw the football. Now, not necessarily 80 yards every play, but certainly more than 10 yards,

and they need to be more effective than completing just six of 16 passes for 95 yards if this offense is going to be able to do what they want it to do moving forward, Terry. Yes, it is. I'm going to be able to do what they want it to do moving forward terry yes it is i'm going to defer this to brad for the most part because i want his x's and o's perspective on it how much of this brad is marcus not being as accurate on deeper balls how much of it is the titans not having enough team speed at the receiver position to stretch the field and take the top off the defense and how much of it is simply the system that they're running not being one that is, I guess, favorable for a lot of deep pass?

You know, Terry, we kind of saw them get away a little bit from what they did successfully during the preseason, which was put Marcus under center, get more of a downhill in-line approach for those running backs to really kind of get established. Then, therefore, when people start loading the box to stop Derrick Henry and DeMarco Murray, now it opens up the things at the second level. You know, and also we saw Delaney Walker basically was invisible during that game, and he on the underneath stuff at least makes safeties

or a double-team situation or in the zone makes them pay attention to the underneath stuff, which then also opens up the deep routes. So by design, they were doing some things that were different than what we've seen them do. And also, this is a more concerted effort this year to really establish the running attack. So maybe there wasn't much emphasis put on the downhill tosses unless you obviously got into a situation where you needed to score like they did after the Vikings defense put a couple of touchdowns on the board. The Titans then, their game plan was pretty much out the window. You know, they wanted to really play, not conservative, but at least, you know, stay out of third and long situations and convert third downs, things like that, with the strong rushing attack between those two. But obviously there's no balance at this point. You haven't figured out the most effective way to get past the line of scrimmage

consistently because I think that DeMarco and Derek average like 2.9 yards, 45 yards total, throw Marcus's numbers in the running football, and they have like 64 yards on the ground. Now what that means is that you're trying to throw the football, and if they're doing things expecting you to do that, then it's harder for you to matriculate the ball down the football field with what you're showing them so far. Is there an easy fix for this, Brad, to maybe get Marcus to be more accurate on the downfield throws? Or obviously, other than running the football, is there something else that they can

do to help this? Yeah, not focus on the downhill throws. That's not how this team is going to win, guys. This team is going to win, guys. This team is going to win by playing the attack that Mike Malarkey and company talked about. Remember at the very beginning of the season, and Marcus Mariota said that if I have to hand this rascal off 60 times for us to win a ball game, that's what I'll do. The deep threats should be every now and then to keep defenses honest. But for the most part, we want eight, nine in the box.

That way it opens up all the other things that they're trying to do. Put Marcus in the gun when he sees, obviously, they're in Tampa 2 or a 2-D safety situation. I can understand him needing to see the field with more consistency. But for the most part, they just need to get back to the game plan that they initially started with and not abandon it. Unfortunately, when you get behind in points, that's just not an option that a lot of teams are able to kind of do, really.

With all due respect to the receivers on this team, though, there's not really a deep threat, is there? I mean, Tajay Sharp, Rashad Matthews are good receivers, but they're more of the possession type, run the proper route, be in the right spot. They don't really have that guy that's the deep threat that some other teams like the Texans with DeAndre Hopkins, the Raiders with Amari Cooper, have to get over the top of the defense. Right.

That's kind of funny. Go ahead. I think you might see that change a little once Kendall Wright is healthy. I think he probably is your best, closest thing that they have to a deep threat on the roster right now. So it will be interesting to see how much he changes the dynamic once he's finally back from that hamstring injury. Yeah, you're right about that.

I think that the X usually featured Doyle Green Beckham and obviously Justin Hunter, who are no longer on the team. So I probably would figure they figure that one of the other guys that's still on the roster can, you know, move to X and be very effective, allowing the other guys, you know, to be effective in the underneath stuff as well. They'll develop that consistency, but it just takes some time, especially when you've had to make the adjustments that they've had to make over the past couple of weeks.

You're listening to Locked on Titans on the Locked on Podcast Network. Remember, all the other shows on this network can be found on Audioboom, including Locked on the NFL. Hey, how did your fantasy football teams do this week? Did you get in on the fun over at Fanville? No, it's not too late. Week two is only just days away. Actually, it's in the books, but, hey, week three is right around the corner.

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Questionable as to whether he will be able to play this week or not. And should he not be able to go, that means that rookie Kevin Dodd and David Bass will step in to combine in some shape, form, or fashion to fill his role. And those two guys are going to have to, guys, have a big game, in my opinion, on Sunday to help this Titans defense getting pressure on Matthew Stafford and forcing Detroit to do something that allows them to not be able to double-team Brian Arakpo on the other side. allows them to not be able to double-team Brian Arakpo on the other side.

Terry, you've been at camp all preseason. I know you've seen the development of the youngsters and how this defense is kind of coming into shape. So kind of explain to us the backup situation for Derek Morgan. Yeah, it's going to be interesting. If they don't have Derek Morgan on Sunday, they're going to be relying an awful lot on Kevin Dodd. And Dodd, I asked him the other day, you know, how he was coming along. He said mentally he's there in terms of knowing the playbook,

knowing what to do. But the physical part, he said, is coming. So that tells me he's still rounding into football shape. But you've got to remember, he missed about three months after having foot surgery. So they may have to rely a little bit as well on David Bass and just kind of mix and match those two and play situational football. Bass is a guy I like the way he plays. He's not

really a true pass rusher, even as an outside linebacker, but he does seem to have a knack for finding the football and may actually be a better run stuffer than Kevin Dodd is. So if they're forced to go with some sort of combination of those two on Sunday, I would look for Dick LeBeau to try and mix and match and sort of package those guys. Absolutely. I think that one of the advantages that, of course, that David Bass would bring to the table would be four years of experience obviously comes over from the NFC Chicago Bears. And anytime you have a defense with such youth that's supposed to contribute, it's nice to have guys that understand the lay of the land and speak better as far as being a football player. So I think that what they're trying to do at this linebacker core is have guys that

can actually rotate in and out when they have situations like with Derek Morgan. Derek Morgan was playing very well to the point that he got injured last night or over the weekend. That was a testament to Mike Malarkey, so he definitely pointed that out. But they'll be in good hands, I think, if they can get their second rounder at least up to speed and have David Bass at least maybe even show him the ropes consistently while he's on the football field until Derek Morgan can get healthy and get back on the field.

