Locked On Titans - Daily Podcast On The Tennessee Titans - Potential Titans Recourse Against Beasley, Corey Davis Injury Update & Rashaan Evans Talks Offseason Award

Episode Date: August 7, 2020

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Welcome to the Locked on Titans podcast. I am your host, Tyler Rowland. Titans fans, this Friday edition of the Locked on Titans podcast is brought to you by rockauto.com. Amazing selection, reliably low prices, all of the parts your car will ever need, rockauto.com. We got two major updates on the two biggest storylines remaining from Titans training camp on Thursday. Another installment in Beasley Watch 2020 to kick off our show, but let's focus on what kind of action the Titans can take now that Beasley has still not reported 10 days into training camp. We will talk about what could come next from the Titans perspective dealing with

Vic Beasley's absence and then we get a major update on a Titans veteran that started camp on the physically unable to perform list. How did he get there and what were some warning signs we maybe should have paid attention to earlier in the offseason And then we will hear the Zoom highlights from Titans offseason award winner Rashawn Evans. What does he have to say about Titans training camp so far? Excited to get into this Friday edition of the Locked on Titans podcast. It has been a great week of content, including the awesome interview I did with Titans offseason trainer Jason Spray

yesterday. Make sure that you check that out so that you don't miss any of the content that I'll be pumping out Monday through Friday for the rest of the season. Make sure that you subscribe to the Locked on Titans podcast on Apple Podcasts, follow on Spotify, or whatever platform that you do stream your podcast. We are going to jump into two major Titans storylines and hear from Rashawn Evans on this Friday edition of the Locked on Titans podcast. Let's get it. His 10-day absence from Titans training camp has cost Vic Beasley $500,000 in mandatory fines. And he will continue to be fined $50,000 per day in fines the Titans cannot take away until he reports.

And that is not it. until he reports, and that is not it. At this moment in time, the Titans have to start looking into actions they can take to recoup some of the money that they guaranteed to Vic Beasley. If you recall, in the offseason, the Titans did sign Beasley to a one-year, $9.5 million deal with incentives up to $12 million, but more importantly, they gave Vic Beasley a $6 million signing bonus that was already paid out to him. So, how can the Titans go about recouping some of that money to go along with the fines

that Beasley faces every day? Since Vic Beasley has missed six days of Titans training camp. Per the new collective bargaining agreement that was signed this offseason between the players and the owners group, the Titans do have the ability to begin the process of trying to get back 15% of Vic Beasley's signing bonus, which would be $900,000. So combine that with the $500,000 that Vic Beasley was fined for the first 10 days of his absence you're looking at over a million dollars in lost money now here's one thing to consider the Titans who maybe don't want to sully the relationship yet and would still hope that Vic

Beasley will report do have the option of not pursuing the action against his signing bonus. But if for some reason Vic Beasley totally disappeared on the Titans and didn't arrive the entire preseason, that would then trigger the Titans to be able to get back up to 25% of Vic Beasley's signing bonus, which would be $1.5 million. And when you combine that with the $50,000 per day fines that he would continue to face throughout the entire month of training camp, the Titans could get back up to $2 million from Vic Beasley's signing bonus, and he would see those additional fines. So he would be losing a lot of money by missing out on the opportunity

to join Titans training camp and get ready for the regular season there was also some speculation that Vic Beasley would consider opting out of the season for COVID-19 health reasons but the COVID-19 opt-out deadline went and passed on Thursday at 4 p.m eastern Eastern Standard Time and Vic Beasley did not report any opt-out to the team. It leaves us to wonder what the Titans might do if Beasley decides to not show up at all. Let's take a look at some of the other options that could be out on the free agent market for the Titans. Of course, that list starts with Jadavion Clowney, who the Titans have been monitoring throughout the entire offseason. There was a recent report on Jadavion Clowney

that came from Josina Anderson, and she tweeted out this on Thursday. Interestingly, if you look at things, quietly Jadavion Clowney's leverage has at least pointed back in the upward direction with some teams. In comparison to a month ago, when you look at trades that have happened, opt-outs, no-shows, in that regard, patience has helped for now. End tweet. So from what Josina has to say, it's obvious that Clowney's leverage with the Titans has actually increased due to this Vic Beasley no-show and puts the Titans in a precarious situation going forward until Beasley no-show and puts the Titans in a precarious situation going forward

until Beasley does decide to report. Also, some other options that aren't as appetizing for the Titans but could certainly help the pass rush group if Beasley decides to not report and Clowney signs elsewhere. Veteran Everson Griffin is still out on the market. Veteran Clay Matthews would also be out on the market. Terrell Suggs. And then, of course, the Titans could give a call to someone who they signed last year in Cameron Wake.

