Locked On Titans - Daily Podcast On The Tennessee Titans - Tennessee Titans Cam Ward PASSES THE TEST, Van Jefferson's Revenge & Final Roster Spots Take Shape

Episode Date: August 23, 2025

The Tennessee Titans had a rough start to their final preseason game against the Minnesota Vikings, but Cam Ward responded with an excellent second drive and passed the final test before the regular season. Cam got some help from Van Jefferson, who had a great bounce back week after a tough drop in Week 2. On defense, both young linebackers played great an solidified they are both good enough to start, but a lot of other players on the defense made waves like James Lynch, cementing his roster spot. Subscribe to the TicTacTitans Film Channel:https://www.youtube.com/@TicTacTitans TicTacTitans Merchandise: https://dixons-dream.square.site/shop/tictactitans-gear/C3AAPNWXSXA6SBYG3USV2I7R?page=1&limit=30&sort_by=category_order&sort_order=asc Follow Tyler on Twitter @TicTacTitans Follow the show on Facebook @LockedOnTitansPod Subscribe to the Locked On Titans YouTube channel:https://www.youtube.com/c/LockedOnTitans/videos Support Us By Supporting Our Sponsors!Yahoo FantasyPresented by YahooFantasy #YahooPartner. Play Now at https://yahoofantasy.com/lockedonnfl.GametimeDownload the Gametime app, create an account, and use code LOCKEDONNFL for $20 off your first purchase. Terms apply. Download Gametime today. What time is it? Gametime.FanDuelToday's episode is brought to you by FanDuel. Football season is around the corner, visit the FanDuel App today and start planning your futures bets now.Monarch MoneyTake control of your finances with Monarch Money. Use code LOCKEDONNFL at monarchmoney.com/lockedonnfl for 50% off your first year.BetterhelpThis episode is brought to you by Betterhelp. Talk it out, with BetterHelp. Our listeners get 10% off their first month at BetterHelp.com/lockedon.  FANDUEL DISCLAIMER: 21+ in select states. First online real money wager only. Bonus issued as nonwithdrawable free bets that expires in 14 days. Restrictions apply. See terms at sportsbook.fanduel.com. Gambling Problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER or visit FanDuel.com/RG (CO, IA, MD, MI, NJ, PA, IL, VA, WV), 1-800-NEXT-STEP or text NEXTSTEP to 53342 (AZ), 1-888-789-7777 or visit ccpg.org/chat (CT), 1-800-9-WITH-IT (IN), 1-800-522-4700 (WY, KS) or visit ksgamblinghelp.com (KS), 1-877-770-STOP (LA), 1-877-8-HOPENY or text HOPENY (467369) (NY), TN REDLINE 1-800-889-9789 (TN)

Cam Ward passed his final preseason test with flying colors. And we're going to break it all down on a live edition of Locked on Titans. 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 on today's show we are going to break down everything you need to know coming out of the Tennessee Titans final preseason game Against the Minnesota Vikings we're gonna talk about cam ward it started a little rough but I thought he passed the final test with flying colors We're also gonna talk about how some of these roster spots are starting to take focus Van Jefferson went nuts, but we got some clarity on the offensive line also on defense we're seeing things kind of to come into focus as well.

So before I get into everything you need to know from the Tennessee Titans final preseason game of the year, do want to thank you for making Locked on Titans your first listen each and every day. Remember, Monday through Friday, Tennessee Titans content all year round, always for free.

Make sure that you get subscribed. Stay subscribed. It's your team every day here on the Locked on Titans podcast. Speaking of every day, shout it to my everydayers out there. Tune in Monday through Friday. Couldn't do it without you guys.

If you aren't an everydayer, you need to be one. The season is literally two weeks away. I'm going to have you covered on all the conversations, all the news, all the film that you can handle here on the Locked on Titans podcast, so make sure that you get subscribed, stay subscribed. It's your team every day. With that being said, Cam Ward passed the final test, in my opinion, with flying colors. The, again, the statistics don't look, you know, mind blowing when you look at all these other rookie quarterbacks who are getting to play multiple quarters and things like that. Cam Ward's stats aren't going to look like that because he's being treated as a starting quarterback. but we got some points up on the board which is something that I was asking for when we talked about our preview episode I wanted to see the first team offense

put some points up on the board and they got a touch down there on that second drive Cam Ward goes 13 plays all the way down the field super long drive methodical love seeing that on the preseason overall 10 for 19 1445 yards

and again I know that the stat sheet doesn't look absolutely incredible, but what you wanted to see from Cam Ward, he gave you. No penalties for the offense why he was out there. I love that. Really love that. Really asked for that. A clean game to progress in that way. The Titans have had some penalties here and there.

