Locked On Titans - Daily Podcast On The Tennessee Titans - TITANS SQUAD SHOW: MIA O'BRIEN talks Titans-Jags, & Cam Ward's MOST IMPORTANT STAT

Episode Date: November 25, 2025

The Tennessee Titans host the Jacksonville Jaguars this week. Mia O'Brien of the Jaguars Squad Show joins us to talk about the matchup. Plus, we debate Cam Ward's most important stat for the final six games of the season.Support Us By Supporting Our Sponsors!PelotonLet yourself run, lift, flex, and push forward. Explore the new Peloton Cross Training Tread+ today at https://www.onepeloton.com.PrizePicksDownload the PrizePicks app today and use codeLOCKEDONNFL to get $50 in lineups after you play your first $5 lineup.Click Here: https://prizepicks.onelink.me/LME0/LOCKEDONNFLGametimeDownload the Gametime app, create an account, and use code LOCKEDONNFLfor $20 off your first purchase. Terms apply. Download Gametime today. What time is it? Gametime.FanDuelRight now, new customers can bet just FIVE dollars and if your bet wins—you’ll get THREE HUNDRED dollars in bonus bets to use across the app.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) Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

I'm Julian Minnensohn. The Titans might have lost on Sunday, but it was a crucial step forward. The next steps win a football game. We'll talk about it. And I'm Brad Hopkins. Week 12 in the books. Let's see what lucky number 13 happens against the first of two against the Jags. I'm Tyler Rowland, and I'm as optimistic about the Tennessee Titans future as I have been all season long. tighten up it's the titan squad 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 titan squad show as you heard off the top there i'm julian minnesota joined by my friends tyler roland and brad hopkins we got a great show for you today. Before I introduce the fourth member of this show, we have a special guest today. We wanted to remind you that today's episode is brought to you by Fanduel. Right now, new customers can bid just $5. And if your bet wins, you'll get $300 in bonus bets to use

across the app. We got a jam-pack show for you today. We're going to take your comments. Of course, at the end of the show, so keep them coming. We're going to talk about Cam Ward, his big improvement and step forward from Sunday's game. And what's the most important stat that we want to see at the end of the season for Cam, and we're going to play our favorite segment tighten up versus tightened down. But I wanted to start with a special guest here today. She covers the Jacksonville Jaguars. You can catch her on the Jaguars squad show here on the Lockdown Network. Mia O'Brien, Mia, thank you for taking the time. First of all, tell us where you are right now because it's pretty unique where you're doing this podcast from. Hey, I appreciate it,

boys. excited to be with you guys. And as I noted to my fiancee last night, we're excited because the Lockdown Podcast Network is sponsored in part by Mazda. And I, I'm at my local Mazda dealer, Tom Busch Mazda right now. Shout it to Sandy West and the crew. They always hook me up with a nice little podcast space inside of the dealer itself whenever I've got to hop on a call like this one. And so we joke, Julian, this idea of the Titans are kind of in the car shop right now. They're kind of getting an oil change, maybe completely reconstructing the car. And so what better place to talk about reconstructing that car and also talking about the Jaguars car that may have already rolled off the lot after its own oil change over the last 18 months.

or so and dive into this matchup for Sunday, week 13 in the National Football League. Well, I'll start with the engine of the Titans, which is Cam Ward right now. And he took a crucial step forward this past weekend. I want to know from you, since you cover a division rival, and that's always huge when these two teams meet up, no matter what the record is. Do you have a pulse on what Jags fans or fans there in the Florida area think of Cam Ward? Yes, I would tell you, let's talk about first from the Titan perspective. of Cam Ward and this matchup specifically for Jaguar fans.

And certainly when we did the Jaguar Squad show last night with myself, Anthony Wiggins, Tony Wiggins, and then Marcus Ogden, the number one item on the scouting report for both the Jaguars and their fan base is Cam Ward. When you look at the Tennessee Titans, I don't think I'm breaking any news there. Certainly the creativity that we've seen from him in the pocket, even if some of it has led to, you know, some rookie learning curves, if you may. I think that that is something that Jaguar fans recognize, that he can hurt you both with his legs and through the air. What's interesting about Cam in particular is, of course, having played his final collegiate season at the University of Miami,

a ton of Keynes fans here in Northeast Florida. Additionally, the juxtaposition of the current quarterback at Miami, Carsonville native, of course, was the quarterback at Georgia for four years. And so looking at those two quarterbacks side by side, but also, I'd even bring this one up to you guys off the air. the idea of another in-state institution in Florida State. Mike Norvell had an opportunity to snag Cam Ward before Mario Cristobal did, ultimately decided DJ Ui Ungal-Lay would be the better option for him for the 2024 season. How'd that one work out? Sorry, Noel's fans.

And so a long way of saying that because of Cam Ward's ties inadvertently or not to the various in-state collegiate programs here, we've seen a lot of Cam Ward. We've seen him throwing across his body in the swamp against the Florida Gators in his debut. view in a cane's uniform and maybe a little risque, but certainly electric. And for the casual fan, he lists the thoughts of, man, he has some Mahomes in him. He has that playmaking ability that very few athletes who play the quarterback position do. Well, Mia, let's talk about your rookie, Travis Hunter, seven games so far. I mean, looking through the lens of the current lens, was it aggressive to think that he could play both sides of the football? I don't think so. And I

believe Bhoppy still going to play both sides of the football when he returns next season after being placed on season ending IR because I do think that he plays his best football when he is locked in at both positions. That's not to say he wasn't locked in when he was playing limited snaps on defense and extensively on offense throughout training camp and during those first seven weeks of the season. But ultimately, I just think that because the Jaguars didn't want to overpower the knowledge and the learning curve of coming from a Big 12 outfit like Colorado into the National Football League. The goal was he played predominantly defense in practice at Colorado, so we're going to give him more offensive snaps during practice. And we also believe that that is

the area of his game that he needs to grow the most as a nuanced route runner. In turn, that's going to teach him a thing or two that he can then apply to the defensive side of the ball. And so the biggest issue for me, Bhop, was not so much him playing both sides of the ball, which it should be noted, and I want to scream it from the rooftops. The injury that Travis Hunter suffered in practice the day before Halloween had nothing to do with load nails. management. I've spoken to at least a half dozen, if not more people who were there on and off the record. What happened? He was running as a defensive back, trailing a wide receiver. He stepped on their foot, kind of twisted his leg weird, fell to the ground, initially didn't get up,

and players kind of looked around like, oh, no, like, is he okay? Hop back up, was able to walk off without help from trainers. And then all of a sudden, it starts swelling up. He goes for an MRI, and suddenly it's a more extensive knee injury than previously thought. But it was a non-time contact injury outside of kind of twisting on the wide receiver's foot. So this has nothing to do with load management. It was a freak incident. It happens. That's the nature of non-contact injuries. But I do believe that for the Jaguars in terms of how they build Travis Hunter's playbook and his load from here, this past season, the goal was to only teach him the F, the slot position. Quickly, within about five, six weeks, A, they recognized that they needed him to be playing

a bit more outside to play more ZX, even if it's just pointing to a spot and saying run there and run a go route or run a comeback or whatever that may be, they recognize we need to not only give him more this year because he can handle it, but because our offense needs him to be the focal point with Brian Thomas Jr. struggling in his second season in the national football league. And so next year, I think you're going to see a receiver who knows how to play all three wide receiver positions, but also has had a whole off season to really learn the defensive back position in the national football league as well. All right, I've got to come in.

