Locked On Titans - Daily Podcast On The Tennessee Titans - Team-Up Thursday: Roman Foster on Morgan Cox/Wesley Woodyard, Chris Carter on Bud Dupree & Ross Jackson on Jackrabbit!

Episode Date: March 18, 2021

Follow Tyler on Twitter @TicTacTitansFollow the show on Facebook @LockedOnTitansPod Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

You are Locked On Titans, your daily Tennessee Titans podcast. Part of the Locked On Podcast Network, your team every day. Welcome to the Locked On Titans podcast. I am your host, Tyler Rowland, Titans fans. This team up Thursday edition of the Locked On Titans podcast is presented by RockAuto.com. Amazing selection, reliably low prices, all the parts your car will ever need. Visit rockauto.com and tell them Locked On sent you. But I call it Team Up Thursday because I have three of the most intelligent football minds

on the planet coming on the show today to give you some of the best analysis that you will get all week. Number one, our first interview is with an 11-year NFL veteran, and that is former Pittsburgh Steelers guard and now Nashville sports talking head, Ramone Foster. And Foster comes on to talk about his college teammate and newly acquired Tennessee Titan, long snapper Morgan Cox. So he's going to break down who Morgan is as a person and why long snappers are so important and undervalued in the NFL. And then on Ramone's morning show on 104.5 The Zone,

Wesley Woodyard on Wednesday had some interesting comments about head coach Mike Vrabel, so I couldn't pass up the opportunity to ask Ramon to expand a little bit on his thoughts about the comments that Wesley Woodyard made, and you're not going to want to miss out on that conversation. After we go through the interview with Ramon, we are going to go into a conversation with Chris Carter from Locked on Steelers as he gives us some more in-depth analysis on Bud Dupree and he provides some pretty incredible context that's going to get you guys pretty excited for Bud Dupree's arrival.

And then we will finish out a team up Thursday by talking to Ross Jackson, El Capitano from the Locked on Saints podcast as he gives us a good breakdown on who Janoris Jenkins is. Jack Rabbit, I mean, is as a player, and he gives us an incredible tidbit about Janoris Jenkins as a leader in the locker room, and that's incredibly pertinent to the Tennessee Titans this year with what their young secondary will look like. Before we dive into all of those interviews,

and I have a chock-full episode for you guys, do want to at least take a moment and talk about Jayon Brown being re-signed by the Titans on a one-year $5 million deal. I love the signing. I thought Jayon would get maybe double that, but obviously the depressed cap and the COVID-19 situation impacted his market.

Probably didn't get the kind of deal that he was hoping for coming-19 situation impacted his market. Probably didn't get the kind of deal that he was hoping for coming off an injury to his elbow. So he's back with Tennessee and this is definitely a one-year prove-it deal for Jayon as he looks to improve his stock and get back into a normal free agent year with normal money. Get back on the market next year. But for this one year where the Titans are clearly going all out for a Super Bowl, I love seeing Jayon Brown come back to this defense. The Titans also made the signings of Jeff Swaim and Anthony Ferkser official on Wednesday, but those were things we already

talked about, but they did become official, as did the Isaiah Wilson trade to Miami, so no more anxiety from that. Miami can deal with Isaiah Wilson now, but wanted to hit on those first before we got into all of these interviews. The format of the show today is going to be a little bit weird because of the amount of content I have available, but wanted to make sure you guys got all of this stuff because it is going to be a great show. It's a team up Thursday here on the Locked on Titans podcast. Let's get it.

All right, Titans fans. So I am excited to kick off today's show, a team up Thursday here by having on what I could say is one of the best guests, probably the best guest we have ever had on the Locked on Titans podcast, 11 year NFL veteran, former Pittsburgh Steeler, one of Tennessee's own as well, an alumni of UT and currently one of the biggest voices in the sports talk landscape in Tennessee. A co-host on the J-Mart and Ramone show on 104.5 The Zone, 6 a.m. to 10 a.m. weekdays. We have Ramone Foster on the show. Ramone, how are you doing today?

