Locked On Titans - Daily Podcast On The Tennessee Titans - Tennessee Titans Owner Speaks On Jon Robinson Firing, Titans Panic Attack & Ola Adeniyi Released

Episode Date: December 12, 2022

The Tennessee Titans controlling owner Amy Adams Strunk gave an interview to the legendary Teresa Walker over the weekend explaining why she fired Jon Robinson. Some of the answers make perfect sense, while some will leave Titans fans skeptical. Next, the Titans took a tough victory on Sunday, but Tyler doesn't think it is time to panic. Finally, the Titans released Ola Adeniyi and Joe Schobert on Monday. Tyler goes over the moves and discusses Brett Kern's visit with the Eagles.Follow Tyler on Twitter @TicTacTitansFollow the show on Facebook @LockedOnTitansPodSubscribe to the Locked On Titans YouTube channel:https://www.youtube.com/c/LockedOnTitans/videosSupport Us By Supporting Our Sponsors!LinkedInLinkedIn Jobs helps you find the candidates you want to talk to, faster. Post your job for free at LinkedIn.com/LOCKEDONNFLBuilt BarBuilt Bar is a protein bar that tastes like a candy bar. Go to builtbar.com and use promo code “LOCKEDON15,” and you’ll get 15% off your next order.BetOnlineBetOnline.net has you covered this season with more props, odds and lines than ever before. BetOnline – Where The Game Starts!PrizePicksFirst time users can receive a 100% instant deposit match up to $100 with promo code LOCKEDON. That’s PrizePicks.com – promo code; LOCKEDONSimpliSafeWith Fast Protect™️ Technology, exclusively from SimpliSafe, 24/7 monitoring agents capture evidence to accurately verify a threat for faster police response. There’s No Safe Like SimpliSafe. Visit SimpliSafe.com/LockedOnNFL to learn more.TuroForget boring rental cars and find your drive at Turo.comAudibleHead over to Locked On NFL for a sneak peak of Block Forever or catch the full series available anywhere you get your podcast. Available everywhere now!NHTSADrive sober or get pulled over. Click HERE to learn more.  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, Titans owner Amy Adamstrunk finally speaks about the firing of John Robinson. I'm buying some of it, but I'm not buying all of it. Then, some Titans therapy. I talk you guys off the ledge and tell you how I don't really think yesterday means a lot in the grand scheme of the Titans season. And then finally, some news and notes from Monday, including the Titans releasing two

veterans on the defensive side of the ball at positions that they don't have a lot of depth at. All of that and more on today's edition of the Locked on Titans podcast. Let's get it. You are Locked on Titans, your daily Tennessee Titans podcast, part of the Locked On Podcast Network, your team every day. Titans fans, we finally, finally got some answers from Titans controlling owner Amy Adams-Strunk. She finally gave some comments in regards to John Robinson's firing.

We're going to go through those comments. And like I said up front, you know, I believe a lot of what she's saying, but some of it I simply don't believe. So we'll get into those comments to start today's show. Before we do, I do want to let you know that today's show is sponsored by SimpliSafe Home Security with Fast Protect technology exclusively from SimpliSafe 24-7 monitoring agents capture evidence to accurately verify a threat for faster police response. There's no safe like SimpliSafe. Visit SimpliSafe.com slash LockedOnNFL to learn more. I really do love my SimpliSafe.

And thank you guys for making the LockedOn Titans podcast your first listen every day. Remember, Monday through Friday, Tennessee Titans content for free all year round on all platforms. Make sure you get subscribed. Stay subscribed. It's your team every day here at the Locked On Titans podcast.

But let's dive into these comments from Amy Adamstrump, who abruptly and surprisingly fired Titans former general manager John Robinson in the middle of what would have been his seventh winning season in a row. Now, number one, what I want to do here is give credit to the GOAT. Teresa Walker from the Associated Press, one of the Titans beat reporters. She got the inside scoop. She sat down with Amy Adams Strunk and I got to point out here just how cool it is to have one of the legendary female reporters in the game talking to a female owner. It's just a cool moment for the sport of football in my opinion, but I digress. Anyways, to the comments of Amy Adams Strunk. She said this quote again from a terrific story by Teresa Walker that you should all go check out. Quote, at the end of the day, I've got to make hard decisions. Once I made a decision, I was like, I can't sin on it. I've got to go ahead and do it to be fair to John. I don't know how many weeks we have left in the season. There could be a lot more, hopefully, in our season. And it just didn't seem like the right thing to do to drag this along.

