Locked On Titans - Daily Podcast On The Tennessee Titans - Tic Tac Tuesday - Nasty Nate Davis Arrives!! Lewan Returns to the Building and Titans Talk

Episode Date: October 1, 2019

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Welcome to the Locked on Titans podcast. I'm your host, Tyler Rowland. Titans fans, it's Tic Tac Tuesday. Taylor LeJuan was in the building on Monday. All kinds of great optimistic things happening around the Titans right now. We are going to jump into Tic Tac Tuesday, as I said, and cover the one, the only, Nasty Nate Davis. I'm going to give you guys two running plays, two passing plays that I saw of his during

the game where he showed some really solid traits and some things that we can be pretty pumped about going forward. Before we jump into Tic Tac Tuesday, we are going to talk about the return of Taylor LeJuan. I'm just going to break down how that impacts the team and give you some statistics I dug up to kind of showcase how important his impact is going to be. I'm also going to give you an injury update coming out of the game on Sunday and give you one small update on the Titans upcoming opponent this weekend. In our third segment, I'm going to give you guys some Titans talk as I like to do at the beginning of the week. Just give you some clips from Mike Vrabel's press conference. Give some of his thoughts a day after the game. He gives you some interesting answers on

some specific things that I think everyone is curious to hear the answer to. So really excited to get into Tic Tac Tuesday with you guys. Let's get it. This is your Tennessee Titans lead story. Taylor LeJuan was back in the building and back in the facility on Monday with the Tennessee Titans ready to rejoin them after his four-game suspension. So, obviously, he was suspended for PDs, performance-enhancing drugs.

There was a banned substance that the NFL busted him with. Taylor, of course, made a passionate plea that he was innocent. He was unaware that he was putting the substance in his body. He had cleared the supplements that he was innocent. He was unaware that he was putting the substance in his body. He had cleared the supplements that he was taking, but the NFL rarely is going to give anybody any kind of appeal or any reduction in suspension for something like that. It's their policy that what you put in your body is your responsibility. And unfortunately, regardless of what Taylor was able to say or do he had to take the suspension he had to bite the bullet now he's returned though the Titans are in a great position they're at two and two he was in the building going through walkthroughs going through meetings

getting a lift in very exciting to have Nashville's dad back on the team and for good reason now we could go into different analytics and I could give you PFF grades and everything like that, but sometimes the base statistics do their job. The Titans offensive line was fourth worst in the league, giving up 17 sacks over the first four games. They gave up zero against the Falcons and are still fourth worst in the league with 17 sacks allowed so far. Same thing with QB hits. The Titans are fourth worst in the league right now, having given up 30 QB hits. They've given up 13 negative runs. And not that all of that is completely on the offensive line. Some of those sacks are from Marcus holding the ball too long. Some of those negative runs are Derek Henry or Deion Lewis just not hitting the hole. Some of those QB hits are from wide receivers not running the correct route or being in the

right position. So like always, there's enough blame to go around, but the raw data right there just shows you the Titans offensive line without Taylor LeJuan and obviously with Jameel Douglas, who I would say is losing Kevin Panfield or not having Nate Davis ready, is much less of an impact than not having Taylor LeJuan ready. And it manifests itself within the scheme as well. We've seen on numerous occasions the Titans attempt wide receiver screens, different quick screens to tight ends or running backs. And unfortunately, Dennis Kelly doesn't have the athleticism that Taylor LeJuan does. I can think back to some specific wide receiver screens against the Jags and the Colts where we tried to throw a wide receiver screen to the slot to Adam Humphreys and it was Dennis Kelly's job to run out to where Adam

Humphreys is and block his man. But unfortunately, the DB was able to get to Humphreys before Kelly was able to get out to block him. And I don't necessarily blame Dennis Kelly in that situation. He's being asked to do something that doesn't fit him. He's more of a big-bodied mauler who plays on the right side than an athletic, agile, talented left tackle. But he did the best he could, and we have to commend Dennis Kelly for his effort. Although, even against Atlanta, some running plays got blown up while I was re-watching the game from Dennis Kelly just

not being athletic enough to get in front of his guy on the back side of runs. We would be running towards Jack Conklin towards the right side and the back side defender would cross Dennis Kelly's face, come across his chest, and then make a play in the backfield. So even plays like that, Dennis Kelly is a backup swing tackle and a dang good one, but he's not a starting left tackle and the Titans paid Taylor LeJuan to be one of the best in the league and getting him back obviously will be a benefit. Combine that with Nate Davis showing up who was able to put in 40 snaps, which is 62% of the offensive snaps. Nate Davis getting more comfortable in this offense and doing some of the things that we saw him do that I'll break down in the next segment, as well as adding Taylor LeJuan, a top tier left tackle back to this line.

