Locked On Titans - Daily Podcast On The Tennessee Titans - Locked On Titans- Sept. 23- It's Friday and time to find out who we picked to win Sunday.

Episode Date: September 23, 2016

It's Friday and we've got all the current Titans news, plus it's time to find out who we picked to win Sunday versus the Oakland Raiders. #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 and information 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 Friday edition,

and we've got a lot of stuff to cover today. Obviously, it is Friday. Our current news segment, of course, a lot of injury information. We'll also give you our predictions on who we feel is going to win on Sunday when the Raiders come to Nissan Stadium, plus our final thoughts on the game. And, Brad Hopkins, it's good to have you back with us on this Friday edition. We miss you on Tuesdays and Thursdays when you're not with us, my friend. What a fabulous, fabulous Friday leading into the weekend

where the Titans are at least at 500 right now with a chance to exact revenge from last year's loss and get above 500. How awesome would that be, guys? It certainly would be great. Yeah, it would be incredible. It would be the first time since 2013 that they've been above 500. Let's jump right in.

I'm sorry, go ahead. Let me put you two on the spot real quick for a second. I know you have to be professional, okay? Obviously, my tenure there with the Titans kind of makes me a little bit jaded, but do you guys have that luxury? Can you guys at least be at least kind of quiet fans about what the Titans are doing, or do you have to remain ambiguous? How do you guys report on the Titans?

I try to remain as neutral as possible. Now, that said, here's the thing. It's obviously much easier and much more fun to cover a team that's 12-4 than to cover one that's 4-12. So, you know, to make my life simpler and my life easier in what I do every day and being out there. It's beneficial if the team is good. You know, I'm not going to lie.

The last couple of years have, you know, taken a toll because after a while, you get tired of writing the same thing and going in and asking the same questions to the same guys about, you know, why did this team get away from you? Why did, you know, why did this happen? Or why, you know, why weren't you guys able to hold this and this lead or come back here? And after a while, you know, it all starts to sound repetitious. I have to agree with Terry. It's much easier when the team is good because guys are more happy to see you.

When I say guys, players, when you walk in the locker room, they're okay to talk to you. It's a whole lot easier to talk after a win than it is to talk after a loss. And the other thing, too, about kind of being a fan a little bit is the fact that you get to know some of these guys and you get to like some of these guys as people. And Brad, you know this from your time. There were certain media members, I'm sure, that you probably talked to more openly and freely and associated with in the locker room more so than others. And you kind of get a little bit of a bond.

Now, granted, it's a working relationship. But you get to know these guys, and you certainly want to see them do well. So it kind of makes you a fan in the sense of at least that, even though you're going to have to stay neutral and try to report and be honest and just call it like it is regardless whether it's good, bad, or indifferent. Hey, Greg, you know that Terry and I did a Pro Bowl diary in one of my Pro Bowls. So that just shows you it was one of my favorites when I played. See, there you go.

The biggest fear I had at that point was I didn't want to call. Brad was in Hawaii, and I was here in Nashville. And I didn't want to call too early. I had deadlines, but I'm like, I really don't want to call Brad at 6 in the morning because I know being in Hawaii for the first time, he's having a good time. He's got family and friends and other players over there. I really tried to make sure I didn't call too early.

Let's jump right into our current news, guys. It starts basically around the injury front obviously chance warmack as we talked about this week had the uh torn tendon in the right hand he has opted for surgery and his season is likely done placed on injured reserve and also his career is a titan likely coming to an end though there's still probably a slim chance he could be resigned, but it certainly does not look good for his future moving forward, Terry. No, it really doesn't. I mean, I think one of the things that you could kind of see when Mike Malarkey was talking about Chance Wormack

opting to have surgery yesterday, you could kind of see a hint of frustration and a hint of disappointment because the Titans felt like that this was an injury that perhaps he could play through. Now, obviously, I see Chance's point of view on this, too, because Chance is going to be a free agent at the end of this year. And with the Titans not picking up his option and him now being out, I think it's more likely that he winds up somewhere else. So if I'm Chance Wormack and I wind up somewhere else next year, I want to be as healthy as possible. And I don't want to put play on film that shows me at less than 100% this season just

trying to gut it out and trying to play one-handed, if you will. So I understand both sides in this matter, but it certainly does not look good for Chance Wormack's return this year or with the Titans beyond this season. Yeah, Terry, you're right about a lot of it you just spoke on. I think that them not resigning him or at least, you know, picking up that third-year option, it really does speak volumes. The group is in the pudding. If Chance were playing better at this point,

it wouldn't even be a consideration for them to bring back, you know, the former Alabama offensive lineman. And, you know, injuries like that are kind of, you know, they're unique to each individual. And like you said, I think that Chance, you know, rather than taking the chance, no pun intended, you know, of kind of weathering the storm because he was hurt in warm-ups against Detroit, and he played the entire game, but yet now makes the decision to, you know, basically get himself healthy.

