Locked On Titans - Daily Podcast On The Tennessee Titans - Tennessee Titans Mike Vrabel Talks Coaching Changes, Replacing Taylor Lewan & Titanic Test Ahead

Episode Date: September 21, 2022

The fallout from the Tennessee Titans embarrassing loss to the Buffalo Bills continues as Mike Vrabel spoke on potential coaching changes on Tuesday. What did Vrabel say and what do his comments mean? Tyler dives in. Next, with a major injury to Taylor Lewan expected, what should the Titans plan be at left tackle going forward this season? Finally, Tyler looks at the next five weeks of games for the Titans and explains exactly what they need to do to turn the season around!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!NugenixNow get a complimentary bottle of Nugenix Total T when you text NFLto 231-231.Text now and get a bottle of Nugenix Thermo, their most powerful fat incinerator ever, with key ingredients to help you get back into shape fast.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!BriteCoThe guys at BriteCo Jewelry Insurance made buying insurance for your engagement ring, your watch, or whatever so easy you can get covered in 2 minutes on your cell phone. You won't find a better deal on coverage that's so affordable. Go to https://brite.co/lockedonPrizePicksFirst time users can receive a 100% instant deposit match up to $100 with promo code LOCKEDON. That’s PrizePicks.com – promo code; LOCKEDONTuroDitch boring rental cars and find your drive at Turo.com 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 Rabel was finally asked the question, will you fire Todd Downing? We are going to go over his response. Also, two major injuries from Monday night, Bud Dupree and Taylor LeJuan. What's the latest update and where do the Titans go at those two spots from here? And then finally, I'll give you guys a little bit of hopium as I go over the Tennessee Titans' next five games.

I'll tell you what they could do and what they need to do to turn this season around. All of that and more on today's edition of the Locked on Titans podcast. Let's get it! 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 fallout continues after the Tennessee Titans' embarrassing 41-7 loss against the Buffalo Bills on Monday Night Football. Mike Rabel was point-bl blank asked about firing Todd Downing. What did he have to say? I'm going to go over his comments to start today's show. Before we get into that, do want to let you guys know that today's episode of the Locked on Titans podcast is brought to you by LinkedIn.

LinkedIn Jobs helps you find candidates you want to talk to faster. Post your job for free at linkedin.com slash locked on NFL. Also want to thank you guys for making the Locked on Titans podcast your first listen every day. If this is your first ever listen, make sure you subscribe on whatever platform you do stream. I am going to be putting out daily, Monday through Friday, Tennessee Titans content for free all year round. And again, on all platforms, including the Locked on Titans YouTube channel, subscribe there, smash the notification bell, and throw a thumbs up on the video right now

if you think the Titans are going to bounce back and beat the Raiders. But we got to get into this comment because, like I said, Mike Frable was asked, point blank period, are you going to fire Todd Downing? Are you going to make changes to your coaching staff? And this should be no shock to anybody, but Mike Frabel said they are not looking at making any coaching changes right now. Here's the exact quote.

Quote, we're just not going to do that. That's something that's not going to happen right now. I have had confidence in our staff and confidence in the guys that we put out there. I appreciate everybody's opinion, end quote. I think that last line there, I appreciate everybody's opinion. It is pretty funny, but the reality is, guys, remember what I just said last week on the mailbag show. Todd Downing is not going to be fired during the season. If anything, if anything, the Titans would do what I outlined last Friday.

They would demote him without announcing it publicly. That's what would happen. They would demote him down to just an offensive assistant, and they would install Tim Kelly as the play caller. They would not tell us publicly that they did that. That's just not Mike Vrabel's style. You're not going to see Todd Downing fired probably until the end of the season if that happens. What really matters is does Mike Vrabel make the switch in-house? Now, it may be unsatisfying,

again, because we're not going to know that. But I think that is the change that we have to hope for, even if it means that we won't know it. Because firing Todd Downing right now, it's just not going to happen. Mike Vrabel does not operate like that. So we have to hope that behind closed doors, Mike Vrabel makes that change. Also, I do want to talk about an interesting theory here.

My boy Will Lomas from Titan Sized had a theory that Tim Kelly is the one scripting the opening drives. So, last year, the Titans scored, I think, 17 points total in 18

games on the opening drive. They were absolutely abysmal on the opening drive. The opening script that the play caller scripts out during the week that should work the best, that should be attacking the defense's tendencies the best before you have to start making adjustments. The Titans were god awful at that last year. Now, you jump forward to this year, the only two touchdowns that the Titans can score on their opening drives, and then they can't score again the rest of the game?

