Locked On Titans - Daily Podcast On The Tennessee Titans - Tennessee Titans Recruiting DeAndre Hopkins, Pass Rush Wins Day 3 of Minicamp & Major Injury Updates

Episode Date: June 8, 2023

The Tennessee Titans are meeting with DeAndre Hopkins this Sunday, but Jeffery Simmons is already on the recruiting trail. Also, Treylon Burks comments got twisted and Tyler is here to set the record straight. Next, the pass rush had a big day at Titans minicamp, but the offense got some shots in as well. Finally, Mike Vrabel gave injury updates on four key members of the Titans and whether they will be able to be ready for training camp.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!BirddogsGo to birddogs.com/lockedonnfl and when you enter promo code, LOCKEDONNFL, they’ll throw in a free custom birddogs Yeti-style tumbler with every order.FanDuelMake Every Moment More. Don’t miss the chance to get your No Sweat First Bet up to TWO THOUSAND FIVE HUNDRED DOLLARS in Bonus Bets when you go FanDuel.com/LOCKEDON.FANDUEL DISCLAIMER: 21+ in select states. First online real money wager only. Bonus issued as nonwithdrawable free bets that expires in 14 days. Restrictions apply. See terms at sportsbook.fanduel.com. Gambling Problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER or visit FanDuel.com/RG (CO, IA, MD, MI, NJ, PA, IL, VA, WV), 1-800-NEXT-STEP or text NEXTSTEP to 53342 (AZ), 1-888-789-7777 or visit ccpg.org/chat (CT), 1-800-9-WITH-IT (IN), 1-800-522-4700 (WY, KS) or visit ksgamblinghelp.com (KS), 1-877-770-STOP (LA), 1-877-8-HOPENY or text HOPENY (467369) (NY), TN REDLINE 1-800-889-9789 (TN) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The recruitment of DeAndre Hopkins is on. We're going to talk about that plus break down the last day of Titans mandatory minicamp 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. Welcome to the Locked On Titans podcast. I am your host, Tyler Rowed on Titans podcast. I am your host, Tyler Rowland, Titans fans.

We got so much to talk about on today's show. Jeffrey Simmons is recruiting DeAndre Hopkins. The Titans pass rush dominated practice. And Mike Grable gives us some major updates on certain injuries. Before we get into all of that, I do want to let you guys know that today's episode is brought to you by Bird Dogs. Go to birddogs.com slash locked on NFL. And when you do, enter the promo code locked on NFL. They're going to throw in a free custom Bird Dogs Yeti style tumbler with every order of their pants, their shorts, their joggers. They're absolutely fantastic. But

also want to thank you guys for making the Locked on Titans podcast your first listen every day, Monday through Friday, Tennessee Titans content all year round, always for free. Make sure you get subscribed, stay subscribed to the Locked on Titans podcast where it's your team every day. Moving right into the DeAndre Hopkins recruitment. day. Moving right into the DeAndre Hopkins recruitment. Jeffrey Simmons spoke with NFL Total Access on Wednesday night and they asked him about a bunch of different things, but one of the things that they talked to him about was DeAndre Hopkins and the possibility of him being added to

the Tennessee Titans. As my everydayers know, we talked about DeAndre Hopkins a ton yesterday. Why it makes sense for the Titans. How they can financially take care of getting DeAndre Hopkins on the roster. If you missed any of that, make sure that you go back and check that out. But Simmons was asked whether or not he was recruiting DeAndre Hopkins. And this is what Jeffrey Simmons had to say. Quote, it's crazy. I didn't know until today talking about Wednesday and of course I already sent a DM come on with it you already know what's up that's what he sent to DeAndre Hopkins Simmons kept explaining I already

know what type of player he is being able to play against him and get ready to play against him just watch the film, man. DeAndre Hopkins, DeAndre Hopkins, that's the guy we got to stop. And everyone having a lot of respect for DeAndre Hopkins. He's been around the game for a long time. His playmaking ability and I'm sure his leadership, what type of teammate that he is, is the reason why everybody wants him on their team. Simmons said, I would love him on our team.

Hopefully, I see him while he's in town, and it would be lovely to have him on our team to help us not rebuild and to help us get some wins this year. End quote there. Simmons also talked about the Titans rebuilding, and this isn't a shocker to anybody. Simmons said, he doesn't want to rebuild.

He's not interested in rebuilding. He wants to win games, which, again, no shock to hear Jeffrey Simmons say that with the competitive player that he is. But we're talking about DeAndre Hopkins right now, and I think we heard another Titans player talk about DeAndre Hopkins after practice on Wednesday, and it was Traylon Burks.

