Locked On Titans - Daily Podcast On The Tennessee Titans - TITANS SQUAD SHOW: Cam Ward IMPRESSES in debut, Cedric Gray SHOWS OUT & other preseason takeaways

Episode Date: August 10, 2025

Tennessee Titans QB Cam Ward makes his NFL debut. We discuss his impressive day in the preseason game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Plus, we also talk about linebackers James Williams and Cedric Gray who were all over the field. Support Us By Supporting Our Sponsors!Yahoo FantasyPresented by YahooFantasy #YahooPartner. Play Now at yahoofantasy.com/lockedonnflRugiet150,000 men have made the switch →https://Rugiet.com/LOCKEDONNFL  Use code LOCKEDONNFL to get 15% off your order!BetterhelpThis episode is sponsored by Betterhelp. Your well-being is worth it.Visit BetterHelp.com/lockedonnfl today to get 10% off your first month.  GametimeDownload the Gametime app, create an account, and use code LOCKEDONNFL for $20 off your firstpurchase. Terms apply. Download Gametime today. What time is it? Gametime.FanDuelRight now, new customers can get $150 in BONUS BETS when your first $5 BET WINS! Download theapp or head to FANDUEL.COM to get started.Monarch MoneyTake control of your finances with MonarchMoney. Use code LOCKEDONNFL at monarchmoney.com/lockedonnfl for 50% off your first year.FANDUEL DISCLAIMER: 21+ in select states. First online real money wager only. Bonus issued asnonwithdrawable free bets that expires in 14 days. Restrictions apply. See terms atsportsbook.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 orvisit ccpg.org/chat (CT), 1-800-9-WITH-IT (IN), 1-800-522-4700 (WY, KS) orvisit ksgamblinghelp.com (KS), 1-877-770-STOP (LA), 1-877-8-HOPENY or text HOPENY (467369) (NY),TN REDLINE 1-800-889-9789 (TN)

Well, the Titans fall in their first preseason game, but maybe even more important was the play of quarterback Cam Ward and some of the other position groups. We break it all down here on the Titans Squad show. Titan Up. It's the Titans Squad. Sponsored by Game Time. Everything Tennessee Titans every week. Covering all the big hits and game-changing plays from the heart of Music City the way only the locked-on podcast network can. Squad up. The Titan Squad Show starts now. And welcome to the Titans Squad Show. I'm your host, Julian Minuteson, alongside former pro bowler, Mr. Brad Hopkins.

B. Hopp, how you feeling? First Titans game, at least preseason game is in the books and a lot to look at. How did you feel about it? Well, first off, you did a great job on Channel 2 tonight. Thank you. On the Saturday events, and that's pretty cool to hear you on there. And, you know, your assessment of it was correct. There's a lot of promise, a lot of potential, although we didn't see a Titans win.

You know, there's a lot to at least in that second drive, and we'll break it down here in just a few minutes, to, you know, to be hopeful for it, that this season can be a lot different than the one that allowed them to pick first in the draft last year. Yeah, and that's what I wanted to start is Cam Ward. You know, there's a lot to look at in the preseason, not just Cam Ward, but all eyes were on him being the number one pick, the quarterback of this team. Cam finished five for eight, 67 yards. No touchdowns, no interceptions, but he did lead the Titans to a touchdown on that second drive. What were your big takeaways from Ward's debut?

I would say his poison the pocket, you know, his confidence in leading that team. He actually, at most points, didn't look like a rookie. Of course, we did see a holding call to kind of put them in the hole a little bit. And no offense wants to try and dial up third and long or whatever else. So the first drive resulted in a three and out. And this was after we saw the Buccaneers kind of moving the ball at will a little bit. Kyle Trask was finding, you know, holes in the defense to find receivers. And he was moving the ball rather efficiently.

But at least the defense held to a field goal. So getting off the field, three down, down three to nothing before the Titans finally put together a drive that culminated in a Tony Pollard touchdown. It was good to see. It was good to see them put that slow start in the rear view. Camp came out, and like I said, the pocket was his to manage. Even when he had to escape Julian, he was still looking downfield for potential receivers, which is what I like. You know what I mean?

A lot of rookies that we saw, a lot of young players that we saw today in this first week in the preseason, when they got outside the pocket, they were looking downfield because that's probably naturally what they're used to being able to do, right? Well, you know, this guy is saying, hey, look, my biggest plays are to be made, you know, in the receiving end. So let's go ahead and see if we can't extend this play. And when he worked outside of the pocket, I saw him being efficient, as well as being a guy that, you know, good mind taking some chances and hitting a few receivers through the hair of his chinny chin gin. You know what I'm saying? He did some really good things in there. So I liked it. A lot better than what we saw in like the, after the first public practice that we saw at Nissan Stadium, he kind of struggled a little bit, right? And even as of Thursday, they were talking about, you know, Callie having to get on him a little bit to why they ended up practice. Well, it seems like they got. got a lot out of the joint practices against the buffineers, which is probably where most of the work was done, right?

Because we only saw a series and a half or at least two series from Cam before he came out of the game. But it seemed like they got a lot of good work out of it. They got to see themselves compete. They got to be in a situation that, you know, that allowed them to kind of come together, right? Develop that cohesion, which is important. So I thought this trip was, I would give it probably a B plus. B plus. A, A, A, Cs get degrees.

So B plus, you'll take it, especially in the first preseason game. But two things that really stuck out to me, Bhop, that first drive where they go three and out, that third down play where Ward was kind of scrambling out of the pocket, looking down field, like you said, he threw it away. Last year, how many times did we see third and ten become fourth and 17? And that's a big step in the poise direction that you were talking about, I'm not making, you know, a bad play or a broken down play even worse. Yeah, and not comparing Cam to Will and starting that whole situation all over again.