It's nothing but good news for the Tennessee Titans right now. Quickly, just to give you guys an update about the Titans injury report. Of course, Kevin Panfield is yet to play in a game this year. He did get a little bit of work last week in practice, so I would expect him to increase that workload. Not certain if he'll be available for week five, but it is nice to see him start to recover. Cameron Wake suffered a hamstring injury. Haven't got too much of an update from Mike Vrabel on that so far. Hope to hear more as we progress through the week. Hopefully he is able to play with some rest throughout this week.

And then on the Bills side, just to look ahead, Josh Allen did suffer a pretty vicious hit and a concussion in the game against the Patriots this weekend. So curious to see if he'll be able to make it through the concussion protocol and be able to suit up and go against the Titans in week five. We'll keep an eye on that as we move forward throughout the week as well. Hey, are you hungry? Yeah, like while you're listening to this

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Use promo code LOCKEDON to activate the offer. That's promo code LOCKEDON. Visit mybookie.ag today. You play, you win, you get paid. Tick-Tack Tuesday. Okay, Titans fans. So what I want to do with our Tick-Tack Tuesday this week is celebrate and analyze and jump into the film room and look at nasty Nate Davis.

I personally had high hopes for Davis coming out of Charlotte and analyze and jump into the film room and look at nasty Nate Davis. I personally had high hopes for Davis coming out of Charlotte being a third-round pick. I thought there was a really good chance that he would be the starter from the get-go, but some injuries in the preseason and training camp really set him back. And as Mike Vrabel has bemoaned in his press conferences, this is the first game action that Nate Davis has gotten since the Senior Bowl. So, understandably, Vrabel was worried about how he would perform and handle everything that goes into communicating, not just doing your job, but being part of an offensive line unit and an offense that has to all work together.

But I thought in his 40 snaps, which was 62% of the offensive snaps, the other ones going to Jameel Douglas, of course. I thought he played very well for it being his first game action. And I'm going to go over four plays, two run plays, two pass plays, and just give you guys basically what I'm seeing from Nate Davis right now. In the first play, it is a run play. The Titans are in shotgun. The Falcons have a ton of people across the defensive line.

They have six people on the line of scrimmage with one linebacker behind them in the corner walked up as well. So we're talking about eight people in the box here. The Titans do have two tight ends to the right side next to Jack Conklin and Nate Davis. They have Marcus in the shotgun, as I said, with Derek Henry. They take the snap, and basically what the three interior offensive linemen are tasked with doing right here is the Falcons have a defensive tackle, number 96, on the left side of Ben Jones. What they're going to ask Roger Saffold to do is go to the right and get in front of that guy. Ben Jones is supposed to help him

by using his left hand to kind of push 96 back, which gives Saffold enough time to jump in front of his face. A similar thing has happened on the other side just with number 97, Grady Jarrett, one of the best defensive tackles in the NFL and an incredible disruptor of run games and pass games alike. Nate Davis is tasked with getting in front of him and pushing him out and kicking him out so that Derek Henry can kind of go in between Ben Jones and Nate Davis. Well, what ends up happening is becomes kind of a mush. It's kind of a big pile up with all the offensive linemen, but Nate Davis is able to get in front of 97 and kick him out. Derek Henry is so patient on this run. He could cut out to the left and get tackled by Vic Beasley on the edge on the back side but instead he just waits one millisecond with some patience and then follows Nate Davis up through the hole as he pushes Grady Jarrett about three to four

yards back with the help of Ben Jones Derek Henry is able to fall forward through there and pick up about five to six yards as Nate Davis at the end of the play kind of tumbles hilariously over Roger Saffold. But in the run game, he was able to get some push. One big thing about this play that I also want to point out is Nate Davis was tasked with doing the silent count. So a lot of people ask me on Twitter at Tic Tac Titans where I'm going to be posting the visual breakdowns of these plays as well. A lot of people ask me why the guards will look back at the quarterback and then touch the center. What's happening on those plays is the Titans are using a silent count. They're not saying Hut Hut Hike or Red 97 or Omaha Hall or anything like that. It's just about the center

