Locked On Titans - Daily Podcast On The Tennessee Titans - TITANS SQUAD SHOW: Cam Ward READY for first test, Brian Callahan UNDER PRESSURE & game PREDICTIONS

Episode Date: September 2, 2025

The Tennessee Titans kick off the 2025 season against the Denver Broncos on Sunday. But will rookie QB Cam Ward be ready? We discuss the challenge Ward will face and the pressure Brian Callahan is und...er as he enters is second season in Tennessee.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/LOCKEDONNFLUse 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 first purchase. 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 the app or head to FANDUEL.COM to get started.Monarch MoneyTake control of your finances with Monarch Money. 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 as nonwithdrawable free bets that expires in 14 days. Restrictions apply. See terms at sportsbook.fanduel.com. Gambling Problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER or visit FanDuel.com/RG (CO, IA, MD, MI, NJ, PA, IL, VA, WV), 1-800-NEXT-STEP or text NEXTSTEP to 53342 (AZ), 1-888-789-7777 or visit ccpg.org/chat (CT), 1-800-9-WITH-IT (IN), 1-800-522-4700 (WY, KS) or visit ksgamblinghelp.com (KS), 1-877-770-STOP (LA), 1-877-8-HOPENY or text HOPENY (467369) (NY), TN REDLINE 1-800-889-9789 (TN) 

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Starting point is 00:00:00 I'm Julian Minnesone. Cam Ward plays football this week. Enough said. And not only does he play football, I'm going to tell you why he's going to win rookie of the year. This could possibly be the biggest game of the Titans history in recent history, and we'll talk about that too. Titan up. It's the Titans squad. Everything Tennessee Titans every week.
Starting point is 00:00:28 Covering all the big hits in. 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 Titan Squad Show. I'm your host, Julian Minnisone, alongside Tyler Rowland and Brad Hopkins, fellas, the Tennessee Titans play football this week. Cam Ward plays football this week. It's exciting. They'll take on Denver on the road on Sunday.
Starting point is 00:00:58 How are we feeling? you know i'll this is a kind of a tease into the the last segment we talked about game predictions but i'll just say this early because i think it's worth mentioning given the expectation for the bronco season this is supposed to be a team that will challenge the chiefs for the afcc west which hasn't been done in like nine or ten years right yep so if you look at last year's defensive performance if you look at bow necks thrown for over three thousand yards last season if the titans were to go into mile high stadium and get a win what will the national narrative be it will be that they slept on on cam ward because to do that cam ward will have to
Starting point is 00:01:40 have played exceptional okay so we'll talk about predictions later on but when you just look at them going out to denver possibly getting a win because if they lose that's what most people prognosticated anyway right i don't know how many people have the titans going into mile high stadium and getting a But if they pull this off, I mean, think of it. They'll be talking about that. There'll be news cat crews from far and left coming down here to see what's going on in Tennessee and to then start finally covering Cam Ward, the first pick of this draft, like he should have been. Man, just you talking about that and what could happen in the game and coming out of the game
Starting point is 00:02:18 just makes my overall point that football is so back. I mean, watching the college games this weekend was so exciting. I do high school football announcing you know what I mean that's kicking off for me this week the Titans have their first game just overall more than anything else so excited that football is back in our lives man the best best thing in the world
Starting point is 00:02:38 best time of year that's for sure today's episode is brought to you by Fanduel football season is around the corner visit the Fanduil app today and start planning your futures bets now so guys as we can see the for the visual audience here on the side of our screen
Starting point is 00:02:54 We're having the rundown of today's show, and we're going to start with week one focus. Of course, as Bihat mentioned, Denver kind of set the world on fire a little bit last year with Bo Nix's play. And they are set to be, as Bihat mentioned, again, one of the teams challenging the chiefs for that AFC West Crown. So if you're the Titans, what are you looking for? Week one, each of you guys, something from this team. one focus that you're kind of honing in on and looking at as they get into this matchup. Well, I'm going to steal it from Brad.
Starting point is 00:03:28 I'm going with that offensive line. The Denver Broncos led the NFL in Sacks last year, and obviously the Titans have had a problem with the offensive line for a few years now. We've heard a lot about this offensive line. I'm excited about the potential improvement of the offensive line. It's something we've discussed.
Starting point is 00:03:45 They seem to have a lot better talent. I mean, they're getting ranked top five by national outlets. and, you know, they're the fifth heaviest offensive line in the NFL as well, which as a small guy, I value big people, okay? I understand the difference in being strong and small and strong and big, you know what I mean? So I want to see this offensive line. It's going to be a very tough test with what the Broncos do. They're the third most heaviest blitz team in the NFL last year,
Starting point is 00:04:11 so they're going to bring the pressure on a rookie quarterback, I think, and this offensive line that should be mightily improved, They may not be the best version of themselves in week one, but it should look a whole lot better than what we've seen the last couple of years. So I'm going to be looking at that offensive line with a very tough test early on. Tyler, I'm going to go to the flip side. I'm going to go to the other side of the football. How will the Titans defense handle Bo Nix?
Starting point is 00:04:33 Like I just mentioned, there's a guy that threw for 3,775 yards, 29 touchdowns, 12 picks. He was sacked 24 times, but he had 93.3 pass a rating last year. The guy can sling the bean, and he's going into his. second season, right? Cortland Sutton and the 1,000 yard receiver from last year, eight touchdowns. Marvin Mims, even though he's dealing with kind of a growing issue that took him out of practice last week, 500 yards, but still a very productive receiver. So they've got dudes that can actually fly down the field. And we'll see if we can cover those guys because
Starting point is 00:05:06 we know of all the issues that we've had in the secondary. See how healthy with Jerry Sneed is. He's supposed to be ready to go week one. But also what? Pressure. It takes pressure to create diamonds, right and if they can't apply the pressure this week man it's going to be a long season so i want to see how the defense gets after they can get off the field on third down what kind of scheme denar wilson has dialed up for these boys to be able to wreak havoc have they found the compliments on the outside to take uh to take control we already know that not a lot of people are going to run on these guys with the interior of jeffre simmons and devandre sweat and then bring in shy tuttling mix too in the rotation they got some big boy talk about some big beef up front on the officer side they got
Starting point is 00:05:46 I even have some more manwages on the other side of that football. So either way, I just want to see how the defense performance because we're definitely need them to play lights out for this team to be successful. I'm going to refrain from saying Cam Ward right now because we're going to have a whole segment dedicated to what we want to see from him. I'm looking at the receiving core here. I know Cam called them a top five receiving core. I'm going to refrain from saying that right now.
Starting point is 00:06:08 But he had to say that because you need to instill belief in your guys. But quite frankly, after Calvin Ridley, who's the clear number one on this team, there are a lot of question marks. You know, Tyler Lockett, a little bit older. We're going to see what he has left in the tank. You're talking about Van Jefferson. I know he had a coming out party in that final preseason game. I don't expect him to get over 100 yards every week.