But it just seemed like Will was trying too hard. You know what I mean? And it was trying so hard to make the big play. And a lot of times, I saw that caption of Cali last year, what are you doing? You know what I mean? It's like, you know, this is the deal, you know? So stop making those kind of crucial mistakes that ultimately end up making you worse. Well, one thing we didn't see, and actually, you know, Julian, the thing that's talked to me most was one thing that he said during your broadcast.

During the clip of him at the podium, he said they didn't have any MAs. And for those of you that don't know, Mr. Simons. Do you know how crucial that actually is, especially for a first preseason game where you saw the number one squad there and function without making a bunch of mistakes? Sure, those are holding calls. That's going to happen. It can happen at any time during season. She was holding calls in the Super Bowl for getting sick, right? But at the end of the day, they weren't doing things that shoot them.

themselves in the foot. And that has been problematic for this team, you know, in recent history. So that was good to see them being very cognizant of not making those mistakes that ultimately put them in the hole. And then the second thing I wanted to point out is, yes, they go three and out, right? But maybe more so than starting out strong on a first drive, I'm more impressed with the way they bounce back, not only a bounce back drive, but a drive after a score as well for him to settle in, go to the guy that's been working with him all off season long in Calvin Ridley. I think he found him about three times over that drive and lead the team down the field and also score in the Red Zone. I mean, this team was in the bottom third of the NFL

last year in Red Zone scoring percentage. There may have been a couple games last year, at least two or two or three that you could have said maybe the Titans were in that game if they just took the points that were there. And tonight, at least, least in that specific drive, he showed what he can do after having their backs against the wall. And I think that shows a lot. It shows a lot of grip by camp. It really does. It shows a lot of poise, which is what you want to have for your leader. If you look at the minutes, I think that they had the ball for 22 minutes versus the Titans, three minutes, 143 yards to five yards, in essence. You know, when you're talking about losing the time of possession game, that means

your offense is staying on the sideline getting cold. You know, so I think despite all the issue, despite the shortcomings that they had to overcome, you saw them remain focused. And this was without some of the heavy hitters. We didn't see Louis Cushenberry in there. We didn't see Kevin Seidler in there, right? We didn't see

Legerious Sneed. We didn't see Tevandre Sweat and Big Jeff. We didn't see most of them. And guess what? You know, obviously on the other side of that, we didn't see Baker Mayneville. We didn't see a bunch of their starters either. I understand that. But the guys were able to actually go out there and compete and, and

and make a game of it early on when it really mattered before it started getting sloppy and you started seeing the backup to the backups getting in there trying to make a roster then it kind of got a little ugly kind of got a little away from the Titans then you know Tim Boyle I'm sure he wished he could have a couple throws back you know those in pick six which I will say he made a tremendous effort and I thought he might have just almost knocked that ball out of out of the dude's hands before he crossed the goal line but yet throw a pick six at least he was the last guy to at least put a hand with the defender before he crossed the goal line. I want to get your opinion on this. I don't know if this is me looking into it too much as a media member just trying to grab for straws and storylines.

But Cam Ward showing up six hours early to his first preseason game. That's what he did tonight. He went through his warmups. He said it's kind of what he did in college. He watched a movie. He said it was a John Sina movie freelance. I looked that up. It's got 10% on a Rotten Tomato. So it's not a good movie. But it was part of a pregame routine that had him there six hours before kickoff. Is that rookie excitement?

Is that just how this dude is wired? Because you see guys like LeBron and Kobe Bryant or or Derek Jeter. Guys like that show up to the field of play or the court, you know, hours and hours beforehand. Is that a good sign that this guy is just wired different? or is it maybe just, hey, first preseason game, first NFL debut, I want to do well. So let's study a little bit extra before the test. Well, you just said it. First off, it's part of this process.

Is it unique? No, it's not unique. I remember when I was a rookie and I was starting next to Bruce and Munch and all those other guys, we wouldn't wait for the first bus to leave the hotel to go to the stadium. we take a cab and we took cabs because we wanted to get there before anybody else got there before the lines started forming for the dudes to get their ankles and wrist tape right we were already there we already got our ankles tape we probably already been out on the field walking around a little bit had our first cup of coffee over there had you had your first movement get the anxiety

out you know so everything was everything was everything but you got to get there early to be able to have it be less manic when everybody arise because you know stiff and atmosphere when the entire locker room shows up versus when you have it to yourself. And I would imagine him able to read a book or him being able to watch a movie. It just kind of calmed things for me. It was less anxious. And you know what? I'm glad you brought that up because maybe that's the thing that led to the poise that we talked about earlier.

The fact that he was able to still tap into that process that he found a lot of success in Miami doing, right? Almost like Tajay going on to the field barefoot so he can feel the grass, all that good stuff. I guarantee you he did that. well it's just one of his processes cam wars i mean to where he could just go out there and make this a normal situation that's all he wanted to do he didn't want to make this moment bigger than it actually was and we know there's just a preseason game but you know when you find success doing something you tend to stick with it until you have to do something else it seems like the character stuff and the work ethic stuff i feel like a lot of times as a rookie at least

you either have that or you don't um and it feels like like Cam does and so then the character you're everybody's waiting for the results to match the character the results aren't going to happen at least right away remember this guy is still young he's in his first couple months of the job I would attest it as the first couple two or three weeks of the job really at the NFL level where you're getting hit at least consistently um but at least that part the 5 a.m workout stuff the leadership the culture setting the culture setting stuff that's all we don't have to worry about that with him at least, it seems like.

Quarterbacks can't be like everybody else. I know it sounds crazy to say because they want to be able to fit in. They want to have that same cohesion with the unit, right? But there is a bigger expectation for the guy that has the most responsibility. And you can't be down here making mistakes and doing all those silly things that youngsters tend to do. So as a rookie that's in the position that he's in where he has to be the leader, you've got to do leadership things.

