Locked On Titans - Daily Podcast On The Tennessee Titans - Tennessee Titans Put The Pads On: Corey Davis Returns, Major Absences & Titans Try-Outs

Episode Date: August 18, 2020

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Welcome to the Locked on Titans podcast. I am your host, Tyler Rowland. Titans fans, day one of padded practice for the Titans came with a ton of news, and we are going to break it all down on today's show. First, we saw an important veteran on the Titans offense make his first appearance at Titans practice this year. So I will give you that good news. Talk about what it means for the Titans team, that individual player, and what the outcome could be of this season that is upcoming for this specific veteran offensive Titan.

And then we will jump into all of the biggest takeaways from day one of Titan's padded practice. There were some standouts, there were some lowlights as well, and some of those players who aren't performing up to par may be on their way out the door, as the Titans did have multiple players in for workouts on Monday as well. So on today's show, we will break down the return of a key veteran on the Titans offense. And then we will look at all of the other major takeaways from the Titans first padded practice on Monday. And then to cap off our show, look at who the Titans brought in for workouts.

And what that could mean for the current players on the roster. Really excited to dive into more Titans training camp action. Let's get it! Monday was the Titans' first padded practice of training camp, and it saw the return of veteran wide receiver Corey Davis. Corey Davis started off training camp on the physically unable to perform list after reports indicated that he was recovering from an off-season toe injury that, although was not reported at any time during 2019,

was an injury that Taylor LeJuan, Titans starting left tackle, mentioned on his Bussin' with the Boys podcast in February. So it was something that the team is aware, at least his teammates were aware, that he was dealing with, even if the Titans did not report that during last season. So it looks like Corey Davis is healthy, was able to pass his physical, and join his teammates on the practice field for the first time this season on Monday. And this is big news for a Titans offense that does not have a lot of depth or talent at the wide receiver position. Look at the depth chart as it sits right now. A.J. Brown, of course, is an emerging stud for the Titans offense. Then you have Corey Davis himself, who just returned for his first practice.

Then you have veteran slot guy Adam Humphreys, and then inexperienced speedster Kalief Raymond, who flashed at times during 2019, but isn't necessarily somebody you can say you can count on going into the season. After that, the Titans have a bunch of unproven roster bubble guys and undrafted free agents fighting for a roster spot. So any wide receiver of the top four, realistically the top three, if they have any sort of long-term injury, it'll be a big issue for this Titans offense. So Corey Davis needs to be healthy, not only for the Titans offense's sake,

but also for Corey Davis himself. Corey Davis's fifth year option was declined earlier in the offseason by the Titans organization, which means he is set to be a free agent at the end of this season. And if Corey Davis wants to have as much earning power as possible and get the biggest contract that he can possibly attain, then he needs to be as productive and as healthy as he can be in 2020. Of course, from the Titans perspective, that'll be a positive, but Corey Davis at this point needs to think about his career from a business perspective as well, and hopefully that'll allow him to produce as much as he possibly can for the Titans. Close to at least his 2018 numbers that saw him gain over 800 yards.

He needs to at least duplicate that or improve upon that if he wants to go into free agency on good terms. At least from his perspective. And if that's the case and Corey Davis does have a very productive year for the Titans offense, it'll set him up well in free agency. And also, at that time when Corey Davis does leave as a free agent, which seems like at this moment in time, the most logical outcome, even if Corey Davis has a fantastic year, the Titans have a stud wide receiver waiting in the wings in A.J. Brown, who has already proven to be the most productive guy outside for the team. So the Titans just simply wouldn't be able to put enough resources

into the wide receiver position from a salary cap standpoint to keep a super productive Corey Davis around. So the most optimal outcome for the Titans may in fact be Corey Davis having a very productive year, helping the Titans offense on their way to a Super Bowl, and then getting a third round comp pick back for Corey Davis. Similarly to what we saw during the Jack Conklin free agency, the Titans will most likely get a third round pick due to the size and the amount of the contract that Jack Conklin signed with