And I have to come to Traylon Burks' defense here because some of the national media took a part of Traylon Burks' quote and tried to run with it and make Traylon Burks look bad. But if you look at the full quote of what Burks had to say, it's not bad at all. So I just want to dive into the quote of what Burks actually said about DeAndre Hopkins, and then we'll talk about how it's been twisted and why it's just purely ridiculous. But this is what Burks said about the potential to add DeAndre Hopkins. He said, quote, he's an awesome player, great player.

It would be fun to play with him. He also said, if we end up getting him, then we get him. If we don't, then we don't. No offense to him. He's a great player. I'm just glad I like who we have here. The last part, no offense to him. He's a great player.

I like playing with who we have here. That's all that was used as the headline for a lot of these national places. Trying to make Burks look like he's saying, hey, he's a great player, but I don't want him. That is not what happened. Go back and watch the press conference. Watch the way Burks talked about it. And it's funny how they conveniently leave out that first quote.

He's an awesome player. Great player. It would be fun to play with him. If we end up getting him, then we get him. He's a great player. He's said it multiple times. But people are trying to twist Traylon Burks' words and act like he doesn't want to play with DeAndre Hopkins,

which is absolutely ridiculous. And that's not what he said. And just taking out the last part without including the first part, like, listen, I guess at the end of the day, I am media. You know, I write for Sports Illustrated. I do the podcast here. I go on the radio shows and talk Titans. I guess you could say I am the media.

But at the end of the day, to me, this is just a classic case of the media trying to create a problem where there isn't a problem. I mean, Burks said great stuff about DeAndre Hopkins, and he just said, I like the guys we have here, though, too. And what do you want him to say? You want Burks to go out there and say, yeah, all the guys that I'm playing with right now are bums.

We need to get Hopkins right now. I mean, that may be true, and that may be what he's actually thinking, but you don't go out there and say that in the middle of freaking mandatory minicamp and crap on all your teammates for a guy who might not even be on the team. So I just wanted to talk about Burks' full comments,

explain what's going on here, and at the end of the day, the best player on the Titans, Jeffrey Simmons, is in the DMs with Hopkins, and they asked Jeffrey Simmons if Hopkins responded. He said that he did, but he wouldn't tell us what Hopkins said.

So, the DeAndre Hopkins story, still ongoing. He'll meet with the Titans on Sunday. Maybe we get some news out of that meeting and how it went down and how it took place. And if so, of course,

I'll be back with you guys on Sunday night on YouTube on Monday morning for my podcast folks breaking down everything you need to know. But with that being said, we got to get into

Titans mandatory minicamp. Day three took place and the pass rushers dominated a portion of practice. We're going to discuss that. Plus, Mike Vrabel gave some injury updates on some key players. We're going to go into that at the end of the show as well. Before we get into the rest of today's show, though, I got to tell you guys about our sponsor, Bird Dogs. All right.

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I mean, that is great value. That's birddogs.com slash locked on NFL for a free Yeti style tumbler with your order. You will not want to take your bird dogs off. I promise you that. Titans fans, let's continue today's edition of the Locked on Titans podcast. We just talked about the recruitment of DeAndre Hopkins by Jeffrey Simmons,

the quotes from Traylon Burks that were twisted in a weird way. So we covered all that. Now I want to get into Titans practice from Thursday. And look, we talked about the defense winning on Tuesday, which was more about the defensive backs and them knocking passes away, getting interceptions. Then the offense was able to get some get back on Wednesday and score some touchdowns.

The quarterbacks had some success. But on Thursday, especially in the red zone period, the Titans pass rush were the big winners of the day. So, Danico Autry had a sack. Kevin Byard got around Peter Skowronski on a blitz and had a sack. Caleb Murphy had a sack. And I think it was four out of ten reps, passing reps in the red zone,

the Titans were able to get a sack. I mean, that is domination. And I just want to take a moment and talk about Caleb Murphy, the undrafted free agent out of Ferris State. Forty sacks in the last two years. Of course, lower level college football, but nonetheless, to me, there is just something about Caleb Murphy.

I would take Caleb Murphy off or over Sam Okwe and Onu right now. Right now. And Sam O has been out for the entire summer process so far. So give me Caleb Murphy with his incredible pass rushing toolbox. And just want to throw this in here as well. After practice, Caleb Murphy working with Danico Autry one-on-one, talking about handwork, how he adjusts to certain blocking attempts, certain techniques from offensive tackles and offensive linemen.

He's talking about how he uses his hands, how he gets around. And listen, there is no better person on the Titans to talk to about handwork than Danico Autry. That man has a nasty swipe move, swim move, grip moves. I mean, whatever you want, Danico Autry has it in the bag. So you see Caleb Murphy producing in practice, making plays in practice, getting his name mentioned, and then you see him put in the work after practice

to work on his craft with one of the smartest guys in the entire locker room for the Titans. I mean, that's the type of stuff that in these summer months gets me fired up. The Titans need another edge rusher, in my opinion. They need another pass rusher, whether that be somebody to step up from the young group or whether that be a veteran that they bring in.

