Locked On Titans - Daily Podcast On The Tennessee Titans - Tennessee Titans Will Levis STRUGGLES, Defense Brings PRESSURE & Jeffery Simmons Returns to Practice

Episode Date: June 5, 2024

The Tennessee Titans were back on the practice field on Wednesday and it came with some growing pains for Will Levis who struggled early, but bounced back during a red zone period. Levis is changing his mechanics and some lessons are expected on the way. Next, the defense was a big cause of the issues and Dennard Wilson has shown and said he is ALL about PRESSURE. Finally, Jeffery Simmons and L'Jarius Sneed rejoined the team briefly on Wednesday and that is a good sign. Subscribe to the TicTacTitans Film Channel:https://www.youtube.com/@TicTacTitans TicTacTitans Merchandise: https://dixons-dream.square.site/shop/tictactitans-gear/C3AAPNWXSXA6SBYG3USV2I7R?page=1&limit=30&sort_by=category_order&sort_order=asc Follow Tyler on Twitter @TicTacTitans Follow the show on Facebook @LockedOnTitansPod Subscribe to the Locked On Titans YouTube channel:https://www.youtube.com/c/LockedOnTitans/videos Support Us By Supporting Our Sponsors!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. eBay MotorsFor parts that fit, head to eBay Motors and look for the green check. Stay in the game with eBay Guaranteed Fit at eBayMotors.com. Let’s ride. eBay Guaranteed Fit only available to US customers. Eligible items only. Exclusions apply. GametimeDownload the Gametime app, create an account, and use code LOCKEDONNFL for $20 off your first purchase. Terms Apply. FanDuelFanDuel, America’s Number One Sportsbook. Right now, NEW customers get ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTY DOLLARS in BONUS BETS with any winning GUARANTEED That’s A HUNDRED AND FIFTY BUCKS – with any winning FIVE DOLLAR BET! Visit FanDuel.com/LOCKEDON 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)

Will Levis struggled early, but bounced back in a big way at Tennessee Titans practice on Wednesday. I'll tell you what happened on today's edition of the Locked on Titans podcast. 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 the Locked On Titans podcast is brought to you by GameTime. Download the GameTime app, create an account, use the code LOCKEDONNFL for $20 off your

first purchase. Terms apply. The Tennessee Titans were back out on the practice field on Wednesday, and quarterback Use the code LOCKEDONNFL for $20 off your first purchase. Terms apply. The Tennessee Titans were back out on the practice field on Wednesday, and quarterback Will Levis struggled early but bounced back. I'll talk about the process Will Levis is going through right now. Also, I got great news for Tennessee Titans fans. The defense will all be about pressure. I'll tell you what defensive coordinator Denard Wilson had to say.

And then finally, two of the best players on the team, Jeffrey Simmons and LeJarius Sneed, were back out on the field. I'll explain what's going on before I get into it. Do want to thank you for making the Locked on Titans podcast

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. Make sure that you get subscribed. Stay subscribed. It's your team every day here on the Locked

on Titans podcast. Speaking of every day, shout out to my everydayers out there tuning in Monday through Friday. On tomorrow's show, the Titans have practice once again. So I'm going to be breaking that down to cap off the week of Locked on Titans. And then next week, the Titans have their final OTA practices of the summer. So I'll be breaking those down all next week as well.

Will Levis struggling out there. That is kind of the thing that I want to start with. But he bounced back, and there's a reason for some of the struggles as well. First, to start off, out there, Will Levis threw an interception to Jack Gibbons in a 7-on-7 red zone period. He followed that up with a money hooker, making a pass breakup on a pass to Tyler Boyd. There was a sack as well where Traylon Burks fell down on his route.

Will Levis had an overthrow to Josh Wiley. It was a very, very ugly first period for the Titans offense in 7-on-7 red zone according to A-Z Sports. But again, like I told you, Will Levis did bounce back in that second red zone period that wasn't from the 5-yard line like the first period was, but was from the 10-yard line where Will Levis threw two touchdown passes, one to Tyler Boyd, one to Tony Pollard.

There was a coverage sack, though, on the play. Again, it's 7-on-7, so no real sacks out there. Levis had an overthrow to one of the undrafted free agent wide receivers, a pass to NWI where NWI couldn't get his feet inbounds. So overall, yes, two touchdown passes. Will Levis did bounce back, but a little bit of a struggle for the young quarterback and for the offense in general. And honestly, this is to be expected at this point.

