Locked On Titans - Daily Podcast On The Tennessee Titans - Tennessee Titans Mini-Camp Recap: Rookie Standout, Attendance & Return Man Battle

Episode Date: June 14, 2022

The Tennessee Titans kicked off their first mandatory activities of the 2022 offseason on Tuesday! Here is your recap of EVERYTHING that you need to know! First, who were the standouts of the day and which rookie continues to impress!! Next, with veterans set to return, was everyone at practice? Tyler goes over the attendance and injury update. Finally, we got an interesting comment from Titans special teams coach Craig Aukerman on Tuesday about the return duties. Tyler dives in to how it could impact the roster!Follow Tyler on Twitter @TicTacTitansFollow the show on Facebook @LockedOnTitansPodSubscribe to the Locked On Titans YouTube channel:https://www.youtube.com/c/LockedOnTitansSupport Us By Supporting Our Sponsors!Built BarBuilt Bar is a protein bar that tastes like a candy bar. Go to builtbar.com and use promo code “LOCKED15,” 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!Rock AutoAmazing selection. Reliably low prices. All the parts your car will ever need. Visit RockAuto.com and tell them Locked On sent you.Blue NileMake your moment sparkle with jewelry from Bluenile.com, and LOCKED ON SPORTS listeners get $50 off purchases of $500 or more using code LOCKEDON. 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, on today's show we are recapping the first practice of the Tennessee Titans veteran mandatory minicamp. We got standouts to talk about and one Tennessee Titans rookie continues to impress. I'll tell you who that was and who else made an impact on Tuesday. Then we do have to talk about the attendance with all the veterans set to come back for this activity, who actually showed up, who was injured, who was in the yellow non-contact

jerseys, all that I'm going to discuss with you guys so you're as up-to-date as possible. And then finally, we got an interesting comment from Titans special teams coach Craig Aukerman that gives us an idea of who is competing for the kickoff and punt return battles. I'll tell you who is competing in those and why it will have such a big impact on the Titans final 53-man roster. So a full Tennessee Titans minicamp recap on today's 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, it is a minicamp recap edition of the Locked on Titans podcast. We're going to be diving in to standouts from today's Titans practice, attendance from today's Titans practice, and we got a very interesting comment about the Titans kickoff and punt return job openings. I'm going to get into all that with you guys. Before I do, I do want to tell you that today's episode is brought to you by Blue Nile.

Make your moment sparkle with jewelry from BlueNile.com. And Locked on Titans listeners get $50 off purchases of 500 or more. This podcast exclusive includes engagement rings. Use code LOCKEDON at checkout at BlueNile.com.

Also do want to thank you guys for making the Locked on Titans podcast your first listen every day. If this is your first ever listen to the Locked on Titans podcast, make sure you subscribe on whatever platform you do stream. I am going to be putting out daily Monday through Friday Tennessee Titans content all year long,

free and available on all platforms, and that includes the Locked on Titans YouTube channel. Make sure you subscribe over there. Smash that notification bell and throw a thumbs up on the video if you're watching right now. any sport really does mean a lot. So thank you guys all so much. But let's dive into this Tennessee Titans mini camp recap. We're talking about Titans practice from Tuesday.

And we are going to start with the standouts from Titans practice on Tuesday. And no other place to start. If you guys see me in the thumbnail of today's video, I'm dancing because it is time to get chiggy with it. Nah, nah, nah, nah, nah, nah. I mean, all jokes aside, all cringe aside from me, I just purely can't help myself, guys. But Chig Okonkwo continues to impress during the offseason for the Titans, the rookie tight end out of Maryland. Now, I've always been very excited for Chig,

and if you guys go back to draft day and draft weekend, there was a video of me reacting to the Malik Willis pick on the national draft coverage for Locked On, and I went out of my way during the Malik Willis recap video to point to the fact that the Titans need to go get Chig Okonkwo from Maryland. I've wanted Chig throughout the entire pre-draft process. On draft weekend, I said, go get him. It's time.

