Locked On Titans - Daily Podcast On The Tennessee Titans - Tennessee Titans Kicker DISASTER, Signing Michael Badgley, Kyle Philips' Replacements & Caleb Farley Tragedy

Starting point is 00:00:00 the Tennessee Titans did not take the kicker position seriously, and now they have a major disaster on their hands. We're going to break it all down 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.

Starting point is 00:00:40 Welcome to the Locked on Titans podcast. I am your host, Tyler Rowland, Titans fans. Today's edition of the Locked on Titans podcast is brought to you by LinkedIn Jobs. LinkedIn Jobs helps you find the qualified candidates you want to talk to faster. Post your job for free at linkedin.com slash locked on NFL. That's linkedin.com slash locked on NFL to post your job's LinkedIn.com slash LockedOnNFL to post your job for free. Terms and conditions do apply.

Starting point is 00:01:09 We got a lot to talk about on today's show, folks. One, the Titans have a disaster on their hands at the kicker position. They made two cuts to the young kickers. They brought in a new one. It did not go well at practice. I'm going to dive into all that. Also, we got to fully dive into the Kyle Phillips injury news, what that could mean going forward. Also, just more tragedy

Starting point is 00:01:31 for Caleb Farley. Going to talk about what happened with him on Monday night. Incredibly sad story, but something that we will dive into. Before we get into all of that, though, do want to thank you guys for making the Locked on Titans podcast your first listen each and every day. Remember, Monday through Friday, Tennessee Titans content all year round on all apps and always for free. Make sure that you get subscribed. Stay subscribed to the Locked on Titans podcast, part of the Locked on Podcast Network, where it's your team every day.

Starting point is 00:02:02 Speaking of every day, shout out to my everydayers out there. Tune in Monday through Friday. I got a lot of great content coming up for you later this week. We're going to be breaking down practice tomorrow. We're going to be doing a preview for the last preseason game on Thursday. And then I'll be back with you guys live on Friday night to break down everything that happened in that preseason game against the New England Patriots.

Starting point is 00:02:21 So throw a thumbs up on the video if you're watching right now. Definitely does support the channel. Show's always free. All I ask for in return is the press England Patriots. So, throw a thumbs up on the video. If you're watching right now, definitely does support the channel. Show's always free. All I ask for in return is the press of a button. But with that being said, let's talk about this kicker situation. So, on Tuesday morning, we got the news that the Titans were cutting both of their young kickers, Caleb Shudak and Trey Wolf. They're just cutting them both.

Starting point is 00:02:43 And signing Michael Badgley, the five-year veteran kicked with Chicago and Detroit last year. I mean, this was a bit of a surprise. Now, I had been talking about the kicker situation for the last few weeks. My everydayers will know and a couple of you

Starting point is 00:03:00 even reached out to me on Twitter at TicTacTitans earlier on Tuesday to kind of talk about what was going on, but the Titans tried to find a diamond in the rough. Basically, they wanted Caleb Shudak, they wanted Trey Wolf, one of these guys

Starting point is 00:03:15 to really step up and kind of find their own Ryan Stonehouse, but at kicker instead. And it didn't happen. And whether you want to blame the Titans or not is individually up to you but it's been my position for some time now that the Titans were playing with fire at the kicker position trying to find a diamond in a rough with two guys who have never played in a regular season NFL game ever they have never kicked a kick in an NFL regular season game.

Starting point is 00:03:46 This team is in win now mode. They're in win now mode. They cannot afford to do that. So now that we're super late in the process, they finally wake up and say, oh, both these young kickers are not getting the job done in preseason or

Starting point is 00:04:02 in camp. We're going to have to bring in a veteran. And they brought in Michael Badgley. Again, Badgley, the five-year veteran, kicked last year for Detroit and Chicago. He went 24 for 28 on his field goals, which isn't terrible. He's a career 81% guy.

Starting point is 00:04:20 He went 33 for 33 on his extra points. So that's solid, at least, at minimum. But more than anything, Badgley is a guy who's kicked in the NFL before. And that's important to get a veteran in and see what they can do. And that's all I've been asking for all along. Do I think that Michael Badgley, who again, 81% career kicker, 67% from 40 yards throughout his career, do I think Michael Badgley is a great kicker in the answer? No, I don't. But I'm just happy the Titans are finally looking for veterans who have kicked in NFL games before. This team is in win now mode. Derrick Henry is on the last year of his deal. Ryan Tannehill is on the last year of his deal. DeAndre Hopkins deal could very likely be a one year deal, whether it goes good or bad. You cannot afford

Starting point is 00:05:06 to play with fire with your kicker position right now. You couldn't afford to do it, and the Titans did that, and they dragged their feet, and because of it, they missed out on a lot better veteran kicker options. I mentioned these names a couple of weeks ago, or months ago. Honestly, look at Brett Maher. Everybody wants to clown him because of the extra points that he missed in the playoffs. That's great. But last year, he was 29 for 32 on field goals and made a 60-yarder.

