Locked On Titans - Daily Podcast On The Tennessee Titans - Titans GM Jon Robinson Gets Emotional, Mike Vrabel Talks Radunz & More NFL Combine Comments!

Episode Date: March 3, 2022

The Tennessee Titans brain trust spoke at the NFL Combine on Wednesday and there was A LOT said. First, Titans General Manager Jon Robinson spoke on a multitude of topics including his emotions after the playoff loss, Harold Landry's contract, Ryan Tannehill's status and the health of Julio Jones. Tyler goes through Robinson's press conference and gives his perspective on the answers given. Next, Titans Head Coach Mike Vrabel did his media appearance and had quite a bit to say about Titans new offensive coach Tim Kelly, Ryan Tannehill's play & Dillon Radunz as a potential starter!Follow Tyler on Twitter @TicTacTitansFollow the show on Facebook @LockedOnTitansPodSubscribe to the Locked On Titans YouTube channel:https://www.youtube.com/c/LockedOnTitansSupport Us By Supporting Our Sponsors!Built BarBuilt Bar is a protein bar that tastes like a candy bar. Go to builtbar.com and use promo code “LOCKED15,” and you’ll get 15% off your next order.BetOnlineBetOnline.net has you covered this season with more props, odds and lines than ever before. BetOnline – Where The Game Starts!Rock AutoAmazing selection. Reliably low prices. All the parts your car will ever need. Visit RockAuto.com and tell them Locked On sent you. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Welcome to the Locked on Titans podcast. I am your host, Tyler Rowland. Titans fans, it is a Thursday edition of the Locked on Titans podcast. On today's show, we are going to go over the comments made at the combine by Tennessee Titans General Manager John Robinson and Titans Head Coach Mike Vrabel. They touch on a bunch of things things including John Robinson's emotions after that loss to the Cincinnati Bengals.

Contract extension talks for Harold Landry. Contract extension talks for A.J. Brown. And will Dylan Radins be a starter for the Titans next year? Comments on all of that and more on a Thursday 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. Titans fans, it is a Thursday edition of the Locked On Titans podcast. We saw Titans General Manager John Robinson and Titans Head Coach Mike Rabel give their combine pressers in Indianapolis on Wednesday, and they gave us a ton to discuss.

We are going to start with John Robinson and his comments, talk about Harold Landry, talk about his emotions after the loss, and man, it was an emotional day. But before I get into all of that, do got to thank you guys for making the Locked on Titans podcast your first listen every day. If this is your first ever listen to the Locked on Titans podcast, make sure you subscribe on whatever platform you do stream. Also, check out the Locked on Titans podcast, make sure you subscribe on whatever platform you do stream. Also, check out the Locked on Titans YouTube channel.

Subscribe over there. Smash that notification bell so you know when all of my content goes live. Throw a thumbs up on the video. If you're watching right now, you can also find me on Twitter at TicTacTitans and the show Facebook page at Locked on Titans Pod. But let's dive into the comments. And first and foremost, we got to get into John Robinson's emotional, I guess, episode. Kind of a breakdown in the middle of answering a question in a medium scrum.

And quite frankly, it makes me have so much more admiration, more than I already did, for John Robinson, a general manager who has his flaws, has his misses, but has essentially turned this franchise into one of the best, most consistent franchises in the NFL and had the most successful six-year stretch of any general manager in Tennessee Titans history. So got to give a lot of credit to John Robinson. And one of the things that kind of verifies

or solidifies my feelings for John Robinson as the general manager is the way that he answered this question. They asked him about his emotions after the playoff loss or just his thoughts after the season came to an end. And John Robinson said,

that keeps me up at night. And from that point, I'm not going to sugarcoat it, guys. John Robinson teared up. He was emotional, and he took about 20 to 30 seconds to collect himself before he could get out the rest of his answer. He was clearly emotional

during this answer, and I would encourage you to go check out the video. I retweeted it on Twitter, at TicTacTitans. Jim Wyatt, John Glenn, Teron Davenport all had video as well. Paul Kaharski, of course. So go check out the video if maybe I'm not getting across, but John Robinson really had an emotional moment. Once he was able to continue though, he said, the trust that ownership is putting me are fans. And I mean, that stadium was rocking now,

