Locked On Titans - Daily Podcast On The Tennessee Titans - Locked On Titans- Sept. 20- It's time four our four downs as we look at four keys for the Titans this week.

Episode Date: September 20, 2016

It's time four our four downs as we look at four keys for the Titans this week. What are those keys? Find out in today's episode along with current news and our final thoughts. #TerryMc #BHop #GregA 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. We are locked on Titans for a Tuesday morning and Terry McCormick joining me this morning as always on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Brad Hopkins not with us and Terry, we've still got a lot of information and a lot of good things to talk about this morning as it pertains to the Tennessee Titans. Yes, that's right. The Titans trying to

build off their week two win in Detroit and now turning their attention to the Oakland Raiders as they return home this week. Let's start with our current news segment. And as we go along this morning, it's our four downs day. We'll have our first down, second down, third down, and fourth down. All things to talk about this morning, plus final thoughts coming up. But in current news, we start with Chance Wormack and the revelation yesterday that he injured his right hand, tore some tendons in his middle finger. And this actually, Terry, happened in pregame prior to the start. Chance played through it, and certainly not to make any excuses,

but Mike Malarkey said that it affected him, and we could see that at times, certainly on Sunday, he was, I don't want to say not himself, but certainly didn't play well in the game, and perhaps that had some effect on what we saw from him against the Lions. Yeah, it could have had an effect, and now Chance has got to make a decision, he and the Titans together, as to whether he's going to try and play through this injury, which would mean wearing a club-type cast on the hand, or if he's going to have surgery, which could put him out for up to a month while he recovers. Wormack, you know, not playing consistently well after sustaining the injury on Sunday. You know, to me, the more prudent thing for him to do and for the Titans might be to go ahead and have surgery, get it fixed, and get back this year because there are a couple of factors at work here. One, if Wormack is not 100% effective and you can't use your hands in order to work and pass protect

and run block and those sorts of things, then he might be a detriment while he's out there more so than another guy would be who's healthy, even if that guy is a backup. And then the other thing is, long-term for Chance Wormack, he needs to be healthy and needs to be ready to roll in 2017 because he's at the end of his contract. He may be looking for a new place to play next year if he's not re-signed by the Titans. And any new team that would take him on would certainly want him at 100%.

In other current news, on the injury front is where we'll spend most of the rest of this segment. Of course, Derek Morgan and Kendall Wright both missed Sunday's game in Detroit. For Wright, it was the second missed game of the season. Morgan, his first. Both guys, Terry, are going to work out today on the side doing some running to see where they are with those right hamstring injuries that they're each dealing with. And hopefully, according to Mike Malarkey, both guys, he feels like,

have a shot to play Sunday against the Raiders when they come back to Nissan Stadium. Yeah, it certainly would be beneficial if they can get both of those guys. I think you'll know more on Wednesday when you see how much, if any of these guys can practice out there with their teammates. Morgan was out all of last week after pulling his left hamstring. Wright's been out for quite a while. He tried to come back once, re-injured the hamstring. He did a little bit of individual work last week.

Now they need to get him into team drills to see if he can provide them with some little extra speed and maybe a little bit of a deep threat, something that's been missing from this offense. The other injury, of course, that to inside linebacker Avery Williamson. He got dinged late, and I say dinged. He took a pretty good shot to the head and neck and back area late in that game in Detroit, and so he is playing a little sore. I know he is one of those guys, Terry, that certainly wants to answer the bell and be out there, but it's going to be a matter of can he physically perform at the level he needs to,

and that's certainly something we'll have to watch this week. And I know the Titans will take a look at that today and tomorrow to see where he is and if he, in fact, can go on Sunday. Right, and I think what you're going to see is Avery Williamson, they think he's going to be all right. He said he was a little bit stiff and sore yesterday, but it sounds like he's on track to return to practice Wednesday, and I would be surprised if he doesn't play on Sunday. Let's move on to our four downs segment, where we talk about four items of interest for the Titans that we see going into this Sunday's matchup, and of course, the Silver and Black,

the Raider Nation. They'll bring a lot of fans to Music City to watch this game on Sunday. And Terry Firstown has to deal with penalties and the fact that, of course, the Titans flagged for 12 of those on Sunday in Detroit. Obviously, they've got to clean that up. You cannot expect to win too many games when you're flagged that many times. Fortunately for them, Detroit did them a favor, committed 17 of their own that offset what the Titans managed to do. Right.