I'm good. You're far too kind for that intro right there. I appreciate you having me on for sure, Matt, and I'm glad to be a part of Tennessee again, engulfed in it. And it's been fun. It's been interesting as of late. Yeah, absolutely. It's definitely a crazy and interesting time to be paying attention

to Tennessee Titans football. But speaking of being one of Tennessee's own, I'm going to ask you questions about another one of Tennessee's finest, and that is the Titans' latest free agent signing, the big one that we have been waiting on since the release of Adoree Jackson and Dennis Kelly. It is long snapper Morgan Cox, the former Baltimore Raven. He's an 11-year veteran in the league, four Pro Bowls, one All-Pro, which was this year in 2021, Super Bowl championship as well. I know that you and Morgan spent some time together in UT,

and you had a pretty interesting story on Twitter about how he began that long snapping career, if you wouldn't mind filling in the audience. Oh, no doubt about it, man. Well, Morgan is a great guy, first and foremost. So he's easy to talk about. He's easy to get along with. And just one of those guys, man, that's quiet, really just not, you know, not trying to make a scene, which most people will say, well,

that's how a specialist is supposed to be. But I was glad to get a chance to know him. And I've always been a guy, man, and not really shun anybody away because you never know where, you know, relationships are going to come from. And that's where Morgan comes into play, man. I remember Morgan being, I think at the time, was maybe when you're walking, you try almost every position to get on the field. Not every position, but you try to find a fit.

So with Morgan, man, I think he may have been at linebacker. I'm not sure, maybe a fullback or tight end. It wasn't long snapper is what I'm saying. I think what he realized was the fact that, man, I got to make myself valuable. I got to find a way. And at the time, I think Adam Miles was the guy who was a long snapper. He was on his way out. And I know Adam and Morgan were close, you know, or at least they were around each other a good bit. And when it came down to it, he felt like, you know, the realest thing he could

do for himself is to simply learn how to long snap. And that is one of those positions where nobody thinks of doing. But when you look at the games on whether it's Friday night, whether it's Saturday in the fall, or whether it is on Sunday in the NFL, snappers have a job, and they usually last a long time. And Morgan, man, from that time on, no lie, he was in the indoor every day, had a 100-yard field to work with, and he literally had a football with a chain strapped around it, and he was snapping the ball through his legs for like 100 yards at a time

and I was looking at him like wow okay what is this and lo and behold I go to the NFL and the year after me he gets picked up by Baltimore as their snapper and he's had an amazing career since then but this is a guy that I ain't gonna say self-taught himself because I didn't see all of his training. I just remember watching him day after day after day, training himself up to be the starting long snapper for the Vols, and it worked out for him. Yeah, it worked out obviously very well, turned into the things I read off earlier, four Pro Bowls and all pro selection in 2020. Baltimore has had one of the best special teams units in the NFL for practically the entire time that they have been a franchise and he's been a key part of that. So I want to kind of lay this out and see if you agree with me. I know that

you know a long snapper there can be jokes that can be made but a long snapper is an incredibly vital part to an NFL team and especially a special teams unit. it can affect the punter, the kicker. And we saw the Titans with the kicking struggles that they've had with their field goals. And then we saw Brett Kern get hurt last year on an errant snap, and then he's out for multiple games. And then the Colts disaster happens with a backup punter. And so Titans fans should know directly how important a long snapper can be.

