Locked On Titans - Daily Podcast On The Tennessee Titans - Tennessee Titans at Crossroads w/ Left Tackle & Offensive Play Calling, Injury Updates on Wide Receivers

Episode Date: December 6, 2022

Tennessee Titans Head Coach Mike Vrabel said the team is at a "crossroads" on Sunday after an embarrassing loss to the Philadelphia Eagles. The Titans certainly are at some crossroads with the offensive tackle position and the offensive play calling. At LT, Dennis Daley has been a sieve. Will the Titans consider outside options or internal changes? Mike Vrabel comments. Next, there is some interesting data showing the Titans have the potential to be one of the most explosive passing games in the league, but what is causing the inconsistency? Tyler goes over a theory. Finally, we got updates on Treylon Burks, Racey McMath & Kyle Philips on Monday.Follow Tyler on Twitter @TicTacTitansFollow the show on Facebook @LockedOnTitansPodSubscribe to the Locked On Titans YouTube channel:https://www.youtube.com/c/LockedOnTitans/videosSupport Us By Supporting Our Sponsors!LinkedInLinkedIn Jobs helps you find the candidates you want to talk to, faster. Post your job for free at LinkedIn.com/LOCKEDONNFLBuilt BarBuilt Bar is a protein bar that tastes like a candy bar. Go to builtbar.com and use promo code “LOCKEDON15,” and you’ll get 15% off your next order.BetOnlineBetOnline.net has you covered this season with more props, odds and lines than ever before. BetOnline – Where The Game Starts!PrizePicksFirst time users can receive a 100% instant deposit match up to $100 with promo code LOCKEDON. That’s PrizePicks.com – promo code; LOCKEDONSimpliSafeWith Fast Protect™️ Technology, exclusively from SimpliSafe, 24/7 monitoring agents capture evidence to accurately verify a threat for faster police response. There’s No Safe Like SimpliSafe. Visit SimpliSafe.com/LockedOnNFL to learn more.TuroForget boring rental cars and find your drive at Turo.comAudibleHead over to Locked On NFL for a sneak peak of Block Forever or catch the full series available anywhere you get your podcast. Available everywhere now!BetterHelpThis episode is brought to you by BetterHelp. Give online therapy a try at Betterhelp.com/LockedOn and get on your way to being your best self. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Welcome to the Locked on Titans podcast. I am your host, Tyler Rowland. Titans fans, Mike Vrabel said after yesterday's disastrous loss to the Eagles that the Titans are at a crossroads and he could not be more correct. They have two major crossroads that we need to discuss. What is going on at left tackle with Dennis Daly and what should the Titans do with offensive coordinator Todd Downing? We have to discuss what's going on at these two crossroads.

And then finally, the Titans need to get healthy on both sides of the ball. It's a crossroads that they need to cross as well. So what are injury updates on Kyle Phillips, Raycee McMath, Traylon Burks, and Danico Autry? We're going to go over all of that and more on today's edition of the Locked On Titans podcast. Let's get it. You are Locked On Titans, your daily Tennessee Titans podcast, part of the Locked On podcast

network, your team every day. Titans fans, the Titans at Crossroads, baby. Shout out Bone Thugs. Anyway, moving forward, it is a Crossroads edition of the Locked on Titans podcast. Mike Grable was right. Now, I may not agree with him on what the Crossroad actually is. We're going to dive into that. Before we do, I want to thank you guys for making the Locked on Titans podcast your first listen every day. It's Monday

through Friday. Tennessee Titans content all year round on all platforms for free. Make sure you subscribe to the Locked on Titans podcast on whatever platform you do stream. You're showing up to the Locked on Titans YouTube channel. I definitely

do appreciate it. Smash the notification bell. Throw a thumbs up on the video. It goes a long way to help support the channel. I am forever grateful. But moving right along here, the Titans are at a crossroads. Now, on Monday, Mike Rabel said the crossroads were what kind of team the Titans want to be.