We've made it a couple of questions in here, me, and we haven't asked about the quarterback for the Jaguars, which is Trevor Lawrence. I think one of the more up and down parts of the team so far this year, this far into Trevor's career. I know they have a winning record. Things seem to be well. I was high on the Jags coming in.

I had them winning this division, and I still think that's possible. Maybe we could talk about that in a later squad show what's going on in the AFC South right now. but what's the vibe with Trevor Lawrence? Where do you think he's at in his development? Do you think there's a next level for him? Or is this just kind of the guy he is and they got to build around what he is?

Well, he just turned 26 in October, Tyler. So let's start with that. I look at Baker Mayfield, Jared Goff, Sam Darnold, and that's probably a overused line at this point. But I look at those quarterbacks who weren't given the time to develop, let alone develop after having three different play callers in their first four to five. seasons in the national football league. And I say, you do need to give him time. I also look to

Jeff Howell of the Athletic, who wrote the great expose about a month ago on Liam Cohen and his family, his mother's untimely passing. Jeff actually went to UMass with Liam, was on the student paper, was friends with Liam when he was the quarterback. And so they've had a relationship for 20 years. And Jeff said to me on one of the other podcasts that I do covering the Jaguars, he said that Liam told them and Jeff heard from other people within the McVeigh circle that this was always going to take at least a year for Trevor Lawrence to truly grasp this system and to not be afraid to, as Liam Cohen has so eloquently put it, just let it rip. I'll give you guys this quote just because it's so timely too impertinent to the conversation. Aditi, I'm just not even to bother trying to pronounce her last name. Love Adi T.T. though. A DTK. CBS sideline reporter. You guys know her well.

So she responded to Dan Orlovsky's tweet yesterday with regards to Trevor Lawrence. Dan of ESPN, of course, tweeting that Trevor Lawrence has throws on tape that look like he is the best player at the position in football. Then he throws three to four times a game that look like it's his first start ever. So Aditi, who has been the sideline reporter for each of the last two broadcast, will also be on the sidelines for Sunday's matchup with the Titans responded. A couple of things, Dan. Jacoby Myers told me he could catch Trevor Lawrence's passes with his eyes closed and that they are perfect. typically placed. Trevor acknowledged to us that Liam's scheme is more detailed and complex than any he's been in and that he perhaps has gotten hung up on what he should see and that has slowed

him. But Liam keeps telling him to let it rip and maybe the consistency and confidence really are on the horizon. And I think that that confidence piece of it and the perhaps the hesitation in the pocket, and I don't want to put this on him because we are, I would like to think we're still on good terms. Former Jaguars coach Doug Peterson was so adamant about the careless regard for the football after Trevor Lawrence's third year in the National Football League with the number of fumbles, let alone the number of interceptions that we saw. And I think that some of the communication there may have made Trevor a little gun shy from the perspective of, hey, you got to live to see the next play. Yes. But also, if there is the kill shot available, you should still

take it. And I think he's still just struggling to find that balance between trying to be a game manager while also using his God-given ability because, as Dan said, there's only three or four human beings who can sling the rock like he can physically in the world, let alone in the national football league. And so I think that, yes, patience is still needed. I also think that it should be noted that this administration recognizes that until proven otherwise, this offense runs through their run game, their identity is being physical in the trenches and letting Trevor Lawrence manage the game somewhere between 20 to 30 dropbacks in a single outing. And that's a good day at the offense for the Jaguar's offense in 2025.

Mia, the Titans fell to 1 in 10 this past weekend, but the feeling after this loss was not as yucky as some of the other losses this season. I mean, we got a bunch of positive feedback. They lost Julian? They lost the game. Are you sure? Drapsock improved. You boys forget, like, I'm in the game.

I'm in the game of tanking after seven, eight years of covering this team. So I get it. I get it. Somebody should have told me. I had victory Monday yesterday. What do you mean they lost? Yeah, the pulse of the fan base was very positive. The next step, at least for me for this team, is to win a football game on your own merit.

I know they have a win this season, but it was a fluky one against Arizona. What are some weaknesses that Jacksonville has that maybe the Titans could exploit to do that on Sunday? Yeah, I don't think I'm breaking any news here, although I've like sang it on every podcast that I do and on ESPN radio as well. If you have a tight end or a running back that can leak out into the right flat, Jaguars won't be covering him. Just going to throw that out there every week. I tweet it and every week there is some playmaker on the other side that suddenly sneaks out and oh, look at that. They're completely uncovered and no one's even coming up and run support.

That's a lot of fun. I think that what's interesting with this Jaguars defense, which obviously runs predominantly zone principles. And since that game against the Los Angeles Chargers has run some of its most, you know, zone friendly schemes that we've seen all season is this idea of they are not the Gus Bradley Pete Carroll cover three bend on. don't break defense, but they will allow for you to try to matriculate up and down the football field, death by a thousand paper cuts. And so if you can sustain long drives, then you can

have success against this Jaguar's team. And if on the other side, you can ensure that Trevor Lawrence doesn't sustain long drives and that the run game doesn't get going and you can control the time of possession, then you give yourself a chance against the Jaguars. That's certainly what the Texans did. That's what the Raiders did. That's why that game in Las Vegas went to overtime. And I would also just add that, you know, the Jags are hoping. that that identity works against the Titans because Cam Ward as a young rookie is most likely going to take some risks at times

and then they can capitalize on it with a top three takeaway margin in the National Football League. If they turn wine to water too, then they'll, you know, just add it to the list of things we want to see the Titans do for the first time this year. Yeah. Amen to that. Mia, what's the secret?

I mean, the Jags were 4 and 13 in 2024, for seven wins so far under Liam Cohen. We would hope to have had the same type of success when we changed our head coach, but it just hasn't taken that. It's taken a lot longer than we would have won it at this point. So what has been the secret to the change in culture with the same guys, basically?

