Locked On Titans - Daily Podcast On The Tennessee Titans - Tennessee Titans Will Levis DISASTER Explained, Brian Callahan Deserves Time & Ran Carthon Defense

Episode Date: October 21, 2024

The Tennessee Titans surprised everyone when it was announced on Saturday that Mason Rudolph would start against the Buffalo Bills. What happened to Will Levis going from starting in Week 6 to out in Week 7? Brian Callahan gave an explanation, but it still leaves a black eye on the organization. Despite that, Brian Callahan deserves more patience than the fan base is giving him and there are experiences we can look to that prove it. Finally, Ran Carthon is taking heat as well and a simple step back would show he is actually doing a pretty good job.Subscribe to the TicTacTitans Film Channel:https://www.youtube.com/@TicTacTitansTicTacTitans Merchandise: https://dixons-dream.square.site/shop/tictactitans-gear/C3AAPNWXSXA6SBYG3USV2I7R?page=1&limit=30&sort_by=category_order&sort_order=ascFollow 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!Pre-Alcohol by ZbioticsGo to zbiotics.com/LOCKEDONNFL to learn more and get 15% off your first order when you use LOCKEDONNFL at checkout.BetterHelpThis episode is sponsored by BetterHelp. Make your brain your friend, with BetterHelp. Visit BetterHelp.com/LOCKEDON today to get 10% off your first month.LinkedInLinkedIn Jobs helps you find the qualified candidates you want to talk to, faster. Post your job for free at LinkedIn.com/LOCKEDONNFL. Terms and conditions apply.Hillsdale CollegeAll of Hillsdale’s courses are self-paced so that you can start whenever, and tune in wherever. Plus, you can go deeper with readings, quizzes, discussions - or just enjoy the lectures. Go right now to hillsdale.edu/lockedon to enroll. There’s no cost, and it’s easy to get started.PrizePicksDownload the app and use code lockedonnfl to win $50 instantly when you play $5. You don't even need to win to receive your $50 bonus, it's guaranteed! Prizepicks. Run Your Game.Click Here: https://prizepicks.onelink.me/LME0/LOCKEDONNFLGametimeDownload the Gametime app, create an account, and use code LOCKEDONNFL for $20 off your first purchase. Terms Apply. Download Gametime today. What time is it? Gametime.FanDuelPlace your first FIVE DOLLAR bet and you’ll get started with TWO HUNDRED DOLLARS in BONUS BETS - guaranteed ! Visit FANDUEL.COM to get started.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)

Tennessee Titans quarterback Will Levis went from starting in week six to too hurt to play in week seven. And that's an embarrassment for everyone involved. That and more on today's edition of Locked on Titans. 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.

Today's edition of Locked On Titans is brought to you by GameTime. Download the GameTime app, create an account, use the code LOCKEDONNFL for $20 off your first purchase. On today's show, we're going to talk about what the heck happened with Will Levis' injury situation. Also, I'm going to tell you why we need to have some patience with Brian Callahan and why Rancor Thon is doing a pretty good job, not a bad job. So before I dive into all of that, I do want to thank you

for making Locked on Titans your first listen each and every day. Remember, Monday through Friday, Tennessee Titans content all year round, always for free. You're not going to beat that anywhere else. That's why this is the number one Tennessee Titans podcast in the world.

Women lie, men lie, and numbers don't. But with that being said, do want to give a shout out to my everydayers out there. Tune in Monday through Friday. Couldn't do it without you guys. And if you aren't an everydayer, then you need to be one. But I want to dive into this Will Levis situation. We had the game yesterday.

A lot going on. Didn't really get time to talk about what exactly happened here. But Will Levis sustains the shoulder injury against the Miami Dolphins, diving for the first down that gets Mason Rudolph into the game. Then you have the bye week. You come out of the bye week, and Will Levis is the starting quarterback.

He practices all week, goes into the game, and comes out of the game and says, my shoulder was bothering me on a couple of those throws. Well, it makes you know, comes out of the game and says, my shoulder was bothering me on a couple of those throws. Well, it makes you wonder if that's the case, then why was he out there? And then Brian Callahan has asked about it during the week. And he says, we didn't see anything in practice where Will Levis wouldn't be able to throw.

And then Will Levis practices in full on Wednesday before this game against the Bills. Then he practices again on Thursday. Then he's limited on Friday. And it's like, wait a minute. How did that happen? And then Saturday, the news comes out that Mason Rudolph is going to start. And not only that, but Will Levis is going to be inactive.

