Locked On Titans - Daily Podcast On The Tennessee Titans - Tennessee Titans Treylon Burks: "I Can Breathe," Titans Conditioning Program Intensity and Issues

Episode Date: May 17, 2023

The Tennessee Titans had select players speak with the media earlier this week and there were a lot of interesting things said. First, Treylon Burks talks about his conditioning and how much of a better place he is in this year compared to last. Next, Azeez Al-Shaair talks about the Titans conditioning program and how the intensity differs from other teams. Finally, Tyler talks about Daniel Brunskill's comments on the condition program and why it may not be the best thing.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!BetterHelpThis episode is sponsored by BetterHelp. BetterHelp connects you with a licensed therapist who can take you on that journey of self-discovery from wherever you are. Visit BetterHelp.com/lockedon today to get 10% off your first month.Built 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.FanDuelMake Every Moment More. Don’t miss the chance to get your No Sweat First Bet up to ONE THOUSAND 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

I can breathe. Traylon Burks is set for a major breakout in year two. He explains why himself 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 Rowland, Titans fans. Some of the top Tennessee Titans spoke with the media earlier this week in Nashville, and there were a lot of interesting things said. Number one, Traylon Burks talked about his offseason so far and why he's set up for success in year two. Then we heard from some of the Titans free agent signings like Daniel Brunskill and Aziz Alshar about the Titans conditioning program. We're going to talk about what the Titans are doing this year to prevent some of those injuries and whether or not it's the right thing to be doing. But before we get into all of that, I do want to thank you guys for making the Locked on Titans podcast

your first listen every day. Remember, Monday through Friday, Tennessee Titans content on YouTube or your favorite podcast app all year round and always for free. Make sure that you get subscribed. Stay subscribed to the Locked on Titans podcast where it's your team every day.

On tomorrow's show, we are going to be doing a Tajay Spears deep dive. I have an excellent interview queued up with Tulane sideline reporter, Maddie Hawk. She is going to be giving us some great insight into Tajay Spears. So make sure that you don't miss that. Hit the thumbs up button if you're watching on YouTube. Hit that notification bell so you don't miss any of the content coming your way. Shout out to my everydayers.

Tune in to the show Monday through Friday. Couldn't do this without you. And if you aren't an everydayer, it's the perfect time to be one with OTAs and minicamp and training camp directly ahead of us. But let's talk about Traylon Burks. The big quote that Burks had was, yeah, I'm playing faster because I can finally breathe. Remember, go back in the time machine a year ago and all of the conversation, including conversation on this show right here, was about Traylon Burke's conditioning issues and if the Titans had made another mistake in the first round coming off two years of

first round bust. But Burke's was able to turn it on during the season despite some injuries. Definitely was the Titans' best wide receiver last year, regardless of the stats. He clearly is at a talent level above anything that the Titans had going for him, and it looks like he is primed and ready to go in year two. I want to go over some of the quotes that Burks had when he spoke with Tennessee Titans media earlier this week,

and shout-out to my colleagues Greg Arias, Tom Brew, my boss over at Sports Illustrated, for pulling some of these quotes. A ton of great articles on alltitans.com right now covering everything that was said. But what stood out to me was these quotes from Burks. He said, that's why I've been here in Nashville all offseason, just making sure that I'm running in the heat.

So when I do get that feeling, I know how to control it now. And just being here with Todd Torricelli, who's the vice president of sports medicine for the Titans, running with him out there or running with the strength coaches and managing what I'm doing and not overdoing something. So it all just goes back to me being here throughout the whole off season. So Burks has stayed in Nashville to try to get ready for the season. He talked about whether or not he thinks that will help him. And he said,

quote, yes, 100%. I mean, I feel great. I'm running fast, not having any problems with breathing, really just having fun, man. I'm in a good place and state of mind and just happy, end quote. And that's absolutely fantastic. Remember, there was concerns about the asthma. Paul Karski put up that picture of Burks taking an inhaler outside of the facility and everybody was in an uproar. It sounds like it is confirmed that Traylon Burks does have asthma. That was something I was wrong about. Admittedly, I was wrong there last year when everything was going on. So he does have asthma, but it sounds like now he's in a good pattern.