So if the writing is on the wall, you know, for Tennessee that he is at least giving himself a fighting chance to get himself picked up by another team, which, in my opinion, Terry, opens the door, and Greg, for former Patriots guard Josh Klein. Just because of the sheer experience that he has over, say, Brian Swinkey or Sebastian or somebody like that, I think the fact that he's at least clocked for minutes makes Mike Malarkey and, of course, Russ Graham and everybody else feel more comfortable that he can get the job done in replacing Chance Wormack this season. Other injury news of note coming out, guys.

Obviously, the status of Derek Morgan and Kendall Wright certainly at issue. Both guys got some work in today, a little bit more. And both guys probable, I guess, or questionable, I should say, rather, at best for Sunday. Though, Terry, it sounds like perhaps Derek Morgan more so likely or probable than Kendall Wright might be. Right. Sunday, though, Terry, it sounds like perhaps Derek Morgan more so likely or probable than Kendall Wright might be. Right.

Derek Morgan increased his workload today, and Mike Malarkey said he hopes to see him be full go in Friday's practice. And usually if a guy can make it through a full practice on Friday, he's got a good chance of playing on Sunday. As for Kendall Wright, it still remains a slow process. His hamstring injury is now lingered for six weeks. And offensive coordinator Terry Robiskey kind of took a little shot at Kendall today when he was asked about it and the possibility of his return.

I was there when he said it. He goes, I haven't seen Kendall in so long. I don't even know what kind of skill set he's got anymore. So I think Titans trying to light a little bit of a fire into Kendall Wright. I know that injuries are a part of the game and injuries can't be helped, but certainly the Titans and Titans fans, too, probably even Kendall Wright, tired of waiting around on this issue and this injury to heal up and to go away

and for Kendall Wright to get back out on the field. Terry, Greg, think about how much this injury is frustrating, not only Kendall Wright himself, but the offense, and just where they're trying to go, at least in a little bit of diversity. We know that them, you know, obviously grabbing DeMarco Murray and Derrick Henry in the draft this year, there was going to be a concerted effort to run the football, but they have to have options.

And Kendall Wright, basically, him not being in that offense, there seems to be a relevant feeling, so to speak, on the passing game, which makes them more predictable and able to key on guys like Delaney Walker, who himself is not 100%. So it would behoove the Titans to get Kendall Wright back as soon as possible. Speaking of Delaney Walker, I talked to him, and he said how he hurt his hamstring, although he was back at practice today in limited fashion, was because the Detroit Lions

were holding, and he tweaked his hamstring, I guess trying to get away from a guy who was holding him as he was going out in a pass route. So one of those 17 penalties, if it was called, against the Lions, has put Delaney Walker a little bit behind this week in terms of being able to go because he mispracticed yesterday. He was limited today, although he says he will play on Sunday. Guys, you touched on it a little bit earlier, mentioning Josh Klein, of course. Somebody's going to have to step into that right guard spot for the Titans and fill the void of Chance Wormack now being on injured reserve.

Three guys, Brian Schwinke, whom we know a little bit about. He's been with the Titans certainly now into his fourth season. Kline, who just came over as a free agent addition, and rookie Sebastian Tritola, though he's likely not as much of an option unless it became an injury situation and they kind of had to go there. Guys, it looks like Klein's going to be the guy as he got the majority of the work with the starting offensive line today. Well, he did get the majority of the work,

but Mike Malarkey also added that the reason that they did that was because they already know that Brian Schwinke can play the position. He's been through, knows the system, knows the playbook. They're trying to get Kline up to speed as quickly as possible. That said, a decision's coming today, but I still think that they're going to go with Josh Kline simply for the fact that when you put Josh Kline out there, you still have Brian Schwinke as your interior swing guy.

If there's an injury somewhere at one of the guard positions or at center, you plug Brian Schwinke in and you continue on. If Schwinke is starting, then you have to plug Josh Klein in, move Schwinke to the spot where the injured player was, whether it's center or the left guard position. You're changing two spots rather than one, and that can affect your cohesiveness, and that can affect the synchronicity that those offensive linemen have to

have in order to be effective. Now, Brad. You're 100% right, Terry. Yeah, go ahead. No, I was going to pose you a question based on that. Obviously, you've had situations where guys were hurt along the offensive line and you've had to bring in a backup player or someone else to fill that spot. How difficult is it to get those guys up to speed quickly