Yep, exactly, Bhop. And a lot of people have questioned it. And they've questioned not only Liam and James Gladstone, the GM, who both, of course, have ties to the Los Angeles Rams and Shaw McVey and Les Sneed, but they've questioned Tony Buselli, the lone hall of famer in Jaguars history, who of course has lived here in town

for the better part of the last two decades, this idea of how can you take the same guys and you can somehow create a different outcome and elevate the ecosystem, as James Gladstone likes to say. And I think that what's so interesting is that it's a cliche, but there are some people who are thermostats

and there are some people who are, there are some people who are thermostats, right? They elevate the temperature in the room, right? There's other people who are just sitting in the room and they feel the temperature. But there are some people who go into a room and they elevate the temperature in the room. Liam Cohen is one of those people who comes in and immediately the standard is raised. His expectations are higher and because he loves on his players, they want to play to that level. They added players like Jordan Lewis, Eric Murray, who currently is on the reserve injured list,

who not necessarily are all pros or pro bowlers who are going to change your team's fortunes. but because of the fiery competitive nature that they possess, all of a sudden that reignites a flame in Josh Heinz Allen, that reignites a flame in Foyleuiken that was lost last year in a lost season with Ryan Nielsen and his loan campaign as the defense coordinator. And so all of a sudden, if those guys believe, well, then a jaguar's defense that is sneaky young outside of their defensive front, that secondary is one of the youngest in the national football league. All of a sudden, if they are following Jordan Lewis and following him into the flames, then

they are then all of a sudden going to buy into this idea of anything as possible. I reported it when Liam Cohen was hired. Shaw McVeigh believed in his 2018 Rams staff that of course was regarded outside of the St. Louis Rams in 2001 as one of the greatest shows on turf that we've seen in the 21st century. It was regarded as he was regarded as the one of the brightest offensive minds on that entire staff. And that was when he was the assistant wide receivers coach fresh off of a three week stay at Holy Cross as the coordinator.

And if that doesn't say enough that Shaw McVeigh believed in this guy, not just from his offensive acumen, but from the alpha dog mentality and future head coaching prospects, I don't know what does. The answer is coaching.

They just got a much better coach. They had a talented roster all along. It was all right there. It was all right there. Listen, I got to say before I ask you, my final question here, just a small rant. You know, the Jimmy's in the Joe's,

not the X's in those. It's players, not plays. That all sounds well and good. but in a league that is just driven by parity, where most of the rosters have similar talent levels. Like some are really, really high, some are really, really bad, but most of the NFL, 80% is similarly talented. Coaching is actually what is most important, not the chess pieces, but who moves them.

Sorry, Brad, I know you're a player, we can debate that when we have more time. Mia, we've talked all offense, we've talked all coaching, we've talked Kim Ward, tell me about what I actually am impressed by with this Jags team, Jags team, and that's defense. And is Trevon Walker going to be back for this game? Yeah, great question. I don't have the answer to that yet because it is Tuesday. We'll know more tomorrow Wednesday. Trayvon, it was so interesting because he leaves the Chargers victory with the knee injury, but then was clear to return and actually played in the second half of that game. We did not see him on the field all week last week during the open portion of practice from sources I spoke

with. It wasn't really spotted in the training room during many of the primary nine to five hours. Now he could have been in there both before and after Liam Cohen said he was in the building. We did not see him in the locker room as well. But clearly if the former number one overall pick plays, it changes the dichotomy and the trajectory of this Jaguar's defense. Because when healthy, especially like we saw in the first three weeks of this season, he is what Mike Tomlin once said in 2023. The number one item on the Jaguar Scouting report, the absolute game record. With all due respect to Josh Heinz Allen, who had 17 and a half sacks in that 23 campaign, Traybom Walker was who the Pittsburgh Steelers were most concerned.

concerned about because of how stout he is a run defender because he is the straw that stirs the drink on defense and creates for so many different people in the front seven let alone on the back end as well and so I'm curious to see because when I asked Liam Cohen last Friday do you have to practice during the week to play on Sunday and he said you don't have to but it makes it harder a lot of folks wondered maybe we could see Trayvon I personally think he was talking more about Jarian Jones or Greg Newsom who also were nicked up in that game against the Chargers and they still played on Sunday against the Cardinals. They were both limited during the week, although I know from good intel, like limited was truly limited for some of these players, which, hey, listen, it's week 13 in the National Football League that happens. You have to be able to play through that.

So I'm curious to see if Trayvon plays, but I will tell you, I don't know if you guys watch the tape because I know you were locked in on the Seahawks and the Titans. Dennis Gardick and his return to the desert last week, the Sam linebacker and a special team. James demon. He's so, he is so good. He's so underrated. He's a freak. But what was so interesting was probably like week four or week five. So this is before Trayvon Walker suffered the hand injury that made him miss two games. We actually asked Anthony Campanelli, the defense coordinator and Liam Cohen, like, how do you get this guy more involved? And they said, we're going to try to find a way to get him out at a wide nine and actually play him as a true edge rusher. You haven't really seen it until Trayvon Walker's second injury of the season. But man, oh man, I mean, his hair was on fire. He had a sack on the third play of the game against his former team on Sunday. And not only that, but the hezy move with the delayed blitz where the patience to just hide behind the guard, shadow him and shade him, excuse me, and then just all of a sudden come right up through the line of scrimmage and just burst through the B gap. I mean, that was something that like, you just don't look, you don't look at him in the locker room and his measurables and think like that guy can do that, but he can. And so I'm not saying he's

Trayvon Walker because I do believe Trayvon Walker when all is said and done, he's in rare air in terms of his physical ability in the national football league. But I think that with Dennis Gardick, not to mention those two undrafted free agent rookies in Danny Strigow, who had 11.1% of his pass rush snaps resulting in pressure. And he only rushed the passer 24 times on Sunday. I mean, he was getting after Jacoby Brissette. And that was only in his like third real game as a member of that edge rusher rotation. I think if you take those two players, Eric Armstead and Devon Hamilton, arguably

coming off their two best games on the interior, that interior push allows for so much creation on the outside as well. I don't want to say the Jags can survive without Trayvon Walker, but they certainly did barely against the Arizona Cardinals on Sunday, although I don't think that was all the defense in terms of surviving, if you know what I mean. Well, Mia, thank you so much. That's insight we can't get anywhere else other than on the Locked On Network. You can catch Mia O'Brien with the Jaguar Squad show every single week.

Make sure to like, comment, and subscribe to that show. And we're looking forward to game day on Sunday, no matter what the records are. official game always means a lot more. Mia, thank you so much for taking the time. Absolutely, boys. Thanks for having me on. All right. The NBA is back and there is no better place to get in on the action than Fandul, the official sports betting partner of the NBA. Even if you miss the start of the game or want to ride the hot hand, Fandul has live bets on everything from who will score next to fourth quarter comebacks. Plus, you can even combine your live bets in the same game parlays for

shot at a bigger payout. It keeps every game exciting, especially when your team's making that late push. Right now, FanDuel is giving new customers $300 in bonus bets when your first $5 bet wins. So head to FanDuel.com to sign up and play your game with FanDuel, the official sports betting partner of the NBA. All right, fellas, wanted to play our favorite segment every single week, tighten up and tighten down. We're going to start with positivity. because it was a positive week for the Titans. Tyler, we'll start with you here. What is your Titan up this week?