Cam Ward has been out there in preseason. Now they're able to kind of put that past them be a much cleaner operation, improving as they should as the weeks go on. But you talk about Cam Ward individually. we get the great completion on the sideline to Van Jefferson, the 17-yard gain. And I know Van Jefferson had one a lot longer than that down the sideline. But with Cam Ward, he gets the completion of Van Jefferson on the sideline.

We get the side-on throw to Ellick I.O. Manor near the goal line that's almost a touchdown and sets up the touchdown on the very next play. So I feel like why the stats aren't gaudy for Cam Ward once again, you look at the preseason as a whole. And Cam Ward did everything that we wanted him to do, right? Think about from the moment Cam Ward has been drafted He's passed the test Cam Ward has checked every single box

That you want him to check at every single step of the way Whether it be the rookie minicamp Whether it be the offseason mandatory mini camp Voluntary program work Whether it be early training camp Whether it be in the joint practices Whether it be in the preseason game Has it all been great? No

Each individual moment has had its ups and downs but Cam Ward always responds. It reminds me of the old Dwayne Wade commercial, a knockdown seven times, stand up eight. That's Cam Ward. Cam Ward has responded every, if he had a bad day or a bad performance or a bad drive or there's a bad player, sometimes it's not even his own mistakes.

The Titans get a penalty and it's first and 20 or it's a third and long, you know, a wide receiver drops a pass and this and that. No matter what it is, Cam Ward has found a way to respond. every single way so that to me incredible

the leadership that we've seen that we've talked about incredible this goes back to why I have so much confidence in Cam Ward as I talked about earlier this week like my everydayers will remember like we've seen the all field leadership we've seen the on field intangibles

and again tonight we saw Cam Ward with touch throws we saw Cam Ward with arm angles we saw Cam Ward getting out of the pocket and escaping and doing playmaking stuff We have seen literally as every aspect of his game. And in the first game, two turnover worthy plays.

In the second game, none. In tonight's game, not even close. Not even a bad throwaway wide receiver screen. Not even that in tonight's game. Cam was so clean, looks so calm, cool, and collected. And the entire time, he's playing without Tony Pollard, without Calvin Ridley with three out of five

backup offensive lineman so it's not even like the Titans full starting offense with the important pieces were out there for Cam Ward and he was still so calm, so cool, so collected so poised under pressure and again I hate to do this I hate to

you know crap on Will Levis or whatever, but it's funny, and credit to Manuel Pearson. And the chatter just said exactly what I was about to say. The footwork for Cam Ward looks so different from Will Levis. Cam Ward poise in the pocket. When things get, and Cam Ward got sacked tonight for the first time in his Titans career, I never want to see it again. How dare you?

How dare you let Cam Ward get sacked? Despicable, all right? Never again. I never want to see that again. All right, that was enough for me. That was enough trauma for one lifetime to see Cam Ward go down. I don't want to see it ever again. All right, I'm done with it.

Never again, okay? But seriously, watching Cam Ward navigate in the pocket, and I will say one thing here, the Joe Burrow comparisons or whatever, they were both number one picks, the Titans, Callahan's connections with Cincinnati, all that. The Joe Burrow thing is obvious.

But if you have watched Joe Burrow really play football, he is a savant in the pocket. Joe Burrow is incredible in the pocket. Is Joe Burrow Josh Allen or Lamar Jackson or Jaden Daniels? You know, is he that? Jalen Hertz? No, he is not. Make no mistake about it.

But if you've seen Joe Burrow slither and navigate through the pockets, if you've watched Joe Burrow against the Titans, you know that he may not have Lamar and Josh Allen running ability, but he can absolutely slither around pockets and keep plays a lot. because he's got such great awareness and such great instincts and such great feel. That is what I think that we should expect and what I think that we're seeing from Cam Ward. Does he have the explosive running ability of a Lamar Jackson or Josh Allen?