Good teams get better at this point in the season. The bad teams start to get worse at this point in the season. And while I generally and philosophically agree, Mike, that is what happens. That's not the crossroads that the Titans should be worried about. Number one, we have to talk about the left tackle position. Now look, there's been bad play on the offensive line all year. It's not just Dennis Daly. It's not all Dennis Daly. NBF is

a rookie who has struggled. Aaron Brewer for certain has struggled. Ben Jones has been in and out of the lineup at times. So it's not all Dennis Daly. But but in week 13, Dennis Daly

gave up three sacks, a team high. Gave up four pressures, second worst. Had a 41.4 pass blocking grade per pro football focus. Last on the team. So while it may not all be Dennis Daly's fault, he is certainly a major part of the problem. You got to give credit to Nashville media and Titans beat reporters, specifically a guy like Teron Davenport from ESPN, who really gave Mike Vrabel hard questions. And I thought that he didn't let Mike Vrabel off the hook. And Dennis Daly got mentioned by name, of course. PK is out there giving the stinging questions.

So I got to give credit where it's due. The questions were asked. And Mike Vrabel's comments were basically this. He, I thought, although there is no satisfactory answer for Mike Vrabel that doesn't result in, hey, we're getting rid of Dennis Daly that may, you know, satiate the mob that wants Dennis Daly thrown in jail. You know, this may not satisfy them,

but Mike Vrabel pointed out specific plays where Dennis Daly made mistakes. He talked about the fact that if we have a tight end or a running back helping chip on the outside, you cannot get beat on the inside. Your help is coming from the outside. So just protect the inside. He talked about that. He did mention a play where Dennis Daly got a pancake on a run block.

So I felt like Mike Vrabel was fair. And Mike Vrabel admittedly said, we brought in a lot of practice squad guys. We got guys playing on Sunday that were on other practice squads. If they're not playing for the other team at this point, if they're on a practice squad of a different team, then are they good enough to play here? I think there's some truth in that as well.

There are no good answers right now for your left tackle problem. There are none. But Titans fans are fair to say things like like Dylan Radin should get a chance. Even Andrew Rupsich, who was one of the best offensive linemen in the history of his division in college football. What about signing a guy like Eric Fisher, who has 128 starts in his career and has been a first overall pick in a draft, who admittedly did not play well for Indianapolis last year but can it be worse?

We got to talk about Dennis Daly compared to the opposite or Eric Fisher compared to Dennis Daly. So it's fair in my opinion for fans to say those things. I am more of a give Radins a chance. If you're going to chip and have to help Dennis Daly the way that you do, you might as well help Dylan Radins and see what happens. I've even gotten on board with Andrew Rupsch and given him a chance. Seeing what happens there.

What I will tell you is Mike Vrabel's answer to what to do at left tackle, he said, LaRaven Clark will have a chance to compete. But guys, people are taking this the wrong way. He's not saying, oh, now they're going to have an open competition and LaRaven Clark is going to get to compete. LaRaven Clark has been competing for the left tackle spot since he arrived in Mike Rabel's eyes. He didn't mean any change was going to happen or they were going to look at left tackle different and maybe throw LaRaven out there.

I don't believe that's what Mike Vrabel was saying when he said that. So I don't think we're going to see any change. And Dylan Radins, based on that answer, LaRaven Clark will have a chance to compete. He has clearly factored Dylan Radins out of the tackle equation entirely. So if you're somebody who wants to see Radins there,

you're not going to get that. If you're somebody who wants to see Eric Fisher brought in, well, Eric Fisher was signed by the Dolphins. And it's crazy because one of my best friends, named Tim, he's a big Dolphins fan, lifelong Dolphins fan. I talked to him on the phone on Monday about, you know, the Dolphins, the season.

