Locked On Titans - Daily Podcast On The Tennessee Titans - Locked On Titans- Sept. 21- What's being said about the Titans around the league?

Episode Date: September 21, 2016

What's being said about the Titans around the league? We talk about that along with our Hum Day Happenings, Pro Scope, Current News and Final Thoughts on a Wednesday edition. #BHop #TerryMc #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 Tennessee Titans, former Tennessee Titans Pro Bowl left tackle Brad Hopkins. Gentlemen, it's Wednesday. Welcome back to the show this morning. Brad, we missed you yesterday as always. And of course, Terry McCormick here as well. Terry McCormick here as well. Well, it's great to be back with you guys. And we're midway through the week.

Another exciting contest for the Titans. Obviously, we saw what they did last week against Detroit. It's another monumental step, in my opinion. But they've got to avenge the loss from last year. Isn't that right, Terry? That's right. That was one of the more controversial innings. There was a phantom interference call, I it was against B.W. Webb that allowed the Raiders to

keep a game winning drive alive and Titans wound up on the short end there at Nissan Stadium. Let's go ahead and kick things off. We've got a lot to talk about this morning. We've got of course our current news section. We'll do our What Others Are Saying

segment where we talk about some other things being said about the Titans. Hump Day happenings, Pro Scope, and of course, as always, our final thoughts on the day. Gentlemen, in current news, let's kick it off with Avery Williamson. He, of course, wore those 9-11 commemorative cleats in the season opener against Minnesota. And those were auctioned off this week. And all of the proceeds going to Operation Warrior Wishes, and those cleats drew an auction bid. The winning bid, $6,600.

Again, that money going to Operation Warrior Wishes, and Terry and Brad, of course, obviously it's a great cause, and any time a player can do something to help any cause, it's certainly well worth the effort that Avery Williamson put in to do that. Yeah, it certainly is. I mean, you know, great gesture by Avery Williamson to not only, you know, put the cleats up for auction and raise money for this worthwhile charity, but to go ahead and, you know, wear the cleats in the game,

even though the NFL had told him not to. I think a sign of Avery Williamson wanting to give back and wanting to do the right thing, and glad that he was able to do that for this worthy cause. You know, also, I'm glad that the league basically looked at the situation with a little more detail than they were with the broad bursts that they used this drug. In other words, this is a very hotbed topic. You know, the military, obviously the protocol that we used before games, things like that,

there's a lot of clarity and polarizing conversation going on there. But for the most part, they looked at the situation uniquely, and they said, hey, look, for the current atmosphere, it's okay. Normally we would find somebody that's out of uniform, so to speak. But in this instance, for obviously what he was intending, the message to be sent and the way that Mike Malarkey responded to the whole thing, the way that the public has responded to the whole thing, saying they would actually pick up the tab if Avery was suspended,

I think the league did the right thing. And at least allowing us to just kind of see its way out. And obviously it goes towards a good cause. So thumbs up to the NFL and the Titans did the right thing, and at least the line was just kind of see its way out, and obviously it goes towards a good cause. So thumbs up to the NFL and the Titans for letting this thing happen. In other news, and Brad, I want to direct this more so at you because obviously you've been through this situation, but Terry and I spoke yesterday of the injury to Chance Wormack, torn tendons in his right hand and his middle finger,

and he's got a decision to make as to have surgery or to try to continue to play on and play with the cast. And I know you went through something similar and actually played in a couple of games wearing a cast. Kind of take us through that and what might be going through his mind as he tries to make that decision. Yeah, Terry, Greg, I played in my second Pro Bowl with a cast on my hand. I've actually broke my hands four times.