Leadership doesn't matter how old you are. leadership doesn't matter how much experience you do or don't have you've got to be able to check those boxes of being a leader and i think that to this point we've seen him do a lot of things i'm not going to sit here and anoint him rookie of the year and all this other stuff just yet you know um but what you just said are the intangibles that it takes to be that guy and the same can be held true for a dude that has experience is coming into a new roster right i mean let's look at look around the league look at uh sam darnall going to see alice You think it's not an expectation for him to come in and do some things? Right. When you look at who a leader is, it doesn't matter what your age is. You have to be able to at least convince the huddle, those other dudes that are in it, that, you're the one that belongs here calling the plays. Because guess what? The huddle can smell a fraud.

And you don't want that because that's when they start looking around. But you know what? Coaches do a good job of recognizing the fakers. You know, the ones that just don't have all the things. to lead a team. And the next guy, next are the guys that are blocking and catching and running for that guy too. So a fraud can be easily determined or he can be lifted up because people believe early on that this is the guy. We found our guy. You know what? I did want to give a shout out because they talked about it in the post game, at least in Callahan and Ward's post game too.

the old line on that protection of that first completion, that 25-yard completion to Ridley, which was Cam's first completion of the game. He was protected forever back there. And it was nice, you know, after a season where the quarterbacks seemed to be running for their lives too. You know, I think the ghost of Nicholas Petit Frere is still haunting Titans fans to this day.

So the fact that though Cushenberry was not there and Zitler was not there, It was still a welcome sign in a small sample size. No, completely. They were balanced. They gave Cam enough time in the pocket, especially in that second drive to find receivers, particularly Calvin Ridley, three for three for 50 yards.

That was nice. I mean, I expect him to see the bump his head on the goalpost sooner than later, especially with that combination. And he went to him early, found him early. Even when he went to Van Jefferson first for an incompletion, you know, able to scan the field a little bit. bit. The reason why he was able to do that is because the line blocked up from, which is great.

You like to see that. But they also opened up some holes in the run game, you know, a little bit. Tony Poller, what, four carries for nine yards, not a whole bunch, but at the end of the day, he did score the Titans only touchdown. So him being able to find the end zone was because, first off, a good second effort, but bodies on bodies. You know what I mean? We saw guys out there, you know, I will say that that one play that you talked about where he got flushed to his right and was throwing along the sideline didn't make a completion but that was because he got spooked by the rush a little bit but the rush did kind of settle in to secure the pocket and they did more of that than be a liability which is what you want to see i remember watching your boy courte cori

curtis in the very beginning of the game talking about things he wanted to watch right yeah offensive line play was one of them being able to give the quarterback some consistent looks down field an opportunity to run the offense without being under pressure that's a huge thing now Did you see the Buccaneers dialing up a bunch of stuff? No. They were doing stunts up front, but for the most part, they just brought forward. Every now and then you bring an extra dude, have somebody staying in the A gap. But, you know, for the most part, they did a good job of passing off the stunts that the line was trying to do against them and recognizing how to keep the protection intact. And if need be, Cam could have, like, checked into something else.

And we saw him do that. I love to see him operated two different levels also under center and in the gun. He did a really good job of play action, but also setting. up what could potentially be, you know, some big plays downfield. So there was a lot to be excited about. Certainly a lot to be excited about. On the other side of the break, we're going to talk about maybe the backup QB spots and should the Titans go after somebody given the sample size of what we got today. That's next on the Titan Squad Show. Keep it here. All right, ever wish managing your money felt easier? Well, with Monarch money, it can, whether you're growing your savings

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And so Monarch money can help track all of that spending on, my aunt. So take control of your finances with monarch money. Use code locked on NFL at monarchmoney.com for 50% off your first year. That's monarchmoney.com code locked on NFL for half off your first year. And this episode is also presented by Yahoo Fantasy. It's the best time of year. NFL kickoff is almost here. And that means fantasy football season is back in full swing. And this year Yahoo Fantasy is turning things up with a fantasy football experience like Never before this year me and the titan squad show are playing on yahoo fantasy and you should too whether you're a first timer or a veteran making your millionth league i've used yahoo fantasy for years love the updates they're rolling out this month they're wild in the best ways of course as you get ready for draft day i know i am and to celebrate 28 years of fantasy football greatness yahu fantasy is dropping 28 big new features over 28 days throughout august to kick it off they just dropped Yahoo Fantasy guillotine leagues, a killer new way to play fantasy football on Yahoo!

Where the lowest scoring team gets eliminated each week until there's one team left standing. With the season around the corner, now is the time to get your league together and give this new mode to try. If you're more into the classics, you can still play head-to-head private leagues or join a public league. Stay tuned for more killer announcements and start playing Yahoo Fantasy football now at yahoofantasy.com slash locked on NFL. right Bhop so we're back um you know we a lot of the comments at least that we're already getting in this in the show that i've seen um are about tim boyle and uh the backup qb spot um brandon allen

had a pick um tim boyle had too i know you talked about in the last the last segment based on what you saw tonight i know it's the first preseason game but should the titans be content with what they have at backup quarterback because you never know what could happen on one side you can look at it and say you know if cam ward goes down should they want to win those games anyway but my whole thing and i think we've talked about this before is i can't imagine that having cam ward a new gm and trying to build this winning culture that you want to you want to to build here in tennessee would lend itself to throwing games by not putting the best quarterback out there possible unless they really think that those two guys

are the best that they could do at this time but but what's your take on on the whole backup quarterback situation for what you saw tonight sucks to go last think about what I said it sucks to go last you know why it sucks to go last because you're not playing with the best guys out there yeah you have to earn the opportunity to go with the best to be put in a better situation you know I mean you have to be better in camp you have to show yourself to be more competitive, then that way you get to run with the ones. There's a reason why there are ones, two, threes, and so on. And when you're in Tim Boyle's situation where you're working with, you know, arguably the guys that are struggling the most, the guys that make