What, Todd Downing all of a sudden turned into a good play scripter? So Will's theory is that Tim Kelly is the one who is scripting the opening drive. Tim Kelly is the guy who has a major influence on that. And then once the game starts to progress and you start to get into adjustment time, that's when the real offensive coordinator, Todd Downing, is the one making, let's say, the lack of adjustments that the Titans need. I think that that theory is incredibly self-serving, if we're honest with ourselves. Not self-serving to Will, but self-serving to all Titans fans.

Hey, the guy that we like is responsible for the touchdowns. The guy we don't like is responsible for everything else. Look, at the end of the day, if Tim Kelly is involved in the game planning leading up to the game, then Tim Kelly is involved in the conversations about adjustments too, right? It's just about whether or not he has the power and the authority to make what he believes what happens. That we can't know.

So I'm just saying there's a lot we can't know. But what we do know is, we know the Titans need to make a drastic change on offense. We know that the easiest thing to do there is change up the play calling, and we all just have to hope that whether we find out about it or not, Mike Vrabel does make the change and gives the play calling responsibilities

to Tim Kelly. I think with the camera work, we're going to be able to find that out if that change happens, but no, it's not going to be announced publicly. It would take somebody to notice that it looks like Tim Kelly is calling the plays during the game and then to ask about it after the game and see if you can maybe get some honesty out of Mike Rabel. But either way,

Mike Rabel gives us an answer that we don't want to hear, but I got to tell you, I didn't expect to hear anything else. We'll probably never know for certain if those play calling duties are switched until we see some kind of evidence of that during the games that the Titans aren't going to announce publicly. So not what you want to hear, but that doesn't mean that you should give up hope that a change could be coming. But moving forward, we need to talk about Taylor LeJuan's injury and Bud Dupree's injury.

What's the latest update on those guys? And based on one of the updates that we got, we have to start looking at what the future of the position looks like for the Titans for the near term and the long term. And then at the end of the show, a little bit of hope for you guys as I go over the Titans' next five games, what they should and what they could do to turn the season around. Before we get into the rest of today's show, though,

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Terms and conditions do apply. Titans fans let's continue today's show dealing with the fallout the aftermath of that embarrassing Tennessee Titans loss to the Buffalo Bills Mikerabel was point blank asked about Todd Downing. We just talked about his answer and why it's not what you want to hear, but it doesn't mean to give up hope. And now we need to move forward to more aftermath. And that's two major injuries to the Titans. Highest paid players, two of them. Absolutely.

Taylor LeJuan at left tackle and Bud Dupree at edge rusher before we get into it do want to thank you guys again for making the locked on Titans podcast your first listen every day remember I am putting out Monday through Friday free Tennessee Titans content on all platforms including the locked on Titans YouTube channel make sure you

subscribe and never miss an episode remember here on the locked on Titans podcast it's your team every day. But moving forward, let's talk about Bud Dupree first. Mike Drable gave an update in his press conference on Bud Dupree's injury. It was a hip injury, pulled him out of the game in the second half.

He was questionable to return. Didn't take any more snaps. Now, the reality is the Titans pulled out a bunch of starters and they didn't let him play with about four or five minutes left in the third quarter because the game was completely out of hand. That's how embarrassing it got. But Mike Vrabel did say in his press conference

on Tuesday that Bud Dupree's injury isn't expected to be serious. It isn't expected to be long-term. It's a hip injury. That makes you a little worried because that's a sensitive part of the body that doesn't seem to just heal overnight. But Mike Vrabel's saying that it's not something that's a sensitive part of the body that doesn't seem to just heal overnight. But Mike Grable saying that it's not something that's supposed to be

a long-term issue, that's good news. But just the fact that Bud Dupree is banged up again, geez, I don't got to go into my thoughts on Bud Dupree anymore. You guys know exactly how I feel about his contract, how long he's going to be with this team, his impact, all that. Another conversation for another day or a conversation that's been had plenty of times before. But what we need to get into is Taylor LeJuan's injury.

Because when Mike Vrabel did his press conference, he said he didn't have an update on Taylor LeJuan. More information. They're going to need more information. Another update coming later. And that doesn't sound good. In my opinion, that doesn't sound good. Now, I don't think I'm not a doctor.