the Cleveland Browns. And that may be blasphemous to certain Titans fans ears, but at some point in time, one thing that is common between the consistent organizations in the NFL is that they have to let talented guys leave for salary cap reasons. They replace those talented guys through successful draft picks, and then they receive extra compensation in the draft from the talent that they have to let leave. That is life as a successful organization in the NFL, and it's something that the Titans need to get ready for regardless of what Corey Davis produces in 2020. So, of course, if he blossoms

into a top five wide receiver in the NFL, then the Titans may reconsider. But at this time, it seems like it's more likely that the Titans will let Corey Davis walk in free agency no matter what. At this point, his production will be tied to his contract, which will be tied to what sort of compensatory pick the Titans could receive. And right now, that's the most likely outcome if we do see a breakout from Corey Davis in 2020. Now just to repeat myself. That was a breakout season. Not a breakdown.

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in the how did you hear about us box. Amazing selection, reliably low prices, all the parts your car will ever need, rockauto.com. Let's dive into the biggest takeaways from the Titans' first padded practice of training camp. And we have to start with the people who missed Titans' practice on Monday. And of course, that is Kamalei Correa, who is still not practicing, wasn't seen at all over the weekend. Haven't got any reports on what his injury is. Of course, the Titans don't have to report any of that. And it would make a lot of sense from their perspective to not report that if they don't have to, but not seeing Correa out on the field with all the issues that the Titans have with their outside linebacker depth, which we talked about yesterday, that is a major concern.

big absence on defense and once again that is Kenny Vaccaro now it doesn't appear that his injury is is major or super serious but he still isn't out on the practice field for the Titans so we have to approach with just a modicum of concern at this moment in time and then Vic Beasley of course is still not past his physical and is on the non-football injury list and is not participating in practice I've had just about all I can take of talking about Vic Beasley and how frustrating that is. So that's all I really care to say about that. He's still not out on the field, still not helping his teammates, still not getting ready for the season to help the Titans defense. And then on the COVID-19 reserve list, we still have more defenders, defensive lineman Jack Crawford and outside linebacker Josh Smith.

So those are the people that were absent from Titans' first padded practice on Monday. Moving into some of the storylines we saw, and this is a pseudo-absence, a half-absence, a semi-absence. But Derrick Henry started out on the practice field with his teammates, was going through drills early, and then he left practice halfway through, didn't participate in the team portions of practice later on, and was seen just riding the stationary bike on the side. So this is something that Paul Kaharski actually cleared up, not officially, but it makes a lot of sense, so I gotta give him credit for pointing this out at Titans practice. And that's Derrick Henry didn't leave with a trainer and walk off the field back into the building, which is typically what happens if a player sustains an injury.

He just walked with a trainer off to the side of the field and ran and started riding the stationary bike. So that's the first major absence that we saw on offense. There's one more after that, but I'm going to talk a little bit about derrick henry's absence So we saw derrick henry get a little banged up early in training camp last year So it makes sense that the titans especially with all the wear and tear that he had on himself last season and during the playoffs Combined with the fact they just gave him a brand new contract the titans need to do everything they can To limit his rushing attempts, to limit the wear and tear on his body, and we're talking about load management in the NBA throughout the

regular season. The Titans need to load manage Derrick Henry, and this goes past just having Darrington Evans get extra snaps and extra carries and extra looks. This is the type of thing that we need to see the Titans resting Derrick Henry on certain practice days, not only in training camp, but in the regular season. The Titans sat Derrick Henry in week 15. He could have played against the Saints, but they knew for the long-term benefit, it was better for him to rest. The Titans are going to start taking that mindset into the beginning of the season, into the beginning of the regular season. The Titans need to come out fast in the regular season as well. This is all part of it so that they can keep Derrick Henry fresh for that end of the season

