Locked On Titans - Daily Podcast On The Tennessee Titans - TITANS SQUAD SHOW: Roger McCreary is GONE, more TRADES INCOMING, McCoy's decisions HURTING Cam Ward

Episode Date: October 28, 2025

The Tennessee Titans traded away cornerback Roger McCreary. It's just a sign of more moves to come before next week's trade deadline. We discuss the other possible moves the Titans will make. Plus, how detrimental has the coaching staff been to Cam Ward's development.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/LOCKEDONNFLRugietReady to level up your confidence ? Head to https://rugiet.com and use promo code LOCKEDONNFL for 15% off your first order.GametimeDownload 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)

I'm Julian Minnensohn. The Titans are already making moves before the trade deadline and there are more to come. We'll talk about it. I'm Tyler Rowland and you can call it making moves. I'm calling it tanking. I'm Brad Hopkins and the Tennessee Titans were part of a record making performance this weekend. We'll talk about it. Titan up. It's the Titans 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 i'm julian minnison joined by my friends tyler roland and brad hopkins thank you for joining us today's episode is brought to you by fan duel right 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 and one thing on this team. None of us are getting traded anytime soon, but can't say the same for the Tennessee Titans. They've made some moves already, trading away Roger McCreary. We'll talk about that and other moves that they can make before next week's trade deadline, as well as Cam Ward's performance this past weekend and the loss of the Colts, maybe some questionable coaching decisions. And then, of course, tighten up versus tighten down one of our favorite segments every week. Make sure to like, comment, subscribe, get your comments in the chat. Any questions you have, we'll do our best to

answer them. But fellas, I did want to start with the news of yesterday. Titans trading away cornerback Roger McCreary and a conditional sixth round pick to the LA Rams in exchange for a conditional fifth round pick. Your guys's initial reaction. We'll start with Tyler on this one. I mean, I'm not shocked. He's one of the only guys on the team that actually would have value to another team. We talk about like, oh, the Titans should trade this guy and trade this guy. And I see it in the comments all the time. And it's like, well, you can't get rid of something that nobody wants. You know, that's not how a trade works. So, you know, just because

you're mad because player X didn't play well, trade him, trade him. Well, the other team saw that he didn't play well too, so I always find that funny that that's the reaction. But at the end of the day, this team is not going anywhere. There are one and seven. They know it. The writing is on the wall

and McCreary is a guy who doesn't fit what they're looking for stylistically in a cornerback going forward because of his short arms, his lack of versatility. He's a slot only guy, you know, so there are many reasons for it, and I feel like I say this every week, but a lot of the anger about this trade is just the team sucks and I'm mad. That's basically what we see with everything at this point, no matter what they do, you know, the Titans could

cure cancer and people would be angry because it's the Titans, you know, like, and they're one and seven, and it's not good. It's just the way that it works, but the reality is this trade made a ton of sense. He's on the last year of his contract. He doesn't fit the mold of what they won at cornerback going forward. You probably shouldn't pay him what he's going to get paid when you're in the position the Titans are in. So, you know, I wish the team was better and they didn't have to make a move like this, but they're not.

And this is what they should be doing with players who are not going to be back next year, whether it's their contract is up, like a Chick-a-Conquo and Arden Key, or whether it's a player who they intend to cut, maybe like a Calvin Ridley or something like that, you know, so I'm really just not that upset about this. I'm, you know, I'm frustrated by the season, but this move always made sense. Yeah, I'm just numb to it all. I mean, at this point, you got a fifth round pick. If the goal is to build draft equity, maybe that's for the next guy who's going to be the head coach to take full advantage of.

But at this point, you know, finding any sort of player that has life in them and trading them away, to me just, you know, what are you getting for that? so at the end of the day the fortunes don't change it doesn't change their mentality in the locker room it doesn't make them more competitive it doesn't salvage this season you know i guess it's just looking down the road but we can continue to look down the road you know for the rest of the season and it doesn't make anybody feel better about this 2025 season so it's not getting any better them trading roger mccre doesn't all of a sudden give you this you know the objective of foundational piece that all of a sudden makes sense like oh okay now we're we're heading down the right track i don't think anybody thinks that this move is the thing that's all of a sudden you know and bring some sort of realization, you know, or levity to the current situation. So I'm just not impressed, and it is what it is. Yeah, you know, with Brownlee gone, Sneed on IR, and now Roger McCrary gone, you will get a lot more Marcus Harris now, which I guess is, if you're looking to develop young guys and see what they can do and just throw them out there and try to squeeze whatever you can out of them at the end of the season through the rest of the way,

Might be tough sledding, but at least you can see what you have in him moving forward. I know the Titans, Chad Brinker, had talked about getting 12 top 100 picks over the next three years this past draft. They had technically four. Gunner was 103. I don't know if you want to round that up and give them five on that front. And while this trade does not give you a top 100 pick, it does lead to, as Tyler said, the tank job, which gets you maybe a higher draft pick. and then maybe you could use that to swing more draft capital. What do you think anticipate over the next week happening as far as more trades?

