Locked On Titans - Daily Podcast On The Tennessee Titans - More Vic Beasley Drama For Titans, Titans Waive Edge Rusher & Titans Free Agent News

Episode Date: August 12, 2020

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Welcome to the Locked on Titans podcast. I am your host, Tyler Rowland. Titans fans, we thought that Beasley Watch 2020 had ended, but no, it has only just begun. We got more bad news around Vic Beasley's arrival to Tennessee Titans camp on Tuesday. I will go over what that news is and what it means for the Titans going forward and how we can start to maybe put the pieces together to give ourselves some answers as to what's been going on with Vic Beasley so far at the beginning of Titans training camp. And then we got more Tennessee Titans news.

The Titans have waived a member of the defense. So I will tell you who that player is, what it means for that specific injury group, and talk about that player's impact and what the Titans are willingly letting go of. And then on top of that, we need to talk about how the Titans can fill that roster spot that they have created and how a memo sent out by the NFL on Tuesday gives them much more opportunity to fill that spot. Exciting news on the back end of today's show coming from the NFL on Tuesday. So really excited to focus on the edge rusher group today. We have more news about Vic Beasley. group today. We have more news about Vic Beasley. We have a player

waived from the Titans roster. And then we have some news from the NFL that could allow the Titans to bolster that edge group. Really excited to dive into all of Tuesday's news with you guys. Make sure that you're subscribed to the Locked on Titans podcast

on Apple Podcast, following on Spotify or whatever platform you do stream so you don't miss any of the content that I will be putting out Monday through Friday throughout the rest of the season. But we have major Titans news to go over today, including Vic Beasley, a waived player, and some major NFL news. Let's get it. The beginning of Vic Beasley's career with the Titans was already off to an unexcused absence and was hit with a mandatory $500,000 fine per the new collective bargaining agreement.

Then Beasley put those things aside and arrived to Titans training camp on Friday last week. Titans fans and I'm sure the coaching staff and the members of the Titans organization hoped that that would be the last bit of bad news in regards to Vic Beasley. And now the process could begin of getting him back out on the field and being productive for this team. But on Tuesday, we got another major setback that calls Beasley's dedication to his teammates into question. calls Beasley's dedication to his teammates into question. Vic Beasley failed his physical on Tuesday and was placed on the non-football injury list by the Titans. So if you're keeping track,

Vic Beasley missed the first 10 days of Titans training camp, which already put him behind his teammates. Then he had to pass his three COVID-19 tests, a process that made him wait four more days, setting him 14 days behind his teammates. And now Beasley will not be able to join his Titans teammates when they begin their on-field activities on Wednesday as he failed his physical. Now it looks like Beasley wasn't mentally ready to start Titans training camp, nor was he physically ready to start Titans training camp, calling his dedication to his craft and his dedication to his profession in question. People had jumped and been ready to

excuse Vic Beasley and his absence to Titans training camp, citing a recent death in the family, obvious concerns around COVID-19, and other issues that some people are just chalking up to, we don't know what's going on in Beasley's life. Well, at this moment in time, it seems obvious that those issues are not what led to his unexcused absence from the team. We are left to theorize as to what truly caused that absence and one has to wonder if this non-football related injury this obvious injury that Beasley was dealing with that he didn't tell to the team well we have multiple questions here did that injury come way earlier in the all season and then Beasley and his representation didn't negotiate

in good faith and weren't up front with the Titans during contract negotiations about his physical health or is this something that took place after his contract was negotiated and signed we continue down that path of asking questions here Vic Beasley in his contract, it's typical that NFL players will have clauses in their contract that prohibit them from risky behavior such as riding a motorcycle, swimming with sharks, skydiving, things like that. Did Vic Beasley injure himself in a prohibited way and then in a way to avoid letting the team know about that, stayed away from the beginning of training camp so that the Titans wouldn't know about this injury? Or another question, if Vic Beasley did suffer some sort of non-football injury, maybe if

it wasn't in a way that was prohibited by his contract, maybe it was just a non-football injury. He slipped in the kitchen. He stubbed his toe and it turned out to be worse than just a stub. Whatever it could be, is it possible that rather than reporting to Titans training camp, letting the Titans know that he got injured, that he had hoped that he would heal in that 10-day absence and then be able to return to the team and them not know that he was injured during the offseason? Also, did Vic Beasley want to hide that injury from the Titans and he decided after the 10 days and the $500,000 of mandatory fines