And look, my initial reaction was, this is an absolute embarrassment to everyone involved in the franchise. absolute embarrassment to everyone involved in the franchise. How can Will Levis be healthy enough to start in week six and then not be healthy enough to play in week seven? That to me, that is a simple calculation of, oh, you shouldn't have played Will Levis in week six. It's unreasonable that you put him out there if he wasn't healthy enough to continue playing the rest of the season. He didn't get hit during the game to aggravate the shoulder even more or anything like that. So the initial reaction is obviously, why in the world did you play Will Levis in week six if there was a chance that he was going to get worse and then be out for multiple weeks afterwards?

It was a black eye for the entire organization from the top to the bottom. And a lot of people countered with, well, Will Levis doesn't want to lose his job. Will Levis probably lied to the coaches and lied to the trainers and said that he felt better than he actually felt. And my counter to that was, if he is so hurt that he can't make the throws,

the Titans would have seen that in practice before they played the Colts. The Titans would have seen that in practice the two days that he practiced on Wednesday and Thursday before the Bills. They would have known that already. They would have seen him not be able to make those throws. So you can't just blame it all on Will Levis and say that he lied to everybody and all that. That didn't make any sense to me at all.

on Will Levis and say that he lied to everybody and all that, that didn't make any sense to me at all. So, to me, black eye on the organization, everybody looks bad from Levis to the coach to the top of the top, all the way to Rand Carthon. But Brian Callahan gave a response to what happened with Will Levis after the game on Sunday. And I do want to read that response to you directly from the Titans head coach because once you read what Brian Callahan is laying down,

whether you believe it or not, it does make sense. Callahan said, quote, so here is how this happened. He came off of the bye and 10 days rest and started practice that week getting ready for Indianapolis. Felt like he was good enough to go. Everything in practice seemed like it was good. He felt kind of fresh because he came off the rest. Ended up feeling it towards the end of the game on a couple of those throws. It's hard to simulate what it feels like with pressure in your face and having to make that throw. Come out of the game, and it bothered him.

Then you take a whole load of a week, a game, and then you try to come right back on Wednesday and play again. He felt it. It was sore. It hurt. His mechanics were not where it needed to be. His arm strength felt weakened. He didn't feel great. So we limited him on Wednesday, tried to see if he could come back out on Thursday and go, went full Thursday with pads on, had him try every throw that he could possibly throw, every downfield throw all over the place in practice. He came out of that practice and didn't feel great. great. Limited again on Friday, and that is when we made the decision to go with Mason.

The injury is real. He tried to fight through it. I appreciate the toughness and willingness. I made the decision. It was my decision to send him, end quote. So when you think about it like that, I know that it's fun and our initial reaction is outrage and to be upset, but logically speaking, it does make sense that during practice is not the same as in the game. And Will Levis in the game with everything going on, taking pressure, making throws, getting hit, it would make sense that maybe after he started taking real hits during the game that the shoulder started to hurt and it started to affect him late. And then he comes into practice last week before Buffalo, and it clearly affects him. That absolutely makes sense.

But I still think that a little bit of foresight with this injury and letting Levis sit against Indianapolis not only would have helped Levis be more ready quicker, but the Titans probably beat Indianapolis with Mason Rudolph able to make those throws. So once again, we talk about the in-game management. We talk about the decision-making with Brian Callahan costing this team wins.

I think that decision probably cost the team wins. And I know that the whole goal of this season, and we're going to talk about it in just a second, the whole goal of this season is getting a read on Will Levis and knowing what you have in Will Levis, but rushing him back out there and not taking a step back, it not only hurts your chances to evaluate Will Levis going forward by getting him back on the field and healthy sooner,

but you cost your team another win by playing him over Mason Rudolph against Indianapolis. So I get the timeline of things more now after Callahan explained it, but to me it still doesn't take away the bad decision-making that went into it happening, and that's just the end of that. There's nothing else to say. And now Will Levis may be out for longer. How long will he be out? I have a quote directly from Brian

Callahan about that. But I am also here to tell you everyone needs to relax and calm down and not give up on Brian Callahan just yet. Before we discuss, I do want to let you guys know that today's episode is brought to you by FanDuel Sportsbook. Titans fans, you could start the season with a big return on FanDuel, America's number one sportsbook. When you get a hunch in the middle of a game, you can go check out the latest stats on FanDuel, you can view live play-by-play on FanDuel, and so much more on the same exact page where you place your bets.