Starting point is 00:06:27 However, can you be consistent? Can you give the Titans something week after week to contribute to a win or contribute to competing against the other team? And then right after that, I'd like to see where Bryce Oliver develops. I really liked him throughout camp. I liked him when he came on last year. And then you got the rookies with Chim D.K. and Alec-Eyele-Manner. How far can you get those.
Starting point is 00:06:45 guys along because these young guys are expected to contribute right away. So I'm looking at the receiving core for this team because like Tyler said, the offensive line needs to give Cam time to perform. And if Cam gets time to perform, he's going to need weapons out there to make plays. And those guys are the first guys I'm looking at. However, I want to go back to this offensive line conversation. Bhop, Lloyd Cushenberry, looking good to be back. Has there been enough time, you think, for kind of the snap exchange between he and Cam and him not getting work in the preseason. Is that a big deal? Or are we kind of underestimating the fact that Lloyd is a pro and has been there and done that before and can acclimate with anybody back there?
Starting point is 00:07:30 So it's not going to be a problem until it is. I know that's kind of a hokey way to put it. Six years experience in the national football league, that's nothing to squawk at. But that doesn't guarantee you that the mesh between quarterback and center is going to be seamless when they haven't had a lot of reps to work with each other, okay? You know, Corey's done a terrific job of creating situations where Cam trusts him, and that's who he's gotten the bulk of the reps from, you know, but it's not like, you know, Lloyd doesn't know how to snap the football, but will it seem as clean? Will it be as crisp? Will it be as, you know, where it's supposed to be? You know, I'm suspecting that that veteran experience
Starting point is 00:08:10 that Lloyd brings to the table will, but he hasn't worked with Cam, who is going into his first year. Cab's not used to a whole bunch of dudes flip-a-flopping at the center, you know what I mean? So I don't think it's going to be a problem, but I wouldn't be surprised if there were a couple of snafus.
Starting point is 00:08:26 I was going to say snapoos. Anyway, the point I'm trying to make is it might not be as clean, but it won't be something to worry about as it progresses, because they'll get better. They'll be just what they need to be, especially as this is the first game. I know that people put a lot of stock in the first game because you've had an entire
Starting point is 00:08:45 off season to get geared up for this one game, right? But it also is the first time that they're out there with a game plan, with a scheme, having been game planned and having to think in that fashion, and they'll get better as they go in these game time situations, regular season game time situations. So I don't expect them to look like the finished product of 2025 in this first week. But I don't expect them to go out there and shoot themselves in the foot because they really didn't do a lot of that in the preseason. I think another thing to think about here, Julian, is Cam Ward didn't play under center a ton in college.
Starting point is 00:09:20 So when we talk about there might be a little bit of an acclamation period early in training camp. There were some snap stuff because, you know, Cam's getting under center more often than he ever has before in his career as a quarterback. So I think that might contribute to it as well. But I'm with Bhop. I don't see it as some like insane issue that's going to follow the team all year. This is just a young team getting to know each other. So there may be a little something early. And let's be honest, Denver is a very tough place to play.
Starting point is 00:09:44 They have a good environment there. They have a good fan base. And that's a well-coached football team. So it's not going to be easy to get anything going. So I think there's some in there where it's not just Lloyd not being around for the whole process. But also, Cam is learning how to play under center consistently. That's something that he has to get used to too, too. So I just want to continue to preach patience to the fan base when any mistakes happen.
Starting point is 00:10:07 Like, it's a young team. Yeah, arguably, this will be probably the toughest environment that Cam Ward is faced. Not that he hasn't been in tough situations in college, this ain't college. You're talking about going to a stadium where that fan base has high expectations for their club. And they're not going to go out there and cheer them onto a loss against the Titans team that some people feel won't even be fighting for the division. You know, so right now, from their perspective, the Titans are beneath them. That's not how we feel. It's not how I feel, but that's how the Denver fan base feels.
Starting point is 00:10:41 And they're going to make sure that their second year quarterback, Bo Nix, who they've got a lot of promise coming out is just playing lights out, right? So all the pressure is on them. From the national narrative to the local narrative to who they think they are, who they want to be, nobody's thinking about the Titans, which is exactly where Brian Callahan wants them. Exactly. You know, one thing I do like about this offensive line,
Starting point is 00:11:04 kind of going back to that conversation, And all five guys seem to be in a very kind of very much a prove it area of their careers. You know, Dan Moore is coming in, proven that he's worth that $82 million. You talk about Cush and Barry trying to prove that he's healthy and Kevin Zitler proving that he's still got it. And then you have the two young guys, Latham and Skoronski, who are trying to prove that they can take the next step in their careers. I think it's going to allow this team to kind of be on the same page or this unit to be on the same page and maybe play with a little bit of, a level of nastiness that maybe they were missing last year. Okay, B-Hop, you mentioned Jeff Simmons and the defense.
Starting point is 00:11:45 What are you expecting out of, particularly Jeff Simmons this year, who is 20 pounds lighter, looking to get back on track after not getting, what was it, he failed to reach six sacks in each of the last two years. Now, I know a bunch of the guys around him need to step up as well. It's not just him, as you've mentioned before, but what are you expecting out of Big Jeff here in this first game who seems to be more motivated than ever and has looked pretty good in camp. Yeah, that's a great question. Just talking to him the handful of times that I have, he understands exactly what his role is. He also understands what defenses
Starting point is 00:12:18 are going to do against him. It's not like he hasn't experienced this in years past. The guy's been in the league since 2019, for getting the sake. So he understands taking him out of the game, neutralizing him, slowing him down has been an emphasis for a lot of offenses as a prepare for the Titans, right? But it does come down to those other guys. Arden Key was second on the sack list last year behind Harold Landry, who was now playing with this boy up in New England. But that's not enough productivity.
Starting point is 00:12:48 Sebastian Joseph Day, sure, he's been a very serviceable lineman. He was on my son's Super Bowl team in Los Angeles. So I know exactly who this guy is. But they do need to have either schematically or with just guys up front have to have the ability to get to the course. quarterback. And it does start with Big Jeff because Jeff commands a double team. But while Jeff's commanding a double team, who's blocking Devondry Sweat? Is Devandre Sweat going to be able to make those plays that off ball can actually make a difference? Can they start maybe shift in emphasis saying,
Starting point is 00:13:19 hey, look, we can't just get hands on 98, man. We got to take care of 93 as well. This dude right here is making plays. And then when they do that, if you give Jeff a one-on-one, that should be a victory for Jeff every single time. What I mean by that is if he's got more than one guy, if he's only got one guy blocking him, I'd better see his big butt in the back field. I don't care how much weight that butt has lost. He needs to be in the back field, standing next to the running back or chasing the quarterback for his life. So I expect him to be the caliber player that he's been since day one and be the leader of this defense. That's what I expect. I think it's going to be a tough matchup for Jeff. I really do. Quinn Miners is a very good player. Now, if you're Jeffrey
Starting point is 00:13:56 Simmons and you're a top five interior defensive lineman, you should win that matchup. But it's not, you know, this isn't going to be one of the easiest matchups that Jeff will have every year. Now, Luke Wattenberg on at center, I think that's somewhere where the Titans can take advantage of the A-gaps. Now, I think they'll do that with the Blitz, not necessarily just the D-line, one-on-one. But I think Jeff is going to have his hands full here, and he's going to need, Brad, he talked about him needing help. I think he's going to need some help from Dernard Wilson most in this game because the Broncos have a very good offensive line, another one of the teams in the NFL with a very, very good offensive line, very good
Starting point is 00:14:30 players across the board. The center spot is really where I think there's a weakness. If we can get some of these loop stunts, and Jeff has talked about playing a little bit of defensive end this year as well. I think if we could get a Devonre Sweat, Sebastian Joseph Day up front, crashing to the outside of the tackle, Simmons running that, I call it the Landry loop because Landry was so good at it during the Mike Vrable years, where he'd loop inside of the A gap from the outside.