Would you say that all of that checks out from an NFL perspective? It does. When you're getting Morgan, you're getting this. You're getting consistency on that part, at that position. And to say, you know, it's a position that people look over, it's true. But I know this, those guys take those hits, especially on PAT and field goals, and those guys actually have a responsibility when it comes to the other parts of the game, too. I know when I played in Pittsburgh, one of the things we were,

our long snapper at the time, Greg Warren, Coach Tom, he used to say, hey, we need one tackle per quarter. That means every four games, you need to be the guy down there, the first one on the pile making the tackle. So to say that there's no responsibility, oh, they just snapped the ball. No, it's more than just that. I've seen, you know, snappers get knocked out of games because they're taking the front of the hit when it comes down to the extra point

and field goal. They get games ran on them where the twist game's up front and the punt game. There's a lot that goes into it. Again, it sounds like it's an easy task, but when you're surrounded by 300 pound bodies on the side of you and the field goal protection you got to hold up your hand and Morgan has done a really really good job of that and not only that he's been you gotta you gotta look at the fact he's been snapping for possibly one of the best kickers in the I mean in the entire

NFL history in the history of the NFL. Yeah, absolutely. Yeah. So he's done his own, and just the operation of him snapping the ball says a lot. It's really down to like the millisecond when it comes down to ball snap, ball on the ground, ball up in the air. And Morgan's been one of the most consistent, especially with you naming off all of his uh accolades thus far absolutely and and that's why I wanted to bring you on here obviously

you know him personally but having that NFL experience you know more than even someone who covers the league someone who is paying attention as a fan you know a lot more about the value a long snapper can bring so I definitely do appreciate that but that is going to do it for part one of our interview with Ramon Foster we are going to dive into the Wesley Woodyard comments next and whoo they are spicy you are not going to want to miss that now before we do want to remind you guys about our friends the title sponsor of the show rockauto.com rockauto.com is a family business that's been serving auto parts customers online for over 20 years they have everything you need whether it be for your classic or your daily driver engine control modules brake parts tail lamps motor oil not murder oil and even brand

new carpet rockauto.com's catalog is unique it's remarkably easy to navigate you can quickly see all the parts available for your car or truck and choose the brand specifications and prices that you prefer. So go to RockAuto.com right now, see all the parts available for your vehicle, and make sure that you write LOCKED ON in the How Did You Hear About Us box right underneath the shipping information so they know that we sent you. Amazing selection, reliably low prices, all the parts your car will ever need, rockauto.com. Also, guys, we are in the middle of Built Bar Madness, the best

tasting protein bar in the galaxy, and they are trying to determine which is the best flavor they have. Now, I personally am a big fan of a lot of different flavors that they offer but it's not up to me who's the best flavor available it is up to all of you and we got to make sure that we highlight today's matchup for Built Bar Madness and that is going to be the salted caramel the underdog against the favorite cookie dough chunk now this is a very difficult one for me. I love all of the chunk bars, anything that's got some crisp to it, like the coconut brownie chunk,

the peanut butter chunk. I love any of those that have that extra texture, that crispy texture in the Bilt Bars. I think that's a great addition in some of the new flavors they have. But man, salted caramel is like my first love. That was like the first flavor that I ever told you guys about.

So it's hard to go against that for, you know, my new mistress, if you would say in the cookie dough chunk, but I am going to stick to my roots here and I'm going to go with the salted caramel flavor of Bilt Bar. Now, if you guys want to vote, make sure you go to BuiltBar.com or on Twitter at Bar underscore Built and let them know which flavor you think is the best. And remember, use promo code LOCKED15 that's LOCKED15

to get 15% off your next order. LOCKED15 to get 15% off your next order at BuiltBar.com and also make sure that you check back to see who won today's matchup and who will become the best tasting protein bar one last thing here ramon before i let you get off into off into a nice evening that you have planned with the family, a family man, I do appreciate that. I would be remiss if I didn't ask you about the big news story

that you guys kind of created this week when Wesley Woodyard came on the show. Just to kind of paraphrase here without the actual audio, he essentially said that Dean Pease did not get to call plays on defense during the AFC championship game in 2019, or at least didn't get to call the entire game like he had been throughout the season. Then he also did mention that Mike Vrabel, you know, if you push back on him, it's not necessarily received with open arms. And a lot of Titans fans want to wash that away and say, you know, it's sour grapes from Wesley because he's not in the league anymore. But it's my opinion that, you know, Wesley, because he's not worried about burning bridges in the league and the relationships in the league as much anymore.