Because you mentioned Arden Key, maybe Draymont Jones, jihad war, guys like that. It seems like everything is on the table for this team. Well, one thing that I like to mention, and people don't want to hear it because they're just mad about, you know, everything. That's just the way that it is right now when your team's won and seven. But it's not just about the individual picks that you're getting either. the possibilities you know what I mean like this is somebody everybody had that buddy or maybe I just come from a place where these people are more uh more likely to pop up than others but everybody had that buddy who got paid and the next day he's got a new outfit

he's got new shoes he's got a new chain he might have got him a you know a bottle of something blah blah and then the next day after that he's broke again you know it's a quick come up and you're excited well the real way to manage your money is to parlay your money into other things. You take a little bit of money from this. You take a little bit of money from this. You're able to save up. You're able to make a bigger purchase. The Titans aren't just going to use these individual picks as the pick that they are. They have the ability to package them with other picks. So you're saying, oh, this didn't get them a top 100 pick. Well, yeah, now they can take their fifth round pick that they got back that was theirs all along. They can pair that

with, you know, a sixth round pick and maybe they move back up into the fourth and let I remind everybody last year, the Titans had three fourth round picks because they were able to move round in the draft and they got Elyke I-O-Manor and they got Chimd-K and they got Guntherhelm some of the best bright parts of this team. So I guess when people look at it, they're like, oh, we gave up a late sixth round pick and McCreary to get a top five pick in the fifth round back. What's a top five pick in the fifth round? But it's about the possibilities of what you can do and how you can move around the board. So I think when we talk about these guys who need to be traded next or that could be traded next, you're not going to get back a third, fourth round

pick. You're not going to get a top 100 selection for an Arden Key or a Draymont Jones. And people are going to look at the individual pick and be like, well, that sucks. Yeah, but they have the chance to go into the draft with 10 or 11 picks and then they can move around and maybe get back into the top 100 for a targeted player that they're very interested in. You know, it just gives them more possibilities to move around. So, yeah, you look at the trades, I don't think that they're going to get anything, you know, super back in these trades. but Arden Key as a third rusher for a team.

That's his best role. Not a lot of money left in his deal. Won't be tough to make that move financially. Same thing. Draymont Jones is on a one-year contract, folks. He came here as a mercenary, and he's heated up the last few weeks with three straight games with a sack.

He's a guy who could probably help somebody. Jihad Ward, I... You know, he was picked up off the scrap heap. It's not like all these teams around the NFL all of a sudden thing Jihad Ward's good because he shined and his opportunities on the Titans. But I think Arden Key, Draymont Jones, the big name that could actually net something is Calvin Ridley. And there's been some whispers that he would be available.

But you wonder with his injury status, you know, is that even going to be a possibility? Is he healthy enough to be traded? You do wonder that. But yeah, I just want to keep people's minds focused. This isn't, you know, we're going to get a great pickback that we're going to keep and use. It's just you need more ammo so you can take more shots. And when the Titans have as many holes as they do right now, they need a chance. 10, 11 player draft class.

They need to be able to move around and feel specific needs. So that's why you'll see more players get traded. I think at least one more player before the deadline. I don't think it's going to make that much of a difference. Honestly, I mean, we're talking about the top 100 being the goal, right? Well, the three fourth round picks that the Titans have that are now in the starting rotation, none of those guys are in the top 100. Right.

You know, so I just think it's really obviously how you develop these rosters and how you find guys that make a difference. but at the end of the day, they're not going to make an immediate splash impact unless you get some super rook. You know, first round takes care of itself. Second round, eh, that's just below the first rounder. But where you really make your hay is in the third, fourth, and fifth rounds,

finding stability, finding depth, and then ultimately these guys turn into somebody that you either make the choice to pay once they give them with their rookie contract or the writing was on the wall. They just never really developed anything to anything. So at the end of the day, we'll see exactly what Chad and what Mike have in store for this franchise moving forward, coupled with whatever free agents they can find at the end of the season that would want to be a part of this team.

And I agree with you 100 percent, you know, about Calvin Ridley. I mean, at this point, with the season that he's had so far and the injuries, you know, what kind of value would he actually even bring to the table, you know, to make that much of a difference moving forward. So if you're talking about stacking chips for fifth and maybe six rounders, then that might be something that raises some eyebrows. But at the end of the day, you know, trying to think. fix this year. It just seems like it's, it's just past. It's not even worth even trying to do.

Yeah, not everybody could be a first rounder like the beast, Brad Hopkins we got on here, bona fide first round pick, baby. You're my first round pick, Brad. And to that point, Bhop, you spent your entire career with the organization. So you didn't have to deal with a trade, but you had guys in the locker room that one day they're there and the next day they're not. So from a player's perspective, what's that locker room feeling like? right now where pretty much at any moment a guy could get a call and the guy next year is gone. You know, for the most part, I think we had a culture that people wanted to be a part of. You know, when you're dealing with this dysfunctional situation where you're not really sure about

leadership, you're not really sure how competitive the team wants to be under the current regime, all these things. It's like a trade. It's like, man, you made it. You got out of here. You know what I mean? Versus, man, man. This really sucks. I really like playing with you guys. That was always the difference for us. It's like if guys came or went, it was like they were either happy to get to us

because they were a part of a culture that we believed in ourselves. We had an identity. Or it was like some guys that were leaving were like, man, this really sucks. I really don't want to leave you guys because we're building something because we have something here that's special, that's fun.

And that wasn't just in those years that we're going to the playoffs either. It's just how we viewed each other as a family, as a unit you know so the whole trade situation i remember when that you know like we get a guy like a marion butts or a wilbur marshal or somebody on next to you know it's like you know all this guy's really contributing and he's he's been a huge part of what we're doing but he never was asked to come in even in that trade and all of a sudden reinvent what we already were you know i mean so it's just kind of strange how the trade situation works out i mean sometimes i guess new faces create new

opportunities and and you get something out of that but for the most part you know when you are unit like the ones that we played on it just really didn't make that much sense but we did get some good guys that ultimately like Kevin Carter I love Kevin Carter man Kevin was he's one of my best friends and you know had it not been I don't think we traded for him but either way just getting guys that were of that value on the roster that could help contribute and make us better that always makes sense make sure you guys keep your comments coming in we'll answer questions throughout the show. Adrian Pounds 7405 says, why is everyone focused about next year?

This is having a lot of fans give up. We could still win a little bit more. I mean, can they? I guess like some fans just live in a more. I am not, me as a human being, my default setting is pessimism. I am not an optimistic person. Football life, it doesn't matter.