And I agree with her. If she made a decision in her mind. I'm going to fire John Robinson. Then you might as well go ahead and get it started. It's actually smarter for an organization to do this now than at the end of the year if they know an important time when you start the scouting process heavily. I mean, the scouting process has begun, but you get heavily into the scouting process, setting up everybody's role within the organization during that time. If Mike Grable wants to make changes or he wants to change things up, if Amy Adams Strunk wants to change things up, it does make sense to do it now. And as pointed out when it happened, John Robinson got a contract extension in the off season. So Amy's going to be paying him for four more years to not do his job. So you know that she was truly committed to the decision, and I do believe that.

But this next part, this next part, Amy says, quote, I'd already made my decision. AJ had a great game, more power to him, but that didn't actually have anything to do with that. End quote. My BS radar is going off. Look, I'm sorry.

I appreciate the sentiment from Amy here, but you're telling me that A.J. Brown, one of the worst trades consummated, and then watching him dominate your team didn't have anything to do with it? Now, maybe I could buy that. Maybe I could buy that, if not for the fact that it was the Philly game that she decided to fire John Robinson after. So you can say that you made your decision before that game and it's just happenstance that it was A.J.

Brown who happened to be the guy who whooped you before you made the decision, but I'm not buying that. Of course A.J. Brown's performance against the Eagles made Amy make this decision, whether it was the total reason or just the final straw that broke the camel's back.

I'm sorry, but I do not buy that AJ's performance against the Titans had absolutely nothing to do with the decision or to do with the timing. I just simply won't buy that. But finally here, Amy had some other things to say, and I think this is the best part of it all. She said, quote, I told the fans from the very beginning that I want to win it all. And I want to be one of those elite teams that people are always scared of. And it's my

responsibility. And eventually it's up to me to make those kinds of decisions that get us there. That is a quote that shows that her heart is in the right place. Her mind is in the right place. This isn't just a franchise that wants to make money and be profitable. Amy Adams Strunk wants to win it all. And whether decisions are good or bad, like trading for Julio Jones, like signing Jadavion Clowney from John Robinson, for example, whether decisions work or not, we can't always control.

You can't control whether certain players sign a contract and then get super hurt. You can't always control everything. You make the best decision that you possibly can with the information that you have in front of you. And if it works out, great. If it doesn't, sometimes it's not always a bad decision when it doesn't work out. And this may ultimately be a bad decision for Amy Adams-Trump. Maybe the Titans don't improve here.

Maybe John Robinson was more important than maybe some people think. But from that final quote there, it's obvious that her heart is in the right place and she truly wants to make this team the most competitive and the highest version of a winner as she possibly can. And if you're a Titans fan, despite Sunday being ugly, despite the last

few weeks being ugly, knowing that your owner is all in to build a championship team, honestly, that's more important than anything. Because there are other teams out there whose ownership hasn't always been bought in, and you know that you're not going to get very far if that's where your ownership stands. So step one to building a championship team is having an owner who gives a damn about

winning a championship, and the Titans have that. I'm keeping the positivity going today. Time for some Titans therapy. Guys, we got to talk about just the panic that I'm seeing out there from the fan base and why if you were in the right place coming into the season, it's no time to panic. It's no time to panic. But before we get into that, I do want to tell you guys that today's episode is brought to you by BetOnline. BetOnline is your number one source for sports betting info,

stats, news, and analysis. BetOnline has the latest odds and trends for every professional and amateur league out there from pro football to college bowl season, to basketball, the World Cup. They've got you covered at BetOnline.net. They're always the fastest and easiest way to get your betting info. Head to the website, BetOnline.net. You can use your laptop. You can use your mobile device. Just go there to learn more.

BetOnline, where the game starts. Titans fans, we are going to continue today's show with more Titans positivity. I know a lot of you guys say I'm overly pessimistic, and that may be true about me generally as a person ledge. I'm your guy. I'm your guy. I'm ready for that. So before we get into the positivity and why I think the Titans season could still end in a good place, do want to thank you guys again for making the Locked On Titans podcast your first listen every day, Monday through Friday, free Tennessee Titans content all year round on all platforms. Tomorrow is rewatch Wednesday. I'm going to be breaking down what I saw on the tape from the Titans.