He's a good friend of mine. We talked about the weekend of football. And Tim said to me, you know, it's really cool that the Dolphins went out and got Eric Fisher even if he's not great because it just shows that they care. He said that. It just shows that they care. He said Tua got beat to heck yesterday. And maybe Eric Fisher isn't any better, but at least they're going to

try because they care. I'm not saying that, you know, John Robinson, Mike Vrabel don't care about this Titans season, but I'm just saying if you wanted the Titans to do something, well, you're not going to get that. And I guess I understand if there's frustrations.

The Titans are at a crossroads. Do they want to make this the best possible offense they can down the stretch? Do they want to try to find some answers? Or do they just want to go with status quo and what we've seen and

see how that works out for them? I guess we're going to find out. But there's another crossroads that the Titans are at and it has to do with Todd Downing. Now, I don't think that yesterday was Todd Downing's fault as much as other offensive performances

have been, but I think there's some data that shows that something weird is going on in the Titans' offensive coaching staff, and I want some answers. So we're going to talk about that crossroads that Mike Vrabel was at as well. Before we get into it, though, do want to tell you guys that today's episode is brought to you by LinkedIn. LinkedIn Jobs is the place that you want to be if you're trying to make a hire for your small business

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Titans fans, we are going to continue this Crossroads edition of the Locked on Titans podcast. We talked about the crossroads the Titans are facing at left tackle, what it seems like they're going to do, what Titans fans hoped that they were going to do. And we're going to have a similar discussion here about the offensive coordinator position. Before we get into that, though, I do want to thank you guys again

for making the Locked on Titans podcast your first listen every day. Remember, free Monday through Friday Tennessee Titans content on all platforms all year round. Stay locked in to the Locked on Titans podcast where it's your team every day. Tomorrow is rewatch Wednesday.

I'm going to be going over the film, telling you what I saw on the tape and having some takeaways from that beatdown. Thursday will be crossover Thursday with Tony Wiggins from Locked On Jags, who predicted that the Jags would finish better than the Titans this season. You will not want to miss that crossover event. Friday will be game plan Friday. I've been really on it the last three weeks to a month on the game plan,

so you won't want to miss that. And then Sunday, of course, my live reaction show right after the game here on the Locked on Titans podcast. But moving forward, I want to give a shout-out to friend of the show, Will Lomas, at JLomas72 on Twitter. My guy Will writes for Titan Size, No Nonsense Podcast, stuff like that. He does great work.

I talk to Will all the time on Twitter. So shout out to Will. But Will had a thread on Twitter on Monday, and I found it very interesting. And reading through some of the things that he brought to light, it made me come to some conclusions. And it kind of gave me some answers as to maybe what the Titans should do at the crossroads that they're at with Todd Downing in the offense.

Now, before I get into that, though, I do got to say, I got to be fair. On the list of problems in the Philadelphia game, Todd Downing is not high on the list, guys. The Titans didn't have the talent to win that game. In these games where they have more talent than the team they play and they get outcoached on that side of the ball, that's why the games are close. But in this game, the Titans were outclassed by a better roster

and obviously better coaching on that side of the ball as well. So, honestly, the Titans got outcoached on both sides of the ball. You don't get beat 35-10 and not get outcoached, but all I'm saying is yesterday was not on Todd Downing like we've seen it be in the past, but that does not mean that it couldn't be better, and let's go through this. Number one, Will says,

when they throw the ball, they're one of the most explosive passing offenses in the NFL. let's go through this. Number one, Will says, when they throw the ball, they're one of the most explosive passing offenses in the NFL. Of course, the Titans. Ryan Tannehill is third, third in the NFL in completions of 20 plus yards per attempt. He's first in the NFL in 40-plus yard completions per attempt. Titans tight end Chega Conquo and wide receiver Traylon Burks

both have three receptions of 40-plus yards. There are only five other teams in the NFL with multiple players of three or more 40-yard receptions. Those teams, Cincinnati, Kansas City, Denver, Buffalo, and Miami. Now, Denver is in there acting like the ugly dragon in the dragon meme. But look, Cincy, KC, Buffalo, Miami, and Tennessee. They're the only rookie combo on that list as well. they're the only rookie combo on that list as well.