and you can only imagine what it would have been like the next week. So, pretty long list of stuff that I've got to be better at, end quote. I mean, you could just tell he was playing it out in his mind, and I wonder how many times John Robinson has played through that game in his mind. Again, you get nine sacks tying a playoff record. AJ and Julio combined for over 200 yards you rush as a team for over 140 yards and a rushing touchdown

you get a turnover that sets you up for a score and to have it fall apart the way that it did as I tweeted when I saw the video John Robinson knew that the year for the Titans to win the Super Bowl was 2021 and Ryan Tannehill blew it for him so those emotions came out of course he didn't say and Ryan Tannehill blew it for him. So those emotions came out. Of course, he didn't say all that, but I'll say it for him. He can't say that as the guy who

runs the team. So that was an emotional moment, and any Titans fan who really gives a damn about the team, that's going to make you emotional as well. And you know, although things didn't work out last year, and like I said, John Robinson has had his misses, there is no doubt in my mind how much this man cares about the city, how much this man cares about the football team, and how much this man cares about the fans of the Tennessee Titans and how much he wants to bring a Super Bowl to Nashville. My admiration for John Robinson only grew from that statement,

and I do encourage you guys to go check out the actual video of that on my Twitter account. The next biggest thing that we got to talk about is the Harold Landry extension. Harold Landry's contract situation. I keep saying extension as a Freudian slip because Harold Landry will be a Tennessee Titan in 2022. I've made that clear throughout the all season. I'm going out on a limb.

I'm not afraid to swing. I believe that. And John Robinson's statement on Wednesday didn't deter me from that thought whatsoever. Here's what Robinson had to say about Harold Landry's contract situation. Quote, We've had some discussions about that

and we'll continue to have those discussions. We've got a meeting later this week. Continue to work through those situations. We've got a little bit of time on the tag decision, and then we've got a little bit more time on hopefully a long-term solution. So continuing to work through that, and we'll see how it goes. And then he was asked, will Harold Landry be a Titan? He said, I don't know, but I hope so.

He's done a lot of good things for us, and there's been a lot of factors that go into that, and he certainly has worked hard. He's about what we're about, and we're going to do our best to try and keep him here. End quote. Harold Landry will be a Tennessee Titan. Did you hear the way he said?

We've got a little bit of time on the tag decision, and then we've got a little bit more time on hopefully a long-term solution. If the Titans can't get a long-term extension done with Harold Landry, he will be franchise tag. He will be. And then a long-term deal will be done by training camp. Best believe that is the case. And if I'm wrong about that, feel free to dunk on me in every way,

whichever way you feel possible. But I got news for you. You're not going to be able to because Harold Landry will be back. I believe that in my bones. A couple other small things that John Robinson had to say in the press conference. He talked about Ryan Tannehill potentially being traded or looking for other quarterback options. And he said this, quote, we haven't had any discussions with any other teams about another quarterback. Ryan Tannehill is the guy. And despite all the rumors and all the consternation from the fan base, again, I have said that since the very day after the Titans lost. Ryan Tannehill will be the quarterback for the Titans in 2022.

There are no better options. There's nothing out there on the free agent market that makes sense. I'm not replacing Ryan Tannehill with a rookie quarterback and expecting them to do better than Ryan Tannehill in their rookie season, especially not out of this class and where the Titans are picking. So Ryan Tannehill will be the quarterback. Also, he talked about A.J. Brown's extension, which he is eligible for this offseason.

But we're going to dive into that as we get into more of his comments after I tell you guys about BetOnline.net. Football season might be over, but basketball season is full steam ahead in both pro and college hoops. For all the latest odds, totals, and player performance props, make sure you go to BetOnline.net, the number one spot for all your sports betting needs.