to try to get them to where you were as a unit prior to the injury that took out one of the five guys that was an initial starter? Greg, Terry, to get them moving like a finely tuned machine, it takes repetition. And I think that the things that Greg touched on, excuse me, Terry touched on, you know, just about the experience that Josh Klein has coming over from New England, those are things that are paramount when you're talking about, you know, being able to adjust and get yourself acclimated with the game plan

as well as the guys on either side of it. I think that that's where Josh Klein has a slight advantage. Sure, there might be some excitement from Sebastian Trotolo or even, you know, Brian Swinke in the future, but for the most part, a guy that, you know, he's kind of a relative journeyman, finds his way to the Titans. That experience is one of the things I think that Mike Malarkey, Terry Rubisky, as well as Russ Grimm feel more comfortable moving forward to replace Chance Wormack. It's Friday, which means it's time for our predictions, but before we jump into the predictions, obviously we want to give you a little information on how we see this game

playing out, and then we'll make the predictions a little bit later on. And Brad, let's start with you. Kind of give us your analysis of the game and how you see things going without giving away your prediction too soon here. Well, I will say this. This is a pretty potent offense, guys, to start out with. They're averaging 470 yards of total offense. 161 of that is on the ground. Derek Carr has been protected relatively well. He's only been sacked one time.

That's the fewest of any quarterback who's played in two games so far. So it's going to put a lot of pressure, first off, on those guys, those edge rushers, to get back there and make him uncomfortable. We've heard Jarrell Casey talk about during the week getting turnovers and things like that. Well, if they're not applying pressure, then that ball's not leaving too soon. Therefore, it's less likely that the Titans will get their hands on it. And also, the middle of that defense is going to be tested.

When I just talked about the 161 yards from Latavius Murray and company. That means they've got to be stout as far as the front seven is concerned, and that's been an area of concern, basically, for the Titans ever since preseason. So, what that means to me, guys, real quick, before I hand it to you, Terry, is that offensively they have to implement the game plan

that they've had in place since the beginning of the season, which is to run the football, run it effectively, and keep the ball out of the hands of Derek Carr, Mark Cooper, and Michael Crabtree and the likes. Convert third down, stay out of third and long situations, eat up the clock, and score points when you can. But for the most part, keep that football out of the Raiders' hands, and at least you should be able to defend Nissan Stadium

and give the fan faithful here something to be excited about, Terry. Yeah, Brad, I think you're spot on there. I think when you look at the way this Raiders offense can move the football, now the Raiders have had all kinds of problems giving up yards on defense, giving up points on defense. But I think if you're the Titans, your game plan has to be somewhat similar to what you wanted to do against the Lions.

You want to control the clock, control the ball, keep the score down. On defense, you want to bend but don't break. You want to give up field goals rather than touchdowns if they get to the fed zone. And I think a lot of the same principles where the Lions had Matt Stafford and they had Doug Golden Tate and Marcus Jones and Antoine Bolden didn't have quite the running game maybe that the Raiders do, but still a pretty potent offense,

better than what the Titans' offense probably is. You've got to keep the score close, keep it low, and bend but don't break on defense and try to have a chance to win it at the end, which is what they did against the Lions. I think that's the strategy the Titans are going to have to employ once again this week against the Raiders, who probably come in with a lot more firepower than the Titans have.

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Seat Geek purchase. Get your $20 rebate on tickets by downloading the Seat Geek app, go to settings tab, and click add a promo code. Enter the promo code LOTITANS, that's L-O-T-I-T-A-N-S. Seat Geek will send you $20 after you've made your first ticket purchase. Download the SeatGeek app and enter the promo code LOTITANS today. Guys, this game on Sunday, as you mentioned, of course, has a lot of variables to it when you look at the Raiders and what they bring in offensively, a high-powered, potent offense. But at the same time, their defense has struggled in the first two games of the season,

giving up a lot of yards, giving up a lot of big plays. And while the Titans don't necessarily have the explosive players like Julio Jones of Atlanta that we saw last week do major damage to the Raiders, I think that the Titans can come in and run this football. And I think they want to run the football. Obviously, we know that. But if they can run the football effectively, get DeMarco Murray and Derrick Henry involved, and I think in some cases run right at Khalil Mack to try to take him a little bit out of the game as a pass rusher,

they can shorten this game, keep that Raider offense on the sideline, and be able to have a chance late in this thing to win it. Hey, real quick, Terry. Obviously, the game plan would be to keep the ball out of the Raiders' hands, but also to protect Marcus Mariota. Key matchups this weekend are going to be Jack Conklin and Taylor LeJuan versus Khalil Mack, one of the more formidable AFC pass rushers. He's probably going to be flip-flopping sides,

even though he does play the left side of that defensive line. Whichever tackle he thinks is more susceptible to giving up sacks is the one he's going to be lined up over, and that's going to be a task for that offensive line to basically keep Mariota at least standing upright if they get into passing situations. Oh, it really is. I think when you look at the Raiders' defense

and the Titans trying to keep, you know, Khalil Mack and some of those other guys off of Marcus Mariota, you know, I would look for them to do some, you know, keeping a tight end in to help block, maybe have some backs chipping, you know, whatever they've got to do in order to slow him down and keep him off the quarterback. And also it might be a good idea to put Marcus on the move a little bit, you know, roll him away from Mack's side and pressure.