the most mistakes, the guys that you do have those MAs, the guys that just, you know, won't even probably be on the roster in about three weeks. That's who he has to work with. I'm not making that as an excuse for everything, but, you know, because we did see a couple of late balls that resulted in, you know, picks and, you know, stuff like that and it's a tremendous effort. At the end of the day, would Tim Boyle have been better if he was working with the ones? I would assume so. Because most quarterbacks are better when they have the best opportunity to do their job. And that's one thing that we talked about today was we talked about how well the offensive

line worked for Cam Ward. I would imagine that same effort would have been for Tim Boyle as well. I mean, if he had the same kind of success, we don't know. We really know. But unless we start to see those quarterbacks being interchanged in the same situation, in other words, blocking, you know, with the same line, having Tony Pollard and Taji Spears behind them, it's almost not even comparable, you know what I mean? Because how effective would Cam Ward have been if he went out there with the twos and threes?

Sure. I mean, they wouldn't do that. Matter of fact, it was made mention during the broadcast. If Cam Ward's butt is out there, guess what? The starters are going to be out there besides the ones that got to break off, you know, Louis Cushenberry, Kevin Ziler, they went out there, you know, guys 14 years in the league. Why the hell he needed to be in a preseason game? You know what I mean?

At least early on. Louis Cushenberry, why risk injury for a guy that's trying to recover and be his best position he can be for the regular season, not the preseason? So you understand that. But when we saw J.C. out there was very effective. Peter Skoronski was bawling out there. She damn more looked pretty good. You know what I mean? I thought the same way, yeah, I've got to admit, I forgot to damn more.

isn't as a veteran experienced as I would have thought. No, it's 27, 28, something like that. Yeah. Not to say that that's, you know, but when he's still learning from Bill Callahan and company, that means this room for improvement, right? But those guys got out there and they ball, man. They did pretty good, you know what I mean?

You know, given the circumstances. So by wrapping it up about Tim Boyle, we did see some things that obviously, you know, need to compete better than that, bro. You know what I mean? Because the game kind of got away. and you were the one that was on the center when it was going down. But, you know, for the most part, I think that any backup is a backup for a reason.

If not, he'd be starting someplace. But we're not going to have the mentality that if Cam goes down, up there goes the season. I guess we just stopped winning ball games. No, it's just as callous as it may sound, if Cam goes down, oh, well, this is called football, man. And injuries are inevitable. And that nest guy up, that's his time to shine. You know, I mean, that's how people get discovered. How did Tom Brady get discovered?

Drew, Drew Bledsoe got hurt. You see what I'm saying? How do tons of guys get? How did Brock Purdy get discovered? Jimmy Grappalo got hurt. You know, so that's what happens. Next man up mentality creates the opportunity for somebody to go out there and become the next dude. Brandon Allen for context, six of 12, 62 yards a pick and Tim Boyle, 413, 24 yards to interceptions.

A lot of comments going on here in our in our chat also about Tajay Spears suffered what looks like at least the report's high ankle sprain. I was probably that one of the guy said, can you put a guardian suit on him? Yeah, yeah. Keep those comments coming. We love to see those comments. Yeah, somebody put a guardian cap suit on? Can we put Tasha Spears in it? That was from Trey Phipps here. Yeah, you talk about the next man up mentality. And if Spears is going to be out at least for the preseason, you know, you want to keep him, try to keep him healthy because obviously health has been important when it comes to his aspect of the game. game, maybe some more opportunities for a Julius Chestnut or a Kellel Mullings to try to get some reps here in preseason to show what they could do. 100%.

Calaisal Mullings led the damn team in rushing, you know, 33 yards and seemed like a whole bunch, but for the opportunity he got to be in the game, you know, it's not bad. This is going to be Tony Pollard's offense. Obviously, I think that what they're going to do is reduce his workload by, you know, involving Tajee Spears more. And it is unfortunate that he carted off, but hopefully that was more precautionary than anything. You know, if you got the technology to cut him off,

and he's not going to see the rest of the game anyway, so it is what it is, you know. But hopefully it's not long-lasting, and it's hoping that, you know, if we're lucky, he'll get into some Falcon reps. But if not, it's okay, because you know he's going to be your legit number two, right? Right.

But that does give opportunity for mullings, for chestnut, for players like that to get more opportunity to touch the rock, show what they can actually do. This isn't going to be a four deep running back room. It's just not, you know what I mean? But there are those guys that are still in the locker room. Guess what? Their job is probably more special teams than anything else

because you've got to have guys on cover teams and on position game. But, you know, hopefully Taj can continue to get better like he has been. He's shown a lot of problems, a lot of potentials. As a matter of fact, his name was on the tip of Callie's tongue for most of the conversation we were having during training camp about guys that have shown up and have become really engaged and involved in what they're doing offensive. Yeah, he had a great burst of speed throughout some of the practices, at least the open ones that we were watching. He was pretty good. Now, you know, it's funny when you mentioned Tadj Spears and then, of course, Tony Pollard, this is him, it being his offense.