Starting point is 00:14:53 If they can get maybe Jeffrey Simmons on a couple of those where he's got a running head start to go one-on-one with Luke Wattenberg. I think Simmons could really take advantage of that. Now, you've got to earn that with a third and long. You can't be running these stunts on third and two. You ain't going to get there with Bo Nix getting to his first street every time. But I think Simmons is going to have to be used creatively to set up the right matchups and set up the right, I guess, angles to attack at
Starting point is 00:15:17 against a good offensive line. Dernard Wilson's going to have to get him create. Because it's not just like Simmons has an easy one-on-one matchup like we're going to see against like the Texans. you know, like they have a terrible offensive line. I don't care who is blocking Simmons. He should eat them alive. But I don't quite feel that way with Denver.
Starting point is 00:15:31 So, Dynard Wilson, I think, is going to have to really get creative with Simmons early on to get him some good matchups in this game. It's going to be certainly a tough test for the Titans, tough test for Simmons and a tough test for the new rookie QB, Cam Ward. On the other side of the break, we're going to talk about Mr. Cam Ward and what we're expecting from him in his regular season debut with the Titans. That's when the Titans squad show returns. Keep it here, guys.
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Starting point is 00:16:47 Start your league now. Draft now at Yahoo Fantasy.com slash lockdown NFL. That's Yahoo! fantasy.com slash locked on NFL. All right, fellas, Cam Ward, he is, has a spotlight on him as the number one pick in the draft and making his regular season debut this week. We've seen three preseason games. We've seen a couple weeks of training camp and months of an off season.
Starting point is 00:17:16 How ready is Cam Ward to face what is going to be one of the toughest tests he might face all you're a team that, and the Broncos led the league in sacks last year. I'll start with T. Roe on this one. Cam Ward's ready. More ready than I was to talk right there. That's all I know. But I think that we've talked about it. Cam Ward is a guy, one of the things on the team I'm least concerned about.
Starting point is 00:17:42 Like, I think he is ready to go. Mentally, he's not scared. Now, like Brian Callahan said in his press conference earlier this week, there are going to be things that Cam Ward sees for the first time out of there this week. Like, the NFL is just different than college. There are going to be looks and there are going to be formation alignments that he's not used to. Fronts that he hasn't seen where he's got to make checks and audibles based on what he's seeing. And he maybe doesn't have the answer. But Cam is a guy who's not going to be
Starting point is 00:18:07 rattled by that. He's not going to be frustrated. And again, I try not to pile on Will Levis too much because, you know, that's past us. I hope he has success going forward. But like you could see Levis start to frazzle up during the game. You could just see his mind going a million miles per second. I don't think Cam Ward's going to do that even as a rookie, even when he encounters stuff that he may not necessarily have seen before. So I think Cam Ward is ready for week one. I worry about the other things again.
Starting point is 00:18:36 Can these receivers get open against the Broncos cover one on third and longs? Can the offensive line hold up against the team that led the NFL in Sacks last year? Can the defense play against Sean Payton, who's one of the best coaches of my lifetime, and a Bo Nix offense that has a ton of continuity. Like, I'm thinking about all the other stuff. Cam Ward, I actually feel more confident in than almost anything else on the team at this point.
Starting point is 00:19:00 He'll have his rookie mistakes, but is he ready? I think he's 100% ready to take on the challenge. Bhop. Same thing, Bhop. Cooked again with the mute. Got us both. $2 in the jar. That's a penalty.
Starting point is 00:19:16 I was sitting there typing. What I was doing was I was feverishly trying to look up Sean Payton's record against rookie quarterbacks. Oh, yeah. They played one rookie quarterback last year, and they won in dominant fashion. And the reason why I say that, because Sean's already commented that he's, there's not a lot of tape on him against pro defenses. He's had to go back to college to see some of his tendencies.
Starting point is 00:19:39 What does that tell you? They've studied him. They're getting ready for the guy. As soon as they heard, as soon as they heard, Cam Ward was picked first of the Titans, and they knew they had him first on the schedule, Sean has been looking for ways that he can pick this kid apart. So knowing that he's probably picked out every single thing that Cam Ward doesn't do well, it probably throws that in the game plan. You know, how will Cam hold up to that pressure? The one thing I like about his approach to this preseason
Starting point is 00:20:04 and getting ready for being the leader of this offense is he's getting the ball out of his hands quick, right, which is what you're going to need to do. That does slow a pass rush. That does make them then start looking at passing lanes. They'll probably be looking to bat balls down to the line scrimmage more than it will be looking to get in the back, though, because they know they won't have time to do it. But can Brian Callahan and Nick put together the type of game plan that does allow him to get the ball of his hands fast, but still be explosive, make them respect this offense with this ability to go downfield if protection is willing? So I just want to see Cam make good decisions and not give the ball away. That's what the problem was with last year's
Starting point is 00:20:43 quarterback. It was doing things that sometimes, you know, push the envelope and it not working out for them, you know? So don't want to be under pressure. We'll always stay cool and calm. And can we just basically get rid of the football would need be and not make mistakes that create liabilities for this offense? And playing in front of the sticks is going to be super important for this team, right? And it starts with camp, with camp, right? I mean, playing in front of the sticks means, you know, not third and 10, not third. And I don't have that. in my arsenal to be able to convert this because it's just a ridiculous down-of-distance that it's just not going to happen. And, you know, we have to punt. You know, playing the field
Starting point is 00:21:22 position game starts with being able to stay on the field, convert first down. And how do you convert first down? Staying manageable down in distances. So what you do in the first two really, really matters. Is that, you know, involve the run game? Sure it does. It does involve, you know, quick strike passing? Sure it does. Is it involved in those instances when you're starting to see momentum on the ground and they bring guys down in the bottom. box you hit them with the with the with the uh with the uh the calvin ridley type stuff of course but i just wanted to see cam wards commanded this offense um show that he's worthy of being able to handle the type of pressure the sean payton company you're going to dial up and he just
Starting point is 00:21:59 doesn't go and do start doing silly stuff with the football and you know what just to add some statistical context there i've really gotten in deep with the with the research this week but last year the denver broncos went oh and four in games that they lost the turnover battle. Not only that, but they went three and seven in games that they tied or lost the turnover battle. So Denver has a significant losing record if they don't win the turnover battle.