In training camps, in summer practices, it is a constant cliche that the defense is going to be ahead of the offense. Not to mention, with the Titans offense, you got a brand new system. You got a bunch of young players. You got a bunch of new players as well that are adding in that have never played with each other before. So there's obviously going to be some chemistry things that the Titans need to get through. So yes, it was a struggle for Will Levis early on, but some good moments to bounce back, and ultimately we should expect some ups and downs,

not only throughout these summer practices, but once we get into training camp. I can already imagine what the reaction is going to be when the Titans defense has a great day against Will Levis in the offense in training camp. These are the things that happen because the defense is always going to be ahead of the offense, and then all the factors that I mentioned before, it's to be expected. And not only all those things, but Will Levis is currently in the process of adjusting his mechanics.

Now, I mentioned this yesterday. Will Levis called himself a weirdo. But I want to go back to that quote that Will Levis had on Tuesday where he said, quote, I mean, quarterbacks are weirdos. We're always tweaking with something. You always feel like something might be off. You saw Tom Brady go through a couple of different footworks throughout one season. Just the ball wasn't coming out the way that I would have liked it to

and just started to look at what could potentially be the cause of it and just been messing around with things, specifically my base, like his feet, that I feel like I've gotten to a good spot. And he talked about, you know, the team approaching him or was it his own idea? And he said, quote, it was both. Obviously, I know when I'm not throwing it my best. And just talking through with Bo Hardegree, the quarterback coach, Nick Holtz, the offensive coordinator, Brian Callahan, the head coach, about why that might

be in just a couple of things that I can kind of hold in the back of my head and practice and pre-practice, and then hopefully it transitions into drills. I feel like it has so far. Will Levis is literally in the process of fixing some of his mechanics. He's changing his base. He wants to keep his elbow higher to keep his accuracy high on his throw. So not only is it a brand new offense and a brand new system, which Levis has already talked about, hey, I got to rep these things multiple times to really understand them. The new faces, the new places, the new players. And then you add changes into mechanics.

So I guess my whole point here is everyone relax. There's no need to worry about the struggles early on. There are going to be struggles through training camp. This is a process. I don't expect Will Levis to be mid-season form right now. So keep that in mind, and then you bounce back at the end of practice, and that's the way that it's supposed to be. But Will Levis wasn't the only one that talked about this.

Nick Holtz, the Titans offensive coordinator, who I thought gave an excellent interview on Wednesday, a lot better than kind of his opening interviews. But he talked about Will Levis as well. And he said, quote, I think at some point the second year contractually, it's always great to see a quote unquote elite or whatever, but it's kind of big picture for us. What we are

really looking at is we have been with him a couple of months. Everything we have seen from a growth standpoint from day one to today has been awesome. Everybody wants to see growth in this league. You're either growing, getting better, or you're not. And they're going to find someone to replace you that way. He's been doing great. So we have no thoughts really talking about, you know, that big picture secondary leap. And then he went into the mechanics. Nick Holtz said, quote, with his base, he's really as coachable of a quarterback

as I think, as you could find. He takes all the instruction. He doesn't really fight you on anything. He has ideas and, hey, this is why I'm doing this. I'm not sure I've ever been around a guy who is so in touch with all his mechanical things. He's very focused on it.

He has a really big understanding of it all. He's got a reason for why he's done it. But if we show him something on film, he takes it to heart. You can see the intention out there of every time that he gets something, the next day, it's been really impressive from that standpoint. Okay, they said this, let's do this, let's make

this my focus of the day. He's done that every day without fail, so it's been really cool from that standpoint. To me, guys, I would compare this to a golfer. If you've golfed, if you've watched golf, if you even have an understanding of how golf works, a guy can go out and win a tournament or go out and get a T5 or a T10 and understand that I'm not hitting the ball as best I can. And you get with your swing coach, you look at different mechanics. And if you've ever golfed, you know, there's your hand placement, your grip, where's your slotted arm coming through, what's your stand side, where's your weight distribution on your feet. There are so many things that go into it and that's like a quarterback throwing the football. There are so many different aspects from your feet to your knees to your hips to your arm to your

elbow to your hand to your placement to your eyes. Everything is all connected together. So it only makes sense that Will Levis is looking at this like, hey, last year was a decent year. I played okay. I had ups and downs. This new coaching staff and this new system is going to be what makes me great. So I'm going to kind of break everything down and build everything back up. So again, some struggles early, but a bounce back.

And with the mechanics, the new faces, the new system, it being early in the season process anyway, no reason to freak out, no reason to worry. These are good things. You can only get better from failing. All right, so keep that in mind as we go forward. But the defense has a lot to do with it as well, and the Titans defense is bringing max pressure.