I've still got seven screws in my right hand to attest to that. But, you know, when you have a cast on your hand, obviously it's an encumbrance, but you have to get used to it. But I think that the one struggle that Chance is going to have with this, which is the same struggle I had, which is in pass protection. Obviously you've got to be able to get your hands on guys, and if you don't have the ability to grab legally i'll just put that out there then it does create a problem and that's one

area that the titans offensive linemen have had an issue with which is in pass protection so i would hope that they wouldn't get behind in games to where pass protection is paramount but it's not that big a deal as long as you have the use of it and it doesn't hurt you when you get contact with the hand that's in question. So he should be okay as long as they stay out of certain situations that obviously don't play towards him. Brad, this may be, I don't know, a silly question on my part, but I'm going to ask it anyway. You know, obviously as an offensive lineman needing to use your hand, you use your hands in order to try and turn the guy that's trying to attack you

in the direction you want him to go away from your quarterback in pass protection. Now, you being a tackle, I would think that would be a much harder task for a tackle with guys on the edge coming at them rather than Chance Wormack being a guard and having to play one-handed there because he knows he's got help on either side of him with the right tackle and Jack Conklin in the center and Ben Jones. Is that true? Terry, that's not a silly question because you know that, Terry, that question makes complete sense. Exactly. Well, you don't have somebody on the outside, especially if you're a left or right-handed, if you're a

left-handed tackle and you've got a left-handed injury, you're in trouble. But you're right. He's protected on both sides, by the center on his right, the left tackle on his left. But still, for the most part, they're going to try and do things to iso that arm if they can. Put a three-technique over Chance Womack and make him block him by himself. Obviously, slide protection is his own protection.

It's something that you can rely on a lot in situations like that. But if he doesn't have the necessary help, and they've got other guys that are actually formidable pass rushers that don't allow a chance to have the help, he could be in trouble. But I'm sure that they're at least planning for that and at least putting that into the game plan, how effective Chance Wormack needs to be this weekend against the Raiders.

In other news, we'll find out a little bit more today, guys, about the injuries to Derek Morgan and Kendall Wright. Both guys did a little work yesterday on the day off on the side. They'll come out today and see if they can go, and certainly this is the first step in being able to perhaps determine if we will be able to see one or both of those gentlemen play or if both will be out, obviously, also on Sunday against the Raiders. Yeah, it's going to be interesting, Greg, because I think, you know,

I know that they missed Derek Morgan, but they were still able to get four sacks last week. To me, this offense needs Kendall Wright, and they need him to, you know, Kendall's not a burner, he's not's not a four three guy but he does have some twitch about him and he has some explosiveness and can somewhat take the top off the defense better than any other receiver that they have a healthy kendall right i think would help loosen things up uh and against the opposing defense and make the running lanes easier to you know to get through because there's not as many people in the box, and also make some of the passing lanes underneath open up if Kendall

can take his guy down the seam from the slot and run that skinny post about 20, 25 yards, even if the ball's not thrown to him, it can be served as a clear-out route. Absolutely, Jerry. That's basically the defense having to keep you honest. Kendall Wright is a playmaker with the ball in his hands, and you've got to think on the underneath stuff. With more guys on the field with that capability, it puts more stress on the offense,

and it adds more diversity for the defense, and adds more diversity for the Titans' offense. He's sorely missed because of those lack of options, basically. Kind of a relatively slow start for Delaney Walker, but we did see him rebound nicely last week against the Detroit Lions. I figure you see more of him as the week's progressing. He gets himself more acclimated with what style they want him to be a part of as far as establishing the one game

and also having a formidable down-the-field threat. So, Chender Wright is one of those guys that definitely missed in that offense, as well as Derek Morgan, who had a nice stretch in the Minnesota game before he got hurt of being able to apply pressure. But we did, like you mentioned, Terry, see Kevin Dott, at least, come off the bench and get in the backfield and be destructive, which is what you want a youngster to be able to do. Can you do that more consistently?

That's the hope for the Titans moving forward as they deal with these injury situations, guys. Two more things of note from around the NFL that are not necessarily Titans specific, but certainly related. Yesterday, the San Diego Chargers signed former Titan running back Dexter McCluster. Of course, Ken Wisenhunt, part of the regime that brought Dexter here to Nashville for the Titans. He's now the offensive coordinator in San Diego.