I'm not. I'm not. Most people are either optimistic or pessimistic. in nature, and I am a pessimist. So I lean towards, they can't win a little bit more, even if they try. But I understand not wanting the season to be flush, but Adrian, at some point, you've got to look at what the team is doing and recognize the reality here. It's raining outside. You may not want to put up your umbrella, but you need to because it's raining outside, even if you don't want it to rain. So the Titan season is, for all intents and purposes. It's over for a winning perspective. What the season has been about from the start

and now it's just hammered home is it's about the development of the young players and releasing Tyler Lockett and maybe getting Marcus Harrison to line up more with Roger McCreery out. That is the type of stuff that they need to see now. And Mike McCoy really leaned into that at his press conference yesterday trying to hype up that Cam Ward has played better in his last couple of games because I would imagine behind the scenes when he got the job they said your number one mission is to make Cam Ward not look so bad because that makes everything look bad and ruins the hope for the fan base.

So, I understand you're not wanting to give up on the season, you're wanting to see more wins. But I've got to tell you, whether they tanked or they didn't tank, I didn't think that they were going to get many more wins this year anyways. Like, there's only a couple of spots on the schedule where you could look and say the Titans can realistically upset this team. And when it's like that, you've got to do what's right and get rid of guys who aren't going to be back next.

year and try to get something in return for him. So I understand the frustration, but, you know, you also have to live in reality, too. Yeah, one of my clients, the urologist, and we were talking last night, and he asked me, like I get asked a lot during the weekend. So what do you think about this year's Titans, followed by a little giggle? Because you can kind of guess what my response is going to be, given the fact that this team isn't playing very well, right? Right.

And I told them that normally, because I am a player and I will always be a player, I have to maintain a level of optimism because that's the way football is. Football is just like the stock market. You know what I mean? You have these ups and flows and ups and downs. And you've got to be able to weather those and project towards the future. So that way you have some sort of levity, right? It was hard being optimistic.

It was hard saying that this team can find a way. I'm looking at everybody that they're playing this year. And it does seem like the teams that were on the schedule that seemed beatable heading into the season are tons better. And it's because they're developing their rosters better than we are, but why does it seem like guys are wide open? Why does it seem like guys are making open field tackles? Why does it seem like, you know, the quarterbacks

that we're facing now have just been dropping dimes on us? I mean, I don't understand how it seems like the teams that we're playing have gotten so much better, but we're stuck in the mud. And that's what ultimately comes down to. It comes down to discipline and effort, right? And when you don't have either, you don't have much of a team.

So when a team continues to shoot itself the foot when it continues to not be in the position places that it's supposed to be to be functional be successful it's it's frustrating you know and of course i think that that lends into the lack of effort that we see sometimes because guys are just like giving their hands up like what are we doing out here you know i mean almost like i know we're going to get into a little bit later that sideline caption of cam asking mike what the what the is going on you know i mean And it's like, in the middle of the game, you're asking this question. Is that show that I have the confidence in you that you're the right person to lead us and do whatever?

It's like, absolutely not. You know, because in that moment, it's like he's asking for something. He's asking us. I mean, to go for it in that situation, it just showed, hey, look, I don't have the confidence that you're going to do it because you couldn't do it in the first three down. So why would I expect you to be able to do it and give them the ball back on their fourth side of the 50 yard line? You know, I can see the decision there. But at that point, you know what, you need something to happen because you convert that first down next to you. and say, hey, we put together a consistent drive.

We stayed on the field just a little bit longer than we have been for the previous series. So let's make this happen. But not giving the team a chance, I can understand what I can be frustrating for a player, but I can also understand from a coaching staff. It's like, dude, y'all keep screw it up out here. You guys are not in the right positions. You guys aren't doing the things that we're doing during the week. Are we having good weeks of practice to where that translates into us doing things well on

Sunday? We've got to ask ourselves that because the game isn't won and lost on Sunday. It's never won and lost on Sunday. It's one during the week, you know, where you're putting together a confident game plan. You're running those things consistently. So that way they work on Sunday. It's practicing those things that make it more efficient. But when you don't see the results of anybody's labor during the week, making a hill of beans,

then it just leads to a frustrating situation overall. And to Tyler's point, it has been raining in Nashville this week, maybe a little indicative of how things are going. Okay, we're going to talk about that Cam Ward situation on the sideline coming up after the break. and where he stands right now at this point in the season of the Titan Squad Show. Don't go anywhere. I'm Cody Roark from Lockdown Brocko's,

and this episode is brought to you by Peloton. Peloton is shaping the future of fitness with the brand new Peloton, cross-training, tread plus, powered by Peloton IQ. This is Peloton's most advanced equipment yet, giving you real-time guidance and endless ways to move, whether you're running, lifting, or you're cross-training with your favorite instructors

like Alex Toussaint, it's training reimagined to make your workout more personal. Peloton is built for breakthroughs. With features that help you plan, stay motivated, and hit peak performance, you can let yourself run, lift, flex, and go while Peloton handles all the rest. Plus, Peloton IQ provides real time, strength coaching, tracking your progress and suggesting weights that challenge you so you can get stronger. Plus, the new movement tracking camera, it counts your reps and corrects your form in real time, making sure every rep is safer and smarter.

So let yourself run, lift, flex, push, and go. Explore the new Peloton, cross-training, treadplus at one peloton.com. All right, everybody. Cam Ward finishes his day, 22 of 38, 259 yards of a touchdown and an interception. The way I saw it, guys, it was kind of another mixed bag. How did you guys see Cam Ward's performance on Sunday? before we get into the whole sideline debacle, going for it, not going for it.