And because he is, you know, kind of done with his playing career, he's willing to tell these stories and tell the truth. And that's such a specific accusation to make that I I just have a hard time believing that Wesley would make that up completely so I'm not asking you to adjudicate whether he is telling the truth or how true his statements were but what's your general feel on on the comments that he made about Mike Vrabel and and the situation with Dean Pease and the AFC championship game in 2019? So this is the thing is, okay, so I'll say this before I say anything else. I'm an outsider to this whole situation as far as, you know, Titans business, but I'm in the business now of covering the Titans, okay? And my thing is this.

I come as unbiased as anything else when talking about them because, one, I don't want to ruffle those feathers or you're just a sealer who's hating on the Titans. Absolutely not the case. I'm asking questions and he's the one that's giving the answers without any, like, prerequisite to what's going on. So this is the thing. Wes has actually kind of alluded to that before on our show.

Like, hey, it's more than just the guys. It may be a little bit of management without putting a name on it, okay? And I think with the moves that have been made as of recently, with certain guys getting cut, the culture of the team, the type of guys that they have let go, Wes has had some conversations with some guys possibly still inside of that room because why? Even I, a guy here in Nashville covering the Titans,

I still have connections inside the locker room. Pittsburgh, it happened. Guys are friends. Guys are talking. There's a such thing now as group chats where guys just consistently talk to each other all the time in different eras. That happens.

And Wes just sparked that conversation because, like you said, he doesn't need to play on the NFL field anymore. He started his second career already, and I don't think he has any aspirations as far as getting into the media. He's just telling it how it is for him. And his telling it how it is is that there may be a little bit too much involvement from maybe Rabel or just, you know, the guys that are around him, and he's got to either pull himself back

and let the guys play and the coaches coach him, and that's the way it seems to me. The whole Dean Pease thing kind of, you know, we're on Zoom because I'm in Florida right now and my kids are in spring break. And when Wes said, you know, Dean Pease didn't get an opportunity to call, what was it, the AFC Championship game?

Yeah. That kind of took everybody back. That really took everybody back to where it was like, oh, wow. That explains why Dean Pease took himself out of football. That explains why he retired, quotation marks around that, and came back almost like he pulled a Gronkowski. Okay? Let me get out of a toxic situation to get myself into a better one.

I'm not saying it's right, wrong, or whatever, you know, comes from that. But the fact that you got players, you know, saying that, and I'm sure if you ask Wes, he's backed up in those claims to say that, you know, we've kind of, you know, the media, which I'm in the media, has kind of been pointing out that, hey, look, this staff seems like they're saying it's a player's issue and not a coaching issue. The coaches are the ones that are supposed to fall on the sword, and right now it looks like the players are the ones that are falling on the sword with the release of certain guys.

Yeah, yeah, no, I agree 100%. Honestly, I know that I brought you on to talk about Morgan Cox, but I'm somebody, I have been saying throughout the offseason and through the end of last year that based on some comments I've heard from Mike Vrabel and pressers where he's really putting blame on players and then, you know, officially hiring Shane Bowen. It just seems like to me there are some ego driven decisions being made and some ego showing. And a lot of people who cover the Titans don't agree with me there. And they really kind of shun me for thinking that way. But in my opinion, as time goes,

the more we see that that could be the case, even if it's just in a small way. So I appreciate you taking the time to answer that side question there. And don't want to take you from your vacation, your spring break anymore. Thank you so much, Ramon, for coming on and have a great rest of your time and hopefully we'll talk to you down the road. No doubt about it. Anytime you need me, I appreciate it.

Some juicy stuff there from Ramon Foster on the Wesley Woodyard conversation, but also some excellent insight on Titans new long snapper Morgan Cox. I hope you guys enjoyed that interview as much as I enjoyed conducting it. Before we get into our next portion of Team Up Thursday, which will be a conversation with Chris Carter from Locked On Steelers about Bud Dupree, I want to remind you guys about a new podcast from the Locked On Podcast Network.