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to post your job for free. Terms and conditions do apply. Titans fans, let's continue today's edition of the Locked on Titans podcast. We talked about the Will Levis decision and how regardless of the explanation there, I still think it was a bad move for the Titans that lacked foresight at the end of the day. But I do want to spin positive now. And I know that a lot of you guys don't want to hear anything positive. The team is one in five.

Who cares about positivity? Let's be negative. Let's say fire everybody. You know, the sky is falling, Chicken Little. A lot of you guys are Chicken Littles out there saying the sky is falling. But again, what I want to do here is just bring a little reality to the conversation and bring a little bit of, again, positivity but patience really to this conversation. It is not time to give up on Brian Callahan.

It is not time to say fire Brian Callahan. Brian Callahan's a terrible coach. He can't do it. Those are just, quite frankly, major overreactions that really lack a historical perspective here at the end of the day. So, what I want to do is, I want to talk about the patience that the Titans are going to get from Amy Adams Strunk, the owner, especially when it comes to Will Levis. And it's going to remind you guys of the perspective of this season. What is the entire goal of this season?

We talked about it. I didn't have the Titans making the playoffs this year. Are they worse than I thought they were? Yes, but I didn't think the Titans were going to make the playoffs this year. So am I going to be freaking out that they aren't a good team? No, I didn't think they were going to be good enough to make the playoffs anyway. So eight wins, four wins, but I didn't think that this team was a true contender this year anyway. So to me, it doesn't feel like they're wasting anything. The entire goal of this season, and we talked about it in the off season, is to

figure out if Will Levis is your starting quarterback going forward. And Brian Callahan talked about Amy Adams-Strunk and the patience that she had before the season and the patience she has now. And he says, quote, it's the same. Everything about what we were hoping to get out of the season was a really solid and concrete evaluation of Will as the starting quarterback. We haven't played well enough around him. He certainly hasn't

played up to what I think he's capable of playing. We're not in a great spot record-wise, and the injury doesn't help. Hopefully, the minute he is back healthy, the intent is for him to continue to play. Hopefully, that is sooner rather than later because I would like to continue to have him playing football, but I'm not going to let him go out there if he's not where he needs to be to go perform. So hopefully, maybe this week, maybe next week, but sooner than later, he will be back playing. Guys, I know that it sucks to see the Titans lose.

I know that it's frustrating. I know it makes you angry. But the reality of the situation is the only thing that truly matters this year is Will Levis. And some of you are going to say, Will Levis sucks. We already know Will Levis sucks. some of you are going to say Will Levis sucks. We already know Will Levis sucks. Okay, that's fine.

But you aren't the decision makers. And at the end of the day, it's funny to me that a lot of people are saying look at Sam Darnold, look at Baker Mayfield, look at Geno Smith, we need to go get a veteran, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, but are also super, super quick to give up on Will Levis too.

It's like, you can't have it both ways. It can't be like that. So to me, we have to remember, and some of you don't want to swallow this pill, and I get it, but the entire point of this season was to figure out if you have a franchise quarterback because this roster wasn't good enough

to go to the playoffs anyways. It's like we all knew that at the beginning of the year, or most of us who are logical understood that at the beginning of the year, but now that they're losing and it hurts week to week, you throw all that out the window and want fire and brimstone. It's just not logical. And I would also tell you this. Brian Callahan is in year one.

Brian Callahan is 39 years old. He's a young coach calling plays for the first time. Being a head coach for the first time in his first year, there was always going to be growing pains. I talked about a slow start to the season. Now, that slow start has been worse than we expected. But at the end of the day, I did expect a slow start for the Titans. And let me also say this, just because I criticize Brian Callahan in games, Indianapolis game, game against Buffalo,

does not mean that I want to fire him long term. It doesn't mean that I think it's time to give up. It's like a player having a bad game. Just because you say, hey, this player had a bad game, doesn't mean you think the player sucks forever. Like, single game analysis does not always mean long term analysis. So you got to keep that in mind. You can say, Brian Callahan cost his team the win against Indy.

Brian Callahan cost his team the win against Buffalo. But not let that mean Brian Callahan is terrible forever. Okay? And I want to read you this quote from Brian Callahan talking about year one of a program under a coach. He said, quote, You go through these types of seasons and starts of seasons. Every year one that I have been a part of has been hard. Year one in Cincinnati was hard.

Year one in Oakland with John Gruden was hard. Year one with John Fox, that was hard. Year one is hard. There's a lot of things you're trying to work through. You're trying to get on the same page. You're trying to build your program the way you want it. There's always going to be difficulty. Having gone through those experiences gives me the hope that one, I can handle it. And two, I've seen it before. So I have at least some roadmap to what it might look like and how to get out of it. There are challenges that come in the start of every program.