snaps the ball and the offense should have the jump on the defense just from that alone. So what happens on those plays is they're giving Douglas trust to look back at Marcus. Marcus obviously gives him a sign that he's ready to go to snap the play, and then Douglas is the one who's tapping Jones on the butt, tapping him on the hip to let him know, hey, we're ready to snap the ball on your command. So given Nate Davis that kind of trust and responsibility in his first game, even while they're rotating him, I find that pretty fascinating. So we'll talk about the second run play. This play was one of my favorites of the day. And the reason for that is because we know that Nate Davis was a power player. He has good tenacity, good strength, and wants to play ferociously, and we saw that on the

first play that I discussed where he just mauled Grady Jarrett out. Well, this second run play, which comes in the fourth quarter as compared to the first play, which came in the third quarter, both important plays as the Titans are trying to kill the clock in the second half. In this play, the Titans are actually under center rather than being in shotgun as they were the previous play. So you're getting a variety of different formations where you're seeing Davis make these plays. It's another zone run. This time, once again, the talented Grady Jarrett, which makes a lot of this very impressive, is that Nate Davis was going up against Grady Jarrett, who's one of the best interior disruptors in the league.

So even though the Falcons don't have a great defensive line or a great pass rush or a great run defense, Grady Jarrett is still a very talented player. So I think a lot can be taken from Nate Davis's performance. So a second play here, the Titans are in the regular single back formation. They just have Derrick Henry in the backfield, Marcus under center. They're looking to run to the right. Grady Jarrett is going to be on Nate Davis's outside right shoulder. So Grady Jarrett is to the side. The Titans are running the ball. What they're asking Nate Davis to do here is use his athleticism and quickness, which is why I'm so impressed by this particular play. Grady Jarrett is on his outside shoulder. So Nate Davis has to take a step

to his right, somehow get in front of Grady Jarrett, and then push him towards the inside, back towards the center, to allow Derrick Henry to run off his backside. That's called a reach. He's got to reach with his right foot, get outside of someone who's outside of him, and then turn them around to the inside so Derrick Henry can run past. And even though Grady Jarrett is one of the more talented and athletic interior disruptors in the league, Nate Davis is able to pull off this incredibly athletic block and spring Derrick Henry for seven yards. There's five minutes left in the fourth quarter at this time. The Titans are driving towards midfield.

They're able to take off a couple more minutes off the clock after this and just salt away a victory. So some of these run plays we're seeing from Nate Davis are out of shotgun. They're out of single back where the quarterback's under center. He is using zone blocking to drive people out. He is taking a reach step, getting in front of someone and then turning them back and blocking them down. He's just doing a lot of different things against a really talented player.

So there's a lot to be taken from what we're seeing here from Nate Davis. Excited to talk about the pass plays as well, because he has some of his better performances throughout the game in pass protection, which I expected him to be good against the run. But some of these pass protection plays that we're seeing from Nate Davis really get you excited as well. Let's jump to play number three. So both the passing plays are the Titans' two final touchdowns. So the first one that I'm going to talk about, which is going to be our play number three,

is A.J. Brown's fade in the end zone. So what's impressive about this is all that's going on with this play. So Marcus is under center here. He's got Adam Humphreys and A.J. Brown to his right hand side with Derrick Henry and a single back behind him. Adam Humphreys and A.J. Brown to his right-hand side with Derrick Henry and a single back behind him. Adam Humphreys is obviously in the slot, and the Falcons, which they had been doing for most of the game, at least the first half a lot, are just playing man coverage and stacking the box, saying Titans weapons beat us one-on-one.

The Titans weapons were able to do so, so really nice for them to call the Falcons bluff on that. When I've discussed that the Falcons are a zone team, they have been that way the entire time that Dan Quinn has been their coach, but they took the Jaguars' memo and they played man against the Titans, but it got them beat. In this situation, individual performances like Nate Davis' were able to accomplish that.

So on this play, Marcus takes the snap. Quick three-step drop. Pump fakes towards Adam Humphreys in the flat and then throws a beautiful fade to A.J. Brown who makes a stellar play on the ball to drag both of his feet and secure the catch for a touchdown. What I find impressive from Nate Davis here is once again Grady Jarrett is rushing him. Grady Jarrett is one of the best in the league at converting speed to power he fires off of the ball and then without any kind of special move will just hit you in the chest bull rush you get you off balance and then make a quick move around you there's not a lot of spin swim rip

he's just converting speed to power after firing off the ball Nate Davis with you know I talked he showed off his athleticism well but that's not a hallmark of his game. He's going to possibly have struggles with players who have that kind of athleticism. Well, here he absorbs the initial contact from Grady Jarrett. His feet are a little out of position, but he slides and slides and slides backwards in the pocket. And Grady Jarrett actually opens up a nice window for Marcus. Nate Davis just kind of rides with him doesn't try to do too much just lets the athletic guy go where he wants to go but continues

like basketball be between your man in the basket he continues to be between his man and Marcus so just an excellent play right there and he directly is responsible for giving Marcus enough time to make that play because Grady Jar typically, and we've seen this throughout the year, would be right in Marcus' face during that kind of play with that kind of quick three-step drop. Not giving Marcus a lot of time. It's very quick. The route has to go quickly. The throw has to be made.