Before I get into it, though, I do want to let you guys know that today's episode is sponsored by BetterHelp. All right, sometimes we all need the opportunity to get something off our chest, big or small. Certain things can really start to get to you.

It's important to let that out, especially to someone who's unbiased on your life. I mean, me personally, I have had to get my feelings out about the Tavondre sweat situation, and something that you might have been thinking about this week as well. That's why BetterHelp is great, because whatever it is that you need to get off your chest, they're going to be able to help you do that.

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and it's suited to your schedule. Visit betterhelp.com slash locked on and get 10% off your first month. That's betterhelp, H-E-L-P dot com slash locked on. Titans fans, let's continue today's edition of the Locked on Titans podcast. We are breaking down day two of Tennessee Titans mandatory minicamp. We talked about Will Levis' struggles, what all goes into that and why. It's not a bad thing at all, but now I want to give credit where it's due. If you're having struggles on the offensive side of the ball,

might have a lot to do with how well the defense is playing. And we're hearing some great stuff from the defense and from defensive coordinator Denard Wilson. Before I get into it, thank you again for making the Locked on Titans podcast your first listen each and every day, Monday through Friday, Tennessee Titans content all year round, always free. Make sure that you get subscribed, stay subscribed. It's your team every day here on the Locked on Titans podcast,

part of the Locked on Podcast Network. But we knew just from Denard Wilson's background, him talking about his influences like Greg Williams, Todd Bowles, stuff like that, we knew that Denard Wilson was going to be all about bringing pressure. And when I say bringing pressure and I say max pressure, I don't necessarily mean heavy blitzes all the time. It's a mindset. It's an aggressiveness that the Tennessee Titans defense is going to have.

And one of the big things that I think shows the change in philosophy from last year is press coverage. So I know a lot of you guys out there like me who maybe not watch the film, but you have an understanding of football maybe a little bit better than some other fans. You have been complaining for years

about Shane Bowen's defense and how the Tennessee Titans do not press at the line of scrimmage with their cornerbacks as much as we see other teams do. And one of the big problems, in my opinion, was that Shane Bowen let the cornerbacks decide whether they wanted to press or not. They said, hey, if you're comfortable, then press at the line of scrimmage. If you want to back up a little bit, then back up a little bit. Whatever makes you comfortable. No, you are the coach. You have to direct. You have to tell these players what to do.

And watching the Titans play 8 to 10 yards off the ball on wide receivers and give up these easy, short, complete passes was just so endlessly frustrating. Not only for me, a guy who breaks down the tape every single week, but for some of you guys that don't even watch the film. You could just see it on the TV broadcast. Like, why are we 10 yards off the wide receiver when it's 3rd and 4? What are we doing?

That sort of thing has been endlessly frustrating throughout the Mike Vrabel process. And get ready for a breath of fresh air, folks. Because it looks like that is finally going to end. The Titans are finally going to be a team that doesn't just let the offense take what they want. No, you're going to have to earn everything that you get.

And obviously, I wanted to give the defense credit because even on Tuesday, we heard that there were some late throws. There were some high throws. There were some near interceptions, things like that, not just from Levis, but all the quarterbacks. And then today we're hearing similar things, especially in that red zone period. I went through already the results of the two different ones with Will Levis.

So like this defense is going to be in people's faces. And even when you don't have LeJarrius Sneed out there full time and you don't have Jeffrey Simmons out there full time, the rest of the defense can still make a ton of plays. And just hearing what Denard Wilson has to say about his mindset on defense, again, it's just an incredible breath of fresh air for the Tennessee Titans and for the fans who have been sick of what we've seen the last few years. And I want to go to this quote from Denard Wilson on his general mindset with defense.

And of course, this is courtesy of TennesseeTitans.com, just like the Nick Holtz quotes from earlier. But Wilson said, quote, It's the mindset with which we play. Aggressiveness is if I'm on the line of scrimmage, I'm knocking guys back. I'm setting edges violently. I'm building a wall up front with the D linemen. Aggressiveness is linebackers reading keys and coming downhill.

And when they come downhill, it's with the intention to run through people and knock running backs backwards. Aggressiveness is running sideline to sideline and swarming the ball and defending every blade of grass. When you have the attitude and play that way, and then when you add smart pressures, smart decisions, now you start to become more multiple. But to me, aggressiveness is a mindset. It's funny, they told Denard Wilson today in the press conference that a lot of players are saying they want to run through a wall for him. Well, he said, I want to run through a wall for them.

And you can feel it. Just reading that quote, if that doesn't kind of give you chicken skin, if that doesn't fire you up as a Tennessee Titans fan, I really don't know what will. You're dead inside. I don't know what to tell you. I have goosebumps on my legs right now like that. Oh, man.

