Locked On Titans - Daily Podcast On The Tennessee Titans - Locked On Titans- Sept. 28- Big news to open the show, plus our WOAS & HDH.

Episode Date: September 28, 2016

Big news to open the show, plus our What Others Are Saying & Hump Day Happenings along with our Final Thoughts. #BHop #TerryMc #GregA Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

That's for my crazy day. My packed commute. All those unread emails in my inbox. But I'm getting stronger, faster, and pushing myself further every day. I don't care if I'm not like everyone else. This punching bag is the best way to end my day. Fearless is knowing yoga isn't your style. That's the power of the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Federal Employee Program.

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, your team every day. And welcome to Locked on Titans, your daily source for all Titans news and information 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 Wednesday morning and good to have Brad back with us today. We've got a lot of stuff to cover and some big news coming out yesterday. As we jump right in, Brad and Terry, to our current news,

let's start with the biggest news perhaps in the NFL and may well be one of the bigger stories of the entire season, and that being the injury to J.J. Watt. He has or will be placed on injured reserve today, Wednesday, and at least done for eight weeks and could possibly be out for the remainder of the season. And, Terry, if anything, have you heard and have you had any opportunity to speak with anybody down in Houston

that might have some information on what exactly else might be going on here? I have not had a chance of speaking with anybody down there yet, but it does seem like that from the reports coming out that J.J. Watt re-injured the back injury that he sustained that caused him to miss a good part of the offseason. So very interesting. If J.J. Watt is going to be out for any extended period of time, then it certainly opens things up for the remainder of the AFC South.

We'll talk about that a little later on. But a devastating loss potentially for the Houston Texans and the Titans. Really, as the Texans' opponent this week, they stand to benefit greatly because Watt has tormented them over the last couple of years. Now, Brad, I want to throw this out to you because you've obviously been in this situation going up against a team that potentially has been without their best player on the defensive side of the football. How does that change the mentality of an offense going into a game

when you were preparing earlier this week for J.J. Watt to be there or the best defensive player? Now all of a sudden you're looking up and going, hey, this guy's not there anymore. Let me tell you what. You know who's the corners of whose mouth are turned up is Josh Klein. He's smiling from ear to ear right now knowing that he doesn't have to go against one of the best pass rushers that's in the league itself. And if you have to think about it, it's less of a game plan for Terry

Hrabisky to have to be concerned about because they were going to have to help the interior of that offensive line. Now, the other thing, other than not having J.J. Watt at your disposal, is that De'Veon Clowney has not lived up to the billing. He's been healthy enough to be on the field this year, but yet doesn't have the explosive plays

to be really interactive and say he's much of a factor. So, they have to bring in Antonio Smith, who obviously was a former Texan, rejoins the fold, doesn't have that much familiarity with this new Titans team because nobody was here when he was a Texan last, basically. So I think that that just goes well for the Titans. Unfortunately for the Texans moving forward, that pass rush has been directly affected,

and if Brock Osweiler continues to make mistakes and they don't have balanced reign of football, then they're a very average team in my opinion. It certainly makes this Sunday's matchup in NRG Stadium between the Titans and the Texans very much more interesting without J.J. Watt there. Let's move on. The Titans made a move yesterday in signing wide receiver Jordan Leslie to the practice squad, and I was a little bit surprised by the counter move that they made in releasing defensive lineman, nose tackle Antoine Woods, Terry,

who is a guy that really impressed us through training camp, was released obviously in a numbers situation at the end of training camp, couldn't get on the 53 man, but then re-signed to the practice squad. And now this guy's out on the street, and he seemed like a pretty good player. Yeah, he had a pretty good camp. He looked pretty good in preseason. At one point, they had him running ahead of Austin Johnson as the second-team nose tackle, but now they've gone

and they've signed Jordan Leslie and don't know a whole lot about him. He had played at Texas El Paso and then at BYU to finish up his college career. He's bounced around on a few practice squads, I think with the Falcons and the Vikings, maybe the Redskins, I think. So you're talking about a guy that they're bringing in as an extra receiver body, which is a little bit unusual, I think, simply for the fact that they already have six wide receivers there, and then plus Trey McBride on the practice squad.