If there's any kind of interior disruption, it's going to ruin the timing of the play. And we know that Marcus doesn't do necessarily so well when the timing is thrown off. So absolutely brilliant block and way to sustain and prevent a great player from ruining a good play design. Wonderful by Nate Davis. Our last and final play is on Corey Davis' touchdown. Nate Davis, again, does a great job here in play four.

Play three, the Titans were lined up under center in a single back. Well, play four, the Titans are in shotgun. So this is Corey Davis's touchdown and the final touchdown of the Titans score of the game that really kind of ices the game because the Titans defense is just so good that 24 points, which I tweeted at Tic Tac Titans on Twitter before the game, 24 points would probably get it done. 24 points was definitely able to get it done with the caliber of this defense. So one thing here that I want to showcase again, Nate Davis given multiple responsibilities.

Versatile, different formations, different play designs. The Titans are in shotgun now in play four. It's third and five on the 24-yard line. The Titans get a touchdown here to ice the game. As I said, Nate Davis is one-on-one with Grady Jarrett. The Falcons bring five guys to pressure Marcus and play man, which they had been doing the whole entire first half. Once again, his own team playing all man and bringing pressure.

That is definitely something that they're trying to key on against Marcus, and he was able to make them pay. Luckily here, we have Nate Davis once again tasked with the silent count. So he's reading Marcus, gets the signal, taps Ben Jones, lets him know that they're ready to go ahead and run the play. What he does here, though, is special. Deion Jones is playing middle linebacker and he's lined up directly over Ben Jones. Ben Jones doesn't necessarily get to Deion when he blitzes as quick as possible, but

Nate Davis is responsible for Grady Jarrett. He's got to give all his attention to him, who's lined up directly over him. He uses his left hand on the snap, though, and just gives a nice pop to Deion Jones as he blitzes through an open hole directly up the gut. That gives Deion Lewis enough time and slows down Deion Jones enough for Deion Lewis to make a really good block and pass protection, give Marcus enough time to get the ball to Corey Davis, who beats his matchup one-on-one, and there's a touchdown. So another great play by Nate Davis to help in multiple ways. He's helping

Ben Jones get the silent count snap off. He's helping Deion Lewis with a nice shiver with his left hand to a blitzing linebacker. He's taking care of one of the best interior disruptors in Grady Jarrett, who gets a nice upfield rush. And once again, Davis just slides his feet and stays in front of him. So really encouraged by these four plays from Nate Davis. There's a lot more good on the tape as well. There are some other plays that I've seen covered quite a bit in the Titans sphere where Nate Davis is able to, and it's something that Vrabel talks about

in his press conference. I'll try to get that snippet in for you guys where we're talking about Nate Davis who's basically able to stop those speed to power rushers take that initial contact reset his feet and set his base and then just be solid and hold up and keep his balance he's able to do that throughout the tape got the majority of snaps I look forward to Nate Davis taking a stranglehold of this position and being the Titans' starting right guard for the rest of the season and hopefully for the future to come. That was Tic Tac Titans, Tic Tac Tuesday version.

I am going to give you guys some Mike Vrabel snippets from his press conference on Monday in our final segment, Titans Talk. Titans Talk. Okay, Titans fans, so I'm going to give you just a couple of quick snippets from Mike Vrabel's press conference on Monday. I think it's important for you to hear the head coach's thoughts on some of his decisions and some of the things that happened in the game after a full day of him having perspective on it. I at least really enjoy those, and I want to make sure I pass on that knowledge to you guys.

So this audio, of course, is courtesy of TitansOnline.com. Hope you guys enjoy. You know, I think that that's something that we talked about. When you get off to a fast start, it allows you a little bit more flexibility to not have to be so perfect and not have to play catch up. And you can kind of run your offense and dictate the tempo. And if they're trying to load up for the runs, able to hit some of the, you know, passes down the field and take advantage of really their aggressiveness based on the score of the football game. So that was great to see. You know, I think that sometimes, you know, you want to be as conscious as you can of the situation.