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John Robinson's comments from his press conference at the Combine in Indianapolis. We just heard his comments on Harold Landry. We heard his comments on the playoff loss. Heard his comments on Ryan Tannehill. But now I want to get into some other comments that he made that are kind of more player-specific. Talking about A.J. Brown, talking about Julio Jones,

talking about the offensive line as well. So a lot still to dive into coming out of that press conference before we get into it. I want to thank you guys again for making the Locked on Titans podcast your first listen every day. Make sure you check out the Locked on Titans podcast on whatever platform that you do stream. Also, check out the show on video on the Locked on Titans YouTube

page. But, continuing to go forward here, taking a look at some of the other things John Robinson had to say, I want to talk about the offensive line. So, obviously, Ben Jones is a free agent. There's a lot of conversation about Roger Saffold's contract, Taylor LeJuan's contract.

Will the Titans be able to keep any semblance of continuity along the offensive line? Well, this is what John Robinson had to say about the offensive line situation. Quote, that group has been together for a long time and they know each other. There's something to be said when you have that type of continuity with your front. Those are some of the decisions we're having to work through with Ben and trying to keep him and looking at all the positions on our football team with decisions we're having to work through with Ben and trying to keep him and looking at all the positions on our football team with decisions we're going to have to make. And he also added when talking about contract restructures in general,

he said, quote, difficult decisions will be made on whether some guys get released or restructured. And we've talked through all the players that are kind of on that chopping block that makes sense to be a part of that conversation. And Robinson's right. There are going to be difficult decisions to be made. But what he said about Ben Jones there and with Ben and trying to keep him, the Titans are going to try to bring back Ben Jones.

And I think ultimately they'll be successful doing that by giving him a contract similar to what they did with Jayon Brown last year. It's essentially a one-year deal. They get all the money up front, but it looks like a three-year deal on the contract because then you could spread out the bonus money and keep the cap hit low for this season. So that's my expectation. But, you know, we go back to that word, that word, that word, continuity, continuity, continuity. Well, the Titans were one of the worst pass

protection lines in the NFL last year. Is that the kind of continuity that you want? I mean, I get that they performed well in run blocking and yes, there's familiarity there, but if continuity is going to lead to bottom five and sacks allowed, then why do you want that continuity anyways? That's my question that I have. It's the same thing that we've talked about with the Titans defense for a few years until they finally popped up and got things together last year. So I don't know if I'd be searching for exact continuity on the offensive line after the performance that they put together

in pass protection last year. But either way, Robinson's right. It's going to be difficult decisions on who gets cut, who gets restructured, all of that. But those are decisions that are going to have to be made, and I'm excited to see everything unfold, and we've talked about in multiple episodes throughout the last few weeks what I think the Titans should do in some of those situations. Now, the other big piece of Titans news that's popped up this

offseason is the potential for a new stadium. So what did John Robinson have to say about that? He said, quote, John Robinson's not going to be a part of any of those discussions. It's just not something that he needs to worry about. The business side of the organization needs to work on that. The city needs to work on that. So John Robinson's got a lot on his plate.

I don't think he needs to be worrying about new stadiums. He just needs to be worrying about how good of a team he can put in a potentially new stadium. And that's obviously going to be a few years down the line, of course. But either way, good to see the momentum kind of build for that. It would be exciting for the Titans to get a new and improved stadium and all the opportunities that that would create. But we also talked about that in a recent episode

of the Locked On Titans podcast. So check that out if you want any more deep dive information and a potential new stadium for the Titans on my YouTube page. Also, John Robinson talked about Julio Jones and obviously up and down year for Julio Jones.

No doubt about it. No way around it. But a quick quote here from John Robinson. He said, loved his work ethic last year. Team was discussing his recent medical history and talking about how it might impact his future. To me, that's a pretty straightforward comment. There is the potential that the Titans could save $10 million by cutting Julio Jones as a post-June

1st designation. So basically, it's a little loophole in the rules in the NFL where you say, hey, we're releasing this guy, but we're not going to release him until June 1st. And remember, June 1st is when kind of the new league year, not financially, but from a football perspective, really starts and contract numbers really change. So Julio Jones' dead cap right now is around $14 million, but after June 1st, it drops to $4 million. So you could save $10 million, and with that loophole, you could cut Julio Jones now, designate

him as a post-June 1st, and then you could kind of not be hamstrung financially with that. But I don't expect that to be the case. I think the Titans give Julio one more season to kind of get things right and see what they can do if they manage him better. I think how they're talking about how it might impact the future, that's not only financially, but how should they use Julio Jones going forward? How important is having other wide receivers going to be

if you have to kind of load manage know, load manage Julio Jones, the correct way to put it there. So, that wasn't the only player that he talked about that had injury troubles. This next quote, I mean, you never prey on another man's downfall.