And I guess maybe I can't really call it new anymore. They've been going strong for a while now, but it's the Locked On Bets podcast hosted by your boy Q and handicapping expert Lee Sterling. Get daily picks, blowout specials, wrong team favorite picks, and Lee Sterling's lock of the day. Follow the Locked on Bets podcast presented to you by betonline.ag wherever you get podcasts. And speaking of betonline.ag, after you get that excellent advice from your boy Q and Lee Sterling on Locked on Bets, you can head on over to betonline.ag. After you get that excellent advice from your boy Q and Lee Sterling on Locked On Bets, you can head on over to BetOnline.ag.

It is the fastest and easiest way to place all of your sports wagers. Football might be over, but the NBA, college basketball, and NHL is in full swing, and there's not many more sporting events outside of March Madness that are as fun to bet on. So make sure you get all of your March Madness bets in at betonline.ag. Head to their website or use the mobile device to sign up for free today. Use promo code LOCKEDON and you'll receive a 50% welcome bonus on your first deposit. BetOnline, your online sportsbook experts. All right, guys, we are here continuing a team up Thursday here on the Locked On Titans podcast. I am your host, Tyler Rowland, bringing on one of my favorite co-workers from the Locked

On podcast network, and that is the host from the Locked On Podcast Network, and that is the host of the Locked On Steelers podcast, Chris Carter. Chris, how are you doing today? I'm doing great, man. I'm doing great. I feel bad because we were both talking about our teams getting to meet up in the playoffs and getting to do another show together. That obviously didn't happen, but I'm glad that we get to still talk some in the offseason. Yeah, some way, somehow, we found a way to get back together for a good show before the regular season in 2021 kicks off.

But our teams are going to look a little bit different. Obviously, the Steelers are going through some big changes dealing with the salary cap. The Titans are going through some big changes dealing with an abominable defense that they're having to work over and take some resources from the offense. One of the big ways that they are trying to change the way the Titans defense looks in this upcoming season is by signing former Pittsburgh Steeler Bud Dupree to a five-year $85 million

contract, a big boy contract, as I like to call it. Now, we don't know the exact details of all the guarantees, the contract breakdown, salary cap hit, all of that. But I don't want to focus on that right now. I want to focus on Bud Dupree as a person and more importantly, as a player. And you're someone who's obviously seen him develop and progress. So just initially with an open canvas, I guess, what are your thoughts on Bud Dupree as a player throughout his time in Pittsburgh? I think Bud is an exceptional athlete. If you go out through the history of, you know, the, the, the, the metric spark that they, that they use to measure guys. Yeah. I don't know if it's still the case, but I know for several years, PFF would would always say like Bud Dupree still has the highest spark rating that we've ever seen and it's because he's extremely explosive he's fast he's

he's long he's big he has all those things but the thing was that took Bud Dupree a few years to figure out was how to maximize that when he was being coached by Joey Porter who you know Steelers Super Bowl champion outside linebacker that turned into their sort of edge rusher coach for a few years. Porter was a defensive end and like an old school beat-em-up defensive end. And he tried to teach Bud how to play that way. Eventually when – like there was one year where it looked like I was watching the games and over like three games it started to click for Bud that he didn't have to play that way.

And when I asked him hey bud what what what happened here and he and bud and bud will be one of the realest interviews if you ever talk to him ty he's great um but he was like coach t just done turned me loose he told me to just go after him and and i think what bud was saying there was that he was instead of trying to you know put a hand in the dirt and work these different kind of moves and more physical moves he's like hey you're a speedster use your speed use your explosiveness and in the last two years you saw that he had double-digit sacks in 2019 and he would have had double-digit sacks in 2020 if he didn't get hurt uh but bud dupree a very solid edge rusher uh you know you gotta have him the right situation like he's not tj wide he's not you know he's not the superstar of the team but he is a very competent guy and he knows the techniques

and as far as how to maintain the edge against the run yeah well that's something that I was going to ask you about you hit on it right there at the end obviously the Titans are paying him that kind of money to get to the quarterback and that improved production in the past few years is exactly what they're looking at along with that that athletic ability, like you're saying. But in run defense, a lot of run defense, obviously there's technique involved. You need to have athleticism to hold up against these big body tight ends and offensive tackles.