And we want to still stay aggressive and, you know, give them credit. They made some good plays. And we got off to a aggressive and give them credit. They made some good plays. And we got off to a great start. And then we weren't able to complete the first drive after the half. We got an amazing performance, an all-pro performance from Brett. Our defense played very well. So just through the flow of the game, I think that you kind of understand if we can take care of the football and continue to force them to throw the football,

we can pressure the quarterback, and hopefully we can get some turnovers in those opportunities. Well, I think what it allowed us yesterday was to evaluate Nate in his first game, and I think that that was just something that I wanted, and we all wanted to make sure that that was trending in the right direction. I just don't want to – having been out there in my first NFL game and everybody that's gone through it, we're really pleased on where Nate's come, but when it's your first game and you play 39 snaps in it,

you just want to make sure that it's going okay, and that's why we rotated. Both those guys played well, and I would say that we're going to continue to try to get Nate in there and get him some work and get him going. Very composed. I mean, we used him in a silent cadence and him controlling the tap to Ben. You know, thought he got to the second level. I thought he finished. I thought he got on guys.

Even if it wasn't always the right guy, sometimes it's not. But, you know, there were times where he was matched up with Jared and stepped out there, punched him. I thought he recovered well. I mean, there were times where something I saw them working on last week, an individual, where they were replacing their hands on that Monday practice. Some of you guys might have been down there. And Sully was working on a bull rush.

And Teron was down. Whoever was down there, it was a couple guys were watching. And they were working on a bull rush and replacing their hands and sitting down. And sure enough, it showed up on tape. So at least something that we did from that one practice showed up in the game and it helped Nate and some of those other guys with a speed to power rush. Yeah, absolutely. I mean, we're going to try to get them as many reps as we possibly can

and keep moving forward and trying to, you know, get the best combination that helps the football team. He demanded a hug, and it was a quick one. But, you know, we're back in business, and he's back ready to work and help the team, and we got to get him ready to play. You know, Dennis is going to, you know, go back over and beat a, you know, compete at the right tackle spot like he did in the offseason.

And but Dennis, you know, stepped in there and did a heck of a job and competed. You know, he was put into a tough spot having to switch over full time over there. You know, he was put into a tough spot having to switch over full time over there. You know, that's something that we appreciate everything that Dennis does for us. Well, I mean, we think that, you know, Taylor's job is to block his guy. And we have to make sure that he's ready to go. I'm sure he's in condition. I know he's in condition, but getting him ready in game condition and in fundamentals and all those things that we've been working on that's where our focus is

right now is just trying to to get him ready and focus on the bills I think practice is important for everybody so you know Taylor will be one of those guys that practice is important for and, you know, the communication with him and the tight ends and Roger and, you know, the rest of the guys and just hearing a snap count and being able to function as a unit. No, I think that if, you know, given the opportunity, I think probably the proper decision, not knowing if you're going to get it, is to, you know, go up three scores. I mean, that's, you know, that's how it goes.

You know, you make a decision that's decisive. And, again, I thought I always think we're going to get it when we go for it. And, you know, if I get the chance to do it again like everybody else, just be better and go up three scores. I just want to try to put the game away. No, we talk. Once Arthur makes the play call, the conversation is, where do we want to go with the next one and what do we want to do?

In that particular instance, if we get down there close enough, I know what plays we have in short yardage and do we feel good about it. I don't think that there was any panic. I don't think it was late to get it you know so those are the decisions that that we make through the course of the game and you know defense did a heck of a job and um you know there was a lot of really good play calls in that decision you know that was the one that I made, and that's where we're at.

Okay, that was Mike Vrabel, head coach of the Tennessee Titans, and of course that was all his thoughts coming out of the game. Now he'll most likely shift to Buffalo, and we expect to do that here on the Locked on Titans podcast as well. So as always, I'm bringing you guys content every day. For Tic Tac Tuesday, please follow day for Tic Tac Tuesday. Please follow me at Tic Tac Titans on Twitter. I'll be posting the video breakdowns to go along with the plays that we discussed today so you can see exactly what I'm talking about. Please subscribe

to the podcast if you haven't already and join us every day, Monday through Friday. I'm bringing you guys content as much as I possibly can. Really exciting season. Everything is pointing up for the Titans right now. There's so much information from the game that I'm excited to give to you guys content as much as I possibly can. Really exciting season. Everything is pointing up for the Titans right now. There's so much information from the game that I'm excited to give to you guys and talk about going forward. So really hope you join me. I am your host, Tyler Rowland, and this is Locked on Titans. you