Starting point is 00:22:28 So when you talk about not making turnovers, not making mistakes, playing ahead of the chains, the Titans have to play a clean game because it's been proven out. If you give the Broncos a turnover advantage, there's no way that they're going to lose. and if you do have a turnover advantage over the Broncos, you have a great chance, a great chance, 70% of the time.
Starting point is 00:22:48 If you don't lose the turnover of the battle of the Broncos, you're going to win the game, according to what they did last year. So the Titans obviously struggled with turnovers last year, especially from the quarterback position. They cannot afford that. But I will say very positive, very optimistic with Cam Ward, but he is a gunslinger, and I think if he does get pressure and they are behind the sticks,
Starting point is 00:23:08 Cam's going to try to make plays. He's going to try to bring himself back. He's going to try to bring the team in it. And that could lead to some turnover problem. So I think, you know, we're going to talk about it, but it's really, really on Brian Callahan to set this game playing up to help Cam Ward not feel too much pressure to put on the cape. You know, one thing that we haven't seen featured in this preseason
Starting point is 00:23:30 is Cam's secret weapon. The guy can run. Yeah, he can move. He is a very dual threat capable quarterback. We only want to see that when necessary or win by design, right? But Brian will definitely take advantage of Cam's ability to run the football. And as soon as that defense turns its back to Cam, he should be able to look and find creases. And if you can also weather the storm of a good pass rush, guess what's behind the green pass rush?
Starting point is 00:23:59 Green pasture. And that field will open up. And for a guy that's a playmaker like Cam has been in college, we'll see some of that. We didn't see a lot of it in preseason, which is a good thing. Because you don't have to teach his kid out of run. That's naturally boring ability. Yep. You know what I mean?
Starting point is 00:24:14 So we don't need to feature a bunch of that. But if you don't think you're going to pull that out of their hat as far as game planning and trying to look at ways to move this football, we haven't seen Cam be active with his feet. And maybe that's by design. I love that too because you don't want to, like if you're Cam Ward, I don't want him too focused on running all the time. I love that it's a break glass in case of emergency thing that he does have if he needs.
Starting point is 00:24:37 where I want him to focus on throwing the ball from the pocket. That's where you're going to get the most success. But have that it, have that ace up your sleeve if you need it. And I like that he hasn't shown it, that he doesn't have to go to it a lot. He can win with the arm. But when things break down and you need a play to be made, he does have enough athleticism to make those plays. And I think obviously that'll matter not only throughout the season,
Starting point is 00:24:58 but against a pass rush like this. I think you're right on, Brad. He's going to have to make some plays with his legs to extend drives and maybe rush for a touchdown, maybe run a read option on the goal line like we saw Tannahill used to do. You know what I mean? That's a valuable weapon for a team that wasn't great in the red zone last year. So I think he's going to have to do that in this game.
Starting point is 00:25:17 You guys know the big thing with Cam is though he didn't throw a touchdown pass in the preseason. There were no, to your points, catastrophic plays. No interceptions in those three games. I know he only played a few series in each of those games, but he didn't let one mistake necessarily become two. I want to go back to almost a year ago to the day, Will Leveson that opening regular season game through that interception, and they lost the game against Chicago. And I know Tyler, his sentiment right there is probably what a lot of Titans fans
Starting point is 00:25:47 were feeling at the time is, do not become a meme on this first game, Cam. I don't think he will. I don't think he will. I think, you know, he's gone through this whole preseason. He's made of the right stuff. He's the first team, rookie team captain of the teams in 10 years. So you think about that. Ever, Julian, I'm calling that out.
Starting point is 00:26:09 Marcus Moriota was elevated. Yeah, Marcus did not get voted captain by his teammates. Marcus was elevated to a captain during the season by Ken Wisenhunt because Taylor Luan was a fool and kept getting penalties. And they stripped Taylor Luan of his cap and see and gave it to Marcus. So I'm giving Cam Moore the credit for the first rookie captain in Tennessee Titans history. I'm going to give him that.
Starting point is 00:26:32 Well, whatever that may be, he's been made. of the right stuff he's had you know the two sets of off season you know joint practices 10 days on the road sometimes you just got to go in there and play and that's what he's going to do um on sunday okay um we're going to take some comments here because there is an interesting one from james thompson to brad hopkins here what was it like going into week one of the super bowl season i was an eight year old looking up to you guys what was that feeling like bee hop going into a season that ended up being very special yeah it was completely different than this season, not because it was a completely different era.
Starting point is 00:27:07 But you guys didn't know who we were. We didn't know who you were. You know, we were a vagabond team that played in Memphis in the Liberty Bowl for the first year. And then we ended up playing in Vanderbilt Stadium, which was cursed at the time. And basically trying to establish an NFL brand of football in SEC country. You know, we're trying to parcel out who we were on Sundays. You guys weren't used to watching football on Sundays. You know, there was no pedestrian bridge.
Starting point is 00:27:34 do you see what I'm saying so think about these things you know it was completely new to us but what made it exciting was the fact that we felt we had to prove something not only to the fan base but to ourselves it put together a magical year that cemented the relationship between the titans in this community there's so many people that walk up to me even today fellows that was 25 years ago and they say I was there when I was the season ticket holder since day one. That's generational football, fellas. That's Jets, Packers, Eagles type stuff where they've been taking their kids to scoop to these games for years, for generations. And that exists here now. So going back, it was completely different. That first week, I mean, we didn't know what we were going to see. It's probably why we almost beat by the Bengals in week one, you know? but we're able to put together enough confidence in playing within our own scheme of things. And we had some really good players, too, that showed up in that year. Some of them relatively obscure.
Starting point is 00:28:41 Javon Curse wasn't Javon Curse that we know of years later on, right? He had to start showing people who he was. Some people had an idea who that guy with two names Eddie George was, but they didn't know him to that degree. And Aaron McNair hadn't presented himself to be an Air McNair. until we really started winning some games going more than eight and eight, right? Because remember Steve came in, he wasn't starting the first two years. Chris Chandler was. And Chris did a good enough job with the offense to at least play respectable,
Starting point is 00:29:10 but it wasn't like we were putting fear in the hearts of anybody. So we were just basically introducing who we were to a community that would then go on to love us, man. And that's where it starts. Now, unfortunately, this team has been chasing those ghosts for 25 years. And it's about time that they catch Casper by the tail. And that's why I'm so excited about King. I mean, that's, this is the cam word error. Like, this is the new reintroduce, allow me to reintroduce myself.
Starting point is 00:29:35 Like, that's how I feel with the tightness and a brand new error. A PSA is maybe my favorite Jay Z song up there, 22s. But I just want to say, Brad, from a fan perspective, like, I will say you guys changed my life. Like, that football team changed my life forever. And I'm here doing this right now going into year seven because of your guys as football team and how much it inspired me as a, you know, I'm just like James. I was eight years old when you guys were making that run.