And I think there's as much good as there is bad. Like I saw with Titan up and Titan down. Thursday is going to be crossover Thursday with the hosts of locked on chargers. That's going to be a nice breakdown. Get a look at a team that we don't see all that often. And then Friday, of course, is a game plan preview. So you don't want to miss any of that. But my point here is the Titans are 7-6.

They're 3-1 in the division. The Jags are 5-8. And they're 2-2 in the division. Which means, which means that as long as the Colts lose one more game this year, just one game, Colts lose one more game, all the Titans have to do is beat the Jags in week 17. The Titans' magic number.

What's a magic number? The number is how you clinch the playoffs. A magic number is the Titans wins and their competitions losses. So for example, the Titans magic number with the Colts is two. So whether the Titans win two more games, the Colts lose one, the Titans

win one, the Colts lose two games, two is the magic number. Colts losses, Titans wins. Two. So as long as the Colts lose one more time, the Titans are playing the Jags for the division title in week 17, even if they lose all the way there. For the Jags, the magic number is three. If the Titans win two games, the Jags are eliminated. If the Jags lose two games, the Jags are eliminated.

Or three. If the Titans win three games, the Jags are eliminated. If the Jags lose three games, the Jags are eliminated. Or any combination of two Titans wins and one Jags loss. One Titans win, two Jags losses. So the Titans, basically, I say all that to say this. The Titans still have a great chance to make the playoffs. I saw it was like 90% chance to make the playoffs.

I believe it was CBS's playoff predictor or something like that. And I know a lot of you guys are saying, well, if they make the playoffs, it won't matter. They're one and done. Well, guys, I'm here to tell you, I just don't agree. I just don't agree. This team is not any better or any worse, in my opinion,

than what my preseason expectation was. I predicted 9-8. Said I wouldn't be surprised with 10-7. The Titans have a really, really good defensive front. When they have Danico Autry, Bud Dupree, Jeffrey Simmons, all out there. I won't even put in Harold Landry. Because obviously he's not coming back. But even when the Titans have those three with Danico Autry out there,

they have a great pass rush. A dominant pass rush, quite frankly. One of the best pass rushes in the league. Top three. When they don't have that, everything falls apart. That's the truth. I know that you guys are really disappointed and I saw some people who say,

look at the numbers. The Titans defense has never been good. That's absurd. That is absurd. This Titans defense was elite for two months, two plus months. They didn't give up more than 20 points to anybody for two and a half months, 10 weeks. They held the Chiefs to 20 points with their backup quarterback in.

this Titans defense when they even have a modicum of health is awesome they are awesome don't be a box score scout anybody with a brain who watched the Titans through the first half of the season say oh their stats don't look that great but that's a really good defense

Dan Orlovsky of ESPN even said that a couple of weeks ago. He said, if you just look at the numbers, you think the Titans defense is bad, but they're really good. The Titans defense was missing six starters. The second most important player, maybe first, on the Titans offense didn't play. first on the Titans offense didn't play. Not only that, but even with the defense playing the way that it played, if the Titans offense doesn't turn it over four times, they still win. You guys got to chill, man. You got to chill. There's no reason to panic here. If you're going to tell me the Titans are never going to get healthy,

well, then yeah. If they got to play with the majority of the defense being backups all year, then yeah. They're not going to win games, but I'm not going to panic off that. That's the Titans backups. I don't expect them to go out there and be as good as starters. So what, am I going to freak out about it? No.

If they just happen to be super injured for the rest of the season and never even get close to healthy. David Long doesn't come back at the end of the year. Zach Cunningham never comes back off IR. Christian Fulton never plays again. I mean, Danico Autry never returns. I mean, if that all happens, then sure, it's not going to work out. But as a fan, I don't say, oh, this team sucks, man.

No, they're just hurt. My point overall is this. If the Titans defense gets any form of health, if Burks comes back, which I'm hoping that he does this week. It was a concussion, and that's a serious matter, but it's not something that's expected to keep him out for months and months and months. And Mike Vrabel even said last week, he's feeling good, he's doing good, but the Titans don't let guys play the week after a concussion. So, for me, you get Burks back, you get Autry back,

and you get Fulton back, and you can make it work. I think if you got those three guys back, Burks, Autry, and Fulton, you get those three guys back right there. I tell you the same thing that I told you four weeks ago when the

times were good. This Titans team will go to the playoffs and if they get the right matchup, Miami, Baltimore, the Jets, the Patriots, the Raiders, the Chargers. I know the Raiders are very unlikely, but they were on the in the hunt thing when I did my notes.