And Amir Abdullah, the running back for the Detroit Lions, injured against the Titans on Sunday. This morning he has been placed on injured reserve, and guys, we're not sure if that is the injured reserve that will take him out for the season or the eight-week reserve where after eight games he can return, but still injured against the Titans, and that's certainly a big loss for Detroit moving forward, Brad. Yeah, I will say this real quick, Brad. There are a lot of injuries abounding in the league early.

We're barely into the quarter of the first quarter of the season being done, and we see the Browns be affected. We see the Patriots be affected. The Vikings, obviously, are affected, losing A.D. There's so many teams now that are losing their apex guys that you've got to think the depth is paramount nowadays. Those youngsters being able to come off the bench and give some productive minutes is huge nowadays, especially when you have the current atmosphere.

And Terry, I'm going to hand it to you, but ask you a question in the interim. Do you think that maybe it's a lack of calluses that have traditionally been built up with the time the guys had on the football field? Are injuries now more part of the game because of basically the lack of time to prepare yourselves in being physical during the week? That's a good point, Brad. And I think you can stretch that all the way back through training camp because now there are only so many padded practices you can have.

There's no such thing as two-a-days anymore. And sometimes you build up. I don't want to maybe tolerance isn't the right word, but you get more used to physical contact. You get more used to hitting. And, yes, there can be injuries that happen in practice, training camp. Maybe you don't see as many of those anymore, but it also doesn't prepare you for the regular season maybe as much.

I think your point is well received. Moving forward, what others are saying saying this is a weekly segment that we do where we take something from around the nfl titans related and today guys i want to focus on the offensive line and this comes to us from our friends at pro football focus the offensive line for the titans graded very well in sunday's victory as they compiled four of the five top offensive grades for the Titans. First-round rookie Jack Conklin bounced back after a rough start. He was blown back from the line of scrimmage and into DeMarco Murray.

Of course, that resulted into the safety. Both young tackles, Conklin and Taylor LeJuan, also a former first-round pick, kept Marcus Mariota upright for the majority of the game as the offense showed its versatility when that's the case. Apart from the 67-yard run, though, by DeMarco Murray, he was held mostly in check, and, of course, so was Derrick Henry. But the offensive line grades for Jack Conklin, the highest-graded Titan, 85.4, Quentin Spain, 84.7.

Taylor LeJuan, 82.1. Ben Jones, 82.0. And then, of course, Delaney Walker and Marcus Mariota also had very good grades as well. But certainly that bodes well for the offensive line after some early struggles that they were able to pick it up, Brad, and come around and play what everybody says was a good ball game going forward after that. Absolutely.

I think that what we saw them in preseason was a little more pedestrian offense, and they were very effective doing that. I think what you saw them in the second game was get back to a more concerted effort of having pads parallel with the ground, so to speak, and those guys being able to fire off, which is what those big hog miles want to be able to do. I love that fact, as a matter of fact. And real quick about things that I've noticed around the league as far as what they're saying about the Titans. It's a complete difference from one week to the next,

how they're talking about the mistakes that Marcus Mariota made in week one to contribute to their loss and how he rebounded basically to not only be effective in the pass game, but be effective in not committing turnovers like we saw him do the week before. So they're saying there's definitely an improvement from one week to the next. But unfortunately for his counterpart in Tampa Bay, he had such a crazy, tumultuous week against the Cardinals that now it's his turn to take his lumps going into the sophomore season. So, Terry, those are a couple of things I looked at.

The youngsters basically getting holes poked in them for the most part from them being able to at least weather the storms late. Yeah, it was good. Greg talked about the grades that the offensive line had. They did give up, I think it was two or three sacks. But, you know, Mike Malarkey said that one of those things that caused some of those sacks was that Marcus Mariota held the ball a couple of times too long long, running around waiting for something to happen,

rather than just sliding in the pocket or throwing the football away. And I think that's something that he will learn as he goes forward. You know, he came from being such a running quarterback at Oregon, out of that spread offense, just taking off and going and trying and hanging into the last minutes, trying to create something that sometimes old habits die hard. And I think, you know, as he goes forward and as he realizes that sometimes it's best just to live to play another down, he will improve upon that.