Starting point is 00:05:34 He had nine makes of 50 yards or more. You know what kind of luxury that would be for the Titans to extend their range by 10 yards for what they can make field goal-wise? I mean, the Titans' kicker position has been so terrible for the last few years, even if Maher missed some extra points, would it really be any worse than what they've been dealing with? No.

Starting point is 00:05:57 And they get the benefit of a guy who has a strong enough leg to make 60-yard field goals? That could be huge for the Titans' offense that may struggle early on, or that may struggle the whole time. But no. Malheur goes to the Broncos in July. The Titans didn't want to get serious then. They wanted to still roll the dice on the young kickers, so they missed out on that.

Starting point is 00:06:17 You go back even to May. Brandon McManus, who has been one of the better kickers in the NFL for a long time now. Brandon McManus was 28 for 36 last year in Denver. That's not great, admittedly so. But he made a 55-yarder. He made eight kicks over 50 yards. And Craig Aukerman, the Titans special teams coach, said earlier this offseason that they want their kickers

Starting point is 00:06:40 to be reliable from 40-yard distances. Anything past 50 is a cherry on top, icing on the cake. Well, last year McManus was 10 for 10 from 40 yards, but you let him go to Jacksonville, your division rival. And what if we get to week 18 and one of these teams has to kick a field goal to beat the other one for the division title and they have McManus who makes a field goal and the Titans have cycled through a couple of kickers through the season and their guy misses it. Do you see how these decisions can affect?

Starting point is 00:07:10 The Titans were trying to roll the dice on the young kickers. They dragged their feet on being serious about it. And again, I don't think that Michael Badgley is some answer, but at least now you're bringing in veterans and now we get to Badgley. In practice, 7 for 10 in special teams. Missed three wide right, 33, 43, 48.

Starting point is 00:07:31 9 for 13 on the day. Missed one bad during a two-minute drill, 44 yards. They threw a penalty in practice, and he kicked it again from 33 yards and made it. So Mike Rabel even said after practice that they might still look at more veteran kickers. And if they do, we talked about some names. They could get Randy back in the building.

Starting point is 00:07:53 Robbie Gold is out there. Zane Gonzalez is out there. Rodrigo Blankenship, I think. Is that the right name? I think he just got cut by Tampa Bay or Indianapolis, one of the two. Other teams' rosters, there's 90 guys. Can only focus on the Titans, 90 at a time. But either way, there are some kickers out there that the Titans could bring in.

Starting point is 00:08:14 They're going to try Badgley for now. It's funny, Badgley kicked with the Titans in the first game of the season in 2021, missed a field goal, missed an extra point, and they cut him. So let's see how this one goes on Friday night. Anyways, we're going to move right along here. We're going to talk about the Kyle Phillips injury news. Looks like it's an MCL injury for Kyle Phillips. Mentioned that at the end of the show last night.

Starting point is 00:08:35 We want to dive a little bit further into that, what it can mean for the roster, and also give you guys an update on the injuries at Titans practice on Tuesday. So, we're going to get into all of that in just a moment. Before we do, I do want to let you guys know that today's episode is brought to you by Bird Dogs. Look, Bird Dogs are my favorite shorts. They have great joggers too.

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Starting point is 00:10:23 Titans fans, let's continue today's edition of the Locked on Titans podcast. We talked about the Titans' current situation at kicker, which is pretty much a disaster. Now we got to talk about the Kyle Phillips injury situation, which I wouldn't quite call a disaster, but definitely a struggle for the Titans to get through with Kyle Phillips now banged up again. Before we get into it, do want to thank you guys again for making the Locked on Titans podcast your first listen each and every day, Monday through Friday, Tennessee Titans content all year round on all apps, always for free.