Starting point is 00:30:02 It totally changed my life. That Super Bowl run and that team and you and the players on that team totally changed my life. And I just hope that Cam Ward and this new version of the Titans can inspire the community and create that love and maybe not chase those ghosts away because we always want that history there, but create a new bond with a new generation of Titans fans
Starting point is 00:30:23 and kind of invigorate this whole entire franchise guys again. That's really what I want more than anything this year. Real quick, let's just go back to what James said. He was an eight-year-old looking up to us guys, eight years old. Think about all those eight-year-olds now. Yes. Those eight-year-olds, man, they probably got kids themselves, and they're taking those kids to the game. You see, and they feel that this year might be another year that they can be excited to take the fans. Now, another thing is, it better be worth the money. They better be worth it. The tickets cost a lot more now than they did back then. And nobody wants to spend all that money, right? And then walk across
Starting point is 00:31:02 that pedestrian bridge pissed off. That's one thing I don't want to do. Like I did last year, week three against the Packers. My Packers been, my dad's been a Packers fan since 1960. I took into that game. They gave me 40 to 17 by Malik Willis. It's hard to get fans to buy back in after that kind of season. So I'm just hoping that they play respectable football and we're proud of what they're putting out on the field and excited to go see them play. guys are we someone's cutting onions in here man it's getting emotional over here guys football's back baby football's back you know the funny thing Brad you described a team that you don't know what they were going to be and Fleetwood Titan says Brad you just described
Starting point is 00:31:41 this year's team so I think that is a that is a good way to go on to this next segment here now I hate that the next segment may have some negativity to it but we're going to talk about some Brian Callahan and how much pressure he is under in these first few weeks, particularly game one here of the regular season when the Titan Squad Show returns. Keep it here. All right, we have an important request. Locked-on Titan Squad Show wants to hear from you.
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Starting point is 00:33:12 That's Fandu.com to place your first $5 bet. All right, fellas. so it goes without saying that when a team is three and 14 they at least assess the front office's job is to assess potential changes um i know jeremy fowler and and my buddy turan davenport from ESPN came out with that report for you was it last week early last week about how the yeah yeah about how the titans considered firing brian callahan and you know to that point they should have because when you're three and 14 you got to you got to assess what you have, especially with a new GM and Mike Forganzi.
Starting point is 00:33:54 But other than maybe Andy Reed and I don't know, maybe a Sean McVeigh, I don't know how you guys feel about that. Everybody in this league is coaching for their job. And Brian Callahan is no exception. How much pressure is Brian Callahan under in these first few weeks of the season? Because I got to tell you, you look at the schedule, and three of those first four weeks are against playoff teams from last year. I mean, there is a realistic possibility that this team is one and three after those first
Starting point is 00:34:20 four weeks or even 0 and 4. And then it's kind of like, what do you do? So Brian Callahan, how much pressure is? What do you need to see from him as a head coach in these first few weeks that lets you know, okay, he is the guy to help grow this franchise from the ground up? His game plan in week one, I have my eyes laser focused on it because you get into the data and it's clear what the Broncos like to do. The Broncos are the third heaviest blitz team in the NFL, but they're not even in the top 20 blitzing on 30. down, especially you get to like third down and medium to long, like third down in three to third down in 12. They don't really blitz a lot. They blitz heavy on early downs. And
Starting point is 00:35:00 one of my big criticism from a scheme standpoint of Brian Callahan last year is they had a lot of slow developing runs. They love those heavy gap pinpool runs. And I like them too, but they have to hit quicker because teams are just blitzing the line of scrimmage and they're disrupting things before the play even gets going because the play is so slow developing. So if I'm Brian Callahan, I'm going to focus on zone runs that hit quick because the Broncos are the heaviest early-down blitzing team in the NFL on first and second downs. So if Callahan's coming out there with some of those pin-pool gap runs
Starting point is 00:35:31 that take a long time to develop and they're getting smashed two yards behind the line of scrimmage because Denver's blitzing on early downs against the run like they obviously like to do, I'm just going to be pulling my hair out like, Brian, how could you come in and think that this is the plan? And then from a passing standpoint, Denver, super heavy cover one defense on those third and medium-to-long situations. They love their cover 1, 30% cover 1. Now, they're multiple where 16-17% they're in 2, they're in quarters,
Starting point is 00:35:57 but they love cover 1, and teams love cover 1 against the Titans. They love it because the Titans don't have man-beating wide receivers except Calvin Ridley. So, Brian Callahan has to get creative against the Broncos cover 1 man defense. He has to use motion. The Titans used motion 44% of the time against cover one on third downs last year.
Starting point is 00:36:18 They got to do that again, get guys in motion, create advantages, and I would use a ton of bunch, stacks, trips, things like that to confuse the man matchups of the Broncos. But if Callahan isn't ready for what the Broncos obviously like to do schematically against the run and against the pass, it's going to be obvious to me early on, and I'm going to be pretty disappointed with that. So what I want from Callahan is to show that he's ready early on,
Starting point is 00:36:42 but more importantly, make Cam Ward look good. I think that's the only, if we want to go big picture, the only thing that Brian Callahan has to do is make sure that Cam Ward looks like he's the guy and that he's the right coach to keep getting the best out of Cam Ward. I think he's got a low bar this year. I don't think the Titans are going to be gung-ho to fire Brian Callahan unless things are really bad,
Starting point is 00:37:02 but Cam Ward is going to ultimately be the sign of whether they need to keep Brian Callahan around or not. Coaches don't win and lose football games. They can if they don't. master conventional wisdom. If you don't understand the foundation how to be a good coach, you can put your team in an awkward situation that makes them lose. But at the end of the day, Brian Callahan's not blocking anybody. He's not throwing the football. He's not tackling. But he also has to have the attention and the focus in the discipline of the team to go out there
Starting point is 00:37:33 and do what they're supposed to do schematically, which is his responsibility and get it done. Now, you can put a couple of different scenarios into the mix as far as why Brian Callahan hadn't had success in his first few years. Maybe it was some of Rand Carthorn, arguably. Maybe it was some of Will Levis and the inept offensive line, arguably. For sure. But the outcome of this doesn't determine the season. I'm going to say that, this first game.
Starting point is 00:37:57 But when you start looking at a guy that understands exactly what to do against the blitz, Tyler, he's been around. He knows, you know, where the blitz comes from, go there with the ball. Because there's a small gap right there of someone that just left that space and someone trying to get over and cover for that blitzer that makes them vulnerable. That comes from running the football effectively, taking all that stuff out of the equation. You know what I mean? So the players on the field have to get out there and make sure that the first off, the game plan is understood and then executed.