But in run defense, a lot of people are saying that, you know, Bud Dupree can be as effective around the line of scrimmage, not necessarily from an edge position, but moving all over the formation. Are those things that you would agree with you saw from Bud Dupree and that he has potential to continue doing not only in the pass rush, but in run defense as well.

Absolutely. One thing Tyler that the Steelers did, especially these last two years, they would take him off the edge and kind of make him an extra off ball linebacker. And his primary responsibility was just, Hey, fill this gap,

fill that gap. But one thing that he did in the offseason that was very interesting, he would work like MMA training and boxing because he wanted to have violent hands. He wanted to just stick people and be able to get a good punch that created separation. He was very good at that. And even as a rookie, when the Steelers drafted him, they desperately needed a guy to set the edge against the run. And this was back in, I think, what, 2015?

So they're coming off of Jarvis Jones, Jason Worlds, guys who were horrible as far as getting. But the first thing I saw this man on tape, he got his inside hand into the chest of the offensive tackle, and he drived them back, and he would at least maintain his edge against the run. As he got older, he learned how to do that in different ways he's very good at that is he again is he the elite of the elite no but he's a guy that you put him on your roster you'll be very glad that he that he's there um especially i mean you guys you guys been you know

invested in you know i think was jeffrey simmons the guy was uh you got. You do want guys on your line to take up space because one thing that Bud Dupree did benefit from, I'm not going to sell him to be the next LT, but one thing that he benefited from was on a line with Stephon Tewitt, who had 11 sacks this season, Cam Hayward, who's an all-pro defensive tackle, and TJ Watt, who's TJ Watt. No offensive line could look at Bud Dupree and say, you're the only person that we have to stop today.

Right. You want to make sure that's not the case in Tennessee, because when he gets his one-on-ones, that's when you see him dominate. Yeah, yeah. And obviously, that's part of some of the concerns. I'll admit, I was a little bit lukewarm on Bud Dupree as a signing when we were previewing free agency because he's coming off an ACL tear. There was that spotty production at the beginning of his career, but a lot of context that we've

been provided, like what you've talked about with the Joey Porter situation. That's something that on yesterday's show, John Ledyard talked about as well as the step in development that he took once he kind of got out of that mold. So that's some real, he kind of gave us the story, but you filled in the actual details of what happened that's why I appreciate having you on so much but some of the concerns I had are obviously coming off the ACL he's not going to have a TJ Watt opposite of him in Tennessee obviously you're somebody who has seen him play a lot and knows him as a person as well do you think the type of guy that he is the type of person that he is will kind of stop any of those concerns from

making him the productive player of the Titans? Hope he is, is his personality and his, his mindset about football going to be able to carry him through any of those concerns? Do you think. I mean, one thing I've always thought about,

but debris he's he's one, he's authentic. So like when you're talking to him, teammates, reporters, whoever, you know, you're getting the about Bud Dupree he's he's one he's authentic so like when you're talking to him teammates reporters whoever you know you're getting the real Bud Dupree and I think that goes a long way because when he's authentic and he's genuine he's also he he rarely steps over the line and says something that's out of control now he had he has stepped to people like you know there's a famous tweet or a he sent a guy a twitter dm because someone said uh said said about like you know where was Bud Dupree during such and such game?