The Tennessee Titans, thank you so much, John Robinson. They give me what I'm asking for. And Chig has delivered so far. He had three touchdowns on Tuesday during team seven on sevens. He caught two touchdowns from Ryan Tannehill. He caught a touchdown from Logan Woodside in seven on seven. So whether it be with the first team quarterback, whether it be with the backup quarterbacks, we have seen Chigaconquo consistently since he became a Tennessee Titan impress. And I've said this all along, and we're going to talk about it some more, but I expect the Titans to go back to two tight end sets

more this year, away from the three wide receiver that they went to last year. Now with Austin Hooper, Chigaconquo, Jeff Swaim in a better role. Maybe even if Tommy Hudson does get healthy, can make the team four tight ends there. But the Titans are going to use more tight ends this year. They're going to go back to what they were doing in 2019 and 2020, in my opinion.

And they need a John U. Smith type player to be able to do that. And Chigaconquo does fit that mold. A lot of professional scouts are comparing Chigaconquo to John U. Smith, and hearing all these positive reports and knowing his skill set and how it fits with the Titans' offense already, it's not a lot of projection that we need to do here. We know how a skill set like this fits in the Titans' offense, so that was already a point of excitement,

but to hear about all this incredible production, even though it's in, you know, offseason activities. We're not even a training camp yet. A great sign for Chigaconko to be playing so well so early on. And quite honestly, he could, as I talked about in the

early episodes this week, he could take over that tight end to roll over Jeff Swain this year if he's able to continue to impress. So great stuff from Chika Conquo. Also, Josh Malone, the undrafted free agent wide receiver out of Tennessee from last year,

scored two touchdowns. And with Traylon Burks' absence, with Robert Woods in the yellow non-contact jersey, a guy like Josh Malone has gotten a lot of opportunities, and Mike Vrabel even talked about that after practice, that Josh Malone has impressed with the included opportunities that he's had. So, Chica Conquo and Josh Malone, really impressing right now early in the offseason.

The last guy who stood out that I wanted to touch on was Roger McCreary. McCreary had multiple pass breakups on Tuesday against Nick Westbrook-Akina, a big-bodied guy, 6'4", so that's good stuff. Josh Malone, a speed guy who's over six foot, couldn't get down the field. Mason Kinsey, a quick, shifty guy as well. Whoever you tell Roger McCreary to guard, quick, shifty guy as well. Whoever you tell Roger McCreary to guard, he's going to do so and do well. Really excited to continue breaking down everything that happened at Tennessee Titans practice.

Those are the three standouts from Tuesday that really got a lot of pop and a lot of buzz. Now we need to talk about attendance. Hey, all the veterans are supposed to be back. Who showed up? Who participated? Who couldn't participate? Who got hurt during

practice. We got a lot to discuss on today's show. And at the end of the show, we're going to talk about kickoff return and punt return and how Titans special team coach Craig Aukerman kind of gave us some insight here into what the competition is going to be between in terms of the players. And I'm going to tell you what that can mean for the final 53-man roster. Before we get into that, though, I do want to tell you guys a little bit more about our title sponsor,

BlueNile.com. At BlueNile.com, you can celebrate all of life's special moments, from creating custom engagement rings of her dreams to gifting classic and timeless jewelry pieces, all at prices you won't find at traditional jewelers. Whether you're ready to pop the question or you're celebrating a milestone moment, find jewelry as unique as she is with the modern convenience of online shopping at BlueNile.com.

Build the engagement ring of her dreams or celebrate life's special moments with fine jewelry. No matter what you're looking for, you can find it at BlueNile.com, and they have jewelry experts on hand 24-7 to make sure you find exactly what you want. Make your moment sparkle with jewelry from BlueNile.com and LockedOnTitans listeners will get $50 off purchases of $500 or more when you use the promo code LOCKEDON, and that includes engagement rings.

So once again, that's promo code LOCKEDON at BlueNile.com. Plus, every order is insured. It ships for free. It arrives in discreet packaging. So you won't give away what's inside. Shop stress-free and find your forever peace. Go to BlueNile.com today. Titans fans, we are going to continue this mandatory mini-camp recap here on the Locked on Titans podcast.

We just talked about the standouts from today's practice. Chigakonkwo, rookie tight end with three touchdowns. Josh Malone, the wide receiver with two touchdowns. We have Roger McCreary, the rookie cornerback out of Auburn with multiple pass breakups making plays all over the place. So big standouts from the young guys. Love to see that. Now I do want to talk about attendance and injuries.