Although Wake wasn't incredibly productive and missed a chunk of the season with injury, when he was out on the field, he certainly helped the Titans defense, especially his battery mate on the edge, Harold Landry, who had 78% of his sacks when Wake played for the Titans last year. And honestly, I'm hoping it doesn't resort to that. I hope the Titans don't have to take that action and hopefully Vic Beasley reports soon. But right now we have to consider all of the options available. And if you want to be able to consider all of the options available for you to fix your car or truck, then you have to check out rockauto.com. All of the different specifications, different brands, different styles, different parts that you could ever imagine are

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our second major storyline update from Titans training camp comes in the form of an injury update and we got a report from Paul Kaharski as to what exactly is keeping Titans veteran wide receiver Corey Davis on the physically unable to perform list to start training camp. So Paul came out today with the report saying that Corey Davis had an off-season toe surgery, and that is why he has started camp on the PUP list. And Kaharski actually had this to say explicitly about Corey Davis' toe. Quote, Corey Davis' current standing on the Titans' physically unable to perform list is the result of an off-season surgery on a troublesome big toe

from which doctors had to remove a piece. Indications are he's fine, and while specifics of his timetable are unknown, he should be on course to be ready for the season. End quote. So to go back to the most interesting piece of this quote, Kaharski says, from which doctors had to remove a piece. Now it's interesting here to speculate,

is he removing a piece of the toe? Was there a previous surgery done on Davis's toe and they have to remove a piece of the equipment that was used he didn't dive into details there so we don't know for certain but it's good to at least know what's holding Corey Davis back but as I mentioned at the beginning of our show it's possible that we should have seen this coming or maybe paid a little bit more attention to something that was said earlier in the offseason. On the Bussin' with the Boys podcast, Taylor LeJuan and Will Compton's podcast, earlier in February, Taylor LeJuan did have this to say about Corey Davis's injuries during the season.

Quote, CD, Corey Davis, shout out. For those of you who don't know, Corey Davis had a turf toe earlier in the year. I mean, he's not the hero we deserve, but he's the hero we got working through that turf toe. End quote. So maybe we should have paid a little bit more attention to that

considering that Corey Davis didn't pop up on the injury report for a toe injury in 2019 he missed week 10 with a hip injury and then was on the injury report in week 16 for an ankle in week 17 with a concussion but Taylor is basically saying that he had a toe injury early in the season and played through that injury throughout the year and now he's having off-season surgery on that toe maybe not the same toe we you know are left to speculate here but I think it's fair to say that that toe injury lingered for Corey Davis throughout the entire season. And then he had to get it cleaned up at the end of the year in the offseason. And maybe he's not recovering so well considering he's still on the PUP.

So this ultimately is just another example of Corey Davis having a tough time being healthy. Corey Davis having a tough time being healthy. He started out his career in Tennessee rehabbing from an injury that prevented him from having a normal pre-draft experience. The Titans took a gamble, only really going off a social media video showing him running routes, took a gamble on Corey Davis and his health, took him fifth overall. And then he had hamstring injuries throughout his rookie season, dealt with a few

injuries here and there in 2018 but mostly was able to to be healthy and be out there then obviously here 2019 another injury that's lingering into the summer it seems like Corey Davis's talent isn't what exactly is holding him back it's his ability to be durable and stay on the field and stay healthy so just another year where Corey Davis is going to have to be dealing with something. He's not going to get a full offseason, a regular offseason, to give himself the best opportunity to show out in his fourth season going into free agency since the Titans did decline that fifth-year option. So all of these different injuries, all of the comments that we can look back on now what