I say that all the time on the show. I'm not a doctor. But I don't think that Taylor LeJuan like tore his ACL or something major like that. But it could be a knee sprain. Obviously, with his past injury history, they're going to be very cautious with that. I think there are a few realities, both short-term and long-term, that we need to face.

Number one, what are the Titans going to do at left tackle right now? Has Dennis Daly played there? Dennis Daly had like a 14 pass blocking grade per pro football focus. NPF had a terrible pass blocking grade per pro football focus as well. Close, like 17 or something. They were both sub 20.

So not good. Not good. What can the Titans do here? Well, I hate to be the bearer of bad news, guys, but there is no move that the Titans can make that's going to fix this problem. No one's trading a stud left tackle in the middle of the season right now. There's no guy on the practice squad or nobody that the Titans can call up or no free agent that the Titans can sign at left tackle right now

that is going to be a significant upgrade over Dennis Daly. But here is what I come to say. Do not, do not move NPF over to left tackle. Do not do that. Okay? I think the NPF is the right tackle of the future and the Titans need to worry about left tackle and free agency next year or hell, if they have a high enough draft pick, Paris Johnson out of Ohio State, Skowronski, I think is the dude's name, out of Northwestern, there are going to be plenty of left tackles

available to the Titans in the top 10 if that's where they end up. If not, then like I said, I think free agency is the move. But, either way, you don't move NPF to left tackle right now. Who are you putting at right tackle?

Dennis Daly? Well, Daly is a left side player. He's talked about it himself. He's a left side player. He's going to be worse at right tackle than left tackle. Dylan Radins? Dylan Radins is a left side player. Dylan Radins is a left tackle not a right tackle or a left guard not a right guard. He has talked about it enough. So either way I want MPF to be the right tackle

on this football team for a decade don't move him to left tackle plus your other backup options Radins and Daly are better on the left side do not put MPF at left tackle let him play right now the conversation from that point trickles down to

Dennis Daly or Dylan Radins. I just don't have any logical reason for playing Dennis Daly over Dylan Radins. Dennis Daly is not good. He's a sieve. The Titans are not going to be able to operate offense while he's at left tackle. Dylan Radins, probably not good.

He's a sieve in pass protection. Titans are probably going to have a hard time operating offense while he's at left tackle. Well, if both the results are going to be the same, at least go with the upside play. There is a chance, a small chance, a small chance I know, but the odds of Dylan Radins turning into a decent tackle versus Dennis Daly turning into a decent tackle are incredibly slanted towards Radins turning into a decent tackle versus Dennis Daly turning into a decent tackle

are incredibly slanted towards Radins. There's still juice within that squeeze. Go with Radins at left tackle. Do not play around and act like Dennis Daly is some sort of huge upgrade over Radins, because he's not. And at minimum, the Titans can try to get some juice out of upgrade over Radins. Because he's not. And at minimum, the Titans can try to get some juice

out of their second round squeeze by playing Radins at left tackle, the position that got him drafted in the second round in the first place. The position where he played his best football ever against San Francisco last year. Just let Radins play left tackle and let's see what happens.

What's the worst that can happen? You got to put Dennis Daly back in there. And then what? It's just the same nonsense. So the upside of letting Radins try it left tackle is just way higher than letting Dennis Daly play there. So with a week to prepare or a little less than a week, of course, but with a practice week ahead,

I'd like to see Dylan Radins get those left tackle snaps because we know Dennis Daly ain't it. And Dylan Radins may not be either, but the odds that there's something more in Radins versus the odds there's something more in Daly, definitely higher odds that they can get something out of Dylan Radins. So might as well do that if LeJuan is going to go on IR, which... I don't know. I kind of think he might at this point, but we'll wait and see what they have to say on Wednesday afternoon. But either way, we're going to move this show

forward. We got to look at the Titans next five games because I think there's a chance. I think there's a chance. You're telling me there's a chance that they can turn this thing around. Before we get into that, I do want to tell you guys about BetOnline. BetOnline is your number one source for all your pro and college football betting needs and sports info this season. You can find all the latest football league developments, game matchups, news, including everything about this year's early season slate. BetOnline is your continued source for your sporting wagering information.

They have live betting, esports, and much more. Head to their website today or use your mobile device to learn more about all the trends and all the action. BetOnline, where the game starts. Titans fans, let's cap off today's edition of the Locked on Titans podcast. We talked about Mike Vrabel's answer to firing Todd Downing, being asked about it. We talked about what the Titans can do at left tackle going forward.