Typing it out, reading it to you. So great to hear that. And put it into action. Like, this isn't just, oh, we want to be aggressive. No, there are literal things like press coverage. And here's what Denard Wilson had to say about press. He said, for me, it's press or less. Like, we're pressing you at the line of scrimmage or less than that.

I mean, like, he keeps going. I just, I love what he has to say here. And I can see why people see Denard Wilson as a potential head coach candidate soon and like a D'Amico Ryan style type guy. He said, quote, I want them to line up and I want them to be in front of receivers and challenge the receivers. Ultimately, in this game, if you give free access, which he means like not pressing at the line of scrimmage, letting wide receivers

get off the line of scrimmage free without hands in their face, back to the quote, it's easy for quarterbacks to complete balls. What I want is to create hesitation at the line of scrimmage and make them earn it the hard way. Make them throw the 50-50 ball. But everything else, we are going to challenge. Again, if this is not an incredible breath of fresh air, I don't know what to tell you. And Denard Wilson was even asked, are you going to let cornerbacks decide whether they press or not?

And he looked at the camera and he said, quote, from day one, it's you press everything. Period. End quote. Woo! Oh, man.

It gets me absolutely fired up. And the Titans have great personnel to do exactly that with. LeJarius Sneed, who's probably the best press corner in the entire NFL, Chito, who is another guy who's a physical cornerback that likes to press, and then Roger McCreary, who can literally do anything. All right? Everyone's catching up on Roger McCreary, and it's nice to see him because I've been on his bandwagon since before last season.

Finally, Denard Wilson also talked about interior pressure. And we talk about the edge, and the Titans need help on the edge, but at the end of the day, interior pressure is what really can collapse an offense. And we're seeing these interior guys get paid a ton, like Big Jeff. And Denard Wilson said, quote, We talk a lot about DBs, but the game is won and lost in the trenches. And the biggest thing is like we talk about edge rush.

You really want to dominate the offense through the A and B gaps. A and B gaps are from the outside shoulders of the guards through to each other. A is in between the center and the guard. B is in between the guard and the tackle. So he says, when you dominate the line from the A and B gaps, there is no step-up lane for the quarterback.

No step-up lanes. And we go back to the corners being connected at the time of the route or the step-up lane. Where is there for the quarterback to throw? And he just looked at the camera. It was like an episode of The Office. He just looked at the camera like, oh, yeah. So if this doesn't excite you, if this

doesn't get you fired up, I don't know what to say. So excited for this aggressive, max pressure defensive approach. And two guys who are going to put that pressure on and get that interior pressure, Jeffrey Simmons and LeJarrius Sneed, back out on the field. I'll tell you what happened.

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Lowest price. Guaranteed. Titans fans, let's cap off today's edition of the Locked on Titans podcast. We talked about the struggles on the offensive side of the ball with Will Levis, but why? It's nothing to panic about. We talked about the defensive side of the ball and how great it is to hear what we're hearing from Denard Wilson. But now I want to give you guys an update on who was at practice, who wasn't at practice. Again, the absences, the returns, all that. Before we get into it, thank you again for making the Locked On Titans podcast your first listen each and every day. Also want to remind you

that Locked On has launched the first ever 24-7 national sports channel on YouTube. It's streaming all day long. It's now available on Amazon Fire TV as well. It's called Locked On Sports Today. It's here for you 24-7 covering the top sports stories of the day. You get local experts from Locked On like me. You also get coverage of every single league with our national shows like Locked On NBA, which would be a great time to check that out

if you haven't before. Find Locked On Sports today. Now available on the free Fire TV channels app and right here streaming 24-7 on YouTube. But Jeffrey Simmons, LeJarius Sneed, back out on the field in a team period for the Tennessee Titans. So that's great news because we've seen neither of them involved in the team process. Simmons has been in the building, hasn't been out on the field.

Sneed's been working on the side field and getting stretched out with trainers and all that. But again, I go back to what I was just talking about. Interior pressure and press coverage. Who does that best on the Titans? LeJarius Sneed and Big Jeff. So, great news. Now, according to Teron Davenport from ESPN, shout out TD, one of my favorite media members.

We talk quite a bit. He's a good guy. But Sneed and Simmons were in uniform, but they only came out for a team walkthrough period. but Sneed and Simmons were in uniform, but they only came out for a team walkthrough period. Walkthrough, if you've played football, I mean, literally, they're just walking through their plays, walking through the scheme. Everybody's in their positions, lined up,

but you're just walking through. It's not quite a bird dog with the whistle where you're at half speed, but it's a walkthrough process. But seeing Sneed and Big Jeff out there, to me is, oh, it's not like they're injured. It's not like they're hurt in a bad way and they can't be out on the field. The team is just being cautious. They're managing.