Well, obviously, ball control is still an issue. We saw a couple of times where the ball snap right within, you know, catchable distance, and it affected the timing of a play. You know, I'm not going to say that there were moments where I saw, you know, an explosive play here or there, you know, where he actually put the ball where we need to be in finding. an open receiver. Maybe it's the things that they're asking him to do that just aren't, you know, sexy or making you feel like he's really taking the next step. You know what I mean? I just really

kind of see the same performance week in and week out. You know, there might be a little flash of something that says, you know, this is our guy, you know, I'm not going to say he's not. But at the end of the day, he isn't surrounded by enough star power to make a difference. I didn't seem like he's getting the coaching right now that all of a sudden make you feel like, man, this is our next Jaden Daniels. This is our next, you know, you know, a Bo Nix, you know, our next whoever.

It just doesn't seem like this is that guy, but maybe it's because of the situation that he's in himself. In other words, what would Andy Reed do a Cam Ward? You know, what would Jim Harbaugh do with Cam Ward? What would some of these other officiados of offense and that we see work with young players do with Cam Ward's skill set? How different is that from what he?

he's actually experiencing now. You know, those are the questions I have to ask myself because, you know, I do believe that he's capable, just not consistent, and that's where we are right now. That is 100% what I would say. Capable, not consistent is what I saw on the tape. I mean, he had some electric throws on the tape, like five or six throws that were just unbelievable throws, you know, like just crazy. The one right before halftime that really got him down the field to Ellick-Iomanner,

he throws over two jumping linebackers in between two safeties just an absolute rocket down the field so it's like I can see what could make him special going forward but the consistency isn't there and the consistency for me is in reading the defense because I found a few plays as well

and these are more these kind of plays are more disappointing to me than the you know the fumbles or trying it's you know the fourth quarter you're down by a million and you're trying to force it into the end zone on a seam route and it gets intercepted. Like, these plays that I'm about to talk about are more disappointing to me,

but there were quite a few examples where he had guys and he didn't throw it and he went into sacks. I thought it was telling that, and listen, pro football focus charting isn't everything. It's not the end-all be-all. It's just part of the story. There's no one overarching thing that we can lean on, but they only attributed one of the four sacks to the offensive line, running backs, and tight ends.

that means now one of them was a coverage sack but at least two of the sacks are Cam you're not throwing it to an open guy you're trying to escape the pocket after you miss the open guy and now you're taking a sack

and that just that's what people talk about when they say you ruin a rookie quarterback is they're so worried about the pressure and so worried about getting sacked that they don't see open stuff and there's one where there's an out route there's an in route over the middle of the field

and I'm looking at the end zone angle and he's staring at it and he doesn't throw it. There's one off of play action where there's a scissors concept with Van Jefferson going a little deeper and Chim DK going a little underneath and they're both open and he doesn't throw it and he escapes the pocket and he gets sacked and it's like, you know, capable, not consistent.

And listen, rookie quarterbacks are not going to see everything perfectly but some of these are like pretty simple. They're there, it's open, you're looking at it, why isn't the ball out? And all we can ask is Cam, maybe there's a guy in front of him. He thinks he's going to tip the pass. You know, maybe he just thought the defender was closer

and could close the gap and make the play. You'd have to ask him directly on the individual plays, and we're never going to get that kind of access. I mean, maybe somebody can get him in the film room one day. Brad, that seems like a former player walking through the hall is asking questions type deal. But I know they're not going to let me sit down with Cam Ward and with the clicker and go over the film and pick his brain.

like that's not going to happen. But I think capable, not consistent is a perfect way to describe it at this moment in time because some of the throws that he did make in that game more ridiculous. And again, you look at his numbers over the last two games, he has been better. The completion percentage has been way up.

The yards per attempt has been way up. The yards per game has been way up. So it's like he's getting more consistent and getting more comfortable and making more of the flash plays that get you excited about him. But some of these things that have to be cleaned up the ball handling stuff, seeing the defense and seeing your players

and getting the ball out of your hands, those things still need to get better. And you can tell sometimes now that his clock has been sped up in a major way to where he actually misses some guys sometimes because he's so hurried to get to the checkdown because it's been drilled in his head, can't take sacks, get the ball out, get it to the checkdown.

And I saw at least two plays where he missed open guys earlier in the progression because he was like, Gotta get to the checkdown and get it to the checkdown. So, like, finding the balance between all of that is going to be tough to do for him this year, especially with the environment that he's in. But consistent or capable, not consistent,

is truly the best way to describe his playing this year. I honestly think it's really about coverage and predictability. Is the coverage so good that no one can get open initially? And is it so predictable what the offense is running that they take away cans first read and make him hold on to the? the football. I saw the same thing you did, Tyler. I'm like, there he is right there. He's running. He's running the speed out. Right there. He's right there. I mean, there was one on the goal line that if he threw the gun or helm immediately when he was open on that scissors concept

you're talking about. That's six. You know, but holding on to the football, then does create that pressure. But what is it? I mean, is he not seeing the field in totality? Is he not seeing that first read or he's not confidently believing he can let it go, that it wouldn't be picked off or he couldn't make the throw? So coverage and predictability are things that are coming up to me because either our receivers are getting locked down, you know, to where they just can't get separation, or it's so obvious the concepts that we're running offensively that they're taking that first read away from him because they know where he's going with the football initially, and they're making him go to two and three, and ultimately end up putting

pressure on him and he either gets sacked or he is of having a scramble or the play is just not successful, creating a third and long type situation that almost is never going to be converted. I think all of that's true. I think everything that we have said here is true. I think, you know, there were multiple circumstances where the Colts just had the perfect coverage called for what the Titans are doing. They're running a three-level flood concept to the sideline