Speaking of Chig, he is the only tight end in the NFL with three catches of 40 yards. The only other tight end with multiple 40-yard receptions is TJ Hawkinson with two. Do you know who else has two? Derrick Henry. He and Tony Pollard are the only running backs with multiple 40-yard receptions or more. Will says this, despite all of this

and Henry being third in the NFL in rushing yards, the Titans are only averaging 18.3 points per game. If that holds up, please God no, that would be their worst offense since 2014. Even more bizarre, the Titans have the third fewest giveaways in the NFL. So, we know

that the Titans have the ability to create explosive plays. They've done it a bunch. So they have the ability to draw up plays that create explosive gains. They have the ability to do that. In the passing game.

In the passing game. It's what we're talking about. They have players in Chikokonkwo and Traylon Burks who have the ability to create explosive gains. But for some reason, it's so inconsistent. It's ridiculously inconsistent, to the point where despite looking like one of the most explosive passing offenses in the NFL by those numbers,

the Titans are still one of the worst offenses in the NFL in scoring. I have been skeptical all year of people who want to give credit to Tim Kelly while taking away credit from Todd Downing. I don't believe that right now we have the information to know who to give credit to where and who's responsible and how much credit they should get. We just don't have the answers for that because we're not behind closed doors. But,

like with left tackle, I think at some point, it's only fair for the Titans to experiment with Tim Kelly calling some plays, a guy who has been a play caller and offensive coordinator before, and based on all that data and all that info that we just

went over, it seems like to me that the Titans have some really smart concepts that do work, but they don't necessarily know how to use them with consistency. It's like there's someone in the room that's good at designing plays, but there's no one in the room that knows how to call them correctly with any consistency. Yeah, they may hit a couple of big plays every couple of weeks, certain matchups, but the consistency of the explosive plays isn't there. Now, I know that a lot of that will have to do with Traylon Burks missing time.

But I mean, there were times earlier in the season where the offense wasn't necessarily explosive. And yeah, we're talking about two rookies, but when they're your most explosive players, it's your responsibility to try to give them opportunities. And we know at least from Chick's perspective the last few weeks, that hasn't been true. So, the Titans are at a crossroads with left tackle

and with offensive coordinator. And while I don't think that the Titans are a real Super Bowl contender, if they get the right matchup, they can win a playoff game, which would be fun. Which would be fun for all of us. But if we just keep putting Dennis Daly out there without trying something else,

even if the answer comes back to Dennis Daly is the best. If we don't try, giving Tim Kelly some play-calling responsibilities, then we come back to Todd Downing and it didn't work. If we don't try, then I feel like the Titans aren't doing all they can to get the answers that they need to make the best of this season, even if there's a limited ceiling. But with that in mind, we need to get into some injury updates on three wide receivers

the Titans could really use, and then Danico Autry as well. Before we get into that, do want to tell you guys that today's episode is sponsored by Audible. Audible is releasing a new slate of football podcasts that I am sure you're going to love, and that's why you're going to be able to find a sneak peek of Block Forever, available on the Locked On NFL podcast feed right now. Block Forever is a brand new podcast from former NFL All-Pro Ryan Khalil and Audible. Khalil takes the conversation about football to the next level.

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Might have a little update for you guys on Danico Autry as well. Before we get into that, do want to thank you guys for making the Locked On Titans podcast your first listen every day. For your second listen today, check out Locked On Sports today. From the games that matter the most to the biggest stories in sports, go beyond the scoreboard and behind the scenes with local experts and insights only Locked On can provide. Locked On Sports Today, it's available on this app, YouTube, or wherever you get your podcasts. So we got an update on Traylon Burks from Mike Vrabel on Monday.

Vrabel said he's doing well. He's feeling well. That's good news. He also said that he still has to clear concussion protocol to be available for Sunday. While Mike Vrabel sounds more optimistic about Burks' concussion than he has in the past about, say, Imani Hooker or Ben Jones, I think it's just become clear that Mike Vrabel's not going to play a guy a week after a concussion.