Well, I mean, I feel like when we're starting, we have to start with Cam Ward, right? Like, I have plenty of other tighten ups. We could certainly get to, and we will. But for a second game in a row, Cam Ward looked really, really solid. Looked really good. Had the fourth best QBR in the NFL this week

after 10th best last week. I know that the Titans haven't won these games, but they've lost by one possession and both. I know that there was a late garbage time touchdown to make it seem closer than it was against Seattle. But the team is more competitive. The offense has more flow to it. That's without a run game.

That's with the wide receiver group where it is. That's with the defenses that they've been going against, like I'm talking about with Houston being the number one defense, Seattle being one of the top five defenses. Like these are great defensive units. And Cam Ward looks like he belongs. Not only does he look like he belong, but he's making plays. Some of the throws that he made yesterday,

the seam hit against cover 2 to James Prochay, down the sideline with patience, looking off the safety and then hitting the wheel route down the sideline against cover 3 to Chigaconkwell. The in-breaking routes against cover 4. Like, he's really starting to see certain concepts against certain coverages multiple times and feeling more comfortable.

I mean, in that game when he ran through the pocket and threw it to Gunner Helm on 4th and 5 on the first touchdown drive, he literally no look to defender. He's looking at a defender holding him against the short man while he's throwing intermediate past him to Gunner Helm. Like, you only use your legs the way that he is, the fall-down throw to Chick-a-conquo early in the game.

You can only do all of these things if the game is slowing down. So I know that they're not winning. Cam Ward isn't thrown for three or four touchdowns. like we've come accustomed to, you know, with Marcus's debut and Will Levis's debut. And I think it's probably a good sign. Cam Ward didn't have some spectacular debut after those. But I just, as impressed as I possibly could be, this is a breakout moment.

Not breaking out into a superstar in the NFL, but breaking out that first evolution for Cam Ward going from, I'm a rookie in the NFL to, hey, I'm a starting quarterback in the NFL. I think against these defenses, what we've seen, this is. like a rookie breakout moment where Cam Ward kind of takes that next step to the next version of the player that he's going to be. And that's very exciting. I think we have to look at the team in totality. I mean, this team continues to get closer and closer to a win, especially against really good teams like the Seahawks. You know, they're tough out for anyone. You know, with the season going like it has to this point, when you've already fired your head

coaching and working with an interim head coach, that's a good thing to see that they're still competitive. You know, it didn't feel like, you know, one of those scratching your head moments watching this team flounder and really do things to keep continually shooting itself in the foot. But where we're starting to see are incremental steps towards getting better. And I think that that's probably a microcosm of the young roster that they have with guys that are starting in the lineup now, whether that's through attrition or just making a decision to try and get some draft equity with moving some veterans around. But for the most part, these young guys are responding.

This team believes in itself and it still has the confidence that it can actually compete with almost anybody. So we'll see what they do against a seven-win team, like the Jags, one they have a lot of familiarity with and some success in recent history. So I'm just excited the fact that these guys haven't just like started shoveling dirt on themselves. Yeah, you know, all season long, we've talked about sustaining drives and finishing drives. And in the second half, they certainly did that, you know, six of 17 on third down, five of seven on fourth down, keeping the chains moving. We saw Cam uses legs a lot more. He ran for the touch. He led the team in rushing this past weekend.

And Tyler, to your point, the impressive day he had without a run game. And the impressive day he had being so thin at receiver, no Calvin Ridley, no Ellic Eio Manor, and they were still able in that second half to move the ball up and down the field. I was talking to Peter Skoronski in the locker room and I said, hey, two offensive touchdowns, that's a step in the right direction, right? And he said, well, you know, it should be the standard. The bar is low, but it is a step in the right direction. when you're thinking about prior to this, the two games previous,

they had one offensive touchdown in eight quarters. So I think their ability to sustain drives, and we talked to me at the first segment, and how important that is going to be against the Jacksonville team that the third down efficiency for their opponent, 62% when they get in the red zone. That's one of the worst in the NFL. And so I think that was certainly a positive.

Bhop, I'll go with you on this tighten down. What do you think is a tighten down or something you would like to see more of coming out from Sunday, game. Yeah, that's a great question. You know, Cam Ward mentioned the Titans needing to dig themselves out of holes, right? They need to work on not getting in the hole in the first place. You know, this is a talented young team like I just mentioned, but they're not good enough to overcome coming from behind, basically, to get a win, you know, unless they're playing Arizona Cardinals. You know, so they need to keep working on drive-killing penalties. They need to be

better in coverage for what they've been able to do up front, you know, especially with their ability to apply pressure. We can't keep continually seeing the where you know where the football is going for an offender, just being wide open. You know, so I think that they just need to get better on all layers of the defense and obviously continue to work on those mistakes that have put them in those holes that Cam Ward talk about. If you want to tighten down for me, too bad, Julian, I got another tighten up. Marcus Harris, the Titans rookie slot corner number 26.

Marcus Harris was absolutely fantastic in this game. I mean, he had an elite game. he didn't make a bunch of plays on the ball, turnovers, this and that, but doing his job, executing his job on a down-to-down basis, he was nearly perfect. I counted two plays out of his 35 where maybe you wouldn't give him, he did a great job on this play with what he was supposed to do. I mean, whether it's dropping back in a deep half and an invert cover two,

whether it's settling down in the flat as a flat defender, whether it's playing a hook defender, hook curl in the red zone, and locking up guys, matching the man, having man coverage on a tight end on a crossing route, Cooper Cup on an out route, whether it's man coverage on a running back and five wide and almost getting a pick six interception where you're right there to break it up.

He had multiple pass breakups on a play in the red zone. He literally is playing a hook curl, just a mid zone in the red zone at the goal line, just looking to take everything away. He looks inside, make sure that the crosser is taken away. Done. Turns back. See Sam Darnold working. outside the pocket to the left.