with short, intermediate, and deep options. And the Colts run an inverted cover, too, where they have a guy in the flat. They have a hook defender bending out to take the intermediate. They have the deep half to take away the deep route line. There are a lot of examples on tape throughout the season where the defense just caused the perfect coverage for what the Titans are about to run

and listen, some of this is higher level than I'll ever be. Like, I'm never going to have a foot, like an NFL coach level understanding of the film and tendencies and patterns and stuff like that. Like, you know, that's just the truth. I can't get there to Albert Einstein level. But like, that has to be a tendencies thing. That has to be, hey, on second in this distance,

they often call a three-man flood concept to the left sideline. We're going to run this coverage that's going to take that away and it's just so often that the defense schematically is immediately ready for what the Titans are having to run that I can only surmise from that that the Titans are predictable because defenses are calling the perfect this is how it works folks the Titans have certain things that they like and the defense knows that they like those and they say hey this coverage will take away that and now it's about deploying it at the right time I know that Rock beats paper or I know that rock beat scissors.

But are they going to throw rock or are they going to throw scissors? Are they going to throw paper? You have to time up your rock paper scissors to match up perfectly with what the team is going to do. And you have tape on how often they throw rock and when they throw paper and when they throw scissors. And it's just about intelligent guesses to see if you can guess right and win.

That's what football is right there is can we guess what the other team is going to do schematically and beat them. And sometimes you get them and sometimes you don't. And far too often this year, the defense has just guessed perfectly. And at some point, that has to be predictability. Like, I can't know for certain, but it has to be.

That's the only logical answer. That's a great point, because guess what? When you only have three options, rock, paper, scissors, it's not that hard to guess, right? What if you have rock, paper, scissors, grenade, flame thrower, brick, you know, if you have to be that predictable. But also, one other thing real quick, Julian, we talked about last week. when you're behind in the ball game, that makes you more predictable because you know you're not going to be running the day football.

We know you're not going to be giving us play action, trying to fool us into thinking you're going to run it because you're down by two or three touchdowns. So that also dictates the pace. It dictates the play calling because you're trying to get back in the ball game. On top of the numbers, guys, one of the bigger revealing parts of the game was Titans were facing a four and three on Indies 42, third quarter trailing by 10. Mike McCoy decides to punt the ball instead of putting it in his quarterback's hands. hands. Obviously, he's, McCoy has said since then that I regret that decision and we should

have gone for it. But on top of, just from a football perspective, when you have a young quarterback, I feel like you should just let him go out there, live and die with him and let him try to make mistakes if you're going to try to develop the kid. What did you guys make of that whole situation there at the start of the third quarter? Because then, of course, you saw what was going to happen. The Colts busted for 80 yards from Jonathan Taylor, the very next play. And you're like, of course, it does i'm going to try to hold on this thing just as long as i possibly can and if that's one more down so be it because at this point they're just running up and down the dang field so it didn't matter right but it does show a lack of confidence in making a decision to to punt because it says

hey look i don't believe that you can convert this fourth down you know i mean dan campbell wouldn't have a problem doing that at all you were like shoot me four to 15 dan's gonna go for it right end of the day, man, I understand being football smart, being situationally smart, you know, because at the end of the day, you know, we're going to get on him about not converting the fourth downs if he keeps going forward and he never convert, right? But I think in this instance, it just gives you a little bit of confidence for your team to say, hey, look, I believe that you can do this. Are the numbers stacked against us? Yes, probably, because fourth down conversions are, they're not easy and they're really low percentage. But at the end of the day,

we're going to go for it anyway because I believe you guys can do it. And if you start doing it every now and then and making them every now and then the team starts believing in themselves and maybe they don't get in his main fourth down situations. You know what I mean? So I don't know. I thought it sort of lack of confidence in the guys. Yeah, to me, and Cam's reaction coming off,

you know, you want to get a lip-reading linguist in there. He said, what the heck are we doing, Mike? Let's go for it. You know, as he's coming off the field. And I think you're right. At this point, you're talking about, you know, how much confidence you have in the offense. But why is there confidence in the defense to stop the Colts at that point either? And it's just, it was instant karma.

It was instant karma. You cannot be that conservative when you're the worst team, when you're on the road, when you're already down 10, when you're playing against the best offense in the NFL. That's instant karma. Why do you have confidence in your defense to be able to stop the Colts? It's like, I just don't, and they got a net 22 yards because Hecker punts it into the end zone. 22 yards in field position battle, you won

to give the ball back to the best offense in the NFL right now when you're down by 10. Like, it just makes no sense, and I'll be honest with you guys. I got a hat on here, but I might need to go grab some tin foil because what I'm about to say next, I understand, is a conspiracy. All right, full-on conspiracy theory here. but is there any chance that they were directed to do that?

I want to go to a comment that Mike McCoy made in a press conference and I brought this up yesterday at the end of my show a little Rollins rant as I like to call it at the end of the show but at one of the press conferences and Julian you were probably there Paul Koharski, Paul is cantankerous everybody knows Paul's a sour guy

but he has some good questions every now and then. And he asked the question of why is Mike McCoy letting the media talk to players first and then coming out and doing his post-game press conference a little bit later? That is uncommon in the NFL. Usually the head coach talks immediately after

and then you're able to go to the players because you want the head coach to answer the tough questions for the players first. That's his job. Well, they asked Mike McCoy why that's different from every other team and how the Titans have done it forever. And he said that's what they want to.

wanted to do. That was the plan when we talked about me getting the job. That's what they wanted to do. He is literally saying that the Titans have directed him to change the schedule and to come out second. It makes me wonder, are they sitting down for like a PR meeting before the press conference to make sure that Mike McCoy's answers are right? And he's going to say what they want him to say. And like, why would you do that? What could be the theory for doing it that way? And it just makes you wonder how much of the Mike Borgonzi, Chad Brinker, thumb is on Mike McCoy. Like, hey, we're going to give you a raise. We're going to give you an opportunity to be the interim head coach. But you're going to do what we tell you to do.