I mean, 12 penalties in a game is certainly unacceptable. I think a lot of that needs cleaning up as the Titans go forward. Special teams penalties especially were killers that caused the Titans to start drives inside their 10-yard line on five different occasions. Not all of those due to special teams, but certainly some of it. You know, if there's a silver lining in the penalties, it's the fact that Taylor LeJuan, who's had trouble with penalties, you know, pretty much his entire career as a Titan, did not have any penalties of the 12 that were called on Tennessee against the Lions.

That certainly is, and I was going to go there had you not have mentioned that. The other thing, and two of the penalties were called against rookie outside linebacker Kevin Dodd for hands to the face. He got his hand up under the face mask of the offensive lineman on a couple of plays. He got flagged for that. That's certainly something that he will learn from as he plays more. And obviously, I think he knows that. But in the speed of the game, sometimes things happen.

So his performance was very impressive. And get those things cleaned up for him. Some of the other little things you mentioned, certainly the special teams penalties that can be killer because not only do they cost you penalty yardage, but they potentially take you out of decent field position starting a drive and move you back inside your own 20-yard line and make things tougher on the offensive unit to try to move the football from that point.

Oh, there's no doubt about it. Mike Malarkey alluded to it yesterday, talking about the open drive where Ryan Suckup missed the 51-yard field goal. He said that that drive started at the tight end 7-yard line and started at the 20 because of penalty. He said that that drive started at the Titans' 7-yard line instead of at the 20 because of penalty. He said had that penalty not happened, he certainly did not absolve Suckup from missing the 51-yard field goal. He said it should have been made.

But he said a 38-yard field goal in that instance would have certainly been a lot easier, and the Titans would have had three more points on the board. And certainly when it comes to the kicking game, and we know kickers are a peculiar lot not to speak negatively about them, but obviously the closer you can get, the easier it makes those kicks. And it also changes angles and things too because the further back you are, the different way that they have to approach the kick to get it in the air

and not have it blocked. So everything kind of changes with that extra yardage that is tacked on with the penalty that messes those kickers up and moves them back. Oh, there's no doubt. I think when you start talking about the angles and the trajectory of the ball, obviously the further out you are, the lower trajectory you have to have in order to get more distance. It all works hand-in-hand, and when one thing goes awry, it can throw the whole thing off in terms of executing a kick. Let's move on to second down, where we look at the offensive line, and in particular, Chance Wormack and the right guard spot.

We mentioned, of course, in our current news, Chance injured his middle finger on his right hand, tore some tendons in that. And as Terry mentioned, is having to decide if he's going to try to play through it, put a cast on it, or to have surgery, which will take him out two to four weeks, we are told. Terry, if he decides to opt for this surgery and is going to be out, there's three guys, I think, that certainly come into play to move in and to fill his spot at the right guard position. That's right. There's three different guys.

One is Brian Schwenke, who's been the team's starting center for the last three years prior to the signing of Ben Jones. He's now been working some as a backup guard. And then the other option is rookie Sebastian Tritola, who may not quite be ready to fill that role yet. He's been inactive both weeks thus far as a six-round pick this year. And then another interesting option is Josh Klein. He was claimed off waivers a couple of weeks ago from the New England Patriots.

He's been inactive while he learns the system, but he might be a potential option there as well if they feel like he's up to speed, Greg. Well, of those three, Terry, I would opt for Josh Klein. And the reason that I say that I would opt for Josh Klein, obviously Tritola, as you mentioned, has been inactive. He has not been in an NFL game. And between Klein and Schwinke, I think Klein has the more experience playing at guard.

And also he's a guy that comes over from the Patriots, and we kind of know what guys that come over from the Patriots are. Granted, there's a reason he's still not with them, but there's certainly a reason why he was there for a few years and started a bunch of games in New England. Right. I mean, and the Titans are trying to recreate a winning culture, trying to, you know, stem the tide on something that has been, you know, going the wrong direction for a number of years.

And the more guys you can have from winning organizations that know how it's done, obviously John Robinson comes from that culture and is now the Titans GM. The more guys you can have come from that sort of culture and that sort of winning environment, I think the more it helps you. And certainly that helps make the case for Josh Klein. Now, you mentioned, of course, in speaking about Chance Wormack and the decision that he needs to be 100% because obviously it is the end of his contract with Tennessee. There's no guarantee he'll be re-signed here,

and certainly he's going to want to continue to play somewhere if he's not re-signed, and he needs to be healthy. But can he come in, play with the cast, and be effective? Certainly we know on Sunday that probably the injury was fresh and obviously more sensitive. Anytime you hurt yourself, it's more sensitive right away than it is three, four, five days later on when it's had a chance to heal somewhat and you've had a chance to get a little comfortable with it.