Mirrors Sam Darnold and it scares Sam Darnold off from running. He's the only one there and he turns his head and takes one step and mirrors Sam Darnold and Darnal goes, okay, I can't run now because he's a four three cornerback right there waiting for me. And then Donald turns back and tries to throw the ball

into somebody and Harris turns right back around puts a shoulder into him and pops the ball into the air for an incompletion. I mean, what an awesome play to watch this rookie get in there. They haven't been as complex with what they're doing in the back end recently, and I think some of that is because the inexperienced guys like that. But Marcus Harris was everywhere. He's a smaller guy. He's not going to be as good in run defense as maybe like an Elijah Molden was a couple of years ago or McCreary has been

for his career. He's just not as like physically stout as those guys, but he's willing. He's ferocious. He got in on some run stuff a couple of times. But as a past coverage guy in his zones, the awareness that he shows in his zones to pick somebody up and then the man coverage, stickiness with the speed. I mean, he looks like a true answer for the Titans out of position where they have three open boxes right now. Three open boxes for 2026 that need to be checked. I think that, and we got to see it the rest of the season,

but I think they checked one with Marcus Harris in the slot. I'm fired up, boys. Let's go. The Titans are back. Am I going to be more negative than Tyler in this show, which is never going to happen probably again? That's crazy. Enjoy it. Enjoy it. Bihab, because I wanted to bounce something off of you because my Titan down, if there was any,

is they got to get the run game going, right? Cam Ward led this team in rushing yards, 2.9 yards of carry for the entire team. Obviously, it's been a problem. And we talked about establishing a run game could be Cam Ward's best friend. It opens up play action. It keeps the defense honest. Behab, what do you see as the biggest issue in the run game? is it the run game? Is it the O-line? Is it a combo?

They're not paying enough attention to it, period. I mean, when we listen to Mia, she was talking about a goal being for Trevor Lawrence to throw, what, 28, 30 times in a ball game. I mean, Cam is easily out averaging that. I mean, throwing well into the 40s, which means he's in passing situations or he feels that he needs to pass the ball more so than he needs to run the football. They're not committed to it. And they're not committed to, even if he's, you do just get a couple of yards waiting for the dam to break to where they can find those creases to really engage Tony Pollard and Tijey Spears. And of course, throw Cam's running

ability in there as well. That should be part of the metric. It should be part of the statistics. I don't need him to lead the rushing average or the rushing stats like he did this past weekend, but I need him to show up on that sheet. You see what I'm saying? And it's just part of them alleviating the pressure of past rushing that actually has been somewhat of a boogaboo. It's inconsistent to have this line, you know, keep that pocket clean enough for him to be able to do that and be effective just throwing the football. So I think it's almost a mental thing with Cam, you know, just thinking that, you know what, I've been this quarterback in college that has used his legs and I don't want anyone thinking that's the only thing that I can do. You know,

and in essence, it's a wonderful trait to have a dual threat capability and be able to keep the defense is honest. So it's all part of the run game. But committing yourself to letting these offensive line and bludgeon the front floor of the defense, just get into the flow of things and stop continually backpedaling, it would definitely help their psyche as well as, I'm sure, show on the stats sheet that they're actually controlling the line of scrimmage. It's hard to control the line scrimmage when you're doing more passing than you are running because the defense is continually on the attack, you know, pass rushing. But I think when you commit yourself to at least balancing the offense and committing a little bit

more to the run, instead of having almost the fewest attempts in the backfield as we've seen and this team do in years, that's going to definitely have an effect. They just need to run the ball more. I think here's the problem. They suck at it. They are terrible at running the ball. Yeah, but they suck at it because they don't do it enough, Tyler. That's the point.

The point I'm trying to make is that if you continue commit yourself to actually doing it, repetitiously, you will actually be better. But when you do it sparingly, when you do it every now and then when you don't commit to doing it as far as balance is approach, then you're going to obviously suck at it. I'll be honest. I think it's more of a skill. It's they suck at it. is the reason why they don't do it more rather than they suck at it because they don't do it more.

I just see it the opposite. I think it's a skill issue. They literally are not good enough to run the field. You know why my golf game sucks, Tyler? My golf game sucks because I don't do it. But I don't think that's true for everything. I wish I got on the on the course and just in and was a scratch golfer, but I can't even continue to act like that if I don't even go to the range and shoot and hit balls.

You see what I agree? But I could go to the range for 10 hours a day. I could be a professional golfer and hit balls for 10 hours a day at the range for six straight months. I would not be a scratch golfer still. I am not talented enough. I do not have the natural ability

no matter how much I practice, Brad, I can't be a professional football player like you. You have a natural gift that I was not given. I think that the Titans are not talented enough to run the ball no matter how much they do it, how much they practice, they just aren't good enough. That's my opinion.

Maybe they commit to a game, playing when they're playing a lesser defense. You just sat there and said this team has 80% like everybody else, as much talent as everybody else. You just said that. They don't know. They're below the line. I said either you have a ton of talent.

You have a little. Most of the NFL has about the same talent. The Titans are not most of the NFL sadly. Well, I agree to disagree, but I think, well, obviously, you know, practice makes perfect. And if they were to continue to admit themselves, even during the week to having a more engaged run game, then I think that you would see that show up on Sunday. I wanted to end this segment. It'd be a crime not to on a tighten up segment, Chimdeka.

I mean, the guy continues to impress another special team's touchdown for him. That's two this season. Would have had a third, but it was called back. Should have had a third. Yeah, should have had a third against the ram earlier this season. He also had a receiving touchdown in this game. this guy's in line to go to a pro bowl he's in line to be all pro i mean just some quick thoughts on chim in the way he has continued to elevate this team because that spark was exactly what

led to the titans having that second half that they did reminds me to nick westbrook kinah the guy that was kind of relatively obscure next thing you know he starts making plays he's a guy that you know quietly defenses are starting to take a look at because he's been beating them and the next thing you know he earns himself a second contractor with a better team you know well better team maybe loosely. But either way, the point is, you know, the guy is, he reminds me a lot of someone that you didn't expect necessarily to be a huge cog in what they're doing offensively and in special teams. And he just showed himself to be an asset. You know, he definitely worked his way into the starting role. I think that he definitely is a threat with the ball in his hands. But guess what? All the other 31 defenses in national football, he know that as well. So once they know who you are, we'll see how much better he can actually continue to improve. Another one, AJ Brown did the same thing. When we really started realizing the dude, A. T. Brown is a dude, right? And defenses started playing more, paying more attention to what he was doing. He still continued to elevate his game. So I want to continue to see improvements from him, despite the attention that he's going to get

because he's not sneaking up on anybody anymore. I want to give some shoutouts to the people who blocked on that punt return. Chim D.K. deserves a love leading the NFL in all-purpose yards. He's going to be an all-pro. He's going to be a pro bowler. He deserves it. I have said for weeks that Jim D.K. is like the one bright spot on this football team. Now, the team's playing a little bit better. We have more things to be excited about going forward, but D.K. continues to impress.