run, that playoff run that the Titans are hoping to get back to. So Derrick Henry being absent from the back half of practice is not a concern. It's why I didn't lead the show with it. I didn't open with it. Everyone needs to relax, stay calm. The Titans are going to do a great job of resting their veterans. Derrick Henry is ready to play, guys. Derrick Henry's ready to go. I'm not worried about Derrick Henry being ready for the regular season. Neither are the coaches, and we

know that. So everybody stay calm. Derrick Henry's just getting some rest, and it gives Darrington Evans, a rookie who the Titans are going to count on, an opportunity to get more reps and get more ready for the season when his number is called. You could say the same for any running back behind Darrington Evans, but specifically Evans. It just gives them more of an opportunity, and you're not hurting Derrick Henry's preparation by having him sit out of the back half portion of practice.

So not a huge deal, but something I wanted to mention. And staying on the offensive side of the ball here, I'm going to talk about this in two different sections right now. And then at the beginning, Tannehill sat out the entire practice today. And Vrabel even said he's fine. He'll be back to practice tomorrow. So Tannehill's not hurt. He's not injured, but he sat out of practice today. I'll get into that more at the end of this segment. Put a little bookmark there. Put a pin in that thought that Tannehill mispracticed. Moving on to cover some of the non-absence related storylines

coming out of the Titans' first padded practice, Jeffrey Simmons was an animal. We saw that reported multiple places. He looks excellent, of course, but it's something we saw multiple people comment on, including a quote from Teron Davenport. Well, a tweet, I guess. I always want to call it a quote because I'm quoting him, but it was a tweet. And Teron Davenport had this to say, quote, Jeffrey Simmons set the tone early.

He was extra disruptive today. He blew up a couple running plays to start team period. Simmons was also a factor in end zone team period, clogging things up to stop a couple of running plays. And that's all that Teron had to say. But this is what we expected, guys. Everyone who was throwing a fit over Jarrell Casey. Jeffrey Simmons is about to make a name.

And I don't think that anybody is ready for the leap that Simmons is about to make a name, and I don't think that anybody is ready for the leap that Simmons is about to take. We're all excited and optimistic for what he can bring to the table in 2020, but I think Jeffrey Simmons could boost himself into the conversation about the top defensive linemen in the league, the Frank Clarks, the Kenny Clarks, well, Frank Clark too, of course, but he's on the edge, the Kenny Clarks, the Grady Jarretts, the Geno Atkins, the Chris Jones, the Calais Campbells, the DeForest Bunkners, the Fletcher Coxes, those kind of players, I'm going to feel bad if I missed anybody who's obvious now thinking about it. One, two, three.

All right, that's enough. But Jeffrey Simmons is going to vault himself up into that conversation of the best interior disruptors in the NFL. And if these first padded practice results are any indication, it looks like that will be what happens in 2020. I'm so excited for Jeffrey Simmons. He's probably one of the top three guys that I'm most excited about for the upcoming season. That's something I'll talk about in another Locked on Titans episode as we get closer and closer to the regular seasons.

After having two fumbles in Sunday's practice, rookie Darrington Evans had no fumbles. And with the increased work that he got in Monday's practice that I mentioned before because Henry sat out a portion. That's great news to hear. Also, Kenneth Durden on defense had two interceptions and apparently looked pretty good but that's going to lead me into my last point here and it goes back to Tannehill sitting out for the entire practice on Monday it is combined with Kenneth Durden having two interceptions he had both those interceptions off of Cole McDonald and also if you read anybody's recollection of practice other than state-sponsored

news and Jim Wyatt, shout out Jim, he's not bad, but he works for the Titans. He's employed by the Titans. He's never going to give us the real negatives that we need to know as well. He's going to spin things mostly positive being a guy who works with those people in the building every day. But every other recollection said that Cole McDonald and Logan Woodside really struggled. They had good points during practice, but for the most part, they were on the struggle bus. And the reality is I've been talking about it all freaking off season.