Starting point is 00:10:54 Make sure you get subscribed. Stay subscribed. It's your team every day. But get into this Kyle Phillips news. The news popped up yesterday when I was finishing the show. Kyle Phillips, according to Paul Kaharski, has an MCL injury. And seeing a timeline of like two to six weeks on that, not certain if that timeline is official. Kind of just seeing it whispered about. It's not something that I think has been officially reported by the team yet at all.

Starting point is 00:11:20 But we saw him take that one punt return and get hurt again. And it's frustrating. And like I said yesterday, I don't even think that you can necessarily blame Kyle. I think that Kyle Phillips has probably done everything that he possibly can to stay healthy. But something that I said yesterday that is a reality, some people's bodies are just not built for professional football.

Starting point is 00:11:42 They can work as hard as they possibly can. They can cut zero corners. They can do diet, nutrition, fitness, everything. They can hire the right people, do the right things, and their body's just not going to respond correctly. It's just what it is. You know what I mean? That is something that we at least have to consider here

Starting point is 00:12:00 when we talk about players and their injuries. It's not like every guy out there isn't doing enough. Just some guys' bodies are not going to cooperate because it's an incredibly violent game, you know? And that may be the situation with Kyle. I hope that Phillips can come because the Titans certainly do need a pure slot player like Kyle Phillips. They need a guy like Kyle Phillips on the roster. Make no mistake. I may not have been the biggest Kyle Phillips supporter of all time. I know a lot of you interact with me on Twitter at Tic Tac Titans and think that I hate the guy. I really don't. The Titans need a player like that, but it's just the realities of a very small guy playing football with a lot of very big guys who are just as fast, if not faster than him. It's

Starting point is 00:12:43 just tough to do, especially if your body just refuses to respond. So Phillips is going to be out for a while with the MCL. I would imagine the Titans are going to be very, very cautious with Kyle since he, you know, multiplied injuries last year. They kept him out for most of the season. So in the time being, what do the Titans do? Well, if you think about it, we're, I'm recording this on Tuesday. Most of you guys, well, some of you guys will listen to this on Wednesday. So we're a week or maybe six

Starting point is 00:13:12 days away from cut down day. Again, depending on when you're listening to this. And Kyle Phillips is not going to be healthy by then. Okay? And with a timeline of two, six, eight weeks somewhere in between there, there's a

Starting point is 00:13:28 chance that Kyle isn't ready for the first month of the regular season at this point. We're basically, what, 19, 18 days away from the regular season kicking off for the Titans. Two weeks from Sunday. I think there's a

Starting point is 00:13:44 chance the Titans could wait until official rosters are set and then put Kyle Phillips on IR so that they can keep a roster spot open and not have to carry him throughout the entire injury. I think that's a possibility. They could just carry him and carry, but if they do carry Kyle Phillips

Starting point is 00:13:59 and don't put him on IR once the season begins, which means he could come back from, if you get put on IR during the preseason, you're out for the year. So, well, unless you do an injury settlement, we saw that happen with Kyle Pecco in 2021, but that's conversation for another day. The point is, I don't think Kyle Phillips is going to be ready for the regular season no matter what, and the Titans will need another player with that skill set, and that's why I think Mason Kinsey needs to be on the roster. Give

Starting point is 00:14:25 the man a shot. Give the man a shot. He has for multiple preseasons been the Titans' leading receiver. He is a guy who plays on punt return. He can kick return. He is going to give you, he may not have the quickness of Kyle Phillips and the

Starting point is 00:14:41 shiftiness of Kyle Phillips. He may not be as good of a player as Kyle Phillips. That seems fair to say. But he's more reliable. And he's worked hard. And the Titans made him the emergency quarterback for the game on Saturday. So Mike Vrabel clearly trusts him. And Mike Vrabel said after practice that Mason is a guy who just keeps getting back in there.

Starting point is 00:15:03 He's just, just keeps getting, he gets hit, he gets hurt, he gets this, he gets that. Somebody replaces him, he doesn't make the team, he just keeps getting back in there. Just keeps standing up and getting in the ring and fighting. And I think Mike Vrabel is going to reward that, and I think he should. Now, if it's not Mason Kinsey,

Starting point is 00:15:20 to me, Kiaris Jackson is the only other option on the roster. He is a guy who plays in the slot. Similarly, can give you returnability. Similarly, will play on special teams coverage units if he has to. All that, he's a willing guy. So I think if Kiaris Jackson is healthy, then the Titans would keep him. But Jackson didn't practice on Tuesday, and his knee injury did not look good on Saturday night.