And if that happens, then I think you'll see this offensive line continue to improve its pass protection. You know, real quick about that. Go ahead, Brad. Before we segue on is I think that when you look at Marcus Mariota, Terry, and how much has been put on his plate as far as being the guy that changed this franchise, I will commend him on not doing too much. Sometimes trying to make that big play, trying to make that sparky play,

you know, the one that gets this offense really going, that's something that a youngster like that can put on his plate too much and focus on that. But I like the fact that he's willing to move on and at least implement other parts of the game plan when one part isn't working. It's all part of a growing process for Marcus and for this team, and certainly we are seeing some steps in the right direction, of course, with the road victory.

Now you've just got to get one at home. As we move along to our hump day happenings, and Brad, I want to start with you again on this one, and Terry will get your thoughts certainly as well, but Brad, you faced this, and of course our hump day happenings today surrounds this week's opponent, the currently Oakland Raiders, who could very well be in the future the Las Vegas Raiders as rumors surround that franchise of a potential move, and Brad, you went through this with the then Houston Oilouston Oilers before the move to Nashville to become the Tennessee Titans

with a stop in Memphis along the way. But what does this do to a franchise, and in this case the Raiders, and a very young team that is an up-and-coming team, much like you guys were on the rise with Steve, Eddie, yourself, and others as you came to Nashville and then made, of course, that 1999 run to the Super Bowl. How does that affect the team at this point in time? It really depends on whether or not there was dysfunction at the previous stop. You know, were they excited about you being there?

And just unfortunately, you know, obviously as things go in the league, you've got to find a new home. Or is it a situation like what we had where they were basically tired of the shenanigans and the entire city was basically waiting for D edu you know do it or get off the pot so to speak and they weren't very supportive so what they did was put us in the backs against the wall mentality us against the world and a lot of times that focuses teams and allow them you know to play better because they only because they're the ones that believe in themselves they can look at other examples around the league where people just don't buy into what they're doing.

So I think for us it was an air of excitement, the unknown, but that anxiety sometimes can affect the team, especially when you don't know exactly what's going on around you and what the timetable is. You know, if you're not together as a nucleus, then those things can plague you and actually distract you. But, you know, I think that in most, a good head coach can take those moments, departmentalize them, and get his guys focused on what their task is,

which is winning ballgames. And that ultimately affects everything, guys, winning ballgames. Yeah, I think you're right, Brad. I think it's basically when you're in that situation, I think a lot of times those teams have to take on an us-against-the-world mentality. I think that's what you guys were able to do. It's amazing how much is lifted off of a team once that situation is out of the way, once the move has happened, once you're in your new surroundings, and once everything is back to normal.

I think that was a big part of what you guys did in 1999. Once things were normal, that's when the team really took off. Yeah, you also got to remember that the promise of new is very exciting, too. You know, like a city, when you move there, it has a new car smell, too. And so to speak, you know how excited you are when you pull the car off the line and it smells like a brand-new car? Well, that's kind of like what it is, too, when you get a new atmosphere, a new environment, a new community sometimes, too.

It can be fun. Moving along, it's time for Pro Scope, where we focus on something from about around the NFL. And we want to talk this week about the Thursday night contest because it involves a Titans opponent in their division, the Houston Texans. They face the New England Patriots on Thursday night in New England. And, guys, the quarterback situation in New England is perhaps an advantage for the Texans going into this road game because, obviously,

Tom Brady suspended first four games. This will be number three. Jimmy Garoppolo injured last week, likely to not play. There's a slight chance that they're trying to get him in. But it looks like Jacoby Brissett, the rookie out of North Carolina State via Florida, will be the starter against a very good Texans defense, and a

guy like J.J. Watt has got to be licking his chops to get it a rookie. I'm sorry. Go ahead, Brad. I was going to say that real quick with the youngsters, you know that's the kind of situation that Bill Belichick and company love to have. You know, as far as a guy that's going to be, excuse me, Bill Belichick,

Bill O'Brien rather, loves to have as far as a rookie quarterback, you know, trying to make him make mistakes. But one thing we know is true is the New England protocol. They get quarterbacks ready, and they don't deviate from their systemic way of getting things done. So, therefore, when you have to replace parts, it's not like you have to replace performances, because all the next guy has to do, the successor, is do exactly what the guy in front of him did, because they don't ask him to do too much.