The Titans have to bring in a veteran quarterback. They cannot leave the fate of the season. Two, three, four weeks of Tannehill gets COVID, gets hurt. They cannot leave that up to a guy with no NFL experience who didn't look amazing in the AAF in Logan Woodside. Cole McDonald, they're revamping his throwing motion. He's a project guy. Put him on the practice squad and continue to develop him as a seventh round pick with

good mobility, good athleticism, and a strong arm, but they're revamping his throwing motion. We can't count on that guy to play games in the regular season, and like I said yesterday, the Taysom Hill comparisons are ridiculous. That's not going to happen. There's a better chance he's cut than he's running wildcat snaps for the Titans in the regular season, so with that in mind, and you're seeing struggles being reported from the backup quarterbacks on Friday, on Sunday, today, Monday's practice. The Titans sat out Tannehill for the entire practice because they're counting on his preparation, but also because they needed to get another final look at Cole McDonald and Logan Woodside

before they brought in somebody else. That's what's going on here. They saw Logan Woodside and Cole McDonald in the first couple practices over the weekend. Oh no, that's not good. We want to give Logan Woodside a try. He's been very dedicated in the offseason, getting guys together to throw in Nashville. He's doing all the things you need to do, but nobody compliments his arm. Nobody compliments his accuracy. Nobody compliments his vision, how he reads defenses, how he adjusts to defenses, pre-snap, post-snap.

Nobody talks about that. They just talk about him like he's an assistant coach. And now he's not performing out on the field and the reports are coming in that he doesn't look sharp. He doesn't look good consistently. You can't count on McDonald or Logan Woodside. The Titans wanted to get one final day of getting a lot of looks at woodside mcdonald they didn't impress and now the titans are bringing in other people for tryouts to possibly take over

that role and i two with talking about the titans not being happy with some of the results that they're getting from these practices and training camp moving quickly to work out a ton of guys on Monday. The Titans had the most workouts of any team on Monday. And let's get into some of the names that you're seeing on that tryout list. And I'm going to start where I ended last segment at the quarterback position. The Titans brought in two quarterbacks for tryouts on Monday. Number one, Deshaun Kaiser, former Brown, former Packer, former Notre Dame fighting Irish quarterback,

and a name that I have been pining for all offseason, and that is Trevor Simeon, the former, I believe, well, Broncos, Jets, and I believe the Vikings as well. Trevor Simeon is someone the Titans need to sign right now. Right now. Cut Logan Woodside. See ya. You're a great guy.

You tried hard. Hell, sign him as a quality control coach. I've been saying this guy's an assistant coach all offseason. It's been apparent from the press conferences the way they talk about him. Bring him in as a quality control coach. I'm totally for that. I don't want the guy to not have a job. I don't have a vendetta against him. But the reality is he's not an NFL quarterback and the Titans can't rely on him as

their backup. So bring in Trevor Simeon. Let's talk about Trevor Simeon. I broke this down earlier in the off season, but Trevor Simeon has started 25 games in his career, 25 games in a five-year career, actual NFL experience. He has over 5,000 yards passing, 30 touchdowns, 24 interceptions is not great, but it's NFL experience. He started games in the NFL. He's not just a backup that's better than Woodside. He's an actual experienced NFL backup, and it goes deeper than just his experience. Remember, Trevor Simeon cut his teeth with the Denver Broncos. The Broncos were running a wide outside zone run scheme with heavy bootleg action from the quarterback. What do the Titans do, folks? Heavy outside zone running scheme

with boot action. I mean, it's not the exact same offense, but the concepts that it's built on, the foundation is the same. So he's comfortable with what will be asked of him. And I want to say this, Trevor Simeon is 13-12 in those starts, and one of his losses is from last year with the Jets when they were a tire fire, and he wouldn't have had any chance to win anyways.