I don't want to just have Landry coming back from an ACL, Weaver, Arden Key, who's been a role player for most of his career when he's had good moments, and then Sam Okwe and Onu. I mean, that's not good enough to me. So if Caleb Murphy could join that group and actually put himself in a position to be one of the top four edge rushers on the team,

that would not only be awesome for Caleb Murphy, but that would be awesome for the Titans as a football team in general. Okay. They need that. They need that. And I, you know, I'm going to do a roster battles series as we get closer to training camp, where I literally look at two individual players and determine, you know, who is going to win the spot for the one roster spot that makes sense for those players. And Murphy is a guy who I'm going to be looking at with Sam Okwe and Onu. So I think Murphy can take that spot immediately. I do.

Outside of that, do want to talk a little bit about the offense because the offense did have some success here. Tannehill threw a touchdown pass over the middle to Tajay Spears. Spears was being covered by Elijah Molden. He got lost in the traffic over the middle. Spears was able to get a touchdown. Malik Willis, man, listen, I will eat crow if necessary on Malik Willis, but he threw a dart on a post route to Rayce McMath. Should have been a touchdown, and Rayce McMath dropped it. So, I just said the roster battle series,

we're going to look at Caleb Murphy versus Sam Oakway and Onu. Rayce McMath is another guy who, his roster spot is in jeopardy. Okay? I talked about this, I think, yesterday. My everydayers will know. And I talked about doing the balancing beam. You've got to look at Colton Dowell, Titans' seventh-round wide receiver,

and Racey McMath, former sixth-round wide receiver. And look at them from two categories. One is their receiving skill and one is their special teams ability. Okay? So I think Racy McMath has much more special teams ability than Colton Dow. He's a more physical player. But I think that Colton

Dow is a much better receiver in terms of his actual ability to run routes, catch the ball, make plays afterwards. Racy McMath to me is not a wide receiver in the NFL. He is a special teams only player. I think that Colton Dow could add a little bit of value on special teams. So when we add the two categories together,

to me, the aggregate score goes to Colton Dow. And we're hearing about Colton Dow catching two touchdowns yesterday. Colton Dow flashing over the middle of the field, all that. And then on the flip side, we're hearing, oh, Rayce McMath dropped a dime from Malik Willis on a post drop that should have been a touchdown. Rayce, he just isn't a good enough wide receiver. It just is what it is.

He can't catch. He doesn't run good routes. I haven't liked his demeanor in interviews and I know, like I talked about yesterday, again, my everydayers will know, I probably put too much stock in the guy's demeanor in interviews, but it means a lot to me.

Their confidence, how they speak about their abilities, just the fire in their eyes. And to me, Rayson McMath looks like a guy who knows that it's over for him. So, give me Reggie Roberson. Give me Colton Dow. Give me Jacob Copeland, quite honestly.

I'd go with any of those guys over Rayce McMath as it stands right now. I do want to mention this. On the very last play of practice, Will Levis rolled out after getting pressured. He might have been sacked, but you never really know. You know what I mean? But he rolled out with pressure in his face and threw a strike to Josh Wiley, diving in the end zone, touchdown. Excited.

Makes me feel a little Wiley. You know what I'm saying? Anyways, with Trevon Wesco not participating still, big moments for Josh Wiley here to really get some critical snaps, show off what he can do, and earn himself some reps in the regular season. But that is a breakdown of the last day

of Tennessee Titans minicamp for you guys. Obviously, there's an OTA next week. One of those will be open probably compared to every mandatory minicamp practice was open to the media. So we'll talk about some other things next week. But that is a full breakdown of the defensive and the offensive side of day three

of Tennessee Titans mandatory minicamp. My God, it's been so fun breaking down minicamp with you guys. And can't wait to get into training camp and all that. So make sure that you get subscribed. Stay subscribed to the Locked on Titans podcast Monday through Friday. Daily Tennessee Titans content all year round.

Always for free. Throw a thumbs up on the video as well if you're liking what you're seeing on this episode. It goes a long way to help the channel. And I appreciate it. But we got to talk injury news in just a moment. Titans fans, let's cap off today's edition of the Locked on Titans podcast. We talked about the recruitment of DeAndre Hopkins from Jeffrey Simmons, some comments from Traylon Burks that got twisted. Locked on Titans podcast. We talked about the recruitment of DeAndre Hopkins from Jeffrey Simmons.