that he just couldn't take the financial burden of the fines any longer and had to go ahead and man up, go into the team facility, and let the Titans know what's going on. Again, this points to a lack of communication from Beasley. Even if you excuse his 10-day absence from training camp to start things because of things that we don't know about, well, it's obvious that in that lack of communication about his status to join training camp, there was also a lack of communication about his physical health. So it's logical for Titans fans to wonder at this moment in time how bought into playing football Vic Beasley is, how dedicated he is to being a productive member of this team, and considering some of the noise that came with Vic Beasley after he left the Falcons, it's fair for Titans fans to be worried about this signing from John Robinson,

even if Beasley has not gotten on the field yet. Hopefully, Beasley will be able to pass a physical soon and join his Titans teammates, but this fresh start for Vic Beasley probably already needs another fresh start. And speaking of a fresh start, as of Tuesday, there's a former Titan who will be looking for his own fresh start going forward as he was released by the team on Tuesday. Who was this member of the Titans defense that was released? Why was he released? And what could the Titans do next to fill that spot. This is something that I consider somewhat of a surprise, but on Tuesday, along with placing Vic Beasley on the non-football injury list. I'm about sick of that guy already.

The Titans also waived outside linebacker Reggie Gilbert, and it said in the transaction list that it was due to injuries. So Reggie Gilbert must have injured himself in some way, and at this time the Titans were ready just to go ahead and waive him, not wait for that injury to heal, and they need to get somebody in there they can take a look at. What this tells me is that Gilbert obviously wasn't a lot to make the roster and may have been closer to off the roster than on it,

and we can talk about the reasons that that could be, but the reason that it's a surprising move to me is because the Titans traded for Reggie Gilbert, gave up what ended up being a sixth-round pick to the Titans traded for Reggie Gilbert, gave up what ended up being a sixth round pick to the Packers for Reggie Gilbert early in 2019 because he had played close to 50% of snaps for the Packers defense in 2018. Reggie Gilbert appeared to be a very solid veteran role player and at only an age of 27, a little bit of room to grow Reggie Gilbert played in 11 games for the Titans last year started five games for them on the edge had one sack 22 tackles and as I mentioned on Twitter much better in run defense than pass rush posted a 71.4 grade and run defense per pro football focus, only a 58.5 pass rush grade for the Titans.

He did play in 295 defensive snaps though. That's 27% of the Titans defensive snaps and played 90 plus snaps on special teams. That's one fifth of the special team snaps. So really confusing for me. I thought Reggie Gilbert was a solid role player for the Titans at a position, at the edge rusher position, that needs a lot more talent, needs a lot more depth, and needs a lot more help, especially when you consider the ups and downs that Vic Beasley has put the Titans through early on. They can't count on Vic Beasley to be there when it matters most. So they waived Reggie Gilbert, put Vic Beasley on the non-football injury list because he didn't pass his physical, and recently they waived outside linebacker Josh Smith.

So it just leaves me curious as to what the Titans are seeing here in the other options at the edge rusher position that could have led them to feel comfortable with doing this. So let's talk about some of the other guys that maybe could have stepped up here because there's two different reasons that would explain why the Titans are making these moves at outside linebackers. Two possible reasons. I'll get into reason reason number one first, because duh, one goes before two.

The Titans could be very impressed by the other guys at the position. We know about Harold Landry. Of course we know about Harold Landry, but think about some of the other names. DeAndre Walker specifically. That's someone that I really want to bring up here, because Walker was out the entire 2019 season, but John Robinson did draft him in the fifth round out of Georgia, an SEC player who was a starter at Georgia, a productive player who has the size and the look

of an outside linebacker based on what Shane Bowen said in one of his Zoom conferences recently. He said he's got the look of what we want in an outside linebacker, speaking of DeAndre Walker. So maybe Walker is impressing in these Zoom meetings. Maybe Walker is impressing with the limited field activity that the Titans have got through already. Maybe he's impressing so much that the Titans feel comfortable getting rid of a veteran who contributed in 2019 like Reggie Gilbert. You also have to consider the progress of someone like Derek

Roberson who Roberson is a much better pass rusher than Reggie Gilbert. It's almost flipped where he's just terrible in run defense so much so that the coaches are willing to publicly tell people what his shortcomings are speaking of Roberson that he needs to improve on first and second down going back to what Shane Bowen said in his recent zoom conference Shane Bowen's actually said it twice about Roberson this all season on two different zoom conferences that he has to improve on first and second down. Maybe the Titans coaching staff is seeing those improvements. They feel more comfortable using Roberson on first and second down, which gives them less of a reason to keep someone like Reggie Gilbert around who basically doesn't give them enough value on third down. So if you can get somebody like Roberson to improve

on first and second down in run defense and in first and second down pass rushing when it's not so guaranteed that you get to rush off the edge then you don't necessarily need somebody like Gilbert who's stout against the run who you can count on against the run if you have somebody who's going to give you more of a total package and who's a younger player that has higher upside so if if somebody like Roberson, if somebody like DeAndre Walker, if somebody like undrafted free agent, Kalen curse Thomas, if those sort of players are showing out right now and looking great at the beginning of camp, well, then it only makes sense that the Titans would take a look at those guys