Who was at Titans practice? What were they doing? Some of the injured players who were coming back. Derrick Henry, Bud Dupree, Nate Davis, I mean, we got a ton to continue to dive into. Before we do, though, I gotta thank you guys for making the Locked on Titans podcast your first listen every day. If this is your first ever listen, man, you gotta subscribe to the podcast. Yeah, we're getting ready to go through kind of a slow period of football,

but I'm going to be putting out three days a week content still for you guys until we get the week before training camp. It'll be back five days a week all year long. I mean, I pump out a million episodes all year long for free on all platforms. That includes the Locked on Titans YouTube channel. Make sure that you subscribe if you're watching right now. I do appreciate all the support, but a lot of you guys are hype. I'm seeing, hoping Kyle Phillips gets the return job.

Hello from Wisconsin. What's up, Dustin? How's it going, Chris? Al, nice to see you. Thunderstruck Al, Timmy. Ian, nice to see everybody in the chat. But we're going to move forward here and talk about attendance. Derrick Henry was back.

He reported, obviously, as we talked about yesterday, no big deal there. But Derrick Henry did say the foot's good. He got asked about his injured foot about a thousand times. And by the end, he was just like, hey, the foot's good. The foot is good. I'm ready to go. I've been training nonstop. I'm ready to go out and produce this year.

So no worries about Derrick Henry. He's back. He's good to go. He's healthy. Bud Dupree. Bud Dupree also said, quote, the knee is all the way back. So Bud Dupree says he's feeling great mentally, feeling great physically. Got a full off season.

He's ready to go. And he reported for duty on Tuesday. Nate Davis also came back, and all the reports are interesting that Nate Davis looks leaner than ever. And Nate Davis actually talked after practice. And Nate Davis admitted that he got COVID twice last year, and it messed up his conditioning, it messed up his strength, and it messed up his confidence. And up his strength and it messed up his confidence and you could see that it was a down year for Nate Davis now it's worth pointing out he had

maybe the worst starting right tackle in the NFL last year and David Questionberry next to him and I'm sure that impacted him some but he's admitting his conditioning his strength his confidence all affected by multiple times getting COVID last year so Nate Davis back he's leaner feeling good said he's ready to go. It's a contract year for him as well. So it'd be a big year for Nate Davis to continue to progress and get back to that form that he had in 2020 when he got an all-pro vote.

He didn't win, but he got a vote. So hopefully Nate Davis is feeling better and could stay healthier this year. Harold Landry back in camp, said he wants to be better than ever this year. Harold Landry said he used the Pro Bowl as his vacation, and ever since the Pro Bowl, he has been training. He knows that he has to do more. Shane Bowen, defensive coordinator for the Titans,

talked about how Harold Landry, the expectations go up. They expect him to do everything he did last year and do more this year with that new big-time contract. So good to hear that Harold Landry has been working and doing his best, and I got to slip this in here as a Lakers fan who just heard our star player Anthony Davis say he hasn't shot a basketball since the first week of April. You love to see the Tennessee Titans players

who got a big contract and got some success continue to work just as hard as ever because they're hungry and want it. So thank you, Tennessee Titans, for being my breath of fresh air. There, Danico Autry, Zach Cunningham were both back, and Jeffrey Simmons, who I talked about yesterday as well. Jeffrey Simmons was back, but he didn't practice. Jeffrey Simmons did not practice.

He rode on the stationary bike throughout the open portion to the media. But listen, guys, might have a Jeffrey Simmons contract update coming shortly. So if you're Jeffrey Simmons and you're the team, you don't want to get there's a six week break after this week until the Titans come back for training camp. You do not want Jeffrey Simmons getting her messing up the contract from the team perspective or his perspective and some silly little mandatory mini camps six weeks before training camp. So, yeah. Anyways, Jeffrey Simmons is fine.

He rode the bike. He's there. And I got a feeling that they're working on a contract right now. Also, we're saying Greg Maben and Traylon Burks didn't participate. Burks rode the bike. Take your panic meters where you want. I'm going to continue to preach patience, but I understand

that people are frustrated. Robert Woods, Ray C. McMath, Caleb Farley, Christian Fulton, and Briley Moore all had yellow non-contact jerseys on during practice. So, hey, with the injuries that they're coming back from, ACL for Farley, ACL for Woods,

to see them even out there participating, love to see that. So even though yellow non-contact, love to see that. Hopefully those guys are good to go by training camp. Aaron Brewer, who obviously got hurt during OTAs because he was doing a lot of work out there at first and then didn't participate in some of the couple of the last OTAs. He was out there working with a trainer, but wasn't completely involved in the total practice.