So they're getting a little overloaded at wide receiver as well. Brad, obviously you had a little bit of a chance to see Antoine Wood some in the preseason. Your thoughts on him as a defensive lineman? Yeah, I mean, he has some good ability, good hip rotation, knows how to use his hands very well, plays with low center of gravity, that kind of situation. But I think basically the Titans are going to try and neutralize

what could be a potential area of concern by running the football. And we've talked about that almost ad nauseum this year, but this will be a good week, basically, without there necessarily being a vaunted pass rush to contend with. You'll be out of third and long situations, and therefore you can just go ahead and start pounding the rock, getting used to your pads being warmed up, and see what that looks like and what it feels like moving forward.

Then that way you don't have to worry about the three fumbles and the four picks that basically Marcus Mariota has contributed uncharacteristically this year. I can't take anything away from his skill set, the potential, but when he makes mistakes like that, it does, you know, obviously affect everything that they're doing. So I don't want to say that he can't when you give him the opportunity to come through, but let's just take some of the pressure off of a young guy by at least dispersing the football around evenly.

Therefore, they're not as predictable and can get a win this weekend against the Texans possibly. One of the things about Jordan Leslie, guys, 4-4, 5-40 time. So perhaps that is a reason that they decided to go out and bring this guy in and give him a shot on the practice squad to see what he can do to potentially add a receiver to the mix somewhere down the line with that type of speed. Moving forward, let's jump right into our segment,

what others are saying, and we go to our friends over at PFF who guys had some interesting things to say about the Titans this week. Great grades for a lot of guys on the offensive line and on the defensive line as well. But the biggest thing to me, they rank each position in the NFL on Tuesdays, and the Titans had two players that were tops at their position after last week's game, one of them being running back DeMarco Murray, of course, who had that 114-yard game on just 16 carries, his PFF grade 88.4.

But the other was left tackle Taylor LeJuan, who had a 90.7 grade. And the only thing negative against him, obviously, was that late penalty that moved the Titans back on the drive. But otherwise, he had a great day by the grade as he performed in opening lanes for DeMarco Murray and the other running backs and, of course, also protecting Marcus Mariota. Yeah, and it's a shame, you know, in terms of Taylor LeJuan that he got that penalty late, you know, an error in judgment on his part, because as the grade shows, it nullified what otherwise would have been a spectacular day for him.

Because we hardly heard Khalil Mack's name called at all in the ballgame. So Taylor LeJuan was doing his job, not only opening holes for DeMarco Murray as the Titans had 181 yards total on the ground, but they were doing a great job of keeping Marcus Mariota from being under duress with a lot of pressure and a lot of sack. Brad, you played – Yeah, I agree. I'm sorry. Go ahead.

No, no, I was just going to kind of echo what Terry was saying, basically, in that if you think of how well, as an offensive line, of course, Taylor LeJuan being a part of that against some pretty formidable defenses, week one against the Vikings. We know now that the Vikings might be last year's Broncos as far as that unit, how well they're playing. Khalil Mack and Carl Joseph were on the football field at the same time last weekend for the Raiders. Very formidable pass rush right there.

And yet we see the quarterback being relatively clean, like Terry was talking about. A direct attribution to what they're able to do is neutralizing the good pass rushers. Looking at DeMarco Murray, I think that he's got at least maybe two or three plays that are 20-plus yards, you know, explosive plays, basically. He's involved in the offense. And I think that kind of idea moving forward, the one-two punch with he and Derrick Henry, it does allow him at times to really show his skill set when he shows the ginger hands coming out of the backfield and can be a receiving threat as well.

So both of these acquisitions are seemingly paying off very well for the Titans right now. Brad, you played left tackle. You know obviously what it takes to be there and play at an all-pro level. What do you see in Taylor LeJuan? And is the only thing right now that's holding Taylor back from potentially being an elite left tackle in this league, the mental aspect of it, where he goes out and gets the penalty at the end of the game, those kind of things that are holding him back at this point?