No, he doesn't, okay? He's not that. But his ability to manipulate pockets, feel the space, keep his poise. While he's going through that, he's like, freaking going through Raiders of the Lost Ark like he's Indiana Jones and he's just no sweat about it, no problem

no big deal whatever I'm just out here playing and ain't that hard so I think after watching and maybe it's just the trauma of last season but after watching Will Levis be so happy feet in the pocket and be so rattled by any pressure

and just immediately like watching Will Levis say You know what I mean? Like it's the visual representation of that happening Just a total freak out Cam Ward is like the opposite of that He's like you know again I keep saying it He's the one because of his jersey number

But he's like Neo in the Matrix Like the code is streaming down And Cam Ward can see it all And he's like oh yeah And think this is just preseason action This is the first Imagine Cam Ward in year three How calm and poised and cool

he's gonna be under pressure you know, that's what I'm most excited about is just how calm and just how poise he looks like he belongs already. So it's against backups, but the Titans' offensive line is mostly backups and no Calvin Ridley, no Tony Pollard.

You know, again, at the end of the day for me, Cam Ward passed the test. I'm not concerned about him going into the season. I think he's going to be one of the best players on the team right away. Not only is he going to give the Titans a better chance to compete on Sundays, but folks, let's all just be real with each other for a moment.

No matter how many games this team wins this year. Boy, it's going to be a lot more fun to kick on the TV on Sundays and watch this football team. And isn't that really what the win is for us? Isn't that really what we need this year? We know the Titans aren't going to win the Super Bowl and stuff like that.

So just be entertaining, be fun. Don't be a clown show like you were last year all season. That's what we need. What I've seen from Cam Ward so far, I'm at least confident in Cam Ward that that'll be the case. They won't be a complete clown show and at least be fun to watch. And I hope that that's the case. But with that being said, there are some other players on the team that had a great game. Van Jefferson Revenge Game.

He said, shut your mouth. All you complainers out there and hey, we got to give credit where credit is due. Today's episode is presented by Yahoo Fantasy. It's the best time of the year and NFL kickoff is almost here that means fantasy football season is back in full swing and this year Yahoo Fantasy is turning things up

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and start playing Yahoo Fantasy football now at Yahoo!Fanasy.com slash locked on NFL. Titans fans. Let's continue today's edition of the Locked on Titans podcast. Breaking down everything that happened in the Tennessee Titans third preseason game of the year. We talked about Cam Ward and him passing the final test of the preseason. Now I want to go to the offensive side of the ball. talk about some of the guys that I thought stood out

and I think some of the roster spots we started to get a clearer picture of in this game. But anyways, Van Jefferson. Van Jefferson. Van Jefferson went insane in this game.

He had a couple of catches from Cam Ward. He caught that insane pass on the sideline, did a half spin, dipsy doodled, the way down showing speed to the end zone. It was an absolute fantastic day for Van Jefferson, and you got to feel good for the guy. You go last week, you have the big drop,

everybody's on your back, and then you come back in this game, and three catches 102 yards and a touchdown. Like, he had a good week of practice too. Van Jefferson really cemented himself this week as an important player on this football team, and I think that, you know, obviously the drop is unfortunate

and Van Jefferson is Van Jefferson just like there was overreaction to the drop last week there is going to be overreaction to the way that he played this week and be like oh wow Van Jefferson's better than I thought he know Van Jefferson's just another guy

he's just your average veteran wide receiver and you shouldn't get your hopes up too much that he's going to have some crazy breakout season or anything like that but we did see why Van Jefferson is on the team he's six foot two and look at the speed that he has

the Titans don't have a ton of speed on the team so not only having speed but size and speed that is absolutely critical for the Titans this year so Van Jefferson's gonna make this team he had a really good game it was good for him to kind of get the fan base off his back

a little bit but either way we know that Van Jefferson is going to make this roster and I doubt you know obviously if there's any trade or anything coming like that but hey, if you do want to trade for Van Jefferson, look at how good he played. So with that being said, though, staying on offense,

Elicio Manor is going to be a good player, man. He's getting better at sitting in the zones. He's catching with his hands. He's getting upfield. He's getting more comfortable. Him and Cam clearly have a connection. Like Cam and Iyo already have formed a ball. And you can see it every single game.

you see Cam going to Iowa non-stop so I just think if you really want to get hyped up right now you really want to get hype the connection between Cam and Iyo is what really should have you super excited three catches 25 yards on the day he's going to be somebody who helps

and again just like I talked about with Van Jefferson the Titans don't have a lot of size and speed guys so having six foot two Elicio Manor who also has some speed out there again, critical for the Tennessee Titans this year. They need those type of players as much as they can get them. So that was impressive. Two running back.