And he said, I was at your mom's house. And it was like, Whoa, Whoa, Whoa. But again, that was like 2015, 2016, very early in his career. And again, these guys are professional athletes. You know, they're either, they're still in their early twenties. A lot of these times. And you get someone tweeting at you saying things about you, you're going to want to respond some way. And you have to maturity not do that. And I think he's definitely learned how to do that but every instance that i've ever heard

from or talked to anyone about bud dupree is that he's a heck of a teammate and that's why steelers fans are are sad to see him go because you know you know for years people would tell him oh he's a bust he's a bust he's horrible he wasn't worth a first round pick in the last two seasons oh yeah we love bud dupree right and it's that it's that turn and every team every organization they have those guys that that just they they grow a little bit later um but again i i think tennessee's getting him at a really good point in his career um you know yeah his his acl is a concern but he's mostly been a very healthy player for the majority of his career. And, and like I said, he, he's, he's a smart football player. He doesn't fall.

He's able to work different stunts and different communication points where, you know, they make adjustments at the line. And I'll tell you that the Steelers have flipped him from working with Cam Hayward and Stefan to at a time, like the two or three years ago, it was Stefan to it. They flipped with Hayward and the way that they stunted together, they built a relationship very quickly to make that work that's something that you can really use in tennessee to help set up your front because it's not just hey can you just beat the man in

front of you it's also hey we're gonna try and do this because they're gonna try and double team simmons so when they go when they follow him one way we're gonna have you cut into b gap and that's where we want you to get after the quarterback and with his explosiveness that's when he's extremely dangerous yeah well absolutely you, absolutely. You're 100% right. And in Tennessee, Mike Rabel was big on games. He's big on stunts. He wants to bring four, but not let you know exactly how the four are going to come off the ball. And you're 100% right. You're, you're right on point, quite frankly, with how Bud Dupree could be used. And the Titans are trying to get some attention off of Jeffrey Simmons,

create some one-on-one opportunities for some other people. And hopefully that'll improve this pass rush, but excellent, excellent details, excellent context from you, Chris. I really do appreciate it. And hopefully we'll be able to get talk again soon, somewhere outside of just a regular season matchup. Absolutely. Great talking to you again, Ty. Hope to do it again soon. Absolutely. Thanks, man.

All right, Titans fans. We have made it to the final act of Team Up Thursday. And we have, as I like to call him, El Capitano on the show. Ross Jackson, host of the Locked on Saints podcast. And obviously having Ross on here to talk about Janoris Jackrabbit Jenkins being signed by the Titans. Call him Jackrabbit. That's what he prefers.

So I'm working on making that transition but Ross is a guy who saw Jackrabbit play in recent years in New Orleans do you my number one question basically is do you think that he's one of those guys who they cut him because they needed to save the cap money or do you think that at 32 years old he is a guy who's maybe slipping in play and that's why the Saints really let him go? I think the age certainly has something to do with it. But I will say this. The reason why Jack Rabbit was cut was because it allowed the Saints to save $7 million.

That's the bottom line. And I'm sure that there's a little bit of a, hey, we need to be a year early on this as opposed to a year late in terms of wherever that decline might be. But I'll tell you what, after watching his play in 2020 and what he did with the saints, there's no indication of any, you know, forbearing drop-off at this point at all. Yeah. I mean, one thing that I noticed just in some quick research about him, you know, obviously he was always been known as, as a manback, and that's something that he's still able to do.

But the past breakups are still there. Did have three interceptions last year. So based on what you're saying, obviously they wanted to save some cap, but he is older. Do you think that he is still a quality starting cornerback in the NFL? Yeah, he's the best second cornerback that the Saints have had probably. that the Saints have had probably, I mean, probably since the, just after the Super Bowl season, 2000, early 2010s, between having Marshawn Lattimore and Janoris Jenkins over there, the Saints have been trying so hard to find that second guy. They went through Ken Crawley, they went through Eli Apple, who they acquired and traded from the Giants. And then they were

able to pick up off of waivers, Janoris Jenkins at the end of the 2019 season. And all of a sudden, finally, they had this viable CB2. The only reason why he's still not in New Orleans at this point, like we keep mentioning, is mostly because of the cap. But what he's been able to bring, maybe the one place that you've seen a drop-off is that you see three interceptions on his stat sheet. He should have had maybe five or six, but he kept dropping a couple. But you'll live with that because you you still got some good opportunities from him.