So there you go. If the Titans get the Dolphins, the Pats, the Ravens, the Jets, the Chargers, I think the Titans win. I think the Titans win. Now, if they get the Bengals, they get Buffalo. No, they're not going to win. The Ravens would be tough. No lie. Guys, this team is three players away from being able to win a game in the playoffs. And yeah, they win a game in the playoffs. They go to Cincinnati. They go to Kansas City.

They go to Buffalo and they lose. They hit their ceiling as a team. And we can be proud of that as fans. We can be proud of our team that they hit their ceiling. I think they're three players getting healthy away from still having that capability. So everybody can panic all they want. They can freak out on the timeline.

They can say, this team sucks. This blah, blah, blah. I don't really think my view of this team's ceiling or floor is any different from yesterday. This team, when absolutely decimated with injuries and the offense giving the game away,

they're going to look terrible. Yup. But guess what? I am picking them to win this week. Prediction coming at the end of crossover Thursday for exact score. The Titans are going to go to LA and win. And we are all going to do the thing we do all the time

where we say, dang, this Titans team surprised me. They win the games you don't think they're going to win. They lose the games that you don't think they're going to lose. They're going to find a way to win. And everybody's going to feel a lot different next week. So relax. The owner cares about winning a championship.

The team is an absolute garbage, like you may think. But we got news and notes to talk about. We got two veterans on defense cut by the Titans at positions that they don't have a lot of depth at. We got Brett Kern maybe joining an NFL team. We got an update on Danico Autry. And we're saying goodbye to Logan Woodside. See ya.

Before we do, do want to let you guys know about PrizePix. PrizePix is daily fantasy made simple, guys. Look, PrizePix has a projection for every player. You look at Derrick Henry, 90 rushing yards. You look at Pat Mahomes, two passing touchdowns. You look at Justin Jefferson, seven catches. All you do is you pick two to five players. You look at their projection.

You say whether they're going to do more or less than that projection. And if you get them all right, you can win up to 10 times your money on your entry. All you have to do right now is go to prizepix.com or download the PrizePix app. Sign up. And when you sign up,

use the promo code LOCKEDON. That's one word all together, LOCKEDON. If you're a first-time user, you're going to get a 100% instant deposit match up to $100. You deposit $100, you get $100. You deposit $100, you get $100. You deposit $50, you get $50. So go to PrizePix right now.

Go to prizepix.com or download the app. Use that promo code LOCKEDON for a 100% instant deposit match. Titans fans, we are going to cap off today's show. I have some awesome news for you guys outside of just the news that we are discussing. news that we are discussing. So, your boy will be in Nashville on December the 29th for Thursday night football against the Dallas Cowboys. I'm hoping to meet some of you guys, hoping to meet up at a local establishment before the game, meet up after the game, whatever. I'm in for it all. I'm going to be there on Thursday

and some of Friday as well, taking in the game, taking in the sights. Very, very excited. Again, hopefully I can meet some of you guys. Hit me up on Twitter, at TicTacTitans if you're going to be in the area. You're going to be tailgating. I'll try to stop by. I'll try to meet as many people as I can. I just want to meet some of you guys in person. Very exciting. And I'm

very excited, of course, to go to the game. My mom, be nice to her, is a huge Dallas Cowboys fan. So she'll be there in her Dallas Cowboys garb. But looking to have a good, fun time, meet some of you guys. I'm really, really excited to check out a game. Haven't been to a game yet this year. Bought a house, been doing a bunch of stuff, blah, blah, blah. So excited to go. Hopefully I can meet up with some of you guys there. But wanted to throw that out before we finished off today's show. Number one, Ola Dainey, friend of the podcast, was cut by the Titans. Dainey was nearly a pro bowler last year

as a special teams player. He was excellent, but he's dealt with a lot of injuries. I've never really thought of him as a guy you consistently want as part of your pass rush rotation. I always thought he could be like a fourth or fifth pass rusher for the Titans,

but asking him to be more than that is kind of asking him to do more than I think a team should be. I think he's still a special teams ace, but just hasn't been healthy much this year. Played a little bit last week against Philly. Didn't play at all healthy scratch against Jacksonville. I just, I don't think that he's probably, he's probably not 100% still. And the Titans probably want to get some younger guys more opportunities. That's what I'm guessing.