I think that Terry probably hit on it, guys, that they will maybe use Bass more against the run. And in obvious passing situations, third and long, we'll see probably more of Kevin Dodd as that pass rush guy coming in to try to get pressure off the edge and help this defense. But again, as I've said several times, they're going to need some pressure from the defensive line as well to kind of do that. Moving along, our Pro Scope segment, where we look at something of interest from around the NFL.

And guys, we're going to talk about a quarterback we talked about a quarterback situation last week we'll do that again today and the poor guy is just snakebitten robert griffin the third of course had a great breakout as a quarterback for the redskins in washington since that time he has battled injuries and it just kind of been a downhill thing moving forward for him since that opening of his rookie season in Washington when he looked so promising. Terry, I'll say when you look at the injury itself, it really, really seems self-inflicted because he ran into the defender that was being blocked by somebody, and ultimately the collision ends up breaking his collarbone or shoulder, whatever he did.

And when you look at the situation surrounding him, it's hard to not say that things surrounding RG3 aren't self-inflicted. You know, he obviously won a tight battle against Josh McCown in the preseason to win the starting job, but it really kind of puts the team in a pickle having to switch quarterbacks. I think maybe at some point in time, Terry, you see Cody Kessler, the youngster from USC, before it's all said and done. What do you think? I think it's possible.

You know, you kind of feel for Robert Griffin III. He's been a snake-bit guy, and then he joined a snake-bit franchise in the Cleveland Browns. And, you know, it's just a situation where, you know, just I guess a bad match from the start. I mean, you would hope that the guy would turn things around and do well. And from the way things were going in the preseason, it looked like he was on the way to doing that.

But then, you know, he suffers this freak injury, and then you've got the Browns, you know, not only losing, but losing bad to Carson Wentz and the Eagles. And it can be a very long year in Cleveland. They may be heading full steam ahead toward that number one pick. We're closing in on the end of another show. But before we do, guys, time for final thoughts. And, of course, as always with final thoughts,

they're pretty much about anything that crosses our mind as it relates to the Titans. So Terry, why don't you take the first one here and lead us off with this. All right. I'm going to go and, you know, sorry, Brad, but this is about Jeff Fisher. Apparently, Pro Football Talk has this, that when the Rams lost to the 49ers Monday night, that moved Fisher into third place all time in coaching losses with 157. Now, it's not all bad because he was tied with Don Shula for third before that loss. And the guys who are ahead of him are both pretty good coaches, Tom Landry and Dan Reeves. So on the one hand, he's in very good company.

On the other hand, that's not a stat you want to be known for. You're right about that. Before I give you mine, just a quick comment on that. Greg, you've seen this team since, both of you, Terry, you too have seen this team since we moved here. How many quarterbacks has Jeff Fisher had in his entire

tenure as a head coach? I mean, one legitimate quarterback. Just one. One, yeah. Steve. Oh. Just one. One, yeah, Steve McNair. Just one quarterback. I would say two and one backed up the other one. I would say that, you know, he had Steve McNair, obviously,

and then when he had Neil O'Donnell, Neil probably could have still started for about a quarter of the league even at that late stage of his career. Yeah, point being, at least at the same time, he had a relative quarterback, and we won games because of that. Since then, fellas same time, he had a relative quarterback, and we won games because of that. Since then, fellas, he hasn't had a legitimate quarterback to at least give him the opportunity to get out of his cellars, so to speak.

So it's a bad deal for him, I guess. Hey, my take real quick would be, for those that have been watching the Titans and have been so excited about their progress to this point, I know it's easy for us to kind of look back at the first game out and say, you know what, it's the same old Titans. But I don't want people to fall into that line of thinking because, sure, there were uncharacteristic mistakes that we saw from our youngsters that contributed to losses. But if you take away three plays, I know they happened and it culminated in the loss.

But those three plays shouldn't overshadow the overall game itself because the Titans controlled that game to control their own destiny, but they end up shooting themselves in the foot. And I don't expect them to do that week in and week out. This team is better. So I don't want anybody to be Henny Penny-ish with the sky falling and get hit by a piece of the sky or whatever, you know, before this thing gets all said and done. This team is better and will rebound from this loss.

So don't lose faith. Absolutely. And I'm going to piggyback on Brad's thought there and say that in that same vein, I want to see the team get back to work today. Obviously had a day off on Tuesday, go back to practice today, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, travel to Detroit on Saturday. Back to practice today, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, travel to Detroit on Saturday.

But I think what they do on the practice field this week will show a lot about where this team is mentally, and I think they're going to be okay. I don't think the one loss really disturbed these guys. Obviously, they didn't like it. They want to win. They need to win. But I think this week will certainly tell a tale in practice, and I look for them to bounce back and be ready to go come Sunday.

That'll do it for us today, guys. Another great show. We'll see you on Thursday when we return. You've been listening to Locked on Titans on the Locked On Podcast Network.