It took me back to the conversation that we had a few episodes ago about how last year when they threw the ball four straight times at the goal line against the Lions. And tonight, you know, the learning lessons and learning tools that you use, who is your best offensive player last year? Well, it was Tony Pollard and what do you do? You handed off to Tony Pollard to get you home and get you in the end zone. So, you know, it's baby steps, but at least there was some growth on doing the obvious, it felt like, at least in a, again, small sample size first preseason game situation. You know what, man, Trey Phipps is on the chat, and he's bringing the heat because check

this out. he sent Zeke on a one-year deal cheap think about it you can really show that comment right there call me crazy but do we go sign Zeke Elliott right zeke elli and tony pollard back in the back through it again they shared the back through before you know what I mean Tony Pollard they kind of put them on on the steps you know so that but okay so we're getting ahead of ourselves sure we're assuming now that we're not going to see jase spares in the Yeah, yeah, yeah. Let's let's let the, the injury report come out and tell us what's going on before we start bringing in free agents, you know what I'm right? And Tray Phipps is active today. He's active here today. But Tony Pollard, the hope is that you get, keep Tage Spears healthy because the idea from Brian Callahan was that you, you kind of balance out the workload a little bit because Tony Pollard by the end of last season was, you know, a little bang.

up. And so that's, that's, I think, the biggest concern, you know, not seeing any injury report, not, you know, maybe just hoping for not the worst, I guess, when it comes to Taj Spears, but he has had, you know, health concerns. That's something that you want to at least keep in mind for the big picture kind of situation at running back there. Well, you had to also think about him being, you know, especially when they run 11 personnel and you've got three receivers, he becomes the fourth. Taji Spears does. Not that Tony Pollard isn't, but when you look at the receptions, I think that, I think what was the one for one for three or something like that, but still, no, no, he had more passing. He had more catches than he did carries. And that just

kind of shows just his versatility in that offense. You know, when they, it's not like if Tony Pollard's in there, they're not going to do play action and not going to be looking, you know, to the flat or, you know, for some kind of bubble screens and that kind of stuff. But, you know, I think that when you look at just the usefulness and its versatility, as far as being a receiver as well, that's one of the things that Taze Spears brings to the table consistently. Yeah, and we hope he is doing okay. The reports, at least initially, we're saying a high ankle sprain. So we'll see how that plays out for the rest of the offseason for Taji Spears. Okay, on the other side of the break, we've talked a lot about the offense.

We're going to talk about the defensive side of the ball, who stuck out. And what we're looking for, I guess, as they're going to Atlanta next here on the Titan Squad Show. Keep it here. All right, it's time to fuel up and turn it up with five-hour energy transfusion. It brings the bold great ginger and time flavor of your favorite golf drink, minus the alcohol, into a quick energizing shot. Whether you're sinking birdies or just making memories with friends, this one's a hole in one for your energy game. Now, let's be honest, some days on the course or off of it. You just need that extra boost to stay sharp and energized.

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All right, Bhop, we're back. We talked about the offensive side of the ball, Cam Ward, backup QB, running backs and all that stuff, as well as the offensive line. but I wanted to chat about the defense. What were your big defensive takeaways from tonight? Of course, no Jeff Simmons, no Tevonre Sweat. So they were kind of limited up front in the pass rush. And Cody Barton was taken out early. So what were your kind of big takeaways there from tonight from the defensive side of the ball?

Didn't see a bunch from Arden Key. Didn't see a bunch from some guys that you know on the outside are going to be responsible for bringing pressure. The lack of pressure is what made Kyle Trass, or a starter you know i mean dudes out there just diamond it you know i mean making plays rolling around hitting receivers you know receivers were getting open it's a lot going on in that first quarter you know first couple of drives i mean i think they had a 17 play drive in there yeah held the ball for a ton of minutes which meant the defense couldn't get off the field so am i really

going to just like y'all ticked off about how the defense performed when they didn't have their best players out there either in the second day or or up front Cody barton was out there you know I'm making some plays, but, you know, at least Jihad Ward, former L-A-L-L-L. There you go. You've got a pick. I think Warren People's got a pick, but either way, or got a pick, but a sack, which meant that there was some opportunity to get back there, but not a whole bunch. You know what I mean?

Anytime you have a sport like it is, 29 to 7, and most of the damage was done early on anyway. I think that after it was 10 to 7, the time. and obviously didn't get back on the school board after that, and we saw the Tampa Way Buccaneers start to run away with a little bit, you know. I saw Donard Wilson a couple of times on that sideline just like, you know. Of course, you're doing that for those coachable moments, not because you're looking at the guys that you're expecting to help you win this division out there get on the field and not being competitive.

Put it this way. That energy is completely different when Big Jeff's on the football field. That's true. not this by action, but just by him saying, hey, look, as we stand here in this huddle before we break, y'all better be where you're supposed to be, period. You know what I'm saying? His level of accountability makes the defense play better. They're more inspired when you've got guys that bring the energy. And that just wasn't, you know, that wasn't the situation. Let's just say that. Because, you know, those guys that are out there are just, some of them just trying to, just trying to make a roster, bro. You know, just trying to make enough plays, flying around and maybe making some hits. some tackles but for the most part you know i didn't see much because there really wasn't much expectation right i did like what james williams brought to the table tonight um you know he seven tackles and he was the one who had that the huge violent hit off the opening kickoff that was probably one of the defensive highlights of the night for me um the other one and i

thought i was crazy hearing it because i felt like i heard cedric gray's name get called a lot on the broadcast. And then Brian Callahan did talk about him after the game because he was getting a lot more opportunities, especially Cody Barton in like a limited role. He had seven tackles tonight. So that's something when you're trying to develop those, the young inside linebacking core outside of Cody Bart because that was the big question coming into this off season, who's going to play alongside him? James Williams seems to be the guy with the spot. But then you're giving guys like Cedric Gray an opportunity to play as well. What did you make of the inside linebackers there. Well, you are going to have to have guys that play at different levels,

you know what I mean? Because that's the way defense is. He rotate. You know, sometimes, most of the time, you don't see the mic linebacker leave the field because it just, you know, he just doesn't. But when you're talking about pressure packages, where you're talking about, you know, holding down the interior, which is where they gash just a little bit, you've got to be consistent. You've got to be in position. And, you know, a lot of that just comes from understanding each other and you'll get more reps together and start playing. They got knowing each other's assignment, not getting out of position. That's the, the biggest thing about defense is creating those crevices that allow the run game to be

effective. You know, you've got to be where you're supposed to be. Because a lot of times when a defense is doing the things that it does, if you're hitting this gap right here that you know and trust if the guy that's hitting the other gap, he's going to be there. Because if it's not, you got a gap that's been unfilled. Next thing, you know, the offense is exploiting you and they're converting first downs and they're continuing to drive and they're standing in the forever. Anytime you see a drive getting into a double-digit plays, that's a bad thing for an offense or for a defense because the offense is just wearing them down. You know what I mean?