Also, I have to mention here, two guys that we've been looking at, two second-year players, Elijah Molden and Monty Rice. Both of those guys didn't participate during team activities, and they rode the bike. Same thing with Danico Autry. So it looks like they participated in individual portions of practice, but when they did team seven-on-seven and team walkthroughs and things like that,

Elijah Molden, Monty Rice, and Danico Autry all rode the bike off on the side. As for real injuries here, Caleb Shudick, the kicker out of Iowa who got hurt in that OTA last week, did not participate and boy do you feel bad for him. These reps are so important and meanwhile Randy Bullock went 7 for 8 and is 12 for 13 on the

offseason so far. So every moment that Shudick doesn't have to compete, he's losing. And especially when you're at such a disadvantage when you're going up against a guy who made a home in Bulletproof Bullock last year, going to be tough for the undrafted free agent kicker to fight his way back, man.

Feel bad for him. He was kicking so well. Tommy Hudson also not out there. Looked like he hurt his hamstring in that OTA last week. I really do think there's a chance he could make the roster if the Titans keep four tight ends, which they very well could. But missing this time, definitely unfortunate for Tommy Hudson. Looks like A.J. Moore, the safety, Jordan Wilkins, the running back,

buster screen at cornerback, Reggie Roberson, all left practice early and went inside. So that is a total attendance recap for you guys. Everybody who showed up, what condition they're in after their injuries or their offseason, who was riding bikes, who was non-contact, all of that stuff for you guys. There's your information that you need from practice. But we got an interesting comment from Titans special teams coach

Craig Aukerman on Tuesday where he talked about who is competing for the kick return duties and who is competing for the punt return duties. I have some comments on who is competing, who I want to see win those jobs, what it can mean for the roster, and I have just one request from the coaching staff. Take this guy off of punt return, please. We'll get into that in just a moment. Before we

do though, I do want to tell you guys about the best tasting protein bars in the galaxy from our friends over at Built Bar. This month, they have a brand new flavor, the mud pie, and it is absolutely delicious to go along with the other flavors that I really enjoy from Built Bar. They got the brownie batter puffs, the birthday cake puffs, the salted caramel, the peanut butter brownie. I mean, they just got it on lock when it comes to flavors. All the bars are covered in 100% real chocolate. And of course, it is a protein bar.

So you get high protein, high fiber, low calories, low sugar. It's literally the best of both worlds. Go to Built.com right now. Use the promo code LOCKED15. That's one word, LOCKED15. You're going to get 15% off your order. Once again, use promo code LOCKED15 for 15% off at built.com. Titans fans, we are going to cap off this mini camp recap edition of the Locked on Titans podcast by talking about the kick return

and the punt return battle that is going on right now in camp. Before we dive into all that, though, I do want to thank you guys for making the Locked On Titans podcast your first listen every day. Ask for your second listen. Make sure you guys check out the Locked On NFL podcast. You get all your Titans news here with me every single weekday in under 30 minutes.

Get all your national NFL news every single weekday in under 30 minutes with the Lock your national NFL news every single weekday in under 30 minutes with the Locked On NFL podcast. It's free and available on all platforms. So make sure that you subscribe. I host the Thursday show of the national show. So if you guys would check that out and subscribe, I would greatly appreciate it.

But what I want to get into next here, we talked about the standouts from practice. Chigakonkwo, Josh Malone catching five touchdowns combined. Roger McCreary with a bunch of pass breakups against different kinds of wide receivers. Really encouraging. We talked about the attendance, which was also incredibly encouraging. Derrick Henry, Bud Dupree, Nate Davis, all back, all healthy, all ready to go. Some of the guys recovering from ACLs, Robert Woods, Caleb Farley, all ready to go. So love to see that. All good stuff on the attendance.

All good stuff on the standouts. Let's get into this kick return conversation. So Titans special teams coach Craig Aukerman said, quote, Mason Kinsey, Kyle Phillips, and Imani Hooker could be involved in punt return. Trenton Cannon, Reggie Roberson, Kyle Phillips, Racey McMath could all be involved in kick return. So let's break that down. Let's start with kick return.

So Trenton Cannon got a ton of love from the coaching staff today talking about how he's a one-cut returner. Trenton Cannon got a ton of love from the coaching staff today. Talking about how he's a one-cut returner. He's going to do a great job on kick return. But not only that, that they like Trenton Cannon as a gunner on special teams on punt coverage as well. I mean, Craig Aukerman said he was all smiles when thinking about Trenton Cannon today. I think he's going to make the roster. I didn't going into today, but I think he will now.