But Micah Robinson, first block, took a gunner out of the picture, let Chim D.K. kind of get to that corner to the right side. Callow Mullings had number 94, a bigger guy for the Seahawks on him. He kind of boxed him out like a basketball player and let Chim D.K. go by without causing a penalty. And then down the stretch,

the last guy that you have to beat, the punter, Mike Brown, who just got activated off IR recently, comes in, pushes the punter out of the way, and clears out the sideline lane for Chimdeka to go down. So it takes a team to make those kind of things happen. We focus on the returner and they deserve that love for making

it happen. But Micah Robinson, Calo Mullings, and Mike Brown made excellent blocks on that punt return and deserve some credit as well. Absolutely. Well, that was our tighten up and tightened down on the next segment. We're going to talk about Cam Ward. We'll dissect his performance a little bit more. And

What stat do we want to see from Cam Ward by season end? Which one is the most important to us? We'll talk about that in the Titan Squat show coming up next. Today's show is brought to you by friends over there at Peloton. Look, folks, it's time to break through the busy time of the year with a brand new Peloton cross training tread plus that's powered by Peloton IQ. It's Peloton's most elevated technology and equipment yet that gives you real time guidance and it gives you endless ways to move whether you want to work out by yourself

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Let yourself run, lift, flex, push, and go. Explore the new Peloton, cross training, Tread Plus at one Peloton. So I wanted to talk about Cam Ward. And I put a question in the chat. And I text to you guys that same question yesterday. There's six games remaining for Cam Ward's rookie season. by the end of it what is the most important to you out of these four 70% completion percentage he's just under 60 right now so maybe we can go 70 over these final like six games 3,500 passing yards

he's 2,210 yards right now 12 touchdowns he's at 7 at the moment or do you want him to lead the Titans to have at least three wins or more so that would be two more wins or more before the season's over which one of these is the most important to you knowing that a lot of these also sometimes could go hand in hand. Tyler will start with you. Anything but the wins. Please, no. Let's not do that, boys.

All right, let's not be crazy. I'm going to need Ruben Bain or Val-R. Rees, all right, everyone relax. But I think the completion percentage, I don't think that he gets it, unfortunately, because teams love to bring pressure and it just makes it tough. And I watched so many plays on tape yesterday

where Cam just has to throw the ball away. I haven't checked it in a while but after the first like six or seven weeks of the season Cam Ward was number one in the NFL and percentage of his incompletions that were just throwaways because no one is open ever and he just has to run around and he runs outside and then he's like well no one's open

I guess I just have to throw this out of bounds you know what I mean so I think it's going to be tough but completion percentage is the one that I would like to see the yards the touchdowns I feel like that is much more dependent on the rest of the supporting cast, the coaching getting open opportunities to make, you know, touchdowns and yards.

To me, the completion percentage because even if there's nothing there, I just want to see him check the ball down, get the ball out of his hands quickly, make, you know, decisive decisions, which is redundant to say, but, you know, you guys know what I'm saying. Like, I just want to see him play on time,

play quickly, protect himself, make smart decisions. And I think that would be more reflected in my opinion in the 70% completion percentage where all the other things are kind of dependent on more on the team. But I think he does get to 3,500 yards. And I think looking at what Caleb Williams did last year

with what some people were touting as the best supporting cast, the number one overall pick has ever had with DJ Moore and Romo Dunesay. They had a decent running backs in there, talent on defense. I think if Cam Ward gets over 3,500 yards, that would be cool. But the completion percentage is what I want to see,

especially when he struggled with that. early in the year. Great, great question. Julian, I understand where you're going with it, but the completion rate is the only thing that really matters because the yards come after that, the touchdowns come after that and the winds come after that. If you look at Drake May, 63%. He's leading in National Football League in completions and actually yards. Hatchamah, 61%. You know, Dak Prescott's in the 60s. The leading quarterbacks, statistically, in the National Football League, this season are well below 70%. So 70% will be absolutely redonculus and would definitely would contribute to 3,500 plus yards for Cam Newton

or for Cam Ward 12 touchdowns, all of that would come. Three wins. You start winning ball games if you're starting to complete those passing yards and getting more points on the board. So the completion percentage is probably the most important because we see consistently guys that are actually even in the mid-60s are having really, really good seasons. I was going to say completion percentage as well. Right, right, Brad. Crazy. Yeah. 71.

I mean, 70, he's the only one over 70. Well, his QBR is 72. I'm looking at him statistically, passing offensive leaders. His completion percentage is 71%. Drake, Drake May is the only starting quarterback over 70% in the entire NFL right now. He's number one. So you're right about that. He's leading in yards.

Josh Allen's number two at 69.7%. And Dakrest got right there at 69. He was 60%. Yeah, 70 would be incredible. So let me ask this then, because Cam was about 66. 67% this past week against Seattle at 28 to 42. What is the bare minimum completion percentage then you would like to see? If 70 is kind of like, you know, the ultimate goal like, oh my gosh, he's awesome

and maybe a little bit unrealistic at this point in the year. But what's the bare minimum percentage? Because that would ultimately lead to the other stats that we asked in this question. 63. I mean, that seems fair to me. Like he shouldn't dip below 60. that you start getting closer to the 50s, I'm like, whoa, you know, 57, 58, 59,

that's not what you want to see. It is a function of the offense as well, though. It's like, you know, you can't just say, you know, who knows what's going to happen that could lead to that number. But I'd like to see him, I think 63, 64, 65% is about the minimum that we should be seeing if he's making reasonably smart decisions

within what he can do. What's the next step you guys want to see for Cam heading into this game after this crucial? step forward this past weekend. It seems like the best game that Camvis had all season is the one when he did decide to at some point in time when the light clicked, he just run the football. I know it sounds very pedestrian and we don't want to see this, you know, three yards in a cloud of dust type football.

I mean, it seems boring. But what consistently wins ball games is at least him keeping defense is honest, right? I mean, he had the largest, longest run of the game, I think 21 yards in one play. But what that did was it showed the defense, hey, look, this guy can. can run if need be. You see what I'm saying? And that's one thing that they're thinking about that if this pass rush continues to pin its ears back and they get past the breaking point, then he will basically, you know, kill them with his feet. So I don't need him to lead the stats of rushing like he did this past game, but I do need him, like I said earlier

in the program, to show up. Not because we don't think he's an affected passer, but because that balance and that unpredictability are one of the, some of the things that can keep defenses on their heels. So I just need him to be more active in play action. We need to be more active in getting the football and getting those first down, sometimes with his legs would need be. I think that's 100% right. He does have to do that.

But I think the reality is that's one of the only, you know, we were talking golf earlier. That's one of the only clubs the Titans have in the back. You know, they don't have a good run game. They don't have an explosive man-beating wide receiver that they, you know, an alpha wide receiver they can go to all the time. They don't have an explosive downfield passing game. They don't have a short, quick timing passing game.