And they did run sometimes six, seven straight runs. You know, they weren't deviating for what was working. But the thing is, you also got to understand that when I'm actually able to deal with third and five or second and three or whatever else, I'm going to continue to run the football because why do I sit here and put the ball in the air when I have such few yards to get to continue another drive? And the longer I take you into the snap count, the better it is for me as an offense. So that's just the way this thing works.

But, you know, the cover teams that you mentioned at the very beginning, they set the tone with that big stick, man, because they can't fly down the field. And, you know, I thought they're going to have a good return with that dynamic kick opportunity, whatever. I like it. I don't know what you're talking about. There's not a lot of movement when it comes to that. But still, you saw a big stick that got them popped up and got to me energize and, you know, and actually, when Kyle Trask was making plays early on, they finally settled down a little bit

and didn't give up a touchdown in that first drive when you thought, oh boy, this is going to be a long day for the Titans, you know? So kind of settled in a little bit, gave the offense another opportunity. Actually, after that first three, it wasn't a three and out, I think they ran like five or six plays

before they ended up settling for a field goal. The Titans going three and out didn't help much because it was then that the bucks were able to put a touchdown on the board and make it kind of, you know, like, oh, wow, here we go. But it was that second drive going back to the offense that put it together to say, hey, look, we're here.

Now it's 10 to 7, which is 10 to nothing. There was that also that defensive stance in the red zone at the end of the, I think it was the end of the first half where Rakes, Isaiah Rakes had the tipped ball at the line, and then they threw the end zone in Mike Brown. I think it was Mike Brown who broke up that pass play. That was a nice little stand there at the end of the half to say, hey, we're going to hold you to at least, I think they held them to three at the end of that, at the end of the half there.

So that was nice to see. We have one comment that I want to get to here. Here, where is? There we go. It's from Mr. Tony Ransom. How do you feel about the run defense? They gave up 178 on the ground tonight. What are your thoughts on that from Mr. Tony Ransom right here?

Obviously, we weren't at full strength there. You think they get 178 yards of Tavondri sweat and Big Jeff were at the three techniques? Night, maybe I thought. Yeah. So, you know, of course, it took advantage. not having to do is that normally a task was stopping the run game, but like a smart offensive coordinator would do, if they're not stopping it, why am I going to stop doing it? You know what I mean?

Sure. If you can't stop me, why would I stop it? You know, so I'm going to keep running this ball right down your throat. It wasn't like we saw them stretching the line of scrimmage, getting a lot of toss sweeps, stretches, you know, that kind of stuff like that. We just saw them, you know, basically taking advantage between the tackles and just running downhill. and you know guys can't get all blocks you know what I mean consistently the job of most defensive linemen up front is to occupy the offensive linemen so they can't get to that next

level because if if the guards and the center start working up to the linebacker level then that means that guess who gets to make the tackles the dbs and if they're making tackles you know either they're coming from distance to do it or there was huge gains to be made and that you know that was an opportunity for an offense and that So we saw a lot more than, I think, that Titans fans were comfortable with. Yeah, better take advantage of it now because no Jeff Simmons, no Devandre sweat. You might as well, right? All right.

Put this way. Them being on the sidelines, Julian, allowed you an opportunity to make some cash. Sure. You know what I mean? Because at the end of the day, Big Jess going to tap that helmet. I've been out here for six plays, man. You know what I mean? And I need to break.

You know what I mean? And so somebody's got to come in there and fill in. Somebody's got to come in there and make a play. And then that tells me to get back out there. That is a good point. I mean, the preseason, at the end of the day, it is about building the depth on your team. Right.

Yeah, it is about getting. So when that next man up possibility ends up happening, or you don't wish it happens, but if it has to happen, then the guys are as ready as they can be because they've seen it and been in game situations before. I'm going to promo my series show tomorrow, Bill Lex and I are on the end zone.

Nine to one. Nine to one. Yep. And we have this segment called Ghostbusters, Ghostbusters 2. Ghostbusters was a classic movie, right? Yes. Ghostbusters 2 sucked. No, it was not. In certain NFL situations we have, is that a Ghostbusters situation or is that a Ghostbusters 2 situation?

So tomorrow's question is, should starters play in the preseason? Is that a Ghostbusters or Ghostbusters 2 situation? So I asked my wife, but I told her about it. And my wife actually is, she runs the talent division for a tech company. And we're talking about just like, you know, her being an experienced HR person and how to go, can find executive roles. She doesn't need the reps because that's what she does. But someone that's more junior than her, they need the reps to be able to get in there

so I can trust that you can work with C-suite execs and be able to make the right hire. Same situation here. That was her analogy. I thought it was cute. But the same situation applies here. Why would the starters like Kevin Zitler be in there when you're trying to build the back end of your roster, knowing that first off, when the regular season starts, how often are you see these guys going to see the field? They won't, unless it's a bad situation where somebody got hurt. You know what I mean?

So at the end of the day, this is their opportunity to shine. And they need to get in there on the field, get those reps in, that one, determine if they're good enough to make the 48 or 53 or whatever. or you know like a lot of people recognize you're not just out there on the football field performing for the team that you're wearing their colors there are other teams that are looking at you because they're going to make cuts and if you're better than what they have situationally then they're going to look at you and say hey you know what hey this guy out here he was flying around on special teams for them you he made some play some big catches for them and he got released last week or yesterday. So what are we going to do? He's better than the guy we got.