I think Trenton Cannon will, and I think that he will do kickoff returns. Now, I love to see Kyle Phillips being involved in kickoff returns because I think that increases his value to the roster and I'll talk about that when we get the punt return Reggie Roberson speed they're trying to increase his value you can't just play wide receiver and be the sixth wide receiver on the team you have to have some special teams value he's not a really guy who's going to be a gunner or be on coverage teams so having some return value would be key but gonna be tough for him if he's not able to win one of those special team spots.

Racy McMath, in my opinion, this is a last legs attempt to give him some value. Racy McMath, not going to be a wide receiver. If he's getting beat out on special teams by other guys, he better be able to do something. I think that giving Racy McMath a chance to kick return is kind of a last-ditch effort to make him valuable. Okay? So, really, to me, it's Trenton Cannon or Kyle Phillips.

And I think Cannon's going to win that battle. What I do find interesting here is that Dontre Hilliard isn't included in that when he was a kickoff return option for the Titans last year. To me, that tells me more about how they view him as a running back and his role with the running backs, but I'll talk about that more later on in the week, but interesting to note. Now let's talk punt return.

Mason Kinsey, Kyle Phillips, and Imani Hooker. I'm going to cut this straight to you. That's got to be Kyle Phillips. Think about the roster here. Mason Kinsey, I don't think, is going to make this roster. I really don't. And I know a lot of you guys like him, and I like him. I made a whole entire highlight video for Mason Kinsey last year

after the preseason. I like Mason Kinsey a lot. But Kyle Phillips seems like a similar player who's just better. And if Kyle Phillips can not only punt return, but he also has a possibility with kick return, well, now he has more value. So there's a good chance he's ahead of Mason Kinsey on the depth chart by the time we get to games.

And he's a more versatile returner to be able to do kickoff and punt return. So I'm thinking where Kyle Phillips is the primary punt returner and he's your backup versatile returner to be able to do kickoff and punt return. So I'm thinking where Kyle Phillips is the primary punt returner and he's your backup kickoff returner and he's your fourth or fifth wide receiver. It's going to be hard for a guy like Mason Kinsey who's doing the exact same things really to beat out Kyle Phillips in that scenario.

So I think Phillips is your punt returner. Kent is your kick returner. But here's what I want to say before we go. Before we get out of here. Please get a Monty Hooker off punt return. What are we doing? He's starting safety. A really good safety. One of the best safeties in the NFL.

The Titans probably have the best safety tandem in the NFL. I know that Imani Hooker doing punt returns is in a case of emergency. Break glass in case of emergency returner. I get that. Also, if a team tries to do like a little squib punt, of emergency returner. I get that. Also, if a team tries to do like a little squib punt, then Imani Hooker can drop back real quick and get the ball

and not feel completely out of place. But Imani Hooker is in a contract year. Imani Hooker is invaluable to the Titans defense now that Dane Crookshank is gone. Please, God, get Imani Hooker out of punt return there's just no need for it

there's just no need okay let anybody else do it I don't care don't let your defensive starters be your returners I don't like it I don't like it.

I don't like it at all. There's just no need. Imani Hooker's great with the ball in his hands. I get it. But Kevin Byard's better. So why not KB? Imani Hooker doesn't have the skill set of a punt returner, in my opinion. And I just think it's wildly risky to have him out there fielding punts in a contract year.

Just insane to me. Especially with Dan Crooks ain't going. Like, you don't have that veteran third safety that you know knows the system. So, anyways. Got a question here. Did we release Batson? They didn't re-sign Cam Batson. And I believe Cam Batson signed with the Falcons.

I believe. But the Titans, it wasn't a release of Batson. The Titans just decided not to sign him back. So anyways, but hey guys, that's a recap of everything you need to know from Titans minicamp on Tuesday. I'm going to be back with you guys tomorrow. Tomorrow's practice is also open to the media. So I'm going to be recapping that for you guys.

Be a little later in the evening. I have some obligations early on on Wednesday nights, so it'll be probably around 9 p.m. Eastern Standard Time that I actually go live for you guys, but I'll be ready to break that down as well. Thank you all for tuning in. That's going to do it for me today, though, folks. As always, I am your host, Tyler Rowland,

and this was Locked on Titans.