I think that's bad karma. And I don't have anything personally against this player. He seems like a cool guy all in all. But, Darrington Evans is a guy that I've said, just cut him. Just cut him.

Save your $800,000 and let that man go play video games and be happy. I don't have anything against the guy. I don't think that maybe he's not a hard worker or anything, but the reality here is some bodies are not NFL bodies. And Darrington Evans just cannot get on the field. A national reporter asked about Darrington Evans' development to John Robinson and here was his quote. Quote, he was hurt last year. He didn't play for us. End quote. Now,

in previous situations, we've seen John Robinson, you know, at least, hey, he's working hard. He's trying to get right. He's trying to be on the field. You remember back when Mike Vrabel talked about Darrington Evans? He was crass. They said, what has Darrington Evans got to do or what has Darrington Evans done to get back on the field? He said, not enough. They are sick

of this guy. So, it only can leave me to speculate. Is he not taking his rehab seriously? Does he not put in the work in the offseason and in practice time? For them to be so crass and so short and so direct about Darrington Evans, they're not willing to stick up for him at all.

And they would if he was a good teammate and he was doing everything that he could. So from my perspective, that says to me behind the scenes, Darrington Evans isn't taking care of business. And I know it's only $800,000. And there are some people out there who think, hey, give the guy one more shot.

He's got some upside for me. Cut him. I'd rather have Dontrell Hilliard. I'd rather have Dante Foreman. I'd rather have a slew of other running backs or undrafted free agent guys. Heck, bring back Makai Sargent from last year. I don't care.

I'm done wasting money and wasting a roster spot on a guy who just can't hack it. Yeah, maybe that's crass as well, but hey, that's the reality of the situation. The final name that I want to talk about here is

Dylan Radins. And John Robinson wasn't the only one to talk about Dylan Radins, and the quote from Mike Vrabel may get people going a little bit. But I'm here to tamper things down, of course. But here's what Robinson had to say about Dylan Radins. He said, quote, we've worked with Dylan at guard and tackle. His future position is to be determined, but most of his experience is at tackle. Because he's a tackle. He's not a guard.

Don't try to reinvent the wheel here. Don't overthink it. Let the man play the position that got him to the NFL. Let the man play the position that he's played since high school. What are we doing here? It was always silly to work him at guard. It was always silly to make that a primary thing that he had to focus on. Let that man play tackle. And I think John Robinson saying that is his way of telling the coaching staff the guy is a tackle. Let him be that. But we got a lot more Dylan Radins to talk about when we go over Mike Vrabel's comments. Before we get into his comments though, I do just want to tell you guys about the Locked On NFL show. It's all of the national NFL news that you need in under 30 minutes,

Monday through Friday. A bunch of different Locked On hosts join up to make the show. I am actually the host of today's show, Thursday's show. So go check it out. I would greatly appreciate it. You get your Titans news here with me. Get your national NFL news with me and my boy Alex Clancy from Locked On Cardinals on the Thursday Locked On NFL show.

Check it out. I promise you won't be disappointed. It's free and available on all platforms. But we're going to get into Mike Vrabel's comments now. Titans fans, let's cap off this Thursday edition of the Locked On Titans podcast. We talked about John Robinson's standout comments from his press conference on Wednesday at the Combine. Now, I want to get into Mike Vrabel and Mike Vrabel's comments about a few things.