You know what? I don't take anything. I know that he got flagged. I take exception when I see the defenders holding up the ball carrier so the other guys can take shots at him and therefore try and separate him from the football. Had Taylor seen what he was aiming at, maybe hit a defender rather than to Marco Murray and not knock himself out drawing further attention to that whole situation, maybe it doesn't happen because we haven't seen plays like that from Taylor all season. I think it's good to have that scruffy, halfway dirty mentality

when it comes to your offensive lineman because it sets the tone. If defensive linemen don't fear you up front, then it's going to be teeing off on the quarterback on that Sunday, and we don't want that to happen. So I like the idea that they can be policed, so to speak, on the football field. Taylor LeJuan has an excellent pass set. I love the fact that they can be police, so to speak, on the football field. Taylor LeJuan has an excellent pass set. I love the fact that his shoulders are always square. With the line scrimmage, this guy, he knows how to get off the ball.

He knows where to slow down, where to speed up in pass protection. I just think that this team is also built around a bunch of maulers. You know what I mean? They want to take the fight to you rather than have to be backing up all the time and having the fight brought to them. So these guys can potentially, if the style of offense that they're really trying to implement, it develops. These two bookends, Conklin and LeJuan, will be two marquee guys in the league.

Now, Terry, there's one thing that got missed in all of the LeJuan hoopla with the penalty that went with it, the fact that Ben Jones was right there beside him. He launched himself towards the pile, but his aim was off. He missed everything, and therefore he wasn't really flagged on the play and hasn't really been talked about, but he was doing the same thing LeJuan was doing, trying to get there in a hustle to help out his teammate. He just missed.

Yeah, and sometimes I guess it's better to be lucky than good on a play in terms of his aim. Hey, Terry, real quick. How crazy is that? Both of these guys, you know, they're skimming the pile, but the only thing that they hit was another teammate. I mean, friendly fire. That was terrible.

Another team and air. That's what they wound up doing. But, you know, I'm sure the Titans don't find it too funny that they got penalized 15 yards and it cost the game, but it does show the mentality that this offensive line

has in terms of coming to their teammates rescue and playing hard through the echo of the whistle, shall we say. Moving along, it's time for our segment Hump Day Happenings, you know, through the echo of the whistle, shall we say. Moving along, it's time for our segment, Hump Day Happenings. And, guys, we're going to jump back onto the injury front with the Titans because some good news and some bad news there. Denora Searcy likely out for this week, which means Damian Stafford and Kevin Byard, who played a big role

and have been seeing increased playing time this season, will have to step up and play a little bit even more in that spot. But the Titans also a chance to get back Kendall Wright and Delaney Walker this Sunday, Terry. And certainly both those will be big. Yes, on the Searcy front, I mean, you hate to lose a guy to injury. And Searcy has been their starting strong safety now for the last couple of years, but I'm eager to see what guys like Stafford and Bayard can do with more snaps. The Titans have been rotating their safeties in and out, different packages, different situations, even playing

a three-safety package at times. I'm eager to see exactly what Bayard and Stafford can bring to the table as part of that rotation and with increased reps with Cersei likely out of the mix. Brad, I want to throw – I'm sorry, go ahead. No, I was just going to say real quick, just kind of echoing again, Kevin Byard has kind of been groomed for this moment ever since the Titans draft and the youngster out of MTSU, like you talked about, Terry.

So I think that he knows the defense, at least what schematically Dick LeBeau is trying to do. It's just a matter of him getting in the right position to make plays. And the fact that Derek Morgan is not 100%, we did see some Kevin Dodd. I think that adds depth for a pass rush that's going to need it towards the end of the season. So I think that both those guys, youngsters being involved in defense, ultimately is going to help them down the stretch.