And now I want to talk about the Titans' next five games. I'm going to sell you guys a little hopium, all right? So let's see what happens here. It's ugly. The Titans are 0-2. We feel like they're the worst team in the league, maybe. We feel like they might get a top-five pick. Blase, blase.

These may be overreactions. I think the Titans still go 9-8. I think the Titans still win their division. Do I think they do anything more than that? No. But that's a lot better team than a top five pick. And quite honestly, some of you guys may be in my comments saying if we're just going to go 9-8 and lose the first round of the playoffs,

I'd rather get a top five pick. That's quite the conversation to have, and maybe we'll have that conversation on our Friday Night Live show this week. But it's still my opinion that the Titans can turn this thing around. If they can go 9-8, they can win the AFC South. How can they do that? What must happen for them to do that? Well, we got to look at the next five games.

Because I think, I think that this is what the Titans need to do to turn things around. Next game at home against the Raiders. Raiders are also 0-2. Then, Titans play at Indy against the Colts.

Colts are down bad currently. And if the Titans can't beat the Colts with the way the Colts look, then we will know that it's over. Then the Washington Commanders. I think the Commanders are 1-1 right now, right? They lost their opening week game. No, they won their opening week game

because Carson Wentz went nuts and they lost last week. The Commanders, then the Colts again, and then after that we have the Texans. So that's three division games and five winnable games with teams that aren't a lot better than the Titans. Even this crappy version of the Titans

that we all see right now and think is what the Titans are. The Titans could still beat all these teams with being what we think they are right now. So what do they need to do in these games to turn it around? 4-1. 4-1. They can lose one of these games. Honestly, I don't think that they can lose

either of the games to the... I don't think they can lose any of the division games. They have to beat the Colts twice. They have to beat the Texans. They may lose a game to Jacksonville this year. We have to take that into account. We have to. Jacksonville is an improved team,

and the Titans are a lot worse. So, I think if the Titans split with the Jags, but they can sweep the Colts and the Texans, they still have a great chance to win the division. And if they're 9-8, they're probably going to be right around Jacksonville, and tiebreakers are going to be huge. So, I think the Titans have to win both their games against the Colts and their game against the Texans.

They can lose one game to the Raiders or the Commanders. I think the Titans will lose this game to the Raiders and then rip off four straight. They'll be four and three going into their tough test. Chiefs, Broncos, Packers, Bengals, Eagles. I think they need to go two and three in that stretch. And then they have Jags, Chargers, Texans, Cowboys, Jags. I think they go three and two in that stretch. So if the Titans go 4-1 in the next

five, 2-3 in the five after that, 3-2 in the five after that, they'll be 9-8, and I think they win the division. But it all starts with this next five games. The Titans have to go 4-1. They can afford to lose one. If they can find a way to win against the Raiders, that would be huge. That would be monstrous to turn this season around.

Because what I worry about with the Raiders and why I'm going to pick the Titans to lose to the Raiders is everything that the Raiders have as a strength is a major weakness for the Titans. What's the best part about the Raiders? Their pass rushers. Chandler Jones, Max C the Titans. What's the best part about the Raiders? Their pass rushers. Chandler Jones, Max Crosby. What's the worst part about the Titans right now? Probably the offensive line.

What's the second best part about the Raiders? Their pass catchers. Darren Waller, Devontae Adams, Hunter Renfro. What's the Titans' worst thing on defense right now? The secondary. But all the injuries. Christian Fulton didn't practice on Wednesday, or on Tuesday. So, it's going to be tough.

And I'm asking a lot. And by God, the Titans will probably go 2-3 in this stretch and then 4-1 in the tough one. I mean, look though. Chiefs, Broncos, Packers, Bengals, Eagles. What we think this Tennessee Titans group is doing in that run. Last year we said that and they won every single game.

Chiefs. Rams. Colts. I mean, you name it. The tough stretch last year, the Titans were able to breeze through it and win every game. I don't think they're doing that this year. which means this stretch, Raiders, Colts, Commanders, Colts, Texans, Titans have to go 4-1 and get things back on track. I think they can. I think they can.

What do you guys think? Let me know down in the comments. That's going to do it for me today, though, folks. I'll be back with you guys tomorrow for Crossover Thursday with your boy Q from Locked on Raiders. I am your host, Tyler Rowland, and this was Locked on Titans.