We have not done a good enough job of handling some of those all the way around. We have to find a way to do better. I struggle to compare teams, but there are similarities to the two, talking about Cincinnati in year one. And I want to put some numbers to that. Number one, year one in Cincinnati under Zach Taylor. Year one. And I want to put some numbers to that. Number one, year one in Cincinnati under Zach Taylor. Year one, two and fourteen. Two and fourteen in year one.

Year two, five and eleven. That's the first two years of Zach Taylor. And then they shortly went to a Super Bowl. Let's look at year one under John Gruden in Oakland. Four and 12. And then seven and nine. And then 10 and seven. And Gruden got ousted because of the emails,

not like he was doing a bad job coaching the team. And if you don't like those examples, how about this? Who's everyone's favorite coach in the NFL? Oh, I got people tagging me in his post-game speeches. This is the kind of coach we need. This is a Dan Campbell, Detroit Lions, who the Titans are about to play. 3-13 in his first season.

What would you, who are saying, fire Brian Callahan, what would you have said about Dan Campbell in year one going 3-13? What would you have said? Fire Dan Campbell. That's what you would have said. Year two, Dan Campbell, 9-8. Greatness? No. But he turned it around. Year three,

12 and five. NFC division round. And then, this year, they're five and one. And maybe the best team in the NFC with a real program with young players so keep perspective in your mind

all of you guys would have said fire Dan Campbell in year one fire Zach Taylor in year one that's what you would have been saying also just some on-field stuff the Titans averaged 3.6 yards of separation in yesterday's game against the Buffalo Bills. That's 13th best on the week. Better than the Kansas City Chiefs.

Better than the Philadelphia Eagles. Better than the Cincinnati Bengals. Better than the Houston Texans. Better than the 49ers. Better than the Green Bengals, better than the Houston Texans, better than the 49ers, better than the Green Bay Packers, better than the Buffalo Bills. Brian Callahan is getting people open in the pass game. So I know that it's fire and brimstone at all times,

but have a little perspective, have a little bit of patience for a first-year head coach, things will get better. You can't just throw it in the microwave and expect it to be done right away. And if you look at other first-year head coaches, Dave Canales, Antonio Pierce, Gerard Mayo, look at other first-year head coaches. The only one in the NFL that's doing good at all is Mike McDonald

and they're 4-3 in Seattle and he has the by far the best roster of any of those teams so just chill out man everyone freaking out every week that this guy has to be fired this guy has to be fired

patience Kimo Sabe Wusa you know just a little bit of patience guys don't give up yet that this guy has to be fired, and this guy has to be fired. Patience, Kimo Sabe. Woosa. You know? Just a little bit of patience, guys. Don't give up yet. And speaking of that, some of you are taking aim at Rand Carthon, and I just have a hard time taking it serious.

Before I tell you why, I do want to let you guys know that today's episode is brought to you by GameTime. GameTime is the best place to buy tickets, period. Okay, why? Because they have the best features in the industry and they just got a great feature added to it called GameTime Picks that makes getting tickets to see your favorite teams even easier. Game Time Picks filters out all the fluff to show you only incredible deals on great seats

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We talked about the Will Levis disaster scenario, and although we got an explanation, I still don't think that it was handled properly. But I also wanted to preach some patience and some positivity here. Brian Callahan is not somebody who needs to be fired right now. I gave you guys real-world examples of how silly it is to make those sorts of claims, and now I'm seeing people go after Rancar Thawne,

and I'm just like, what are you watching? What are we talking about here? All right, before I get into that, thanks again for making the Locked on Titans podcast your first listen each and every day for your second listen. Look, I get Titans news right now can be a little difficult to hear, but the NFL season has still been

absolutely incredible. Get your NFL news with me on Locked on NFL. I'm the lead host of the Locked on NFL podcast. It's free. It's on every platform. Make sure that you get subscribed. Stay subscribed. It's your team every day here on the Locked On Podcast Network.

But some people, man, I just can't understand the overreactions. Like, I get mad too. Like, I get frustrated by this team. I want them to win. And when wins seem possible, Indianapolis, Chicago, Jets, I mean, even Buffalo. I mean, the odds were that Buffalo was going to play better than they played in the first half.