I'm sorry, go ahead. Go ahead, Greg ahead. I know. Go ahead, Greg. That's okay. I was going to move on to the next part of our topic here on Hump Day Happenings. And that, guys, we want to talk a little bit about the matchup this weekend between the Texans wide receivers, in particular DeAndre Hopkins, and the Titans defensive backs. And obviously that kind of plays into where we were talking there with the Norris Searcy being out.

Of course, Parrish Cox struggled a little bit at times in coverage. It's been picked on a couple of weeks. Where do we see guys? And we'll start with you on this one, Brad. This matchup going, certainly you would have to think that it favors the Texans wide receivers on Sunday against the Titans secondary. Yeah.

Normally you would say that because Nuno's been one of the more pivotal guys, you know, particularly in the AFC South that we pay attention to. But when you look at their points per game, they're tied right with the Titans at 31st when it comes to putting up points. That's not very good offensively. And yards per game, they're 24th. That's actually four less than where the Titans are. So in the past games, they're suffering.

They're struggling, you know, kind of particularly like the Titans are. Both of these teams offensively run the football very well. The Titans right now are eighth, comparatively speaking to the Houston Texans being 13th. So the receivers have not been that big a part of the game plan, but you can figure an explosive player to be the difference in this game. That and, of course, turnovers.

The team that doesn't shoot themselves in the foot in this game is going to be the team to win, in my opinion, because these receivers and our corners basically are going to be matched up against one another trying to not make the mistakes that give the other team the advantage, Terry. Yeah, the way I look at this, the receivers that the Titans have been facing, you know, when you look at the number one receiver on the opposite team that they've

been throwing against each week, it's almost like a video game in terms of they're going up a level every time. They started with Stephon Diggs, who's a solid guy, but, you know, not a superstar, but a solid player. Then the next week it was trying to stop Golden Tate, who's a veteran guy who's been around, he's been a playmaker, knows how to play the game and solid all the way around. Then you go last week against Amari Cooper,

who's a budding superstar in this league. I think he continues to progress two or three years from now. We may be talking about him as one of the best receivers in the game. This week, now you go almost to the top of the heap here going against DeAndre Hopkins. If only they could face Odell Beckham Jr. next week, you know, they could run the gamut of all these receivers. But it seems like they keep going up a level each week as they go against these receivers. And so far, they've passed the test.

It hasn't always been pretty. You know, Paris Cox has been beaten a number of times. McCourty's given up some completions. We saw Bryce McCain whiff on a tackle that led to a touchdown. But while they've had their rough spots, they seem to come through most when it counts. Well, the good news is they missed Cincinnati and A.J. Green in Atlanta and Julio Jones, or we would have gotten the gamut of all of the top receivers

in the game and throw in Pittsburgh as well, I guess, with Antonio Brown just for good measure. Let's move on to the Pro Scope section where we talk about something of interest around the NFL. And, guys, this week it comes right back to where we started the show a little bit earlier, talking about J.J. Watt. And, obviously, the Titans are going to play them this week, the Texans minus J.J. Watt. And obviously the Titans are going to play them this week, the Texans minus J.J. Watt.

He could be out for it. He's going to be out at least eight weeks, could be out the remainder of the season. But when we look at the AFC South and throw in the NFC South for good measure, this really throws the AFC South into a little bit of a more turmoil as if it wasn't in enough turmoil as to who might come out of this thing and win the division. But, guys, when we look at the South in the NFC and AFC,

both these squads have just one team that is at 500 or above. Everybody else in both those South divisions below 500, and that's kind of interesting that you would have two divisions that would be the same. Yeah, and talking about the AFC South, if I'm not mistaken, I think the Colts and Jaguars play each other this week as well. So you've got two division games going on, so we're going to see who's going to be in the driver's seat at least early on,

probably after this week. Is it going to be the Texans that get to 3-1? Is it going to be the Colts who get to 2-2? Is it going to be the Colts who get to 2-2? Is it going to be the Titans who get to 2-2? You know, it's going to be interesting to see exactly how all this plays out and how this division goes because, you know, like you said, everybody's struggling right now. And I think there's a chance that, you know,