Starting point is 00:15:43 So who knows if he's going to be ready to play. If he is, then he could take the spot, but it's Kinsey or it's Jackson for me. And if it's not them, it's somebody on a different team entirely. So that's where I'm at with that. Hopefully Kyle Phillips gets back soon. But again, some people's bodies just aren't made for the NFL. I mean, mine wasn't, so, you know, can't hate on that. But anyways, moving right along, do want to talk about some of the general injury updates from practice. Elijah Molden back at practice.

Starting point is 00:16:15 Very important. Also, shout out to Terry McCormick, who reported that Naquan Jones had his knee scoped earlier in training camp. That's why he's missed a few weeks of practice, but he was back out at practice on Tuesday. Colton Dowell was back out, who didn't play against Minnesota, is back out at practice as well.

Starting point is 00:16:33 Still no Will Levis, although he said afterwards he hopes to play on Friday and that his injury is not that serious. Hassan Haskins, still not out there. Jonathan Ward, still not out there. Montyins, still not out there. Jonathan Ward, still not out there. Monty Rice, still not out there. And I guess after getting injured in the game on Saturday, Kyle Pecco, not out there at practice. Kiaris Jackson, like I said, didn't practice. And then Chigakonkwo left practice early, attending to his right leg, was trying to stretch it out.

Starting point is 00:17:04 Let's hope it was just a cramp and the Titans didn't want to mess with it with the rest of practice because he left practice early and then didn't come back. So we'll keep an eye on that. But the injury bug, we'll never leave the Titans alone. But with that being said, do want to move forward. It's a sad story. It's not something that I enjoy talking about,

Starting point is 00:17:21 but we're going to talk a little bit about the Caleb Farley situation and what's going on with him right now. Definitely sad news, but big news for sure. Before we get into it, I do want to let you guys know that today's episode is brought to you by LinkedIn Jobs. These days, every new potential hire can feel like a high-stakes wager for your small business. You want to be 100% certain that you have access to the best qualified candidates available. That's why you have to check out LinkedIn Jobs.

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Starting point is 00:18:40 Terms and conditions apply. Titans fans, we are going to cap off today's edition of the Locked on Titans podcast. We talked about the kicker disaster that the Titans have on their hands. We went over the Kyle Phillips injury news and kind of the fallout of that. Now, I do want to talk a little bit about the Caleb Farley situation and the tragic story that's going on with him. Right now, it's kind of one of the biggest things in Titans news from Tuesday. So, although it is sad to talk about something that I definitely do need to dive into, before we get into that, though, thank you guys again for making the Locked on Titans podcast your first listen each and every day. Remember, Monday through Friday, Tennessee Titans content

Starting point is 00:19:33 all year round, always for free. Make sure that you get subscribed, stay subscribed to the Locked on Titans podcast where it's your team every day. Before we do dive into the Caleb Farley stuff, We're a chore team every day. Before we do dive into the Caleb Farley stuff, missed a note in the Kyle Phillips segment that I wanted to throw in. DeAndre Hopkins was electric at Tuesday's practice. Seven catches, according to Jim Wyatt from TennesseeTitans.com. Had a 50-yard touchdown catch from Ryan Tannehill as well. Hopkins looked great.

Starting point is 00:20:03 Now, of course, Phillips is hurt. Burks is out. Chica Conquo left early. The Titans simply can't have pass catchers outside of DeAndre Hopkins, but Hopkins is doing good. So that's great. But with that being said,

Starting point is 00:20:17 do have to make, you know, a sad pivot here. So I know a lot of you guys probably saw this. Maybe some of you didn't, and that's what I'm here for So I know a lot of you guys probably saw this. Maybe some of you didn't and that's what I'm here for I guess. But Caleb Farley dealt with another tragic event on Monday evening Tuesday morning

Starting point is 00:20:33 overnight we'll call it. His house in North Carolina which is where his family stays exploded. I don't know how else to say it. It literally exploded. So far, I haven't seen reasoning behind it.