You know, they don't have a lot of things that they can consistently go to. So you do have to rely on Cam Ward to scramble a little bit more out of the pocket when you, you know, leave 7 in and Max Protect on a third and long, and there's only three guys out in routes and no one's there and the defense is dropping back real far to take it away. Yeah, you need Cam Ward to scramble for it. And I think personally that he's scrambling more and we're seeing him run more as of late. it all coincides with his best play

because the game is slowing down for him now he can actually see it whereas before he was drifting backwards he was drifting backwards to the right and to the left trying to get to the outside of the pocket and he was athletic enough to outrun defenders in those scenarios in college but he's not now now he's getting chased down to the sideline

and he doesn't have time to keep the play alive when he's drifting out now he's learning okay I need to get through the gaps up the middle I need to go north and south I need to go vertically up the field through the gut of the defensive line rather than trying to fade back and out like I did in college.

And that has led to more success with him scrambling and picking up yards in front of him. And I think part of that is just the game is slowing down. He's seeing things he's getting the ball out of his hands easier. Like I said earlier, he's seen certain coverage concepts and certain route concepts against certain coverages that he's seen more often.

So he's just much more comfortable with everything coming out of the by week. And I think that is part of it. But you're right, he has to do that. They have no choice because they don't really have a lot to go to. And back to the run game, they don't have a run game. And we all talk about the offensive line.

Everybody's mad at the O line. I think one of the big contributors to the run game is Cam Ward might not be checking out of bad runs against bad looks. They probably need him to get them out of some obvious looks a little more often. That could be something behind the scenes that we don't know about that, hey, you know, Cam should have checked this run. He should have checked it to the other side.

to canned it into a pass play. He led us into a bad run. I think that's something that has happened that people don't want to talk about or don't know about as well. And then the running backs are not good. Like, Taj Spears is explosive out in space, but his vision inside and tight areas

is not good. He doesn't run through a bunch of tackles so you can't use him in short yardage. And Tony Pollard is just out of gas, folks. He's just out of juice. He's a solid guy, good teammate, hard runner, tries his best, but he just doesn't have the juice to cut and break tackles. I was very unimpressed this week with Tony Pollard's performance.

I could not believe some of these runs are blocked for more than he's getting. Like his rush yards over expectation, which is a stat that they keep on like next-gen stats, is not good this year, where it was good last year. They ran them into the ground last year, treated him like a bell cow back, and they took all the juice out of his legs. So the running backs and Cam Ward,

also a big part of the run game struggles with getting into the proper runs against certain looks and then the running back's taking advantage and maybe getting something that isn't blocked for and they aren't doing that a lot either. Like Tajay Spears had one where there's a wide open lane, easy cut and he kind of slips in the backfield

and falls down and it's a loss of yards and it's like the O line actually blocked that up pretty good but we're just going to hate on the O line you know I just I think there's a lot like with everything we talk about the play calling all the different stuff there's more too than just the O-line isn't blocking.

The running backs aren't helping, and I think Cam Ward mentally maybe could have helped the Titans run game more this year too, and that should get better next year with better coaching and a more mature version of Cam Ward. And we're going to actually talk about the O-line on the other side of the break here in our Titans talk segment. Somebody had a question for B-Hop specifically about J.C. Latham.

We'll talk about that next on the Titan Squad show. Keep it here. all right everybody keep your questions coming in the live chat if you're with us on facebook we'll do our best to answer as many questions as possible we love hearing from you guys of course make sure to like comment subscribe all that fun stuff we got something from christopher bray at the start of the show or christopher broi i should say directed to bhop bhop you're a legendary lineman what advice would you give j c latham at the moment at this point they're reminders reminders of the simple techniques that he needs to make consistent in his game,

which are shoulder square and inside shade. What I mean by that is when you keep your shoulder square, parallel with the line scrimmage is what square means. You don't give the defender a two-way go. When you turn your shoulders, the guys can go inside or outside, and it creates kind of a challenge for you. An inside shade means that you're staying on the inside half of the outside defender, which makes him have to go through you

to get to the quarterback. I need him to settle his feet also. In other words, you can't jump out of there using the snap count to your advantage, which we should do, but then get yourself so overblown that you also give the defender a two-way street. So I just need to remind him, keep his shoulders parallel

with the line scrimmings. Like, I know he's been taught. Most Lyman hard taught that from the very beginning. And to also stay on the inside half of the defender, so in that way, you still have some room to fight once you start engaging him physically. These are all things that good offensive line coaches teach their guys just being consistent with it by practicing it during the week

and making sure that you're going up against quality guys that can actually get you better. And he's got that with a defensive line that could actually ramp up the productivity as far as sacks are concerned, but there's some pretty good dudes over there. You know what I mean? So I think that Arden Key helps him get better by reminding him to move his feet when he's dealing with a wide rusher.

Devandre Sweat and Jeffrey Simmons, remind him when a guy is more on inside shade of you. Hey, look, the fight is right now. You've got to get your hands engaged and make sure you don't overset. So shoulder square, inside shade, don't overset your guy. Settle down once you use that snap count to your advantage, and he'll be okay. And I think you could see the problem is J.C. Latham's feet are the problem. He's, you know, he's just not quick.

And he knows that. So he oversets because he doesn't want to get beat to the edge by the speed. And then that leaves him susceptible to inside. because now he's getting too wide because he's worried about getting beat to the edge. And the speed, I got to tell you, I, you know, I'm not a legendary offensive lineman myself, but I would tell Latham to put the weight back on. I don't know whether it's a technique problem because, you know, I'm not at the level that you are Brad or, you know, Bill Callahan,

but I've just been so wholly unimpressed by his power. And for a guy who was supposed to be the super big, physical, powerful player coming out, his drive in the run game he's not getting movement on people he's not able to cross face at all and over leverage a guy in the passing game I have just been shocked a guy who was so

anchorous I'm making that word up he was anchores in in college he is just getting pushed back he constantly looks off balance he can't settle his anchor down like I just I don't know what happened here I don't know where the power I know he lost weight

but I don't think that he should have lost weight it's not his weight per se it's it's his pad level yeah if you're too high in pad level then you don't get pushed you remember that big dumb uh machine that that uh that that bill callahan had yeah the old gun bertha well not the old not the pass blocking one the one where you've got to get low to get movement on the thing that's the pad level thing because if you're too high then you can't push it you've got to be at a right pad level and the same thing can be said about the past game because if you're standing up too high if your knees aren't bent then you're going to get push back so it's about his it's about technique i mean because i played the game at 340 pounds when i

first came in and when i left the game after 13 seasons i was 285 so somewhere in there the technique is what took takes over not necessarily now you do i understand lose some strength when you're 340 pounds you are a monster i was probably slaying around more weight then than i ever was in my entire life but my technique wasn't as sound as it was the older i got so i had to rely on that, you know, so I think that that power sometimes comes from just good path level and good technique. I think Latham has about seven games here to prove that they don't need to think about putting him at guard next year. Certainly a lot to see from J.C. Latham and the rest of the O line moving forward.