Some comments from Traylon Burks that got twisted. We also talked about minicamp practice. The defense had their moments. The offense had their moments. Really liking the vibe of what's going on with the Titans right now. And I think that DeAndre Hopkins news might have juiced everybody up a little bit. Because I think everybody knows that's what the Titans need if they want to be a serious team this year, but Mike Vrabel gave some

important injury updates before practice. Not only did he talk about the guys who are injured, but he gave kind of an update on if they might be available for training camp. So I want to get into all of that before we do. Thanks again for making the Locked on Titans podcast

your first listen every day, Monday through Friday, Tennessee Titans content all year round, always for free. Make sure you get subscribed, stay subscribed. It's your team every day on the Locked on Titans podcast. But as for players who were not at practice on Thursday, it was the usual suspects. Caleb Farley, Christian Fulton, Josh Thompson, Harold Landry, Sam Okwennonu, Dylan Radins,

Trevon Wesko, but also, T.R. Tartt did not practice on Thursday. Tartt met with the media on Wednesday after practice. So, I'm hoping that it's just a rest day for Tartt who plays a physical style, is a heavy guy because he plays nose tackle, probably takes a toll on him being out there in that heat. So hopefully it's just a veteran rest day

for T. Air Tartt. But as for some of these other guys that we've been wondering about, Farley, Fulton, Landry, Radins. Again, Mike Rabel gave us a significant update on pretty much every single one of those guys. For Christian Fulton, Mike Vrabel said that he wouldn't confirm that Fulton is dealing with any

soft tissue injuries, which repeat offender. There you go, Fulton. Maybe this is what Vrabel was talking about. But he said that Fulton has been in the building and that he imagines that Fulton will be ready for training camp. So it doesn't look like it's a serious injury, but you have to wonder. Fulton was working out on his own for the first week of OTAs. And then after that, he came back in but didn't participate.

Did Fulton get hurt during his training? And he said, crap. If I got hurt doing my training away from the team, Vrabel is going to be pissed. So even though I'm hurt, I'm going to get back in the building. You got to wonder. All right, it only leads us to wonder. But Vrabel did say that he expects Fulton will be ready to go for training camp.

So nothing long-term, nothing to freak out about there. As for Harold Landry, Mike Rabel said that Harold Landry is getting closer. He said he wouldn't make any promises about his status for training camp, but he feels optimistic that Harold Landry may be ready for training camp. So that's good news. Landry, I think, needs a training camp to get back comfortable in not only his body, but his mind, dealing with the injury. A lot of athletes will tell you

that it's not even your body that you got to get comfortable with after an injury. It's the mental block of not wanting to get injured again, going 100%, all of that different stuff. So I want Harold Landry to have as much time as possible in practice to kind of build that confidence back. So hopefully he's ready to go. Caleb Farley, still not ready to go.

Mike Grable did say, he confirmed, yeah, he had a back procedure, which we knew about at the end of the season. He said he's making progress. He's been lifting. So he's not out on the field, but he's lifting. I mean, guys, I don't know what else to say. I wrote about this

earlier on Thursday, and I put in there, Farley has been ravaged by injuries his entire NFL career. He was coming off a back procedure for his rookie year. He tore his ACL his rookie season. Coming off the ACL,

he had another back injury in his second season. Now we're getting ready to go into training camp, and he's not necessarily ready to be out on the field. Farley is a guy who switched from wide receiver to cornerback when he came to college. He just desperately needs cornerback reps. He needs snaps. He needs to go out and play.

And these injuries just continue to derail the one thing that he needs. And as the days pass, it's just more and more likely than ever that he's just going to be a complete bust, a complete bust. And the Titans are never going to get any value out of him, which is sad, and I feel bad for Farley as well. It's different. Isaiah Wilson threw his career away being a knucklehead. Farley cares. Farley wants to play ball. Farley wants to be on the team, and his body just betraying him. It's just betraying

him, so you feel bad for him there. Finally, Dylan Radins. Mike Vrabel did say he does not believe that Dylan Radins will be ready for training camp. At the end of the day, Radins tore his ACL in week 15. He's a bigger guy being an offensive lineman. I just don't think that we should count on Dylan Radins this season. I've been saying it all season. Don't factor him into your offensive line discussions. Don't even bring him up when we're talking about starters

or anything like that. Mike Vrabel has kept Dylan Radins in the doghouse his entire career, and now he's coming off a late-season ACL tear. If I were you, I would just out of sight, out of mind for Dylan Radins until we get something more concrete saying that he'll be around. So with that being said, though, that is going to do it for today's episode of the Locked on Titans podcast.

That is going to do it for this week of the Locked on Titans podcast. I'm so excited to be back with you guys next week as well, but that'll do it for me today, folks. As always, I am your host, Tyler Rowland, and this was Locked on Titans.

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