the winner of this division may wind up with eight or nine wins if things keep going as they are. Yeah, you're right about that 100%, guys. I think when you look at the incumbents in both divisions, the Panthers, the Colts, the Saints, throwing in the Texans, all of the teams except for the Texans are struggling right now below.500. The Texans are the only team with two wins at this point, which kind of throws into that whole anemic conversation that we've had

in the previous years about the South being the worst divisions that are in football. And it does lead to it being wide open to anybody's game at this point. I think ultimately, real quick, it's going to end up being the healthiest team that actually wins both those scenarios to get into the playoffs. And so any Titans fans out there, Brad, and you said this a couple times throughout the first three weeks of the season, don't jump off the wagon just yet because who knows, with a little bit of luck, and we talked about this earlier,

you lose a key player like the Colts lost Andrew Luck last year, J.J. Watt going out for the Texans now. The Titans have a legitimate shot the way they've been playing. It hasn't been great, but they're still in this thing, and it could be a battle right down to week 10, 11, 12 to find out who is going to win and who potentially still could get a playoff spot out of this division. Agreed 100%, Terry.

Yeah, it's really wide open. Let's move along. Guys, we are heading closer to the end of our time today let's go ahead and begin with our final thoughts obviously a lot of things going on and a lot of directions we could go with this terry let's start with you on this one your final thought for today well my final thought goes somewhat along the lines of the j.J. Watt injury, but I think with Watt out this week and out for an extended period of time, it's time for the Titans offense to flex its muscles.

They won't have Watt to worry about. They've shown that they can run the football with DeMarco Murray and Derrick Henry. It's time for them to go out and flex their muscles and show what they can do and score more than 10 or 16 points in a game. You know, scoring 10 points in an NFL game is completely unacceptable. They've got to score more points. Anything less starts to look like a soccer score, guys. The Titans offense has got to capitalize when they get opportunities,

and they've got to put points on the board and put points on the board several times a game. They need to get over the 20 mark this week. My final thought real quick is the number seven. Normally it's lucky for most people, but in this instance that's the number of turnovers that the young quarterback has committed this year, and they've got to get it fixed. I think there's tremendous hope, a lot of potential for this Titans offense

when Marcus Mariota is not playing outside of himself, trying to do too much to spark this offense, they've got enough ability there to really get it done. But him pressing has been more of a detriment than anything else. If you take away those seven turnovers in the first three weeks of the season, the Titans haven't lost a game, period. We look at the Minnesota win, or loss rather. They shot themselves in the foot with turnovers that ultimately even contributed to points

for the Vikings. Same thing happened last week against the Raiders. You take the turnovers out of the situation, this team is undefeated. If they can get him right, this team will be right. Brad, I'm going to copy you just a little bit. Seven, obviously, the turnovers, they've got to correct it. But I'm going to go one more and go number eight. As you said, Marcus Mariota, he's got to get corrected with the turnovers.

But I think it falls on him this week because the team in this game, to me, both teams are going to come in, want to run the football, run it well. The team that can make the most plays in the passing game is the team that's going to win this game on Sunday, and that falls directly on the shoulders of number eight, Marcus Mariota. Guys, that will do it for us again today. It's always fun on Wednesdays. We have a lot of stuff to talk about, a lot of good things going on,

and we look forward to getting together. Brad, you'll be back with us on Friday. Terry, of course, you and I will be here tomorrow. All right, sounds good. All right of course, you and I will be here tomorrow. All right. Sounds good. All right, guys. Have a good weekend. You are Locked on Titans, your daily Tennessee Titans podcast,

part of the Locked on Podcast Network, your team every day. Napa know-how. It takes a lot to get excited about a bag, but most bags can't save you 20% on auto parts. That's 20% off headlamps, 20% off oil filters, 20% off virtually anything you can fit inside the 99-cent Napa reusable bag. So tell your buddies, there's a bag they just have to check out. Quality parts, helpful people.

That's Napa Know How. Napa Know How. At participating Napa auto parts stores, while supplies last. Minimum three items. Exclusions apply. Offer ends 10-31-17.