But can he come in and put on a cast and continue to play, and is that the wise move for him to try to stay on the field and earn his spot and then deal with this at the end of the season? Yeah, that's kind of going to be the question that's got to be answered in terms of what Wormack wants to do. And I think that's something that probably will be decided relatively soon and probably within the next 24 to 48 hours. You know, if I'm Chance Wormack, I don't know that I'm pardon the pun, taking a chance.

I think he needs to get healthy. He needs to make sure that he's 100% because the longer he plays, he's going to have to play with this injury for the rest of the year like that. Is it really going to be beneficial to him and is it really going to be beneficial to the Titans? The AFC

South is certainly a winnable division and I'm not ready to declare the Titans a The AFC South is certainly a winnable division, and I'm not ready to declare the Titans a contender yet, but while we're on the subject, if this team is still alive in late November and early December and still in the hunt in what is shaping up to be probably a mediocre division, then you need all hands on deck and you need everybody as healthy as they possibly could be, and a healthy Chance Wormack might be something that could be beneficial. Chance Wormack playing through an injury is probably going to be a lot less than 100% effective. I would certainly agree with that. Let's move on to our third down, and today we talk about the pass rush

and what they need to do, especially this week against the Raiders coming in, because that pass rush, Terry, certainly can help the secondary. And when facing a Raiders team with Michael Crabtree, Amari Cooper, and a quarterback that likes to push the ball down the field in an organization that historically has been known for that, the Titans secondary is going to need all the help they can get come Sunday with a pass rush against Derek Carr. Yeah, that's right.

I mean, you're talking about a Raiders offense that's very potent. Derek Carr has been slinging the ball all over the place. He's got some weapons. And Omari Cooper is very dangerous with his speed and his ability. You've got Michael Crabtree over on the other side, who's been rejuvenated since going to Oakland across the bay from San Francisco. And then don't forget, they've got some options at tight end, too. Clive Walpert, a guy we saw at the Senior Bowl a couple of years ago,

is a weapon at the tight end position. So you're talking about an Oakland offense that's very potent, especially in the passing game. And therefore, the Titans are going to have to neutralize that by getting to Carr, forcing him off his spot and out of his comfort zone, because I'm not sure that the Titans, along with the two defensive backs, can cover the likes of Cooper and Crabtree for very long down the field, unless they can get some pressure and force Carr to get rid of the football flicker that he wants to. Absolutely.

And I don't think we can put a whole lot of stock in what we saw from the preseason. So throw that out. Granted, you might get some tendencies and things that can help you in game planning. But as far as the actual game itself, I don't put a lot of stock into that helping very much. And obviously, you already know about the receivers that they have. So it's going to come down to can Derek Morgan get healthy and get on the field because they're going to need he, Arakpo, and Dodd.

And I could see, Terry, in some circumstance that perhaps the Titans might even try to get all three of those guys on the field in some shape on Sunday to get as many pass rushers as they can out there, especially in third and long situations, to try to get home and get hits and pressure and sacks on Carr to help out that back end. Right. I think that's exactly what they've got to do. And, you know, a healthy Derek Morgan is going to go a long way toward that.

And they certainly need to, you know, get more out of Kevin Dodd. You know, Mike Malarkey said yesterday that they've seen what Dodd can do now, and he's told him that this is the standard he's going to have to live up to in terms of being a pass rusher. Now, they also, I think, need more from their down three linemen. Certainly we know Jarrell Casey can affect the quarterback, can get there, but they've got to have some more out of Daquan Jones, out of Al Wood. Certainly Carl Klug came off the bench and gave them a spark on Sunday,

got pressure, got a sack in the Detroit game. They need more from him. Angelo Blackson, throw all these guys in there. They need more out of these players. Austin Johnson, who could be up this week and active. They need all those guys to be in there and getting the pass rush and getting to the quarterback and affecting things. Oh, I agree. There's no doubt about doubt about it you know they're going to need contributions

from everybody in order to have a chance to uh slow down the oakland raiders attack moving on to fourth down today terry and i think this is probably the most important of the four while this has really not as much to do with on field for the Titans as cutting down on penalties, what's going to happen with the offensive line and getting a pass rush, it is still very important to this team in this season. And number four on fourth down, win at home. The Titans have not done a lot of that lately. In fact, they've not done a lot of winning, period.