and not be worried about getting rid of a veteran like Reggie Gilbert. I have to admit, it makes me a little nervous based on what I see from the edge group, the youth there, the fact that they're just incredibly unproven. Right now that leaves the Titans with Landry, Kamalei Correa, who can be counted on, but he's not going to give you any high-end upside. We know what Correa is at this moment in time. Then you have DeAndre Walker, Derek Roberson, Kalen Kirst Thomas. They got rid of Josh Smith. So if you eliminate Vic Beasley, not for good, but he's obviously not out on the field right now because of the failed physical.

All that leaves is Landry, Correa, Walker, Roberson, and the undrafted free agent, Curse Thomas. That's only five edge rushers that the Titans have available to them right now. It's just really confusing why they would do that. And maybe Reggie Gilbert's injury isn't going to be healed in time, and they know that, so it's just not worth it. But they let Josh Smith go as well. So just taking a look at the address group, and like I said,

I can't help but be concerned about what's going on. And I have to correct myself. They didn't let Josh Smith go. They added him to the COVID-19 list, so he's not available to the team right now. So again, that only leaves them with five available edge rushers, outside linebackers. Either way, it's relatively concerning at a position that was already a concern heading into Titans training camp. That is reason one why the Titans could be comfortable with doing this, is they're confident in the young guys and what they've shown so far. Reason two is much more logical in my opinion, and that would be that

the Titans plan on bringing in a veteran. Obviously, when I say that, all of you guys are instantly going to jump to one name, and I'm going to do a little bit more of a teaser for the last segment in today's show. I am going to tell you why that one veteran name coming to the Titans that's been linked to the Titans all offseason, why it is more possible today than it was yesterday, which makes this theory of why the Titans would do this make even more sense. Conspiracy theory on today's Locked on Titans podcast. Why is Vic Beasley missing the first 10 days? Is he hiding an injury?

Did he think it would heal? Then why would the Titans be so comfortable letting Reggie Gilbert go as a veteran edge rusher? Well, all of it's going to kind of tie in together in our third segment when I break some NFL news to you guys that came out on Tuesday evening but let's take a look at some of the veteran pass rushers edge rushers that are still on the market that the Titans could be considering bringing in which gave them a little bit more comfortability and waving Reggie Gilbert.

Obviously, Jadavion Clowney. I'm not going to spend too much time talking about Clowney. We have talked ad nauseum about Clowney throughout the offseason, but obviously he's the number one name on the list. But some of the other veterans, and I will admit, they don't get you too excited. That's fair. You know, I will, like I said, I'll admit none of these names are too exciting, but they are veterans. And we saw from what Cameron Wake did for Harold Landry last year, how having a veteran edge rusher on the opposite side of Landry can have a major impact.

So let's talk about some names that are out there. Like I said, Clowney already, but Clay Matthews is currently a free agent and he gives you a little bit of versatility at inside linebacker and outside linebacker at this state in his career and at his age like I said not exciting not sexy but well his hair is kind of sexy I guess you could say but not a sexy signing if they do it not a sexy look but a veteran who could still help this team I'm worried about the edge rusher position guys so continuing down the list Terrell Suggs T Sizzle even an older guy but still as a rotational pass rusher he could help out the young guys be a somebody they can lean on to help teach them things about being a veteran edge rusher in the

NFL. I think it's least likely to see Suggs just because of his age and what he can give, but another option for the Titans. Ezekiel Ansah has been getting looks from other teams. The Titans may want to go ahead and bring him in, see if he's healthy. Everson Griffin is an obvious name. He's still floating around as a free agent, and while he's been more of a 4-3 defensive end in his career, the guy is a professional pass rusher. Line him up on third down opposite of Harold Landry, and you may get more than you would get out of Kamalei Correa or DeAndre Walker or Derek Roberson. So something to keep in mind there. And then the final name.

Could the Titans consider a reunion with Cameron Wake? I know things didn't go great last year, but it wasn't because Wake wasn't productive. He was productive and helpful when he was on the field. He was just injured. And went on IR halfway through the season. So maybe a reunion with Cameron Wake could be in the Titans' future if the Beasley news still goes terrible and they don't add anybody else, Clowney, to that edge rushing group.

It could be a possibility. But obviously the name everyone wants to see is Jadavian Clowney. And I am going to tell you next why it's more possible for the Titans to sign Clowney today than it was yesterday. We got big news from Tom Pelissero, who, let me say, NFL Network's Tom Pelissero has been an absolute superstar this offseason breaking news. You know the big names, of course, Jay Glazer, Adam Schefter, Ian Rappaport, Chris Mortensen. But Tom Pelissero has really burst onto the scene breaking major news left and right throughout the NFL calendar.