Starting point is 00:20:50 To be honest with you, I'm not really somebody who cares. What I'm more focused on is the damage done to the human beings involved. You know, the story can only get sadder the more you find out, you know, stuff like whether gas leak or whatever, you know, the story can only get sadder the more you find out, you know, stuff like whether gas leak or whatever, you know, I don't even want to speculate. That's irresponsible. So, his house exploded and unfortunately his father died

Starting point is 00:21:16 in the incident. And I know that some of you guys and we saw some really nasty reactions online when this happened. Really sad stuff, honestly. A lot of the times, the reaction that you get to sad news often makes me just as sad, if not more sad, than the news itself

Starting point is 00:21:36 because of just the lack of humanity nowadays with the internet. But that's, you know, old man screaming out of cloud stuff. But yeah, so Farley's house exploded. His dad passed away in the incident. Afterwards, Mike Frabel talked about it. Henry talked about it. Landry talked about it. They all just said all you really can say that, you know,

Starting point is 00:21:59 they love the kid and they want to give him all the support that they possibly can, the entire organization. kid and they want to give them all the support that they possibly can the entire organization um and I guess for me I this is like one of those moments where I just want to remind everybody that these guys are human beings and a lot of the comments that I see a cut this piece of crap you know dude's useless blah blah blah blah stuff like. Maybe it's right from a football sense. But, like, I guess sometimes I just think about what Caleb Farley sees if he gets online about himself, you know what I mean, when he's trying. And, you know, I've talked about this before on the show,

Starting point is 00:22:41 but think about everything that Farley's gone through, the back injury, the ACL injury. on the show, but think about everything that Farley's gone through. The back injury, the ACL injury, both of them happening twice once he got to the NFL again, too. At this point, I mean, the odds of him becoming a successful NFL player are so low that I think it's fair to say, like, you can see his dreams slipping away from him here. Like the dream that he's worked for his entire life and hope for his entire life is just slipping away in front of him because his body is constantly breaking down. So it's not only

Starting point is 00:23:14 that you have injuries. I snapped my femur one time in a car accident and I'm telling you life was miserable. So imagine having a back injury just in your life, you guys, not even the fact that you're a professional athlete, just having a back injury, having a torn ACL, having them happen to you twice in a span of five years, six years, you know? And then all the while, those injuries are a sign that you're probably never going to get to live your dream the way that you thought you were going to. And then you add all of that to his mom dies from cancer a couple years ago, which luckily I still have my mother, but not everyone does. One of my best friends lost their mom to cancer.

Starting point is 00:24:00 And, you know, there's nothing you can say to, to help with that pain. There's no amount of money you can pay me to make me not feel sad about my mom passing away or not need my mom, especially in these times when everyone is being so hateful towards Caleb Farley. Everywhere you look, that's the time when you need your mother and he doesn't have. that's the time when you need your mother, and it doesn't happen. Now, you're telling me that his house explodes and his dad dies during the toughest time in his professional career?

Starting point is 00:24:35 You know? And I mean, this seems insignificant. Like I said, I'm more concerned about the lives, but like in this process, he lost his $2 million home that had all his belongings in it. I mean, I've had a friend of mine whose house burnt down, his childhood home burnt down, everything gone. Like that in itself. And your dad died too after you lost your mom in tragedy. Like I know that everything I'm saying doesn't really have like an ending. There's not like a final point to jump off of.

Starting point is 00:25:06 But, I mean, Caleb Farley is 24 years old. He's lost his mother to cancer. His dad tragically dies as his house explodes. The injuries, I mean, and then the reaction to it and the way people talk about him still with the news. Like, I don't know. I guess I just wanted to take a quick moment here and just remind you guys of the humanity here. I try to remind myself, too.

Starting point is 00:25:34 I know that, you know, I'm overly critical of these guys and stuff like that all the time, too. So I'm guilty as well. But I had a really tough time today figuring, figuring like I had to write about this for my job for Sports Illustrated. And, um, I don't know, not everyone has their parents. So if you do, and you're listening to this right now, I know not everybody's always on good terms with their parents and I have my falling outs with my parents too. It's just the way that it is. But if you got them, call them. Tell them you love them. Because Caleb Farley can't.

Starting point is 00:26:08 And it's really sad. It's really sad. But I'm going to get emotional again. It's been a tough day dealing with that. There's a tragedy in my local area today too. So it's just been one of those days. You know, tell people you love them. But with that being said, I think it's time.

Starting point is 00:26:24 That's going to do it for me. I'm going to be back tomorrow, though. The Titans have practice once again. I'm going to be here to break it all down and then the preview after that. But as always, I am your host, Tyler Rowland. Out of time in the outro. And this is Locked on Titans.

Locked On Titans - Daily Podcast On The Tennessee Titans - Tennessee Titans Kicker DISASTER, Signing Michael Badgley, Kyle Philips' Replacements & Caleb Farley Tragedy

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