And Ola Dainey's an outside linebacker. The Titans have gone far more of four-man fronts this year where they have a traditional hand-in-the-dirt defensive end like, you know, Mario Edwards, like Danico Autry. So Terrell Basham now is another guy who I think is more comfortable with his hand in the dirt as a defensive end. So the Titans are just going that route. Ola is about six foot two.

He's an outside linebacker build. That's just not what the Titans need right now. Now, we also could maybe surmise that Ola Dainey is a John Robinson guy. Somebody John Robinson coveted it and maybe Mike Vrabel not as much. Another veteran, but the reality is the Titans don't have a lot of pass rushers. So the fact that they wanted to get rid of Ola hopefully means Danico Autry is back soon, but either way, curious decision, even though anytime a guy like Ola gets cut, a roster bubble guy, special teams guy, you can't be really that surprised, but Joe Schobert was cut by the Titans on Monday as well, the veteran inside linebacker. I thought he filled

in nicely for the Titans early in the season when he first joined the team. I thought he had some good moments in pass coverage. I believe he had like a 90 pro football focus grade in his first game with the Titans in pass coverage. He was like insane in that game. Might have been against the Colts. But again, not that surprised. A guy lower on the depth chart. And I think this is a Mike Vrabel thing.

I think John Robinson goes out and get a veteran who you can plug in. I think at this point, Mike Vrabel is more looking to get younger guys. Jack Gibbons, Dr. Gibby, for example, got some snaps there at the end of the game yesterday. I think over Joe Sjobert, Mike Vrabel would rather give more snaps to Jack Gibbons. I think more Monty Rice snaps would be in order. Monty Rice was the highest graded defender on the Titans defense against Jacksonville who played over 17 snaps or something.

Some guys played at the end who I'm not really going to pay much attention to grading-wise. So more snaps for Monty Rice. More snaps for Jack Gibbons. I think maybe Joe Showbert is a touch better in pass coverage right now, but for the long-term betterment of the organization and of the roster, probably makes sense to get a look at some of these younger

guys. What I've been saying about Dylan Radins, Chika Conquo, all season long, quite honestly. But anyways, moving forward, right along, some other Titans news Brett Kern had a visit

with the Eagles gross right how many former Titans are just going to hop over to the Eagles and win a championship this year don't do it Brett don't do it also this is a conversation for the off season but there's

a big name Tennessee Titan who I think might also get traded to the Eagles in the offseason, but there's a big-name Tennessee Titan who I think might also get traded to the Eagles in the offseason. We'll see. Anyways, more updates here. Danico Autry, Mike Vrabel said, I hope to have him back. So, no real update

there. Timeline of Danico's injury, there were some whispers that Danico would play against Jacksonville that did not end up coming true, which is why I called it whisper and didn't really talk about it like it was for sure. But anyway, I wouldn't be surprised if Danico sat this

game. When you have injuries like that, they say flying on a plane often is bad for the injury. Titans may just leave him in Tennessee and let him rehab while they go out to Los Angeles, come back and really make that final push. You got to win that Texans game. Absolutely must win game against the Texans. Try to win a Thursday night football game at home against the Cowboys. You better win that game, Titans. And then you got, you know, a couple of games left at the end of the year to finish things out. So for me, I wouldn't be surprised if Danico didn't play,

but dear God, they need him back, and I hope that he does. So I'm like Mike Vrabel. I hope he's back. Logan Woodside was signed by the Atlanta Falcons. They're putting Marcus on IR. They're starting Desmond Ritter. And Logan Woodside has been signed to be their backup.

See ya. See ya. See ya. But I say that with trepidation because I know, I know, by the offseason, somehow, Logan Woodside will be back. I know it. Anyways, moving right along.

That is it. That is it for today's show. Again, overwhelming positivity from me. I'm just not, I'm not as panicked as some of you guys are about what's going on right now. I'm simply not. I think the Titans are in a very similar spot that they were before they lost this game.

So, everyone just relax. It's early. And I think the Titans are winning this week. So with that being said, that's going to do it for me today, folks. As always, I am your host, Tyler Rowland. And this was Locked on Titans. you