Mike Vrabel is much more long-winded than John Robinson, though. I think he does that to try to waste as much time as possible, so he has to answer as few of questions as possible. If so, hey, cheating the game. I can't blame the guy for that, but either way, he said some interesting things, not only about Dylan Radins, but about Ryan Tannehill, about Tim Kelly as well. So we're going to get into all that before we do. I just want to thank you guys again for making the Locked on Titans podcast your first listen

every day. As for your second listen, check out the Locked On NFL Draft Podcast. It is draft season, and Ryan Tracy and former NFL cornerback Eric Crocker are breaking it down for you every single day. They're going at it from two different perspectives. One,

from a scouting standpoint, looking at the college prospects, but also looking at things from an NFL front office point of view. I think that's very important as well. So make sure you check out the Locked On NFL Draft Podcast. I know I'm telling you guys about Locked On Podcast all the time, but they're really good. So check them out. That's all I can tell you on that.

But moving into Mike Vrabel's comments here, we are going to start where we ended with Dylan Radins. This is what Mike Vrabel had to say about Dylan Radins having a chance to be a starter in 2022. Quote, My charge to Keith, Keith Carter, Titans offensive line coach, and everyone that's going to help him, Frank Perrano, Brian Bell, that's our job and then most especially Dylan's. He's going to have an opportunity to start. But if you're asking me if he's ready

to start today, no. I mean, he stepped in, was ready to go. The stage wasn't too big for him. We've had conversations with Dillon, excited to work with him. It's going to be a huge offseason for him developmentally. And I'm confident he will

take that coaching and teaching and improve. Some people's alarm bells are going off. Panic. Panic. Panic. Everybody relax. First and foremost, which is not the first time that I've said that in this show,

but first things first, he's not going to hand the starting position to somebody in March. Okay? It's not going to hand the starting position to somebody in March it's not going to happen especially a young guy you want Radins to feel like he has to earn it if you say yeah he's slotted to be our starter he's probably going to be a starter

that would be interesting I don't think that's the way this organization is going to approach things like that but all I'm going to point to out of all of that, all I'm going to point to is he's going to have every opportunity to start. They're going to run him out there with the first team. They're going to practice him at tackle. He's going to have a chance to start. That's all you can ask for.

So I don't think that comment was as damning or as crazy or as bad as, you know, people try to make it out to be. I just don't. So anyways, that's my feelings on that. I feel fine with Dylan Radins. He's going to be good. He was working out with Taylor LeJuan today or on Wednesday, yesterday. So I just, everybody should calm down. Dylan Radins is going to be fine. You know, I'm not saying he's going to be a bonafide great starter or anything like that, but that comment from Mike Vrabel right there isn't anything to panic about. He said exactly what any coach should say.

The next thing that we're going to talk about here is Tim Kelly. Mike Vrabel commented on Tim Kelly's role with the team very extensively here. So let me take a deep breath. It's a long, long statement. Mike Vrabel said, quote, Some context to where that came from. Hadn't had a role like that until last year or previous to last year. Me and Jim Swartz had plenty of conversations,

and I decided to add that role on defense. That's something that I know helped us, not only during the week, but also on game day. Someone that has had experience, that wasn't looking for any sort of credit, didn't have an agenda, when that person, the right person, became available in Tim Kelly, we were able to make it work. I think we're still trying to define what it is right now. There are conversations between me and Todd and Tim and Keith

as we walk through our all-season and the coaching staff and what we may want to add add and then we'll see where things progress during the season and what area he may concentrate on. Tim is somebody that I trust is not going to come in with any sort of agenda. He's going to identify what we need to do first and foremost. Hey,

Vrabel likes that phrase too. And then be willing to give input and enhance things and also be a sounding board for Todd. He sat in that chair. And he's had conversations. And he'll have conversations with me and Todd about situations and what we may want to do. That's the role.

It will be to enhance and help us where we feel like we need help. Or maybe there are some concepts or some decisions that we have to make. How you read something. Or however you guys read this out. Or what are some plays maybe we don't currently run that we have to make, how you read something, or however you guys read this out, or what are some plays maybe we don't currently run that we could use. Those are all conversations that we already had and will have. So no real surprises there.

Nothing groundbreaking. Tim Kelly is going to come in as an advisor to the offense. I think it's very important to note that. That's exactly what the expectation was. Mike Vrabel really drove that home today. That Tim Kelly's going to do whatever the offense needs and just advise him and Todd Downing on a larger level.