And you're going to do it the way that we want you to do it. You know what I mean? So I wonder when I see Bones Fossil and Mike McCoy both sitting next to each other, looking at each other with blank faces on that fourth down with their headsets on, are they being told from somebody upstairs? Hey, we're not going for this. You know, I know they have a spotter upstairs who gives them information. It was Tom Jones for Brian Callahan.

He's been let go since Callahan was fired. But you just wonder if the directive was, hey, we want you to be as conservative as possible here. Don't put Cam Ward in any bad situations. But well, I know that's a crazy brain theory, but you have to wonder because it makes so little sense to punt that football with where they're at at fourth and three. And you run the ball on third down, which is a clear indicator that you have two plays to do this. We're going to see if we can get it on the ground first, and then we'll go to the air on fourth down if we don't get it.

That's just classic coaching. So when things like this happen that are so bizarre and the Mike McCoy is just like, oh, that was my bad, I made a mistake, sorry, my bad, made a mistake. It's almost like there's something in the water there. I just don't buy that being a Mike McCoy true decision. And then the next day he's just like, oh, my bad, you know, shouldn't have done that, yep, that's my bad.

I would have done it different if I could go back. And just, I don't know, my spidey senses are tingling a little bit. I don't know if that is truly what Mike McCoy would have done. I think he might be getting some direction from above. You know, last night at the end of the commander's chief's game, Travis Kelsey was on Scott Van Pelt show. And he said something that really resonated me with me. He said, we have the leadership and we have the coaching.

And why that stood out to me is because I'm trying to figure out which one of the Titans of those intangibles that the Titans have. We have leadership, do we have coaching? And the thing is, a leader would be the one to step out first and give you what's going on with the team. These are the minutes, this is what's going down, I'm in control,

you're seeing me first. I mean, that automatically right there handcuffs him to say you're not a leader. Okay? The leaders are the guys on the roster. They're the ones that are telling you what's going on. Or maybe that's what you think that we want to hear first is how they actually

game unfolded from the player's perspective and not from the coach's perspective, not from the sideline. And who knew first about this whole coaching change? Mike McCoy or Brian McCarthy? Or Brian, Brian, um, uh, I can't like you guys last name anymore. You know, but the point is, did they ask Mike McQuay and say, hey, Mike, we're going to make a coaching change. It has been announced yet, but we want you to be the interim head coach. And was he prepared for that moment or did they go to Brian fire him first and then look around and say hey who's going to pick up the pieces and lead this thing moving forward who knew first about the situation you know what I mean and at the end of the day I doubt that Mike McCoy in the very beginning of the season thought that he was going

to be the coach of this team making the decisions so how prepared was he to pick up the you know the pieces and move forward with it he probably wasn't maybe I mean at the end of the day you start talking about hot see I'm sure some coaches will look around like man this whole staff might not make get through this season. There's going to be some guys, you know, that are coming and going like the trade deadline. But at the end of the day, when it became more of a reality,

were they looking at Mike and say, hey, look, you want to get rid of Brian. It's going to be you that's going to be calling the plays. It's going to be you that's running the team. And was he prepared for that moment? It doesn't seem like it. No, and he even said in his press conferences, Brad, this week, like, you know, there was, I had a lot to do last week.

Julian, you've heard him say it. He said it like three or four times now. I had a lot to do last week. Like, he literally sounds like a guy who was saying, like, I'm trying my. best, you know, I'm trying my best, you know, and that's how I feel about Mike McCoy. Like, I do not think that he wanted to be the interim head coach. I think the Titans went to him and said, hey, we're going to give you a big pay raise here. And he's like,

all right, well, I'll do half a season before I'm out of here, you know, it just, it doesn't seem like a lot of people are bought in for the future of the team. Like, it doesn't seem like a lot, you know, and how could you be right now when the future is so up in the air for so many people and anybody could be traded at any point in time. No one is invested in the future and when you don't care what happens going forward, you operate differently. It's just a different level of commitment when you think that there is a future here. So that's a big problem for the Titans now is how many guys are going to give their best effort and do their best, whether it's coaches, whether it's staff, whether it's players when you know, hey, I'm probably not going to

be here next year or this season is over. You know what I mean? Like probably only the young players that they drafted, like Cam and Gunner Helm and Chim D.K. You know, those are the only guys who are going to be truly invested and making sure they do the right things because they're the only people who know for certain they're going to be around next year. Man, the Titans have us, they're playing so poorly, they have us asking if aliens exist, basically. That is, it is, what are you doing to my man?

Tyler over there, Titans, come on. We are not alone in the universe. All right, well, on the other side of the break, we're going to play our favorite Titan up versus Titan down. And, of course, keep your questions coming. We're going to answer them as much as we can at the end of the show when the Titan Squad Show returns. Keep it here.

All right, this could be true for the Titans, too. Making excuses doesn't solve anything. We've all heard them before. It's just stress. I'm tired, or it happens to everyone sometimes. But when it comes to performance, sometimes your body just needs a little extra support. And that's where Ruggiat comes in. Ruggia.com offers a fast-acting doctor-prescribed treatments for ED designed to help you,

stop making excuses and start making moves. If prescribed your treatment ships discreetly straight to your door, visit rug, IET.com slash locked on NFL to get 15% off your first order. That's RUGIET.com slash locked on NFL. And don't forget to user code locked on NFL so they know we sent you. Ruggiat, stop making excuses and start making some moves. All right, fellas. I wanted to play Titan Up versus Titan Down.