But now that they have broken the seal on wins, got a win on the road, it's time to come back home to Nissan Stadium and to give the fans here a win at home to build a winning streak. Get two games in a row, but start to turn this thing around. We saw two weeks ago when Minnesota came in, a lot of purple

jerseys in the stands. We're going to see a lot of black and silver coming in this Sunday, and for the Titans to be able to turn that around and get those visiting fans, so to speak, out of here in the large numbers and get more of the two-tone blue, you've got to win at home to do that, so fans will want to come to the games here and watch this team play. Oh, there's no doubt about it.

You know, the only win the Titans have the last two years at home is when Jacksonville has come to town. They've got to be able to beat somebody besides the Jaguars at what is now Nissan Stadium. You know, there was a time when this was a feared place for visiting teams to come and play. That time has long since passed, but the Titans have got to do something to get back

some sort of home field advantage, and that can only be done by one thing, and that's winning games at home. And, of course, a win over the Raiders. While they're not the Raiders of old, they're certainly a team that most of the experts around the NFL feel is an up-and-coming team, a team on the rise. And for the Titans, who have been at the basement of things for the last few

years, for them to get into that category of teams on the rise, it would certainly help them to have a win over one of those teams that people have ahead of them as a team on the rise and a team that could contend for a division title in that AFC West. Oh, there's no doubt. I think the only way you're going to get respect in the NFL is to take it and win games that you're not expected to win. They did a little bit of that Sunday against Detroit.

It'll be interesting to see if they can build on it with a home win against the Raiders. How much better, though, are the Raiders than Detroit at this point? Or are they even better than Detroit? Can we even look at that and contrast and compare those two teams in any way? I think the Raiders' offense and the Lions' Lions offense probably similar. In fact, the Raiders offense might be even a little bit better. When you've got guys like Cooper and Crabtree, you know, not take anything away from the Lions because they certainly have a solid passing game as well with Golden Tate and Marcus Jones and some of the receivers and Anquan Bolden, some of the guys

they have to go to. But the Raiders, just as potent. I think where there's a difference is I think the Lions' defense, while it's not all world, is certainly better than the Raiders' defense, which has given up over 500 yards in each of the first two games against the Saints and the Falcons. So it'll be interesting to see if the Titans can put up some decent numbers. That's another thing, as far as I'll save it for my final thought,

the Titans are going to have to be a little bit more potent on offense in order to help that defense out. I certainly agree, and you mentioned it. It brings us to our final thoughts. Terry, your final thoughts for this Tuesday edition. Well, the Titans scored 16 points in the opener, and they lost to Minnesota. They scored 16 points against the Lions, and they managed to come back and win.

In today's NFL, you cannot survive and win a lot of football games scoring 16 points a week anymore. I know that they want to be a power-running team. They want to be a smash-mouth type of team. The term exotic smash-mouth has been thrown around ever since the offseason. But this is an opportunity against a Raiders defense that has not been very good to put up some points, to show what this offense can do. The Titans have got to start scoring more than 16 points if they want to win games this year.

Absolutely, I agree. And to that point, my final thought is on offense as well. It's run the football. Run it more effectively. You go back and look, the Tennessee Titans have not had a 100-yard rusher in a game in several years. In fact,

correct me if I'm wrong, Terry, 2009 was the last time? I think so. So, they got close with DeMarco Murray on Sunday but didn't get him over that mark. And with this two-headed monster they have at running back with DeMarco Murray, who still has it, he might not be the 1,800-yard guy,

but he's certainly better than what we saw a season ago. And we know about Derrick Henry. I think they need to run the football, run it effectively, grind up the clock because Derrick Carr, Amari Cooper and company, they can't hurt you when they're sitting on that other sideline. Run the clock, finish drives with touchdowns, not field goals. Don't put this on the foot of Ryan Suckup to potentially miss a 51-yarder or another kick.

End them in the end zone, let him kick extra points, and that, I think, is the key for the Titans to be able to get a victory on Sunday. Run the football, and then that opens up some other things. You can do some things. Certainly, we saw Delaney Walker get into the act on Sunday. Do those things, but it all, Terry, for me, starts running the football, running with authority, and chewing up the clock, and averaging averaging again as they did in the preseason,

four or five yards a carry with those two workhorses combined. That's right. I mean, they've not had a running back go over 100 yards in a game since Chris Johnson did it at the end of the 2013 season. So it's time. That will do it for us on a Tuesday morning. Brad rejoins us for Wednesday and have a great day

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