So you play for that. You just played for a few teams. As a matter of fact, if you think about it, you're playing for all 32 of them. Got to have that next man up mentality. That's exactly what Corey Curtis did to me tonight to have me host the pregame show and him be out in the actual game with the big timers over there. Anyway, so next on the Titan Squad show, we're going to talk about their trip to Atlanta. What we want to see is we wrap things up here on the Titans Squad show. Keep it here. All right, Bhop, so the Titans are going to hit the road immediately to Atlanta, part of this 10-day road trip that they're on.

They got joint practices with the Falcons to start the week before the preseason game. I believe it's next Friday here, and you can watch that here actually on my channel, WKRN News 2, a little plug there. So what do you want to see out of these next couple joint practices? is going into the next preseason game because they already they got their first sampled taste of the joint practice the preseason game kind of combo here so it's not going to be foreign to them what are some of the things that you're looking for especially now with the quick turnaround and recovery time from a game now back to practice I just want to see consistency consistency comes

from making better the things that you did good and fixing the things that you didn't do good that allows you to be consistent, right? So while we saw the front five offensively compete, and while we saw, you know, nice connections between Ward and Ridley, which we hope to see more of, and maybe even expand that to some other receivers once they start taking away his favorite target,

I just want to see them be consistent. There's no sense in the saying, yeah, you know what, Cam Ward got a B plus today. And then he gets a D against the thousands. That shows inconsistency. Okay, when you run, the 40 at the combine okay they're not particularly looking at this the first score you put up they want to see the average like if i were a four three 40 and then i back it up with a four six 40

what's wrong you know what i mean versus me running a four six 40 they all of a sudden i run a four three 40 well i was obviously sandbagging i was holding off holding back that you know but that's a better situation to have but what i don't want to see are those anomalies that don't show consistency. So I want to see them get better. The fact that this first offense that was out there didn't make any mental errors, that's great. Let's see it again, no mental errors.

And you didn't see a bunch of flags. You know, I mean, this is usually the time when you see a lot of laundry on the carpet, you know, but not, yeah, we didn't see a lot of that today. There weren't a lot of guys jumping off sides. We weren't a lot of guys holding, weren't a lot of guys being a liability and creating a worse situation for them offensively, right?

So, so for offensively, wants to be consistent uh defensively it's got to be more competitive given the situation and circumstances i understand that you know you don't have your starters out there but for the guys that are trying to make a team just you know get get into the playbook be trusted in the scheme you know i mean that way you can get off the field on third down i want to see more pressure and i don't want to have to have them dial it up let's see if you can get there with four you know what i mean it's great if you can get there and let's see if you can get there and let's somebody beat somebody in a one-on-one situation, especially later on in the season when they

started putting four hands on Big Jeff, somebody's got to be able to get freed up enough to take advantage of a 101 to win, because that's what most defensive coordinators would say. Win the one-on-ones. You know what I'm saying? Because when you do that, somebody's taking advantage somewhere else. You know what I mean? The entire philosophy this obviously, you mentioned, like, being consistent, removing any mistakes, self-inflicted errors, penalties, things like that.

The whole off-season program is built around the sins, removing the sins, the self-inflicted negatives, as they like to call, the plays that beat themselves. And that was what this whole, you know, splitting everybody up into different teams, you getting points for certain things that helped your team, but negative points for things that hurt your team, that whole competition that the Titans have said, multiple Titans have said, hey, this was the most competitive off-season in a while. Well, let's see those sins translate to games. And then on the consistency front, Bhop, I agree with you.

I think it's putting, you know, the full 60 minutes of a football game together week after week after week. You know, with a young team, it reminds me of when we were talking about in the last show, how you look at the depth chart from an aerial view and how many young players, not just year one, but year two guys are going to be expected to make an impact on this team right away. And at least early on, it may be like this where you're saying, okay, there are going to be some good days, there are going to be some bad days. But that's part of this experience with dealing with at least a lot of the younger players. But the hope is that by the end of this preseason, these three games that they get, that they'll be able to show at least some sort of, hey, we can do it every single week consistency.

see i like the fact that they've been on the road for 12 days yes you know that's a hard situation to overcome or just even deal with and that draws them closer together nothing draws men closer together than doing hard stuff you know what i mean men men chop down trees what i'm talking about but cali has created a collective culture meaning that they understand how important each one of those pieces are. That's why you hear them say so much about the off-field stuff, right? Because the off-season creates a brotherhood, and you'll definitely play harder for your brothers than you would a stranger. You know what I mean? Some of you just don't know. So I like where they're going. I like the time being spent together. I like them competing against one

another and supporting one another. I like the fact that them getting on the road in joint practices and playing against two teams on the road allows them to cheer for each other. You know what I mean? Because guess what? When my defense sees me out there as an offense making plays and they start cheering me, they're like, oh, Matt, you love it. You know what I mean? Then you feel inspired because your guys are inspired by what you're doing. So, you know, that's what brings the band together is, you know, looking at that situation,

those circumstances and going through the fire together. And also playing different styles as well. They talked about that. Callahan talked about playing the Buccaneers, the Falcons, and the Vikings, because what's going to happen in that regular season, I mean, you look at those first four weeks of the regular season. It is a gauntlet when you have Denver, who is the best defense in the NFL last year,

and then you go straight to McVeigh and the Rams. And then two weeks later, you got Houston. So not only the team bonding aspect where you're forced to be in a hotel with these guys and see them every single day and eat meals together and talk about, as Jelly Roll said on the hype video, talk about each other, you know, get to know their grannies and their mommas and all that stuff, but also seeing the different styles on the field and how that can help you at least win football games on top of the big picture personnel character items that you were talking about,