Starting point is 00:38:31 That's what the National Football League is about. It's about execution. It's about you playing not to beat yourself. That's why you can't have pre-snap penalties that push you. you back. You can't have penalties that go on during a drive that ultimately end up negating possibly big plays. You can't have just those mistakes being made that ultimately, you know, open up rush lanes and you don't get there effectively. So the players have to go out there and win. Now, should they have considered it? Of course they should have considered fine Brian Callahan.
Starting point is 00:39:06 You know, why? Because this is a three-win team. Considering it and doing it are two different things. considering it means I'm looking at all the ways that we can get better. Was Brian Callahan a liability for us? Was he doing such a terrible job that we need to find somebody that can do it better? Are the names floating out or out there that make it seem like, hey, this guy could be more capable running this offense, running this defense, running this team? You have to ask yourself those questions when you pick first in the draft. It just goes along with the territory. But it doesn't mean you have to act on it.
Starting point is 00:39:35 You know, I'll look at this as a micro-guise. I remember one time, Will through an interstate. trying to throw the ball out of bounds. And it just was a terrible situation. And Brian literally looked at him on the sideline and said, what the, are you doing? He didn't even have an answer for it. You know what I mean?
Starting point is 00:39:52 So if we have less of that and more of the attaboys type situation, that means this team is functioning well. That means that they're doing what their practice to do. Coaches lose their jobs because they lost a locker room. If you start to hear Jeff Simmons and Calvin Ridley and the types fielding questions, about, man, were you guys prepared? You know, how do you guys feel moving forward? You know, are you lost?
Starting point is 00:40:17 Are you playing together? If you start hearing the answers that make you raise your eyebrows, then you know that you start pointing the finger up top. But until that happens, until these guys start to lose, you know, their identity and their belief in Brian Callahan that he can be the leader of this team because it is his team, and I don't think that obviously most of the blame should follow his feet. And credit to him, he fixed one of the big issues.
Starting point is 00:40:39 like, if you want to look at what was Brian Callahan's fault last year, the biggest thing and the most obvious thing was Cole Anderson was not ready to be a special teams coordinator in the NFL. That was one of his buddies. He trusted him from since he brought him over and he kept him in that position all year despite some historically bad special teams performances. Think about Detroit and how bad that was, you know what I mean?
Starting point is 00:41:00 So I think one of Brian Callahan's biggest faults last year wasn't even schematics or game plan. It was he had a guy on the coaching staff that wasn't necessarily ready for the job that he was given. And he corrected that with maybe the best special teams coordinator in the entire NFL, maybe, you know, like one of the most respected special teams guys in the league. So you've got to give Brian Callahan credit for it can't be easy to fire your friends. Like that's why they say don't mix business and pleasure
Starting point is 00:41:26 because it's never easy to fire a family member or fire a friend or anything like that. So credit to Brian Callahan for being honest looking in the mirror and saying, hey, my buddy isn't cut out for this. I got to go get somebody who may not be my buddy but is good for. the job. So I think one of the biggest obvious criticisms of Callahan, he clearly fixed in a major way, and you've got to give him credit for that. He does seem like a self-aware guy. He's not somebody who's going to be delusional about his mistake. So I want to give, you know, Callahan big credit there for fixing that. It couldn't have been easy to do.
Starting point is 00:41:57 Positivity from Tyler Rowland on a Tuesday. Interesting. Interesting. You know, this season is not so much about the win-loss record as it is growth. However, if it is another three and fourteen season or you know four and twelve and it's not much would that constitute itself to saying hey there wasn't much growth there then then kind of what do you do i know we're kind of putting the cart before the horse here but if it gets to that point then then how are you assessing it is it what bhop like you said the locker room is the locker room still believe in this guy have has he lost it or or how do you handle that if you're the front office of the tight. I mean, what will the excuse be? I mean, if this team is picking the top five for a second
Starting point is 00:42:43 straight draft, then obviously they haven't addressed enough change. You only get the number one pick once. Think about it. You have a new general manager, Mike Burgundy. You've got a brand spanking new quarterback and Cam Ward. You've got a lot of newness in the building. We've got free agents, they've addressed offensive line, which is a very problem. They've done. a lot and we can see by activity to make this team better. And if they don't go out there and perform, I mean, the writing's on the wall. He's already got a short leash as it is just because I love Amy to death. Amy's got rabbit ears.
Starting point is 00:43:23 She hears it all. And she's shown just by action, she will respond. And if that's getting rid of a guy that, you know, they brought in here to replace Mike Vrable, which is harder in itself. Mike Vrable was coached the year at one point in times. And what he does with New England, are we going to be sitting there watching New England picking in the late 20s because they're a playoff team? You know what I'm saying? And then we're looking at Brian Callahan. If he actually does do, you know, has an in-ep season where he's picking the top five, ooh, wait, that's that's a bad look. You know, so, you know, at the end of the day,
Starting point is 00:44:00 it's, you know, it's more to it than that, of course, unless something catastrophic. traffic happens. I just don't see this team not going out there and competing. Competing, does that mean winning 500, you know, being above 500? It's a tremendous year. Sure. Yeah, but, you know, competing could be how, remember the Pittsburgh game that Will Levis first started in and how they lost that game on the road. People left the game like, oh, there's something to be excited about here, right? That was a loss. But yet it didn't feel like it lost because of the potential and the problem. It's not really didn't get much better. But the point was, how did they compete? And that's what this Titans team has to look at themselves in the mirror
Starting point is 00:44:40 and say, did we do the best that we can? We just couldn't determine the bouncing of that weird oblong-shaped football. It just didn't work out for us. Or are we getting, I broadcast the BYU-Portland State game this weekend in Provo. Beautiful stadium, beautiful environment. The game was over at halftime. It was 69 and nothing by the time the game was over. There were so many different things to talk about. That's called a dirt road weapon. Now, if the Titans go out there and get boat raced, you know, and don't put points upon the board and give up four, five, six touchdowns, and they pull Bow Nix in the third quarter, and they put Sam Ellinger back in there or something like that, even though they did things on the practice point. But that kid would look good in preseason. If we see Sam Ellinger, then that means it was a bad deal for the Tennessee Titans.
Starting point is 00:45:25 So we don't want to see Sam Ellinger if he's active. You know what I mean? So they can go either way. Yeah. I just want to say that I think for Callahan, the only way that. that they have a top five pick next year and he keeps his job as if Cam Ward got hurt. And then you could be like, hey, Cam Ward got hurt.
Starting point is 00:45:41 You know, we purposefully had Brandon Allen and Trevor Simeon in here. We're not going to win with those guys and we know it. So I think that's the only saving grace. But at the end of the day, we talk about Mike Brable and you're right, Brad, these people are human. Amy Armstrong's human. And if Mike Brable comes in, this is something I've been saying,
Starting point is 00:45:57 if he comes in with a winning record with the New England Patriots and the Titans are two and five, one and six after Mike Vrable beats them in Tennessee with the Patriots who have a winning record, it's going to be hard to look at Brian Callahan and be like, we want to keep you around. So I just, that's an inflection point in the season. I can't wait to see what happens at that one.