We got to start with Calell Mullings because Superman had an incredible run with the first team offense where you saw Corey Levin and Peter Skoronsky pulling out in front of him. I was so impressed with Mullings in this game and then he gets hurt on the opening kickoff at the second half. I saw somebody call it a foot injury.

I'm hoping that it's an ankle sprain. if it's a foot injury might be a broken foot he might be out for a long time so let's hope it's like a sprained ankle and he can come back in a month or something like that but if it's a broken foot

that's gonna be tough so let's hope it's not foot let's hope that it's ankle all right but with that being said I thought Mullings looked awesome Julius Chestnut the preseason all-star that he is looked awesome out there

Julius Chestnut once again doing his thing got the hurdle gets the touchdown on that fourth down Gunner Helm But anyway The problem is if Mullings is hurt That really muddies the water

At the running back spot And I think that Chestnut is somebody Who I think I'm gonna have Making the team Just because they trust him So much And if Mullings is hurt

It's no doubt about it there No doubt to do that But the question becomes If Mullings is hurt for a long time And the Titans are gonna put him on IR or something like that Do they just keep chestnut And say we got three running back?

but Tajay Spears is still banged up so how comfortable they are with his help they probably need to keep a fourth running back on the roster just in case Tasha isn't ready or gets banged up immediately right again or has a setback like you can't just have Chestnut and Pollard on the roster with Spears and then if Spears

isn't good to go now you're down to Pollard and Chestnut that's no good so let's hope Mulling's injury isn't that serious let's hope he's able to come back pretty quick but running back is going to be one of those spots I'm going to have my eye on over the weekend and we really need to get that that injury update but unfortunate to see Mullings running so well

and then have what could be a big injury. So let's hope that it's not. But moving to tight end, I just have a few things to say here. Chick-a-Cock-W just sucks at blocking. He's awful. There was a run where if he just made his block, they had a good play, he got beat one-on-one.

He just cannot line up and block defense events. You just can't ask him to do that. And meanwhile, Gunner Helm, who I just, you know, talked about, Gunner Helm is moving bodies on fourth down, getting guys out of the way. Gunner Helm's tight-in-one. I've been saying it since he was drafted. I'm sorry. It comes from multiple places.

It comes from belief and belief in Gunner Helm and also reality of what Chick-a-conquo is. He's not a tight-end one. He can't do traditional tight-end things. He's lost some weight and slimmed down and got more explosive this year, and I love that, but that's going to make him even worse of a blocker. So we know exactly what we need to know about the tight end group and it's Chicka Conquo and it's Gunner Helm and Gunnor Helm should be

tight end. I think the Titans are only going to end up keeping three tight ends. I'm not fully convinced Josh Wiley isn't that third tight end, although it's more interesting to say otherwise. I'm still trying to decide on my final 53 and that's what I'll be talking about on my first two episodes of next week. Sunday night and Monday night I'll come out with part one and part two of my 53 man roster predictions. Although, ton of spots are going to change after the Titans pick up people on waivers. but we'll have that as part of the discussion. But either way, either way.

The point is, I think that the Titans only have two good tight ends, and I'm not certain that any of the other three should be tied-in three if the Titans don't find a good player on waivers. I didn't see anybody stand out. On the offensive line, the phone is ringing, pick it up.

The Titans didn't have Lloyd Cushingberry, Kevin Zitler, or J.C. Latham. And guess who played? Corey Levin, Blake Hans, Ali Udo. There's your backup offensive lineman. Add in Jackson Slater, who's absolutely going to make the team as a rookie. Nine offensive linemen, there's your answer. I'll see you guys on Sunday night when I say those exact same names.

Not that I'm ending the show right here. We've got to talk about the defense, but I'm just telling you, we know our nine offensive linemen. We know. That's tonight, in my opinion, set it in stone. based on the starting lineup that came out there. So with that being said, that's the offensive side of the ball. Let's go to the defensive side of the ball

where both the young linebackers made plays and one of the interior defensive linemen really, really stood out and I think cemented his role on the roster. Today's episode is brought to you by better help. These days, it feels like there's advice for everything. Cold plunges, gratitude, journals, screen detoxes. But how do you know what actually works for you?

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your first month at BetterHelp.com slash locked on. That's BetterHelphelp.com slash locked on. Titans fans. Let's cap off today's edition of the Locked-on Titans podcast. We talked about Cam Ward passing the test. We talked about my takeaways from the offensive side of the ball, what we have learned roster-wise. Now I want to move to the defensive side of the ball

where again, both those young linebackers really stood out and there are some more certification, I would say, of roster spots on defense as well. Before we get into it, I do want to thank you again for making the Locked-on Titans your first listen each and every day. Make sure you get subscribed, stay subscribed. It's your team every day here on the Locked-on Titans podcast. We just had an insane incident at the Titans game.