We'll start with Titan Up here on this Tuesday. Tyler, go ahead. Well, I mean, what do you want to know? Jim, D.K., right? Like, we might as well go with the easiest one, seven catches, 93 yards. He's really established himself as a wide receiving threat when you knew that he would be helpful on special teams early in the year. the way that he's developed into a wide receiver that can make plays happen.

And quite frankly, I told you guys, there was one play on a short crossing route where Chim D.K. was wide open. He cooked his man, had an opportunity, and Cam just didn't get the ball to him. So honestly, he could have had an even bigger day. But Chim made a bunch of plays early in the year. He had a touchdown called back on a reverse on offense. He had the touchdown called back on the pump return in week two. Like, he made some plays that got called back and you kind of saw flashes.

but Chim Dike, Gunner Helm, Iow Manor needs to catch the frickin' ball. He had two bad drops in this one. But the young weapons on offense look good. They look like contributors, and for being fourth-round picks, you know, you've got to be pretty happy with what they can be. Now, I don't think that either of the wide receivers or the bona fide alpha number one wide receiver that you need. But Elyke-Iomanner looks like a solid wide receiver 2-3,

and Chim Dike can be a solid slot wide receiver 2-3 with speed and Gunner Helm is slowly taking it away from Chigaconqua, which he should with the things that he brings to the table. So I think that in a season full of questions for the Titans where how do they do this, how are they going to do this, the roster is bad, these many spots, I think we can confidently say that the Titans have two good rotational wide receivers and a guy who can be a solid number one tight end

and a committee approach and I think those are things that you can lean on with Cam Ward going forward so my tighten up is the rookie weapons because they continue to show that whether they turn into bona fide stars for the Titans we will see

but they look like starting level players and to get all three of them in the fourth round pretty impressive stuff and I'll let that inspire me and get me excited about what Mike Borgonzi can do going forward his draft here was pretty solid Kevin Winston got 20 snaps on defense in this game

I'm going to have a little film breakdown on him later this week just in the limited snaps that he got. But I think the young players have shown that Mike Borgonzi can hit, and that's why getting extra draft picks for some of these veterans is something that I'm okay with because I think Mike Borgonzi will do a good job drafting, like he has showed that he did in his only draft so far. To echo Tyler Rowling, well,

Searching, searching. Congrats up. You know, I agree with you 100%. I think that whenever you have fourth round picks that are even considered number two options, that's showing their development. And we've got three of those cats that are actually in the starting rotation that are making a difference. Gunnar Helm, two of three for like, what, 23 yards? We did it score a touchdown against the Colts.

That's nice. Tage Spears, man, I like the ball in his kids' hands, whether it's in the past game, the run game. He does show himself to the explosive. He's averaging the most yards per carrying the backfield with. five and a half. Now, that's probably due to that the longest run from scrimmage for the Titans this year. Yeah. At the end of the day, the third round from 2023 has been making a difference when he's healthy. So I really like that. Dremont Jones. I mean, he's had a sack in at least the last three games. So, you know, there's some upside there. I'm digging that. But, you know,

hey, the biweek being just two weeks away, that's probably something I'm looking forward to just to take a break, you know, from the craziness that we continue to talk about. We can't reinvent ways to show our frustration for this team so i mean i'm going to just say it could the titans win this next weekend yes you know why because it's the national football league that's the way it is talent isn't that much different from team to team to where a team couldn't just put together the right chemistry the right formula we've seen undefeated teams lose the teams that were completely dysfunctional hell the jets got their first win this weekend you know i mean so anything can happen and that's why i'm to say, is it probable? Maybe not. But is it possible? Yes. But that's leading into the

buy, which the Titans ain't great. As far as my tighten up, you know, season high and usage rate for Chim D.K. Elyle Manor, Gunnardom, Tajay Spears. This year wasn't just about developing Cam Ordo. It was about the other rookies too. And so I think more of that. We talked about the injuries and how more guys are going to play. The trade deadline, you're going to get more young guys in there like a Marcus Harris. So the more to develop those young guys, squeeze what you can out of them for the rest of this season and go into next year and continue to build through the draft like you did, like Mike Borganzi did this past, this past draft here in 2025. Okay, as far as tightened down, I'm going to go to the run defense here because that

seems to be consistently inconsistent. Of course, Jonathan Taylor, a huge day. And I know there's no Jeff Simmons, but you could tell from that first play of the game, fellas, they were trying arm tackling Jonathan Taylor, and that was not going to work. And this is a Colts team that up until the game in Indianapolis last year, they played Jonathan Taylor as an organization pretty well. So I'm going to go with the run defense as my Titan down this week. Really? That's fair.

Well, I mean, I thought that Jonathan Taylor set a record for scoring three touchdowns the last three times going back to the last year that he's played the Tennessee Titan. Up until the indie game last year is what I meant. Yeah. Yeah, recently it's gone off the rails, but prior to that. But again, most of that time was with Mike Vrable at coach, with Edgewall Swarm as his philosophy, which is a great run defense philosophy.

But I'm with you, Julie, and the run defense is bad. But I kind of expected that with the defensive line issues that the Titans are having right now. But really my titan down on that is where the Titans are healthy. And it's linebacker and safety. I cannot stress to you how bad Cody Barton has played this year. Like he's slow, he doesn't attack downhill, he can't get off blocks, he's accepting blocks rather than being the aggressor. Cody Barton, and it's disappointing to me because I was very excited about the personality that he brought to the table in the offseason, the miced-up videos, anytime he speaks on a microphone, showing him, you know, working with the younger linebackers and training camp and stuff.