And we got another major piece of news from Tom Pelissero on Tuesday night. And that is NFL teams are officially allowed to conduct workouts with street-free agents. Let me translate that for you. The Tennessee Titans are officially allowed to bring Jadavion Clowney in for a workout. So here's what would have to take place. Clowney would come in to Nashville. He would take a COVID test, let's say on Thursday. He would take a COVID-19 test on Thursday. If it came back negative, he would come back on Friday, take another COVID-19 test. If it came back negative, then he would come back to the facility the next day, take another COVID-19 test, wait for the results.

If negative, is allowed to enter the building and then begin his tryout, begin his physical examination, begin his interview with the team, and some other key factors here. Other than the three negative tests, the Titans would only be able to bring in eight players per day for tryouts, and when those players were in the premises, I guess is the best way to put it based on what I say next, if the Titans' current players, not free agents they're working out out if their current players are at the team facility then the tryout can't be held there it has to be held at the stadium

if the Titans players are at the stadium then the tryout would have to be held at the team headquarters you can't have the current players on the roster intermingling with the tryout players for obvious reasons about cross-contamination and spread of COVID-19. So those are the major rules and procedures that the Titans will have to work within. But obviously, the major news here is the Titans can finally bring in Jadavion Clowney. And that brings me back to our last segment when I talked about the theories as to why the Titans could be comfortable with waiving Reggie Gilbert at this moment in time and that could be that they anticipated this news heard that it was around the corner and anticipate bringing in an edge rusher free agent to look to

make this roster the obvious name we've talked about has been Clowney but I mentioned the other names last segment as well Clay Matthews, Terrell Suggs, Ezekiel Ansah, Everson Griffin, maybe Cameron Wake reunion, who knows? But it's not just at the edge rusher position where the Titans could take advantage of this new revelation. There are other players that I've mentioned throughout this all season that could be very interesting to the Titans as free agent candidates to get a look at during training camp one at the kicker position another reunion candidate ryan suck up and have to mention that it was a video tweeted out on tuesday night right before i started recording showing ryan suck up training in n, 100% healthy, nailing 60-yard field goals. Now, of course, it's on a practice field.

There's no rush to try to block the kick, anything like that. But Ryan Suckup wouldn't have been able to hit a 60-yard field goal with no rush last year coming back from injury. So maybe now that he's fully healthy, the Titans give Suckup another chance. He's not going to get the same salary that he had before they cut him this offseason. So it's not like he would have to get paid what he was being paid before with the Titans. So really interesting to see if they would consider bringing in Suckup to compete with Joseph now that he's healthy.

Another name at the kicker position is Steven Gostowski. So he was rehabbing from an injury from last year, similarly to Suckup, and now the Titans would have the ability to bring him in, get a look, see if he's healthy, and have him compete with Greg Joseph. Once again, I'm not 100% confident in Greg Joseph. It's just a reality. I'm not.

He hasn't proven it, and the Titans are in a Super Bowl or bust year, and it feels weird to leave certain positions like edge rusher, backup quarterback, and kicker kind of up to unproven players who we haven't seen be successful in the NFL before. Speaking of that, another position, backup quarterback. The Titans could look to bring in a name like Trevor Simeon or Blake Bortles and have them compete with Logan Woodside or Cole McDonald and then at the wide receiver position Corey

Davis is on the PUP folks he's not with the team right well he's with the team but he's not on field he's not doing any conditioning what if Corey Davis can't come off the PUP before the beginning of the season and has to sit out the first six weeks. The Titans are going to need something at wide receiver. They can't rely on Rashard Davis. They can't rely on Cody Hollister. They can't rely on any of the undrafted free agents or Cam Batson. Yeah, Kalief Raymond, they can rely on him, but he can't be your number three wide receiver. He's a number four, a deep threat, a gadget player, a kickoff return. He's not a top three wide receiver in the NFL, and if he is, it's a problem. So think about names like Josh Gordon. Think about names like Taylor Gabriel.

The Titans can finally bring in some of these guys if they're looking to add to the competition on this roster as the Titans get close to on-field work. So it's going to be very interesting what takes place next and any tryouts that take place are listed on the NFL's transaction sheet that comes out every day. So we will know who the Titans bring in for workouts and I will be here to report them to you guys. So make sure,

like I said earlier, you're subscribed to the locked on on Titans podcast on Apple Podcasts, following on Spotify, or whatever platform you do stream. But that is going to do it for me today. As always, I am your host, Tyler Rowland, and this was Locked on Titans. you