Paul Kaharski had to say today about Corey Davis it's all concerning and I guess like I said it all makes sense why the Titans declined his fifth year option whether it be actually on the field or not Corey Davis isn't someone you can count on at this moment in time to be durable and always give you his best out on the field. Now when he's out there, he does try his hardest. Obviously you can't fault Corey Davis. He's a humble guy, quiet guy, team first guy, always blocking down the field. It's not meant to kill Corey Davis in any way or crush him, but your best ability can often be availability and if he's always out on the field at less than 100%, if he's always dealing with some sort of injury every season, well, then he's

a hard player to rely on down, in, down, out, play in, play out, game in, game out, season in, season out. So, that is the most recent update on Corey Davis and his injury and his status on the PUP. We are going to come back and hear from Rashawn Evans, who won an offseason award for the Titans as one of the standouts this offseason, and that's even more difficult to do in a strange offseason like we have all experienced this year. Let's round out today's show hearing from Titans inside linebacker Rashawn Evans, who also is going to be one of the big leaders, key leaders on the Titans defense this year. He was already out there calling the defense and with the departure of Wesley Woodyard,

Jarrell Casey, Logan Ryan, it's time for some new key voices to step up in the defensive group. And it looks like Rashawn Evans will be one of those. This audio is courtesy of Tennessee Titans dot com. Be one of those. This audio is courtesy of TennesseeTitans.com, but Evan starts us out there talking about how he fills that leadership gap left by those players. I wouldn't say I feel responsibility.

I would say, man, something like that is not something that you say that you're going to have. It's something that's earned. I mean, guys around you have to be able to put you in that position for you to even be in that type of conversation. You know, it's about the respect level of guys that are around you on how they feel that you approach the game, how you treat others, you know, how you carry yourself, and all of that depends on the guys

that are in that locker room. And, you know, regardless of however many catches you make or however many tackles you make, you know, that doesn't matter. It's about, you know, the guy that's up under the helmet and guys are going to follow that type of guy. Rashawn makes a great point there. Leadership, although a lot of these guys get asked by the media about their leadership ability.

Leadership is something that's earned. You don't decide when you're a leader. That's something that the people around you decide for you. So really good answer there by Rashawn. I like that he has perspective on that sort of thing. But now that he does know he is a leader and he's earned that, what kind of leadership style does he have? I would say to be, I mean, just, I wouldn't even put a name on what type of leader I am. Cause I mean,

there's so many different variations that come into leadership. I mean, it could be somebody that just leads by example. It could be somebody that's more vocal. It could be somebody that just, you know, tries to be as inspirational as possible when it comes to guys that have any other issues that don't involve X's and O's. So, I mean, it's a lot of things and a lot of variations that go into leadership.

Me, myself, I feel like, you know, it's just more me just doing my job in itself and, you know, trying to be as, you know, as inspirational as possible with the things that I do on the field. I mean, just little things, whether it's running to the ball or, you know, making sure that, you know, I'm making the right calls and doing those things. So whenever I'm able to, you know, try to correct a guy, I'm able to do that because I'm doing everything that my coaches are asking for me to do.

So it's kind of giving an example of what players should be doing. But, you know, it's just something that I kind of just gradually learned over time. I was never, you know, I wouldn't say that I was always what I am now, you know, even as a young person. You know, I feel like just over the years of me going through high school, college, going through University of Alabama, and now to this day, two to three years that I'm going into now, you know, just something that just happens over time. You know, once you start to gain that confidence in yourself to be able to lead, you know, grown men who have, you know, X amount of dollars in their account and to at the same time have egos themselves. You know, once you gain that confidence, it takes you to a totally different level, too.

We know that Rashawn Evans will have additional responsibilities this year with his leadership role on the defense but what about actually on the field taking this defense to the next level what additional responsibilities does Rashawn hope that he gets on the field to help this Titans defense this year shoot hopefully shoot they want me on offense I'll do that too I mean it's whatever wherever it is on the field man to be honest with you but you know I'm just a team guy man you know I'm all about the team whatever it is it takes for us to you know be great um I'm all for it and for the Titans to be great on defense they most certainly will have to improve the pass rush and not only just the players up front who are responsible for rushing the passer but Rashawn Evans himself,

who is one of the most talented pass rushing and sideline backers in the NFL. What does Rashawn think about the group in front of him and what he can continue to add to the pass rush as well? Yeah. I mean, I feel like we got a great group of guys, man, that can do it,

man. You know, just the guys, you know, that, that I hear now, man, you talking about guys that work each and every day to be elite and great.