Starting point is 00:46:16 I don't know what's going to happen, but I can't wait to see it. Now, this question is extremely premature, but it's one that has, since we brought up Brian Callahan replacing Mike Vrable. Yeah. What will the fan's response be to Mike Vrable when he comes into this stadium?
Starting point is 00:46:31 Would they be booze or would there be cheers? What's the Titans record, Brad? If the Titans are, you know, if the Titans are one in five or one and six or whatever it happened, then they'll be cheering Mike Grable. But if the Titans are playing okay and being competitive, like you said, maybe they beat the Colts, they beat the Raiders in their two and three. I think there'll be booze for Mike Grable. So it'll depend on how Titans fans are feeling, I think.
Starting point is 00:46:56 Yeah, certainly, Andy. You know, we actually, B. Hoppe, you mentioned you're on the BYU call this this week. in here is from Portland and Portland State fancing Go Vikings. A tough weekend for them, but hey, Go Vikings nonetheless over there from you of Titans fans over in Portland
Starting point is 00:47:13 and say, hey, Bhop on the call. So that was a consolation at least for you guys, at least have to watch that game. So is that Mac Jesus? Is that what called me? Yeah, Mac Jesus. Okay. So, listen, Mac Jay, I got to watch
Starting point is 00:47:29 week one against Tarleton State. 42 to nothing, Portland State lost. They haven't scored a touchdown yet. And that's with Bruce Barnum actually now having to play calling in his hands. It's kind of a tough road because in the FCS, Charlotteson State was ranked. And they did just beat Army. So they're 2 and 0, and maybe they're better than, you know, than some would have anticipated.
Starting point is 00:47:52 But he hasn't found that rhythm yet because y'all don't have a quarterback. You only say if you have more than one quarterback, you got none. They've had three quarterbacks in rotation up there. You know, Gabe Downing, Tyree Smith, and C.J. Jordan, they just need to go ahead and figure out which one of them does the best and go with that. So until they figure out what they want to do with quarterback, I think it's going to be a hard row for the Portland State bikes. But I feel you. We are officially back. Football is back if we're talking about Portland State football on a Tennessee Titans podcast. That's for sure.
Starting point is 00:48:27 Okay, we're going to have some predictions in our final segment on the other side of the break. keep it here is the Titan Squad Show will return. All right. Well, hey, Titan Squad Show fans, are you still paying full price for gas? Stop leaving money behind. Get real cash back every time. You fill up with the free upside app. Simply download the free upside app in the app store or Google Play right now and start earning cash at the pump today. Now use my limited time promo code touchdown and get an extra 25 cents back per gallon on your first fill up. You can make it up to $300 a year just from buying the gas you already needed.
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Starting point is 00:49:27 That's promo code touchdown offers vary by user. and location, go to upside.com for terms and conditions. All right, guys, so I wanted to do some predictions here, and not just for the game this weekend, but maybe, you know, anything, any stat you hope to see from a player or big picture prediction, whatever you want to predict, the floor is yours. So T-Roe, I'm going to start with you.
Starting point is 00:49:54 All right, well, I'm just going to say this. I said it earlier I'll say it again Cam Ward's going to win rookie of the year I think one of the things that is in Cam Ward's benefit is that the national media you like that little fire
Starting point is 00:50:09 I always got a little fire hot take Tyler ready to go but and that's exactly Drickerman said right here Cam where we're with the player and rookie in the year so they're with you Tyler I don't know about
Starting point is 00:50:19 offensive player of the year but I will go rookie of the year again I think one of the things Cam has going for him is these are media people voting for this it's narrative based there's always like media people love a good story so that's always what they're looking for
Starting point is 00:50:32 and I think a lot of people recognize that the Titans roster isn't awesome which means that Cam Ward's like let's say if you needed a rookie quarterback to win a certain amount of games to be rookie of the year I think Cam Ward is probably a little less than normal because a lot of people just don't like the Titans don't think the Titans are good
Starting point is 00:50:48 whether that's true whether that's false whatever it happens to be I think it makes it easier for Cam Ward to get respect and be like he's doing his best with this team you know what I mean so I do think Cam Ward does win rookie of the year. I will say, though, Ashton Gentie is going to get the ball a lot in Vegas. I think that's something to think about there. I don't think any of the other rookie quarterbacks are going to play enough, and it's a quarterback award. So I think it'll come down to Gentie or Cam Ward, but I'm going to go with Cam Ward.
Starting point is 00:51:16 I'm sorry, YouTube user is killing me on the chat. He brought a commander to Cody. Commander Cody, Cody Carlson, was the quarterback that replaced Warren Moon the year we traded him. to Minnesota. And he brought up something that there's no way y'all even know. I don't. He said, we have all-time best training camp fight. Mike Munchack and Ray Childers, sweet heavens, if that wasn't the best fight ever. How old are you a YouTube user where you saw that fight? Do you even remember that? Are you kidding me? Listen, we could fight back then. Like, this is Buddy Ryan with defense coordinator, and we fought every single play. You know, It's probably what made us such a uniquely good team
Starting point is 00:51:59 and that we've bonded by beating the crap out of each other during the week, you know? Yeah. But what I literally was poking munch in the eye. I mean, this is Mike Munchak, you know, Hall of Famer, you know, a former head coach of the Tennessee Titans, who ironically was fired because he wouldn't fire Bruce. You know what's funny is to swing it back. You're talking about those fights.
Starting point is 00:52:23 Jeffrey Simmons and Cam Ward getting in. to it and stuff. That's why I was so excited about stuff. Brad, you know, Julie, male bonds are created through button heads. Me and all of my best friends. We've fist fought. We've wrestled. We've called each other names. We've talked trash. Like that brings you together in these competitive environments. So yeah, you guys were special because you thought so much and you bonded through that. So I'm happy that the Titans are having these little scuffs and these little arguments. And I also want to say that some of the reactions in the media, the pearl clutching because Jeffrey Simmons and Cam Ward were arguing with each other at
Starting point is 00:52:54 practice. Have you guys ever been on a on a sports team? Have you ever had friends? Do you ever compete? You ever play one-on-one and throw an elbow in their mouth? Make their nose bleed a little bit. Get over it. You know what I mean? Like did you guys not grow up in that environment like I did? I was just shocked at how many people. Simmons was escorted off the field and I and Brian Callahan's like I would never throw a guy out of practice for something like that like Brian Callahan's like this is the NFL that's normal and there were some people who were like oh my God I can't believe this happened and I'm like I don't know if you cover football for a living, you'd think you would be more accustomed to this type of stuff than
Starting point is 00:53:27 some of the stuff I saw. But that's all I'll say about that. I will say there were a few questions about that, like way too many questions I thought about that. And it was kind of like, what are we doing here, guys? Are we that bored at the end of training camp where we're just fishing for the bottom of a barrel of a storyline? Like that, that's how I felt on that side. Go ahead of Bhop. No, I'm saying guilty of charge. I've been tossed out of a practice for you know what? It's unfortunate. Remember Frank Chamberlain? God bless the soul. Um, he and I got into it. I got kick up a practice for that.