Bhop. I like having a tough schedule in the beginning because what that does is it sets the pace for preparation. If you know you got somebody really, really good to start the year out, you're going to make sure that you're prepared. You know, cross-tees dot eyes. go back over and have chat GPT look it over, make sure you make any of things. All of the things. You know, versus go out there with a team that you should beat. You go out there with a level of expectation. But if you're talking about, man, hey, look, we have got to focus. We've got to concentrate. We have to limit mistakes. Otherwise, this team is going to beat us because that's what, you know, when you hear good coaches say, what do they always say? Good coaches always say, that team never beat you.

you beat yourself because what it comes down to is a team that makes the least amount of mistakes has the best chance to win. So you got to be disciplined, you got to be focused, you got to be consistent. I wanted to get to at least one or two comments before we call it a night here. This one is an interesting point brought up by Brett Downing. I like the starting O line. I was super excited to see the weapons of wide receiver tied in but was let down. It doesn't help with the backup QB situation. For guys like an Xavier Restrepo who are trying to make the team or even guys like ely omanor or chimp deke who are trying to show his rookies what they could do how do you do that if the quarterback situation the backup quarterback situation is what it is

at least in a game setting yeah there are some things that you can do to overcome the competition right it's as simple as making plays you know when the ball is thrown to you it's one thing if you don't get on the field it's one thing if you don't get any targets is one thing that's one thing if you just are never in a position to show just what you can actually do, how valuable you actually are. That sucks. And it's reality. It's part of it. But when you do get those chances to shine, when you're running that crossing route and you turn it into 20 extra yards after catch, you know, when you put your face in there, you make that big stick that jars the ball loose, creates a fumble next thing, you know, the offense got the ball back. You know, when you do

those things that make plays as a backup, that's what gives people know. noticing what you're doing because then they'll expect you to do it again. And if you repeat it and it becomes consistent, now guess what? You get a raise. And that's what it's all about. And you get a raise because you're on the field more because you're out there actually a part of the whole situation and you're making it happen. So, you know, that's just an opportunity for them to go ahead and do what it is that they've been training all the lives to do. And like you mentioned, they're not only training to potentially go or showing this what they could do potentially to be on the Titans, but they're auditioning for the other 31 NFL teams out

there for a job. Last thing before we go, wanted to get to another comment, and this was also from Brett Downing. He's got some good questions. What did you think of the special teams tonight? Because we haven't touched on that. They showed a lot of coach John Fossel, which they did, and granted he is the new member of the staff, but he is considered one of the best special teams coordinators in the game. What did you make of the special teams tonight? I will say, no fumble kick returns or cut returns which was nice yeah you can tell that john fossil fun of big gym you know um is a guy that pays attention to detail and that level of the county accountability that he possesses makes you pay attention to detail because it'd be very easy on cover teams for guys to make

mistakes get out of their lanes and all of a sudden here comes a big crevice that creates a big play on on on special teams uh but also he's encouraging you know what I mean how many times we see him patting his guys on the back, meeting them on the field almost before they got to the sideline. He wears cleats during practice. He digs his feet in the ground, man. Get it. He's engaged. You see what I'm saying? He's engaged. Well, that's another thing. Think about that. Why is the cleats thing such a big deal? Because he's trying to show you what he wants you to do. Yes. Right? He's not just sitting there telling you. He's not grossly overweight and breathing hard and looking like, why the hell would I listen to anything you say?

There's no way in the words you can even do this stuff. Well, by me put my cleats on, you know, as a dad, it's one thing for me to tell you what to do, but how more effective is it if I'm sitting there showing you how to do it. Son, this is how you chop down a tree and you pick up a damn action. You go out there and chop a tree down. Now, guess what? Son respects you, and he's going to emulate what you did to cut that tree down versus you sit on the couch with the remote in your hand saying, hey, son, go out and cut that tree down.

He's like, okay, well, how do I do that? Well, just pick up the axe. Just start swinging versus the guy that goes out there, puts a safety equipment on, gets the gloves on, gets that big axe, and just starts wearing that tree out. Now I'm sitting there saying, man, this is a great teacher. This is someone I want to learn from. This is someone I respect. Those are always my favorite coaches, even playing youth sports,

the ones that I know that they could do it too, not the ones that were sitting on the sideline telling me to do something. That's why players are so important. You know what I mean? Now, look, not every player in the NFL is cut out to be a coach because coaching is teaching and not everybody's a good teacher. It's the reality of it. But I know this, as a player, if you're in a coaching position, you've done two things.

Now you've become a teacher and you've already got the experience of being the player. You know what I'm saying? So am I saying that you have to be a teacher or you have to be a former player to be a good coach because we see tons of them good coaches that never stepped on the football field like that, right? They just learned the game and developed into these people that, you know, are helping players be better than they were without their instruction. You know, but at the end of the day, if Dion Sanders becomes a head coach somewhere and he shows you and tells you and teaches you the things that made him a Hall of Famer, isn't that the best situation that you can have?

Absolutely. thousand percent. That's Bhop right there, not just a two-time pro bowler and a football analyst, but a chopper down of trees. He's probably having a good day if you see him in the forest, chopping down trees. All right, well, we're going to end on that note here. It's getting late. We're getting loopy. Titans fall in their first preseason game 29 to 7, but as we talked about, a lot to look forward to. It's just preseason game number one. We'll have another one to talk about next week. For now, you could listen. to us wherever you get your podcast, Apple, Spotify, we're here YouTube live on game days and

every Tuesday, at least that's the tentative schedule right now. You can also catch the Lockdown Titans podcast. Wherever you get your podcast, that's here on the Lockdown Network. But for now, I'm Julian Minenstone. You know that guy over there. That's Brad Hopkins. We'll see you guys in a little bit. Thank you. Thank you.