So if I were you, I would pull my expectations back and I would not expect Traylon Burks to play against the Jags. That would not be my expectation. Mike Vrabel protects his players in that way. So I would love to be wrong if Burks' concussion... I saw some people saying that they thought he was knocked out cold and this is, I don't know, looking back on it, he was breathing pretty heavily the whole time. He was, he moved his legs pretty quickly after the hit on the ground. I'm not saying

he didn't get a concussion. He's in concussion protocol, but I just don't think it was quite as ugly, maybe, as we've seen some concussions recently be. It's good that Burks is doing well and feeling well a day later. That's a great indication, but with a concussion, even if you're doing well and feeling well, it's probably not the best idea to play the next week. I would not expect Traylon Burks, but some positive news. Mike Rabel said there is a chance that they get Racy McMath back to practice. I would not expect Traylon Burks, but some positive news. Mike Rabel said there is a chance that they get Racy McMath back to practice this week. Now, getting him back to practice doesn't necessarily mean that he's going to be active and play in the game.

And I would continue, as I did before this season, I would continue to tell you to couch your expectations for Racy McMath. to tell you to couch your expectations for Ray C. McMath. He's still a late-round draft pick that was seen mostly as a special teams guy that had up-and-down moments in camp. He's not going to come in and be like a big X-factor all of a sudden. It's just good depth. I'd rather have Ray C. McMath out there

than Cody Hollister or C.J. Board, for example, or Des Fitzpatrick, Mason Kinsey, any of those dudes who we're probably never going to see again. But that's good news. Now, sadly, there are some bad news.

Mike Vrabel said Kyle Phillips is still rehabbing his injury. Kyle Phillips is not going to be back this week. Starting to worry about that be back this week. Starting to worry about that being back at all. So hopefully he's able to come back for the home stretch but no Kyle Phillips this week. So

keep an eye on that from a wide receiver perspective. Heck, the Titans could use any of them, all of them, two of them, one of them, whatever it takes. The Titans need it because we're staring at a lot of C.J. Borden, Cody Hollister this week without them. Finally, Danico Autry.

Now, I'm going to say this. There has been no official word on Danico Autry, but I've seen some whispers and I've seen some reports that Autry may be planning to return against Jacksonville. It's the whispers and I've seen some reports that Autry may be planning to return against

Jacksonville. It's the whispers that I've heard. I don't know if I believe that. I don't know if that's true. I'm not going to stand here and act like I do. But what I do know is the Titans signed Terrell Basham on Monday. Six foot4", 260-pound defensive end. More of a pass rusher. He's got 11 sacks in his career. He's played in 77 games. Played last year for the Dallas Cowboys. Had three and a half sacks.

Titans aren't getting enough pressure. I'm sure that this is a move. Most positive way to view this is the Titans just want to get some more pressure on the quarterback want to bring in a fresh body and see what they can do negative way to view this is maybe Danico Autry isn't coming back so soon maybe there was an issue, a setback or whatever

I don't want to believe that that's the case so I'm going to view this from a glass half full perspective and say the Titans are just trying to turn defensive end and see if they can get some more pressure on the quarterback. Sam Okwe and Nonu, it's not played well. Lately, Mario Edwards, that's not played his best. Now, I think a lot of that has to do with not having Danico out there. But regardless, maybe the Titans are just trying to find more of a pure pass rushing guy with more athleticism to get to the quarterback.

There it is. There's your injury updates. That's going to do it for me today, folks. Tomorrow's Rewatch Wednesday. Going to be breaking down the tape. Crossover Thursday. After that, with Tony Wiggins from Locked On Jags. Friday will be the game plan preview. Sunday, live after the game, breaking down everything that happened. Hope you guys did enjoy today's episode. That's going to do it for me, folks. As always, I am your host, Tyler Rowland, and this

was Locked on Titans.