He's able to, I guess, kind of hone that in. But he didn't just talk about his conditioning. He also talked about the offense. And, of course, there are new elements to this Tim Kelly offense. And this is what Traylon Burks had to say about the new elements to the offense that Tim Kelly is adding. He said, quote, honestly, it really reminds me of my sophomore year in college with Coach Kendall Bryles coming in and just having that tempo on offense

and just knowing that there's so much in this offense that we have now that you can just go be free and have fun and just win games, end quote. So I like what Burks is saying there. He feels more comfortable. He feels more confident in what he's doing, not only from a conditioning standpoint, but from knowing the offense as well and feeling confident in the offense. So you love hearing that. And then finally, Burks said, quote, my biggest thing was not repeating what I did last year coming into the offseason. And I felt like I mastered that. And to keep going and getting better with a lot of the formations and concepts of our new stuff, just having fun, really. That's the main thing, just having fun,

not having that stress on coming in as a rookie and trying to prove this guy this and the coaches this, just having fun. And I think that that's a big thing for Burks. Last year, he came in all about the A.J. Brown trade. He's got all this pressure on him to not only be good himself, which is hard enough for a rookie, but to live up to A.J. Brown, which impossible to do as a rookie in the circumstance the Titans were in on offense last year. So Burks now can kind of put that past him, just be himself.

He's in a good place. He doesn't have to deal with, and I would imagine, just personally, I would imagine that when you're going through what he went through last offseason with the asthma and all the questions about you and all of that, and you got the shadow of A.J. Brown. All of that had to be in his mind so much and caused so much stress. And it sounds like this year, he's just playing carefree,

feels better, feels more confident. And honestly, I just want to say this one last thing. I'm going to do an entire episode probably on this sometime in the summer. But we're all worried about the Titans offense. If, if things go well on offense, if the Titans offense surprises us, if we're all wrong about the offense and what it can do. One of the main factors in that is going to be Traylon Burks. If Traylon Burks blows up and becomes a top

10, top 15 type receiver talent, you want to rank it, he's whatever. But if he becomes that type of talent in year two, well, that raises the ceiling of the Titans offense in a major, major way. I think Burks is going to be good, but if he takes that step to that level, I mean, that has

the ability to totally change the outcome of the Titans season. It really does. So will he be able to do it? That remains to be seen, but every step that you want him to take to be able to accomplish it, he's taking those steps right now and he's the one telling us that he is. So love hearing all that from Traylon Burks. Now we got to change gears. Talk about the Titans strength and conditioning program. What is up with the injuries? I'm going to tell you what the Titans players are saying about their conditioning program right now. And then we're going to cap off the show and I'm going to explain why there's a specific question that needs to be asked from Mike Vrabel to know whether this conditioning program is a good or a bad thing. So we're going to talk about all that in just a moment. Before

we get into it, do want to let you guys know about the best tasting protein bars in the galaxy from our friends over at Built Bar. You get the best of both worlds with Built Bar. You get all the health benefits that you need from a protein bar. Low calorie, low sugar, high protein, high fiber, but you get all the taste benefits of a candy bar. Delicious flavors like churro, peanut butter brownie, white chocolate cheesecake, coconut almond, and all the Built Bars are covered in 100% real chocolate. That's right, 100%

real chocolate on your protein bar. You don't want to miss out. Go to your local Walmart. Go to your local Sam's Club. Go to Built.com. Pick up a pack of the best tasting protein bars of all time. Built Bars. You can thank me later. Titans fans, let's continue today's edition of the

Locked on Titans podcast. We just talked about Traylon Burks, his breakout potential, what he had to say about his offseason so far. It's very encouraging stuff. But now I want to move forward and talk about the Titans conditioning program, the injuries, all that they're doing right now to try to prevent having historic injuries for a third season in a row. Before I get into it, I want to thank you guys again

for making the Locked on Titans podcast your first listen every day. Remember, Monday through Friday, Tennessee Titans content on all platforms all year long and always for free. Make sure you get subscribed, stay subscribed to the Locked on Titans podcast. Shout out to my everydayers out there who are tuning in to the show all week long. Couldn't do it without you guys.

Becoming everydayer because I got some great content planned for you guys coming. OTAs, mini camps, all that in the summer. It's going to be a great time. But with that being said, I do just want to put this out here to set the stage a little bit. So in 2021, a little bit.