So Trevor Simeon, in all reality, is 13-11 in his starts in his NFL career. You're telling me you wouldn't want that guy over Logan Woodside? Who struggled in the AAF? With the San Antonio Commanders or what? Come on, guys. There's something about the Titans fan base where we love the players on the team. There's a blind loyalty, an unearned loyalty, an unworthy loyalty to some of these players whose production and play just simply doesn't make it logical to feel that way. Someone like Logan Woodside is a perfect example.

There are some other quarterback examples I could mention, but let's just say Logan Woodside. I mean, he's done nothing to garner the love and support that some people have given him online. The Titans need a backup. They need a real veteran. And I think Trevor Simeon is the perfect guy. Deshaun Kaiser has athleticism as well, but not as comfortable with him to be ready to go all the time. So I'd like to see the Titans bring in Simeon, but that's only two players of all the players that they brought in here. The next most interesting guy, in my opinion, is Deontay Foreman. Deontay Foreman is a big-bodied running back who played for the Texans for a while, has had injuries, including an Achilles tear, which is rough for running backs, especially bigger guys.

Came out of Texas, so some people, there's a little bit of a carryover between Titans fans and people who are fans of UT, so there's a lot of Titans fans who like the guy. And I think what it points to most is it confirms and validates something that I saw take place on last year's roster, and that's the Titans typecast at running back. They have Derrick Henry, they have a little guy in Deion Lewis. Last year, they had David Flewellen, who it's laughable that he's the Henry guy, but that's what it was. Flewellen, more of a power guy, and then you have Daylon Dawkins, more of the small guy who can fill the Deion Lewis role. So the Titans wanted to have one running back a piece so they can kind of keep familiarity and

keep a similar play style with the running backs that they have and we're seeing that take place now the Titans don't have anybody centerized Perry is the only guy that he even could pretend to simulate Derrick Henry someone like Deontay Foreman legit could he's a big bodied guy obviously not the caliber of player that Derrick Henry is but they have a similar style of running and a similar build. And it could give the Titans a similar look to Derrick Henry in practice if for some reason he goes down. So the Titans are just trying to get the Derrick Henry replacement as part of their typecast. So that's just what's going on there. But outside of that, we saw the Titans bring in another wide receiver in Krishon Hogan.

We saw the Titans work out another wide receiver in A.J. Taylor from Wisconsin. So clearly some of the bottom end of the roster wide receivers, the undrafted free agent guys, maybe a Cody Hollister, aren't impressive. And the Titans could look to have some turnover there. Saw Jeff Swaim, a tight end from Texas, get some look in a tryout. So that means Parker Hesse, Tommy Hudson, their time could be coming to an end with the Titans. Saw another running back, Marcus Marshall out of James Madison. And then finally, another defensive back in Andre Shashir out of San Jose State.

So will any of these guys make the roster? I don't know. I do know that Trevor Simeon should be signed by tomorrow. If Deontay Foreman is healthy, I think he's an interesting guy. But the big takeaway here is that the Titans are looking to turn over a couple of pieces at the bottom of the roster and get some looks at some other guys before they decide on the final 53 and the final 16 of the practice squad. So there should be some changes to the roster soon, and I'll be here to report those to

you guys as soon as they happen. I will be here Monday through Friday with you guys, pumping out the Titans content that you need all throughout the rest of the season. So subscribe to the Locked on Titans podcast on Apple podcast, follow on Spotify or whatever platform you do stream. Make sure that you're locked in to the Locked on Titans podcast. Follow me on Twitter at TicTacTitans as well for my

TicTacTitan X's and O's film breakdowns and just additional content. I'm always tweeting about something. I love sports in general as you guys know. So the NBA playoffs, I'm firing off a bunch of takes from that as well as we're getting March Madness style NBA playoffs it's great football's here basketball's here everything's going on right now

I hope everybody stays safe but it's nice to have a little bit of a semblance of real life back in our world at least from a sports angle but that's gonna do it for me today really excited all of this Titans news man I am having a blast recording the show. I hope you guys are having a blast listening. I will be back with you guys on Wednesday. As always, I am your host, Tyler Rowland, and this was Locked on Titans.