Legereus Snead. There is no reason whatsoever to rush Big Jeff back out on the field. I wouldn't care if he didn't play at all until training camp. Like, there's no need to worry about any of that. And Brian Callahan said earlier in the week that Jeffrey Simmons was a short-term injury and nothing to freak out about. So Big Jeff and Snead back out there going through walkthrough

so that they're in their positions. They can get acclimated to the system. Their teammates understand where they're going to be, what their responsibilities is. That's huge. Like, to be, what their responsibilities is. That's huge. Like, to me, these summer practices are just about getting out there, getting warmed up, getting back in the swing of football. Training camp is where you really lay down the foundation of the team

that you're going to be, okay? So I'm not tripping that Snead hasn't been out there the whole time or Simmons hasn't been out there. They're out there right now for the team stuff that actually matters. And then tomorrow, Thursday's practice, we're probably going to see the same thing. There's just no need to put Snead or Simmons out there. Them being out on the field and going through those team walkthroughs,

that is good enough news for me. I'm happy about that. So I'm satisfied there. So I wanted to give you guys that positive update. And Denard Wilson talked about LeJarrius Sneed and how he's just not worried at all about the management or anything like that. They know who LeJarrius Sneed is.

We know who he is as a player. Just let him play football at this point. But as for other stuff, again, according to TD, Calvin Ridley was limited on the day. So the Titans aren't pushing him too hard. He's been working hard. He's been at every single event. While other guys have kind of missed here and there, they've been out doing different things during voluntary stuff,

Calvin Ridley has literally been out there every single day. So it makes sense. Give Calvin Ridley a little bit of a break. You don't want to push him too hard this early. Again, it's very early in the process. As for people who missed again, Tavondre Sweat. Signed his contract.

Still not out on the field. Like I told you yesterday, Brian Callahan said he may be out on the field next week for the final OTAs. It may be training camp. Hopefully, he's able to get out on the field next week for the final OTAs. It may be training camp. Hopefully, he's able to get out on the field next week. Like, this is a guy with conditioning issues, a rookie who doesn't know the system. Like, he needs to get out on the field as much as possible. This is not LeJarrius Sneed and Jeffrey Simmons, long-time veterans in the league

who are making big contracts, who you can count on, who you know what you're going to get from. This is a rookie. So, hopefully, he's back out there, but he wasn't out there on Wednesday. He's probably not going to be out there on Thursday. NPF, still not out there. And more positive

stuff from John Ajuquu, and we heard from Leroy Watson on Wednesday, and all that. Anthony Kendall, Shaheem Carter, two low-end defensive backs, still not out there, and I think I'm going to save it for tomorrow. But there's an undrafted free agent defensive back out of Tennessee who's making an impression.

So a guy like Anthony Kendall, a guy like Shaheem Carter, who were end-of-the-roster practice squad-level guys last year, the more time they miss, the worse for them. TK McClendon, still not out there. I'm not as high on TK as the team seems to be, so that's a bit worrisome at this point. Been a while since he's been on the field. And Quentin Bohanna, the interior defensive lineman,

Devondre Sweat's babysitter, as I like to call him. He wasn't out there either. And again, the Titans' interior defensive line depth is probably the most concerning thing to me about the team right now. I just, I really do not like any of the players that they have behind Jeffrey Simmons. So, Sweat maybe will work out, but what, I mean, what can we expect from him right now?

I mean, you have TK McClendon and Quentin Bohanna and Marlon Davidson, like Keiondre Coburn. I just, or Keiondre Coburn is the babysitter, not Quentin Bohanna and Marlon Davidson, like Keandre Coburn. I just, or Keandre Coburn is the babysitter, not Quentin Bohanna. Sorry about that, Bohanna. But anyways, I'm just very concerned about the interior defensive line depth. Very, very concerned. And these absences

do not make me feel any better about it. But we'll see what happens tomorrow. Thursday's practice. I'm going to be breaking it down with you guys tomorrow to cap off the week here. Again, make sure you get subscribed, stay tomorrow. Thursday's practice. I'm going to be breaking it down with you guys tomorrow to cap off the week here. Again, make sure you get subscribed. Stay subscribed. It's your team every day here on the Locked on Titans podcast. But that's going to do it for me today, folks.

As always, I am your host, Tyler Rowland. And this is Locked on Titans. So