Taking a look at things. But my favorite thing about that quote was, we'll feel like it will be to enhance and help us where we feel like we need help or maybe there are some concepts, past game concepts, or some decisions we have to make. Go for it, don't go for it, third down. How you read something, how you read a defense.

However you guys read this out, how did the Texans and your offense read out certain defenses? Or what are some plays maybe that we don't currently run that we could use. Adding some more complex passing plays with some more complex route combinations will be key, and I love everything that I heard there from Mike Vrabel. The last thing that we're going to hit on here is Mike Vrabel talking about Ryan Tannehill. So we heard John Robinson's comments, basically shooting down any trade talk. Ryan Tannehill. So we heard John Robinson's comments, basically shooting down any trade talk. Ryan Tannehill is our guy. Well, if you remember, Mike Vrabel talked about being better around

Ryan Tannehill at the end of the year. So what does that exactly mean? Vrabel was asked at the combine. He said, quote, everybody has an expectation. There is an expectation for alignment to protect inside out, not get beat inside, making sure that we are firm in the middle of the pocket and we run the edge rushers by. Every offensive lineman, we try to teach them their responsibility for ball security. And when we are running routes, we run the right route. And when we catch the ball, we catch it in the technique that we teach it,

which is out in front of our body with our hands. As you evaluate the ball security, we threw 19 interceptions, but there was a quarterback mistake. There was protection mistakes. We bounced some off of our shoulder pads. That all goes into offensive football, and that has to be better. It starts with me. It starts with the coaching staff,

and it also falls on our players to understand why things happen. Also, he said, quote, I think any QB in the league has to be able to make others around him better. And that's what he's talking about here is Tannehill making others better. He has to be able to have a relationship with guys and get us in the right play and be decisive with the football, stand in the pocket, and deliver it under duress and be accurate and make good decisions. I think those are all things that we'll ask of Ryan or whoever is back there.

I know some people really jumped on the whoever is back there line. That's just Vrabel doing coach speak, but he's right. He's putting the blame on everybody for ball security throughout the season. I know that we all want to hammer Ryan Tannehill for the ball security and the loss to the Bengals, but turnovers were a huge issue for the Titans throughout the season, and a lot of that came from poor pass protection. A ton of plays where the wide receiver ran the wrong route

two times in the Texans game in Week 11 with Dez Fitzpatrick running the wrong route, turning into interceptions. Balls going off people's chests. That's where, I mean, Ray C. McMath basically threw a ball up into the air one time during that game. So a ton of issues from the Titans, not all just on Ryan Tannehill, but of course a lot of that does have to do with Ryan Tannehill, but Vrabel pushed back

on all the criticism of Ryan Tannehill, and the final quote that I want to read to you is this from Mike Vrabel, quote, excuse me, Ryan has won too many games for us, has been a part of too many huge victories for us, has done too much for us.

Now we have to be better. That's unacceptable. Ryan knows that. He'll tell you that. You can't make some of those mistakes, but he's not the only one out there making mistakes. That's what he had to say, of course, about the playoff game and the turnovers. I agree with him, but I appreciate the fact that he didn't just, you know, relieve Ryan Tannehill of all that blame.

So some really interesting quotes. Again, the one about Harold Landry, John Robinson showing emotion, Mike Vrabel breaking down Tim Kelly's role, the whole conversation around Dylan Radins, all very interesting stuff that I wanted to make sure that I broke down for you guys and make sure you got to hear as well. But that's going to do it for me today, folks. I'm going to be back with you tomorrow. that's going to do it for me today, folks.

I'm going to be back with you tomorrow. We're going to continue the free agent preview series. We're going to talk about offensive line. So excited for you guys to check that out. A couple of different options for the Titans to really fix things on the offensive line, depending on what direction they want to go, of course, in free agency and in the draft. Also, I am going to see the Batman tonight. Make sure you go see the Batman this weekend, baby.

Pump that up. We need more. We need more of it. Let's go. I'm so hyped. Let's go. Woo! Anyways, that's going to do it for me today, though, folks. As always, I am your host, Tyler Rowland,

and this was Locked on Titans.