You know, that way he's got a run-pass option. You know, if there's something there that he can make something happen with his leg, he can take off and, you know, get out of bounds or hook-slide, whatever he wants to do. Or if a receiver breaks free off the rollout, then, you know, you've got the possibility of explosive plays that way. So I think the Titans are going to be smart in trying to get away from this Raider pressure

because they've got to keep Mariota upright, and they've got to do everything in their power to make sure that he doesn't take shots like he did last year. Okay, guys, time to put you on the spot. Time to make your predictions, and Brad, go ahead and lead off with your prediction on who's going to win on Sunday at Nissan Stadium. Listen, my predictions are going to be sad

because I'm going to pick the Titans every single time, even though conventional wisdom might say otherwise. I want to pick my boys. But they definitely have a task in front of them, first off, to get two wins back-to-back. They haven't done that since 2013. As a matter of fact, they haven't given the fans in Nissan Stadium a W since

2015. Terry was the last time they won over there in Nissan Stadium. They beat Jacksonville each of the last two years, and that's their only win at home. Yes, that's kind of sad. So I think that this is going to be a wonderful opportunity for them to get back on the winning track, and obviously, like Michael Larkin talked about, get the fans something to be excited about.

The players already mentioned the fact that they hate seeing the fans leave early. Well, they know that they have a way to stop that, which is by at least being competitive in ballgames or outright winning. So I see the Titans really taking the energy, the excitement, the potential, and getting the W in this one, even though it's going to be a hard-fought contest, guys. What's your score? I'm going to say the Titans by a touchdown. Give me 28-21, Tennessee. Terry?

All right. Greg, you know, I've gone back and forth on this one and tried to, you know, see which way I want to go on it. And the more I think about it, even though, you know, it can be tough, you know, it's tough on a team that's out west to come east. So that's an advantage for the Titans with the Raiders coming all the way across the country. And you look at the Titans and the situation that they're in, you know,

haven't won back-to-back games since 2013, haven't been above.500 since 2013, haven't beaten anybody other than Jacksonville since 2013. 2013 was not actually a great year for the Titans. They went 7-9, but that seems like years ahead of where they have been. I think it's time. I think it's time for the Titans to get a signature win, to win a game at home. I know a lot of people think the Raiders are going to be one of the darling teams, one of those up-and-coming teams that people were thinking was going to make a big jump.

And if the Titans can get a win here, you know, that helps them because when it comes down to wild card tiebreakers and things like that, if those things come into play, if the Titans are in contention this year, then those types of things matter. I think it's time for the Titans to show that they can compete and be a respectable NFL team again. I think it'll be close. For the Titans to win it, I think it has to be low scoring, but I'm going to go Titans 20, Raiders 17,

and they're going to walk out of Nitson Stadium tied for first place in the AFC South headed to Houston. Well, those are great points on both sides, and I'm kind of torn, guys, because I'm still of the mindset they have to prove it to me. Certainly they proved a lot last week going on the road, coming from behind and winning that game. I still think they've got a few things to prove to me, but this is a very winnable game and I think the Titans will get it done.

I think it's going to be close. They've got to rely on the offensive line and those two big backs and bruise the Raiders. They've got to physically take the game to the Raiders up front, dominate them with that offensive line and with those two backs, keep Derek Carr and Amari Cooper in particular on the sideline where they can't hurt you. And then when the defense gets out there, get pressure on Carr,

affect him, move him around. Again, as Terry said and Brad as well, it's going to be a low-scoring ball game. And I'm going to take the Titans in this one. I'm going to take them 17-14. And as Terry said, they'll walk out tied for first. Guys, those are our predictions. And I guess we'll have to wait until Monday to find out just how close we got to the actual outcome of the game.

How often do you think all three of us will pick the Titans to win, or at least pick all three on the same side? How often do you think that will happen this year, guys? I guess we'll find out Sunday. This is the first so far. We're in week three, and it's the first time that we've all picked the Titans to win. And Brad, you were the one that got it right last week, by the way, picking the Titans as Terry and I played contrarian

and came up on the short end. That will do it for us. We hope you enjoy the weekend. Enjoy the game on Sunday. We'll see you Monday when we'll recap the Titans. You're listening to Locked on Titans on the Locked on Podcast Network.