And they're a far better football team than the Titans. But they gave us hope, and then they ripped it away. So I get it. I get mad too. But you guys always take it a step too far. Not everybody, but a lot of fans in this fan base just take it a step too far. We got to fire everybody. Rancarthon sucks.

And there are hints of, there are reasons that certain people in the fan base don't like Rancarthon that I don't think have anything to do with football, if I'm honest with you. But regardless, it's just absurd to say, oh, they need to fire Callahan, fire Rand Carthon. It's time to clean house. Like, what are we, you know, I already talked about why being out on Brian Callahan already is just craziness.

Okay? But Rand Carthon? What are we talking about? Look at what Rancarthon has done so far. Not everything has been great. That's 100% for sure. But look at this. I mean, J.C. Latham and Tavondre Sweat and Jarvis Brownlee Jr.

have been three of the only, what, six or seven bright spots on the entire team all year? Those are rookies who are playing starting roles already and doing a pretty good job. JBJ struggled in this game against Buffalo. I will give you that. But it's his second start ever. Like, he's already showed us that JBJ is going to be a player

and he's only going to get better, and he's likely going to be a starter next year. And he's a guy who's better in the slot. He wants to be a nickel corner, and he's playing outside at 5'11". So, like, Latham, Sweat, Brownlee, Jaquan Jackson has not been amazing, but we aren't crying about the punt and kick returner every

single week. Guy can't catch the ball. Jaquan Jackson has been a top 10 returner in the NFL this year. It's a tough job. Ray Carthon found a good returner. And then Cedric Williams or Cedric Gray and James Williams haven't really even gotten a chance to play yet at linebacker. Those guys are going to develop, and maybe the Titans have starters in those guys. And even if they don't, Latham, Sweat, Jackson, Brownlee,

that's a great draft. That is a great draft. And these guys are only going to be better when they aren't rookies in their first six games. And then you go to last year. Skowrons rookies in their first six games. And then you go to last year. Skowronski had a couple of bad games this year, but he's been very solid for the last month.

Peter Skowronski is a starting level guard. The problem on the offensive line is not Peter Skowronski. It's right tackle. And funny enough, Brian Callahan said on Monday in his press conference, we have a real problem at right tackle. Like, he's admitting it. He knows. So Skowronski, Tajay Spears has been a good player for this team. He's banged up right now, but they're expecting him back this week.

Tajay Spears is a good player. And Josh Wiley, Josh Wiley was the highest graded Tennessee Titan in week seven. According to Pro Football Focus, Josh Wiley has been a solid player for a fifth round pick. So right there, that's seven starting level players. And look, we're all out on Will Levis. I think the Titans do need to move on after the

year, but maybe he comes back from the injury and plays well. It was worth it to take a, like, the Indianapolis Colts have to deal with Anthony Richardson. He was a top four pick. The Jaguars have to deal with Trevor Lawrence. He's getting paid $250 million. The Titans took a second round pick on a quarterback. And honestly, I would take a quarterback every year going forward and continue to try. So I'm not mad that they took a shot on Will Levis. It's a second round pick. So, yes, the free agent moves haven't been fantastic.

They haven't. Sneed, Ridley hasn't. But Cushenberry has been just fine you look at the trade for Ernest Jones Ernest Jones is a linebacker the Titans can keep around signing Quandre Diggs Quandre Diggs has been very good like they went out and got Darryl Baker

off the scrap heap from Indianapolis Darryl Baker was the best Titans player on defense yesterday or on Sunday. Like, Rancor Thon is doing a fine job. Is it greatness? No. But it was his first time being a GM too. And the number one thing, the number one thing that you have to do well as a general manager to build a consistent contender in the NFL is draft well. And Rand Carthon has already shown us he's a pretty good drafter. So it's just crazy to me that people are coming after Rand Carthon, fire Brian Callahan. Like,

it just lacks so much patience and reality, you know? It's just crazy to me. Look, I have said it before. I'll say it again. You give these guys the 2026 season. Before you go into the new stadium in 2027, if things haven't started trending upward, then yeah, make changes after three years. Four for Rancarton.

That makes sense. But expecting them to clear house right now, like, those are just absurd, emotion-filled, fanatic overreactions. Everybody, take a chill pill, take a deep breath, and let's see where we are this time next year. Like, it's just hard to have conversations with folks who are all chicken little. The sky is falling, fire and brimstone.

It's just an overreaction. It simply is. But with that being said, throw a tighten up in the chat, throw a thumbs up on the video. That's going to do it for me today, folks. As always, I am your host, Tyler Rowland, and this was Locked on tight.