And the other thing that he brought to the Saints defense that I'll just mention is that was a pretty young secondary. He brought a really specific focus along with Malcolm Jenkins in film study and preparation, really helped to train those guys up. So a little bit of the off-the-field value with them as well. Well, Ross, that's literally right there. That comment, that tidbit is exactly why we do these things the titans are going to have an incredibly young secondary this year because of the pieces they've moved out they've

moved in amani hooker who's going to be a third year player instead of kenny vaccaro they've moved in christian fulton into a pivotal role losing malcolm butler and adori jackson and they're probably going to draft a cornerback pretty high who's going to be a young guy too so having an experienced vet like jack rabbit in there, I think is definitely important because of what you just said. So that's a great tidbit there. The last question I want to ask you, and I have to throw in one more.

You said you needed that cup of coffee. Well, let's see how strongly it can power you through the finish here. Are there any concerns or I'm sure there are some concerns about a 32 year old vet. What are things that you saw from Jack rabbit last year that you would at least caution Titans fans about? Yeah, I would caution a big play here and there, particularly against smaller, shifty or speedy receivers. We saw generous Jenkins struggle a little bit in the bears game

against Darnell Mooney, for instance, who of course is just, he's going to be a deep threat his entire career. The guy's awesome. Uh, and of course with being in the afc south there are some of those out there you know hey look will fuller maybe moves on to another team that's great but there are still some of those guys particularly when you're going up against the jacksville jaguars who do nothing but add deep threats that's like they're right they're bread and butter they keep bringing those guys in and maybe that's where you see a little bit but if you're building a team to compete with your division that would be the reason that that would be kind of the one thing that I would caution about. But the preparation, everything else tends to help with that he's going to get, you know, he's going to drive a lot of focus and man coverage, things like that. As you mentioned,

he does that very well. So every now and then, if he gets beat off the line of scrimmage, he could end up trailing and then get beat. But if you've got the good safety help over the top, that ends up helping. So that would be something I would watch out for, uh, for Titans fans. All right. Awesome. I could not ask for a better breakdown. Somebody has been covering on the ground close up for quite some time now, Ross, thank you so much for everything you do for the NFL locked on community, but also for coming on here today, man. Hey, absolutely. Anytime, anytime that you reach out to me, you know what I'm telling you, I'm telling you, let's get it. Let's get it. All right. There we go. Peace out, Ross. Thank. Anytime that you reach out to me, you know what I'm telling you? I'm telling you, let's get it. Let's get it.

All right. There we go. Peace out, Ross. Thank you. See you, brother. All right, guys. That's going to do it. A jam-packed Team Up Thursday edition of the Locked on Titans podcast.

And I have to admit to you guys, those who know me and have been listening to the show for quite some time know that I am quite a comic book nerd. I wouldn't say that I was reading every comic, but I love all the movies, TV shows, animated, everything, superheroes, I'm all into it. And today is a big day. It's a really big day. Today is opening day of Zack Snyder's Justice League, a movie that I have been waiting on since Batman vs. Superman came out nearly six years ago. So in honor of Zack Snyder and Zack Snyder's Justice League, I decided to call this a Team

Up Thursday. Obviously, the content that I brought to you with the three excellent interviews really fit into that narrative, so it felt right. Go check out Zack Snyder's Justice League on HBO Max though. Want to support it. Want it to do well. Give me Justice League 2 and 3. But that is well off the beaten path here at the end of the episode.

A long episode but a fantastic one in my opinion. That's going to do it for me today though. I'll be back with you guys tomorrow to cap off the week here on the Locked on Titans podcast. Kind of give a summary of everything that's taken place and let you know where the Titans are sitting right now as we go forward into the second week of free agency.

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