They don't put it on one player to win ball games. Their system is how they win ball games. So I think it will be easier for them to plug a Jacoby Brissett out of North Carolina State in there and have him just kind of do the things that they're asking Jimmy Garoppolo to do until Tom Brady can get back with the team, I think, week five against Cleveland. So they should be okay because it's not about the player, it's about the system, and we know that that system works, Jerry. Yeah, I think you're right in that regard,

but still the thought of J.J. Watt bearing down on an untested person is pretty darn scary to me. You know, I think we here in Nashville know all about that. The few times that Zach Mettenberger was thrown into the fire against J.J. Watt, and that didn't work out so well for Stipe.

But you're right, it's an entirely different environment, an entirely different culture up there with the New England Patriots. And while I'm certain that they would rather have Tom Brady or Jimmy Galoppolo under center, they'll do everything they can to get this rookie ready and to get him to where he can operate within that system. May not be able to do 100% of the offense,

but he'll be able to do enough to function. But still, I think the Texans are catching the best break they could possibly catch going into this Thursday night game, given the situation of what normally lies ahead when you're a road team in a primetime environment at New England. I would certainly agree with that, Terry, that it is a big break for the Texans. Of course, they are right now currently leading the AFC South, the Titans division, by a game. Of course, they're 2-0, the Titans 1-1 with the Colts and the Jaguars

both there trailing the pack, if you will, at this point. So it's a big game for the Titans, and certainly I know some Titans fans are probably going to be rooting for New England to find a way to win that game and slow down the Texans at this point. Guys, it's time for our final thoughts, and Terry, I want you to lead us off here and give us your final thought on the day. Okay. Well, I think I'm going to go back to something that Greg and I had talked about earlier in the week, but I still think it rings true.

If you're the Tennessee Titans, the opportunity is here for this team to make a statement that it's finally turned the corner. And, you know, this team hasn't won two games in a row since the end of the 2013 season. The only team they've beaten at home since the 2013 season is the Jacksonville Jaguars. They need to come out and make a statement this Sunday against the Oakland Raiders that this franchise is

different. They've been preaching that it's different. They've been talking about how it's different. They've been acting like it's different all throughout the offseason ever since John Robinson and Mike Malarkey took this thing over. Now it's time for the players to put that in action on Sunday with a strong performance to show that maybe this franchise

is on the cusp of returning to promise. This is a winnable game, guys. I think it's one of the first things you need to look at. This team is playing better. Obviously, they can exact revenge for a loss that they had last year. We saw them play each other in the preseason. Of course, very pedestrian performances from both teams, but we know that defensively they're susceptible.

Now, can the Titans' defense basically keep Amari Cooper and Derek Carr, that combination, in check? Latavius Murray is the guy that obviously can run the football effectively, bringing balance. But like I said, this is a game that, at home, the Titans can actually put themselves on the map because we know that the league is paying attention to what the Raiders are doing. And they paid attention to what the Titans did last weekend against the Detroit Lions,

and they most certainly will pay attention to whatever Jack Del Rio has up his sleeve as he comes into Nashville. So this will be a great win, a very realistic opportunity for the Titans to take a step forward. My final thoughts on the same line. I said this yesterday. I may say it every day this week because I certainly think it's utterly important for this franchise at this point in time, obviously, to win games for themselves. But you've got to win at home, win for the fans,

because if you want to change this culture and stop seeing so much black and silver, as we'll see this Sunday, or purple for Minnesota, or green with Green Bay, and so on and so forth, of all these opposing fans kind of taking over the stadium on game days at Nissan. You've got to win at home. You've got to do it for the fans. And I'm going to keep saying this again all week probably because I know all

the Titans players are listening to this podcast and know that we're telling them the right things, guys. No panic, right? No panic. Absolutely. That will do it for us this morning. You've been listening to Locked on Titans on the Locked on Podcast Network. Have a great day, everybody, and we'll see you again on Thursday.