I'm recording this during the end of the fourth quarter and something crazy just happened. If you know, you know. But anyways, defensive side of the ball. Cedric Gray, tackle for loss. all over the field, hitting people, all of that. Then James Williams gets the interception. Both of those guys have really performed pretty well. And I know that I feigned, fain isn't the right word.

I know that I had skepticism earlier this week about the linebacker group, but either way, no matter who's on the field with Cedric Gray and James Williams, I'm going to be excited to watch those young guys play. and I think both of them have shown that they're good enough that they deserve the opportunity to be a starter if they need to. So I'm very excited about those guys. Can't wait to watch them play. Over the next couple of weeks,

that might be one of the film breakdowns that I focus on before the season is just comparing those two guys during the preseason this year and what they've done so far but got to be excited about that. I don't know that they have a fourth linebacker though and I think that could be a waiver-wire discussion. But James Lynch, the Titans backup interior defensive lineman

James Lynch went crazy out there man he had a great game pressures got a couple of tackles he was all in the backfield on the interception by James Williams it was actually James Lynch who won on the rep got to the backfield

see this is a great example it's the preseason so we can have these conversations This is a great example of how the box score, the stats don't always tell the whole story because James Lynch got to the quarterback, hit the quarterback, the quarterback made a bad pass that floated up in the air, and James Williams intercepted it. If you looked at a traditional box score without pressures, you would never know James Lynch made that important of a play. He gets zero credit for it.

in the tackles, sacks, tackles for loss categories that are easily seen by the mass fan basis. Think about that. That's football right there. That is, your brother on the D-line makes a play that he'll get no credit for, except for with me, James Lynch, except for with me. And it looks like James Williams made an incredible play with an interception, you know? But the incredible play, that was an easy interception.

The incredible play was James Lynch winning on the rep, getting the quarterback hit and the quarterback pressure and causing the pass to go up in the air. That's team football right there. So I think James Lynch certified his roster spot as IDL4 in this game, but IDL5 still up in the air. I thought this was Femio Ladejo's best game.

Everybody loves to hate on Femi like he's not a project pick, but I thought he had a couple of pressures in this game. I thought this was easily his best game from a pass rush standpoint. So I don't understand where the hate is coming from. If you're mad, he's not further along than he is right now, then sure, be mad about that. But you can't say that he played bad in this game when I thought it was his best pass rush game so far.

But either way, I think Mike Brown at safety certified his spot as safety number five. And I think a big part of that is he is the personal protector on punt. Like he's a very important... We talked about this last week of why I thought it would be hard for Kendall Brooks to break through, even though Kendall Brooks has been playing good.

I think it's going to be hard for Kendall Brooks to break through when Mike Brown is that important on special teams. Finally, a couple of other things on special teams. Why is Mason Kenzie at Gunner on the starting punt return team? Mason Kinsey's not making the roster. Why aren't we trying out somebody who might make the roster or somebody who might actually do that for you on a game day? Why is Mason Kinsey being the starting gunner?

I don't, you know... I don't understand why that's happening. That doesn't make a lot of sense to me personally. But, but outside of that, some of the return stuff was shaky again, some of the coverage teams. There was a penalty for Minnesota that ruined a really good kick, but I'm not 100% excited about the special teams.

I will say this, though. Johnny Hecker punted the ball a lot better. Joey Sly hit a 63-yarder the longest kick in Tennessee Titans history and it could have been good from 70. And then Chim Dekay had a 37-yard kickoff return which I think Chim D-K in a perfect world

Chim D-D-K is the starting kick-returner and punt returner and then like your number four wide receiver for the next three or four years who could play Z for Calvin Redley or playing the slot as well. That's what I see Chim D-K's role. If he's wide receiver four who's versatile of a lot, enough to play a bunch of different positions on offense, can use a speed where you need

to to create matchups, but he's your number one punt returner and your number one kickoff guy. That is the best outcome possible for Chim DK. I think that would be a great, great team player for the Titans going forward. So, wanted to hit on the special teams a little bit there. But with that being said, that is going to do it for today's show. I'm going to do next week, start next week, my last and final 53 man roster prediction so make sure that you guys tune in for that that's gonna do it for me today folks as always I am your host

Tyler Rowland and this was Locked on Titans