Now, of course, finally we got Xavier Restrepo this past week, right? And somebody actually had a question about if Connor kills. Xavier the Savior, there you go. What do you guys think will happen with regard to X for the rest of the season. Haven't been a huge X guy, but Cam clearly looked more comfortable to have that familiarity. And I will say, before you guys get into your answer, he didn't look in over his head out there. He obviously made some plays, and Titans fans have been clamoring to see him for a while now. What did you think of X and Connor's question here? Well, he's just as good as Tyler Lockett and Mason Kinsey.

Like, I didn't see a noticeable drop off there, and he got open on a crosser on the 4th and to Gunner Helm. He got open on a couple of other plays. We saw him get a catch. He got penalized, and that should have been a personal foul defenseless receiver on the third down where he ran the in route.

And I thought on the very first throw where they threw it to him in the corner of the end zone, maybe he could have jumped up and had body control and made a play on the ball and that should have been a touchdown. Maybe you could say that. I also thought Cam Ward missed a wide open Chick-a-conquo that would have been a first down.

And he might have been, I'm going to my guy. You know what I mean? which, hey, hey, I won't hate on that. Like, he clearly, he clearly wasn't, and it's frustrating for me. You guys know, I kind of play the line of media and fan. You know, I'm a fanelist, like I like to say. I'm kind of play in between.

And, you know, some of these people who cover the team locally are like, oh, Xavier, the, the Savior finally getting to play or, you know, this guy, fans, he's going to change the season, let's see. And it's like Titans fans have not said that. Titans fans have not said that Xavier Restrepo is the savior of the season and they'd turn the whole year around if they would have played him. All we're saying is he can't be much worse than the garbage that you're already putting out there. So if you're not going to get anything, like Tyler Lockett is 34 years old, they cut him.

Mason Kinsey has been a hanger on for four years now. Like Mason Kinsey's never going to be someone you can build around for the future. You know your answer on 34-year-old Tyler Lockett and Mason Kinsey. You know what that is. Xavier Restrepo may very well just be a practice squad guy or a guy who shouldn't be in the NFL. But with the chemistry he had with Cam Ward and the issues the Titans are having on offense

specifically at wide receiver, it always made sense to give this a shot and see if it could turn into something. And I think while it's only two catches for 26 yards on six targets and, you know, it's not set in the world on fire, no one thought he was going to be Amon Ross St. Brown out of the gate or anything like that or ever, for that matter. But he can help this offense.

He has clear chemistry. with Cam Ward, and that's something that could give Titans fans some excitement going forward. And he could be wide receiver 4 or 5. He could be our little miniature Nick Westbrookine for the next three or four years. You know what I mean? And the fact that they would prioritize 34-year-old Tyler Lockett or Mason Kinsey over that never made any sense.

And Titans fans were always right to want to see Xavier Restrepo and he had 18 snaps on offense or 19 snaps on offense this week to Mason Kinsey's 8. The coaching staff is already doing what we have been saying they should have been doing all long. So I just hate that some people in the media try to act like Titans fans expected him to be more than what he is

and kind of try to chastise Titans fans for wanting to see this guy when Titans fans were right all along. He's just as good as all the other dudes that you said were way better than him and he should continue to play the rest of the season and I just want to see, you know, five or six targets, two or three catches a game

and prove that he can be wide receiver five on next year's team. That's all I want. Well, I put it this way. There's no other receiver that has a better rapport with Cam Ward than Xavier Restrepo. And that just is naturally the time that they got to spend with each other, even up to this point. It just makes sense, right? I mean, the play across his body, hitting strep in the middle of the field when it broke down,

it just shows you right there that they have an understanding that is well beyond play calling. And that's one thing that helps in this offense. Because a lot of times, you know, things have broken down for this offense and when that happens, what are you going to do to improv and make something happen? Well, these two already have that kind of ability, that unspoken communication that allows them to get open and find him at some point in time. You know, I think the evolution of the offense will help strep to establish himself as a good slot receiver. Yes. Because if we're able to then get Van Jefferson using his speed to take defenders out of the box, you see what I'm saying? then that opens up everything else for for strep for the tight ends you know for the backs coming

out of the backfield this is just in the past game so as they continue to involve get better protection cam it feels more comfortable going through a progression and finding the open receiver then i think you'll start to see streps really his value start to shine and when you see his skill set and you know hey this is the kind of guy that i have at the f position right now in the slot i'm going to call certain route certain plays where it would be different for a guy like Chim Dike playing in the slot. And I just want to say that chemistry you talked about on that sandlot play that went to

Xavier Restrepo, you look at the All-22 as Cam Ward is rolling out to the right playmaking to the sideline, every Titans receiver is going right with him. Guess what Xavier Restrepo does? Restrepo goes left

and he's wide open. So it's like that sort of I'm going to zig when everyone else zags. Cam Ward knows what he's going to do. They're so close. I mean, that chemistry alone should have had Xavier Restrepo on the field way earlier than he was this season. Absolutely.

Looking forward to seeing more of him. I should say, before we go, it's no coincidence that the ping pong table that was in the Titans locker room got taken out and it was broken and Four Square was taken out and they were playing a lot better. So something to keep in mind because I know the Ravens did that earlier this season and then after that they were playing a lot better. So, Brad, what's your position on ping pong in the locker room? I'm sorry, Julian, before we go. No, you're good. We got to get the inside.

I just left the University of Illinois's $80 million facility. They got a damn bowling alley in their locker room. Oh, no. But I understand what they're talking about. Spending less time playing ping pong and spending less time doing things other than being in your playbook, other than studying, other than working on the game plan, that's why you're taking out the distractions. I mean, it's good to want to have the guys come into the facility and have no real reason. to leave, right? Because they feed you, you can hang out, you got camaraderie, blah, blah, blah. But at the end of the day, the focus is we need to really be better in our playbook and be better

on the football field. I'm going to take away a few of those distractions. It might seem to be working. Yeah, maybe instead of playing tug-of-war and freeze tag during the all season under Brian Callahan, they should have been doing rookie minicamp and being in their playbook. I don't know. Just the theory that I have. I was saying, like, do you really think Saquan Barkley or Patrick Mahomes are playing ping pong or four square. Hey, four square is fun. Don't be hating on four. Don't be hating on four square in front of me. All right. That's a fun game.

Well, it certainly makes the interviews that I get in the locker room more quiet because they were pretty loud. All that I could imagine, man. It annoys me. I am vicariously annoyed by the locker room interviews when I hear all the guys yelling in the background. And Brad's like, good. And you media guys get out of here.

This is our spot. Get out of our club. love house all right well that ends a jam pack show for us today make sure to like comment subscribe all that fun stuff uh and check out the locked on titans podcast with tyler rollin every single day but for now we'll see you guys on game day have a great thanksgiving Thank you.