So, in 2021, the Titans had 91 players on their roster throughout the season. 91 total players had a spot on the Titans roster at one point throughout the season. That set an NFL record. A record for most players used on a roster

throughout a single season. 91. Despicable. Terrible. Historic injuries. Can't happen two years in a row, right? There's some luck to injuries and can't happen to you. Well, last year,

2022, pretty sure the Titans used like 86 players, but a different stat that showcases the injury issue, 34 players on injured reserve throughout the season. 34 players spent time on the IR for the Titans. Number one in the NFL. By a little bit, honestly. I think by like three players,

which is quite a big, big gap. So, when we go through this, just keep in mind that the Titans have had historic injuries the last two seasons, okay? But the Titans play a certain brand of football. I mean, they play hard, all of that. So, so I guess it's no surprise that maybe they do their conditioning a little bit different, but I want to talk about what Aziz Alshair said to the media recently. He said this, talking about the Titans conditioning program. Quote,

like I just told you, anyone who comes in here, who's never been here, when you start working with this team, I mean, I should have gotten the hint that they got the signs on the walls. It was talking about expectations

and in the expectations, you see conditioning on one of them and you're like, oh, it looks good, but you don't. That's real. Conditioning is literally, we're doing a lot. You know what I'm saying? You think like, man, this is crazy. This is crazy. It's like you've just got to buy in and see the vision because it's been successful for a reason. End quote. So talking about the conditioning the Titans are doing. This is crazy, man.

This is crazy. And he came from San Francisco. It's not like San Francisco is some crappy organization that doesn't do things the right way. So, he came from San Francisco. And he thinks the way the Titans condition is crazy. He continued, Aziz Alshier, quote,

then you've just got to trust it and go with it. And as I've gone with it the last six weeks, I've seen growth in myself. I've seen growth physically in myself. I felt the best physical shape I've felt in a long, long time. And you think like, we're doing so much. How? And it's like, all that work is like they said, building a callus, not blisters. He talked about how the Titans conditioning program is different from other conditioning programs. He said, quote, it's different from

anything I've done. I can't really even compare it to college, but I feel like maybe in the sense of workload, it kind of reminds you of how you are as a freshman coming into college and you're like, what the hell is going on here? Well, they've got you doing 5 a.m. workouts. This was in college, obviously, but it's like things you usually get to the pros and it's a lot more like, hey, man, we're just going to make sure we keep you healthy and the training staff and stuff like that. The biggest thing is like the head coach hands the strength staff

the keys to the car. Don't crash the car, right? Make sure the car makes it. And I understand that because you're dealing with the guy like Sean Murphy Bunting just talked about playing with Tom Brady. He's old enough to be some people's dad. So you have to adjust. And right now we're doing sleds

and I'm seeing Ryan Tannehill who's 35 or whatever he is now. And he's played 12 years in the league and he's doing the same thing I'm doing. He's falling out on the floor, everything. And I'm seeing him come back in the locker room and I'm like, I know you weren't doing what we were doing. And he's like, yeah. So it's like a different mentality. You understand how it can translate.

And he even talked about when the Titans played San Francisco in 2021. He said, quote, I remember playing here in 2021 and we came here when I was with San Francisco on Thursday night, half their roster was down. I don't think they had any offensive linemen. And the very last offensive lineman was pulled from the practice squad. And we came in and they beat us. And you're just like, how? This is how. And I'm seeing that being on the other side of it.

You get to experience like all the work that was put into getting to those Sundays. Okay. Listen. He is saying all that in a positive way but if the Titans are working harder right now like in the offseason in the summer it's not even summer technically yet

spring still but in this offseason program if the Titans are working as hard as he worked as a freshman in college if the Titans are having the quarterback work just as hard as all the other guys, if the Titans are doing things way more intense than other teams in the NFL, is that new? Is that what the Titans have been doing

the last two years? Because we need an answer from Mike Vrabel on, is the way that you're approaching the conditioning program this year, is this different from what you did the last two years? Because if it's not, if this is exactly what the Titans have been doing the last two years, then we have some other things to talk about. We're going to talk about them in just a moment

and I got to give you guys some quotes from Daniel Brunskill as well that I think shine even more of a light on the questions we should be asking with the Titans conditioning program. Titans fans, let's cap off today's edition of the Locked on Titans podcast. I want to thank you guys again for making the Locked on Titans podcast your first listen every day, Monday through Friday, Tennessee Titans content all year long on YouTube

and your favorite podcast app, always for free. Locked on Titans, it's your team every day. Of course, it's time for our daily hydration break. Make sure that you take a drink of water, folks. Ah, that sweet, sweet nectar. Take a drink of water today, folks. Take plenty, but take a drink of water right now, just in case. So I want to get into Daniel Brunskill's comments,