Starting point is 00:53:59 Um, but first of all, what is pearl clutching? I never heard that. Oh, really? It's, it's like acting, acting shocked by something. Oh, pro formative in my mind. Like, oh my God, I can't believe Jeffrey Simmons got walked off of practice. Oh, no. And it's just like, what do you mean?
Starting point is 00:54:17 It's just normal. Yeah. So I will say, you got to be smart and you don't want somebody breaking a hand or doing something that gets themselves injured and therefore they're not available on Sunday because we know that a player's best ability is what there's available well there's true to that you don't want to shoot yourself in the foot by beating each other in practice and makes you know somebody gets hurting you know whatever you got to be smart you got all learning how to play together but uh this isn't sewing this is football this is a physical violent sport and usually the guys
Starting point is 00:54:48 are getting the fighter who the guys are constantly bumping into each other for a couple of hours during a day. And every now and then something's going to happen. Now, Jeffrey Simmons and Cam Ward, I ain't a fight. Right. Because Cam me put this way, Cam has shown themselves to be a very smart decision maker, right? That's a dumb decision. Now, was it in this place to run across the field and jeered Jeffrey Simmons because they're being competitive, whatever else? Guess what? I want to happen. I want Jeffrey Simmons to two-hand jack you in the face because you're not going to run up across the field to me and start talking trash. Yes.
Starting point is 00:55:24 You know what I'm saying? So that's just what happens. I remember when Taylor LeWan did that one time ran across the field, did you or somebody and that kid got a helmet toss at his head, didn't he? Yes. And then people celebrated when he got knocked out too, you know, when you... Trust me, as somebody who runs their mouth a lot, people
Starting point is 00:55:40 will take advantage when you take a loss. That's true. A fight amongst teammates is much to do about nothing because what they're not going to do is they're not going to take that into the locker room. They're not going to take that into the parking lot. They're not going to take that to Walgreens when they're not, you know, practicing or in the field preparing. They're not going to do that. You know what happens on the football field stays on the football field. Now, if it progresses more, now you've got an issue.
Starting point is 00:56:05 You know what I'm saying? Now, and I've, in the 13 years that I was with this franchise, I never saw that. And I saw a million fights. But I do watch MMA when I work out every day. And when those guys get done fighting, there's so much a healthy respect. for each other and hugs for the most part at the end because they did something that was unbelievably hard combat sports and you have so much more respect for each other when you go through situations like that it does create a bond so tyler you're right on that man and i'm actually stunned at the chat uh how many people remember those days uh especially that fight back in um that was trinity university back in san antonio texas i was a big fat but rookie watching these two
Starting point is 00:56:49 monster veterans, Ray Childers and Mike Minchin. I said, sweet Jesus, what is going on? They must not like each other. And they legitimately didn't like each other,
Starting point is 00:56:58 but, you know, that was an era of football and we were just still trying to figure it out. Speaking of fights, Bhop, I do think the Titans will put up a fight this weekend.
Starting point is 00:57:09 Yeah, exactly. 23 to 14 is what my score. I don't think they win the game, but I do think they at least put up a fight against Denver. What do you think? You know, I'm not going to predict wins and losses because I don't do that. It's just because it's silly to me. You know, can they win? Yes. Or the odds that insurmountable where they lose? No, I'm not going to say that. Will they win? No one knows. Nobody knows that. And I'm not going to say to try to make my money by doing it. Because if I had the, if I had the
Starting point is 00:57:38 ability to pick a game and pick winners and losers, I certainly wouldn't be taking that knowledge and picking a game. I'll be going to Vegas. I'd be playing some blackjack because that's my game. You know what I mean? But either way, to go into Mile High Stadium and get a win, Cam has got to play dang near perfect, you know. And does he have that ability? We'll see. But he's got to play lights out.
Starting point is 00:58:02 You know what I mean? He's got to play mistake-free. And they're not saying he is the only one. They have to play that way. Now, what can happen is if the Broncos make mistakes. If the Broncos show themselves to be undisciplined in situations, the Broncos give the ball away, we have to be in the position. decision to take advantage of that because that's really the only way this is going to work for them
Starting point is 00:58:22 when we talk about this game um next week guys we're going to either be talking about a lights out performance by cam ward they gave them a chance to win and that's why they did or we're going to be talking about the Broncos did so many things uncharacteristically to shoot themselves in the foot that opened the door for the Titans to win and they took advantage that's the way this or it just was just a butt kicking by the Broncos and this was the way I was supposed to go anyway in other words the less time that they spend on this game, the predicted outcome, it happened. But the more time that they spend, I'm talking about the national narrative, spend on talking about this game, some crazy things happened.
Starting point is 00:58:58 The Vikings or the Broncos screwed themselves because they opened up the door for the Titans to win, or Cam Ward just went in there and showed you why he was the first pick of the draft, period. I think that's, I think, yeah, go ahead. Do you have anything to add to you, Roe? Well, I was just going to say, I think you're right that if the Titans don't do something miraculous but find a way to win. The story will be, all the Broncos shot themselves in the foot. It won't be credit to the Titans as a Titans fan. That's how it always is, it seems like,
Starting point is 00:59:25 when the Titans do well. It's never because they did well. It's the other team that's more interesting was bad, you know what I mean? So I'm already prepared if the Titans win for that to be the thing. But I got to be honest, I won't go into like my score stuff because I do that on my Friday show. But I do think the Broncos win this game. I don't think it's, you know, a reason to say that the Titans can't do or won't do or whatever this season. I just really think the Broncos, I'm picking the Broncos to win the AFC West this year. I think the Broncos are going to be a great team. I think they have a lot of continuity and they have a really good roster. So for me, I don't think the Titans win this game. I think they have an okay
Starting point is 00:59:58 showing in Denver, but it's a very tough place to play. And I just think Denver's a very good football team this year. So I'm not going to have the Titans winning that one. And I think that may be a good place to end in a nice T's release Tyler shows on Friday. And we're going to have also our show on game day throughout the year. If we're going to end on one comment from a viewer, it's probably Mac Jesus because he's been all over the comments, and he'll say, man, if I didn't live a million miles away from Tennessee,
Starting point is 01:00:22 I'd be their mascot for free. I'd do it. And I think that signifies the hope that there is for the Titans coming up this season. We wanted to thank you for making the Titans Squad Show your first listen today. For your second listen, check out Locked-on NFL season previews on Locked-on NFL, every division winner breakout stars and Super Bowl contender an eight episode series with everything you need to know about the NFL season
Starting point is 01:00:45 find locked on NFL on YouTube or wherever you listen to your podcast part of the locked on podcast network your team every day thank you guys for coming in and being so gracious in the chat with us we love talking to all the Tennessee Titan fans out there but for now I'm Julian Minnensoe that's Tyler Rowland and Titans legend Brad Hopkins we'll see you guys on game day Great stuff, fellas.

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