You know, some of them just walk past you, but to be elite and great, man, and, you know, just with that being said, man, I feel like it takes something like that. It takes a whole defense to be able to make that happen. You know, you got your other end has to be, you know, flying off the ball just as fast as you to be able to get those tackles to respect you guys. And your interior D linemen have to be just as physical

and disruptive as, you know, any other players in the league in order for that front seven to be, you know, elite too. So, and then just including myself, man, whether I'm coming on blitzes, whether I'm lining up on, you know, just on any other situations on third down, you know, just trying to apply as much disruption as possible. You know, I feel like that's the main thing that will help us out too, you know, being an elite defense and getting off on third downs. No one can deny that Rashawn is right on there.

The more disruption they can cause, the better the defense will be. But what are other ways to improve this Titans defense in 2020? I would just say the number one thing is keep the chemistry, man. You know, because one thing I have learned about, you know, the NFL and, you know, almost three years of playing in the league is, you know, things don't go as good as you think they're going to go. And when they do go left, you know, having those guys in the locker room that are mature and understand that, you know, everybody holds itself accountable for their own mistakes

and the things that they do. And to know that each individual person has to be at the peak of the game for everybody else on the team to be great. You know, I think that's the number one thing, man. You know, you can talk about aces and no's. You can talk about, you know, matchups and all of this other stuff. But at the end of the day, you know, it always comes down to guys holding each other accountable and, you know, just making sure

that we don't point any fingers. And, you know, we keep making this game, you know, make sure it's fun, that it doesn't become something that, you know, is, you know, we keep make this game, you know, make sure it's fun, that it doesn't become something that, you know, is, you know, looked down upon because, you know, once you stop thinking about something that's not fun, then, you know, it starts to, you know, bring other things that don't need to be in play. Speaking of not fun, as I'm certain you guys know,

if you ever played any organized football and if not I'll break it down for you basically when you're in the summer and you're in training camps or two-a-days or pre-season whatever it happens to be and every single day you're going against the same exact guys your teammates every single day competing a lot of them for the same spot you're trying to go for, tensions can boil up. And the way to release those tensions, at least in the NFL, normally is with joint practices against other teams and then preseason games. That helps kind of alleviate the tension in the room, allowing these guys to hit somebody else than the guy that they hit every single day.

That's not going to be the case this year. So will that increase the intensity of Titans practices? Rashawn Evans talks about that as well. I mean, I would just say for me, I mean, just being able to adjust to it. I mean, you know, this is something that's very rare for us, you know, to not have preseason games at all. But, you know, that's the thing about the NFL. You know, you have to be able to take the things that you're given

and be able to make the best out of it. I'm actually looking forward to seeing what it's like not having any preseasons for, you know, for guys to be able to have that much more, even more time to work one-on-one with coaches and be able to have more time to themselves to be able to get ready for the first game of the season. I don't think it will change anything, to be honest with you. I think guys are going to have the same type of intensity, if not more. The simple fact that, you know, the anticipation level will be at its peak because you're not having those games to be able to play in that may be game-like. So when that first game comes through it will be for sure

an intense game and then finally as mentioned Rashawn Evans did win an offseason award for his performance throughout this process from Mike Vrabel that was announced earlier this week so Rashawn Evans talks about how thankful he is to receive that award and why he most likely received it. Oh, no, I definitely was honored to get the award. For me, for all seasons, just making sure I do my job and just doing all the things that I'm supposed to do, whether that be just helping some of these younger guys be able to get adjusted with the NFL lifestyle or you know just being able

to you know stay on top of my work and other than that I feel like that's kind of what uh what the world was for. Rashawn Evans has me so excited for the player that he can be in 2020 he absolutely exploded at the end of last year and was a part of basically every major play that the Titans had in a one to two yard situation. And the Titans were the best team at defending one blade of grass last season. Like I said, a lot of that due to Rashawn Evans. He is one of the players I could see having a breakout performance for the Titans, But we are going to get into that as we get closer to the regular season, the final week of training camp. I do have a season preview in mind.

Make sure that you don't miss any of that content that I will be putting up Monday through Friday. Subscribe to the Locked on Titans podcast on Apple Podcast. Follow on Spotify or whatever platform you do stream. Also, make sure that you follow me on Twitter at Tic Tac Titans for additional content, schedule updates, and much more. That is going to do it for this week of Locked on Titans podcast. It was a great one.

If you missed any of our shows this week, make sure you go back and check those out while subscribing, but that will do it for me. I hope you guys have a safe and enjoyable weekend. Make sure to take advantage of that offer at rockauto.com. Throw Locked On in the How Did You Hear About Us box. Send me your

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As always, I am your host, Tyler Rowland, and this was Locked on Titans.