but before I do, I kind of want to keep the thought process going of what we were just talking about. If the Titans have this insane conditioning program in May, into summer, into training camp, if this is what they've been doing the last two years, then maybe that's why the team breaks down. Not only do the Titans play a more physical brand of football than maybe some other teams out there,

which is going to contribute to more injuries, but if they're going much, much harder than any other NFL teams at this time of year, then maybe that's why they're breaking down so bad. Maybe that's why they're having historic injuries and back-to-back seasons because Mike Vrabel is running these boys into the ground. Somebody said to me

on Twitter, I think it might have been Somebody said to me on Twitter, I think it might have been Dooney to Pootie. He said, is Mike Vrabel the Tom Thibodeau of the NFL? And if you don't know Tom Thibodeau, he's currently the coach of the New York Knicks. He was the coach of the Chicago Bulls when they had Derrick Rose

and he was in his prime, blah, blah, blah. But Thibodeau is known as a coach that runs his guys into the ground. They play heavy minutes all year long. They play intense, intense defense. So I see the comparison there. When you have Tom Thibodeau, you have a higher floor as a team.

Because Thibodeau is so intense and demands so much from his players, you're going to win games. You're not going to be a terrible team. But at the same time, it's a double-edged sword because that intensity, that nonstop intensity that leads to a high floor may bring the ceiling down a little bit because your guys are going to be tired because you're working them harder than

other teams work their players. So that right there is a question that needs answered. Is this approach to conditioning new for this season? Is this an adjustment to what's happened the past two years? Or is this the same approach that you just think will work better because you're getting better players? Not even better, but the players you want more. That's the question I have, and someone needs to ask Mike Rabel that. Okay? Because we need that answer. Listen to what Daniel Brunskill had to say.

He goes, quote, every team has a different philosophy. Some teams make sure guys aren't getting injured. They're kind of just doing enough to like where guys are in shape and they're able to do things that they can. There are some teams, and you heard Aziz talk about

callous. The callousiz talk about callous, the callous, building a callous. There's a difference. There's definitely a philosophy of sometimes doing not enough just to stay healthy is good to a certain point, but then you start to get going and you see injuries happen that way. So what Brunskill is saying is some teams don't push hard enough during these times and that leads to injury in the season because they didn't work hard enough to be ready.

And then Brunskill goes, quote, there's another philosophy where you work super hard, you kind of build that callous so that the, so then those things don't hurt as bad and then you don't get those same injuries that you would because you weren't doing enough at the end of the day it's just different philosophies he said this team is a run the ball team a play hard defense team and we're going to take our shots downfield we got playmakers at wide receiver that if we can get them in some space and use the run game to do that a little bit, we can make big plays. So this is probably more of a team that needs that callous

because we're going to be playing grinded out football. I think with the team that we are, it's a really good thing to have that conditioning, that callous, to be able to go longer than any other team. I mean, Brunskill is basically saying it. The Titans beat the hell out of their players. They beat the crap out of their players with their play style. Not only is the style of football the Titans play antiquated and old-fashioned,

but it also results in their players getting injured more. Now, they're talking about building a callus. If you work really hard right now, your body will be used to it. It'll result in more injuries. I get that point of view, and maybe it's true. But if this is the approach that Mike Vrabel has taken to conditioning the last two seasons, then obviously the wear and tear on the players, the style of play on the players is contributing to historic injuries.

We can no longer call it luck or bad luck or anything like that. It is a direct result of Mike Rabel's terrible plan. So that's why I want to know. I have to find a way to get that question asked to Mike Vrabel. I think I know how I can do it. All right, I'll put in a few calls, ask a few friends, but someone needs to ask Mike Vrabel if the approach of pushing the players extra hard right now,

which all his players are saying is the case, is that approach new? Or is that what you've been doing the last few years? Because if it's what they have been doing, then how can you expect different results this year? It's asinine. So I want that question answered, and we're going to know a lot about Mike Vrabel

when we get our answer. Did they change up the plan from the last two years? Or is this the same plan? I'm just hoping for different results because that, my friends, is the definition of insanity. That's going to do it for me today, folks. I'll be back with you guys tomorrow

for a Tajay Spears deep dive. As always, I am your host, Tyler Rowland, and this was Locked on Titans.