It seemed like such a good fit, easy guy to root for all that, but he has been so bad. and let me continue. Amani Hooker, I don't know what's happened, but he has fallen off a cliff. He was good in coverage in this game, in past coverage, but in run defense,

ever since last season, his angles, his diving at legs, and not staying in good form. Like, his run defense is probably the worst of any starting safety in the NFL right now. It is just unbelievable

how bad the linebackers and the safeties were, in this game and run defense, wrong lane fills, bad tackle attempts. Like, even going back to that previous game where Jonathan Taylor ran through the defense and broke five tackles for the 48-yarder. Like, that's one of the most embarrassing plays of the entire season. And so many safeties and linebackers. I mean, Cedric Gray even had a bad game in this one.

He got worked by the Colts offensive line. Now, Gray is still a bright spot this year. Can't be mad at him as the Will linebacker. But I'm looking at Cody Barton and Amani Hooker, and I'm like, These are veteran players who, why are they even on the field at this point when they're playing as poorly as you could possibly play? Like, it's, it, Hooker is more disappointing to me. They just gave him an extension in the offseason. And he has been disgraceful this year.

Like, I cannot believe. I've watched him his entire career. I have been a huge fan of Amani Hooker his entire career. Like, I started doing the show the year that he got drafted. So I've seen every single play Amani Hooker's ever made for this team. And I am just, I don't know if it's age, if it's buy-in, if it's want to, he's on a bad team so you don't want to get hurt. I don't know what it is, but it is just mentally falling off a cliff when it comes to run defense. And the Titans D-line can be hurt and banged up and know Jeffrey Simmons and get sweat back.

Sweat had a pretty good game for the most part, but it doesn't matter when you're lineback. Run defense is a full team effort. It's not like the pass rush where a cornerback can make a great play. One, like Miles Garrett can have five sacks against the Patriots. They still lost by 20, even though Miles Garrett had a historic day. That shows you how team football works here. But, like, I am just perpetually shocked every week by how bad Cody Barton and Amani Hooker are in run defense. It just blows my mind.

It's funny that you say that mentally it seems like Amani Hooker has fallen off, right? Well, tackling is a mentality. Yes. It's a mentality. First off, it is technique being in the right position. right come to balance all the stuff right that we coach players to do but it's also a mentality that you're going to come up and you're going to make a stick and you're going to get somebody on the ground and when you don't believe that you can confidently do that that's when we call it shining shoes

you know next thing you know a dude's jumping over you or stiff arm you to the turf and and he's getting big plays after contact which has been a problem for this team you know guys don't mind showing up but getting the guy on the ground after the contact that's the problem and also it's also the swarm right how many guys are actually getting to the football? You know what I mean? This isn't just a one-on-one type situation. It needs to be a gang tackling. Dudes need to be showing up, you know,

holding the ball carrier up so other guys can take shots at knocking that football out, you know, that kind of stuff. We just don't see that confidently happening week in and week out. So that lends to the run defense being so porous because run defense is exclusively about tackling. Because the ball's already in the carrier's hands, right? It's not like you're in coverage and you're watching the ball come through the air and you can make an interception, get a turnover, make a play on the ball, those kind of things.

That thing is not free. It's in someone's possession and they're doing something with it that you have to stop. And if you can't tackle and get a guy to the ground, that is a problem. And that's why run defense has been such an issue for the Titans this year. And speed is a problem too, I will say. Sorry, Julian. Like Xavier Woods, Chondray Diggs, Ammoni Hooker at this stage of his career, Cody. Barton, these guys are slow

by NFL standards. Ammoni Hooker is on the back end. He's not, you know, terrible here, but Xavier Woods is a slow player. Quandre Diggs is near the end of his career. He is not a fast player. He never has been. A guy with great physical gifts, that's why his career is so

impressive. Cody Barton is slow, man. We talk about it every week. Like, part of the problem here, I don't want to just make it be like, oh, these guys don't want to tackle. They don't want to play. You know, blah, blah, blah. The problem is the defense is slow. You know what I mean?

And that's going to, when you have guys breaking off runs and getting into open space, that speed is going to hurt you too. So I don't want to make it totally. Hey, these guys just don't want to tackle. But the problem is the back end of the Titans defense outside of Cedric Gray at linebacker is slow. And that's why they need more Kevin Winston going forward. Just somebody who isn't afraid to be physical and wants to hit somebody and have some speed and some juice to him.

I want to see more Kevin Winston because the guy's in the back end for the Titans right now. They're just not fast enough. B.Hop, was that technically your tighten down or did you want to have something else that the floor is yours there? No, I mean, there's a lot of tightened down. I mean, I'm not trying to be funny. It just is the reality of it all. Yeah. Because I don't know how I got my notes picked up. Oh, tighten down. What do we start? Jonathan Taylor, obviously, he was the problem. He was a problem, you know, setting records. Daniel Jones, they put the Indiana in Daniel Jones this past.

weekend. Now, I understand the run game does set up the quarterback and his success, which has probably been the case for the Colts. The reason why they have the best record in football is because Jonathan Taylor is so successful, but 21 or 29 for 272 yards, didn't we just defend a dude that was 21 or 23? You know what I mean? So why is the quarterbacks are having such success against our secondary, against our defense, period, you know, injuries, leadership, competitiveness, you know, why fire, Brian, now? You know, what are they doing this different? Is Cam being developed? It's you know, which is with the reason why he was fired in the first place, none of these things are happening. So, you know, there's a lot of blame to go around, but there's also a lot of

things that we can point at and say, you know what? Hey, it is what it is. And it's nothing good. Well, we have a lot of questions in the chat. We're going to get to them on our final segment of Titans talk here on the Titans Squad show. So keep it here. We'll answer them as best we can. All right. The NBA is back. and there's no better place to get in on the action than Fanduel, the official sports betting partner of the NBA, even if you miss the start of a game or want to ride the hot hand. FanDuel has live bets on everything from who will score next to fourth quarter

comebacks. Plus, you can even combine your live bets into a same game parlay for a 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 now to sign up and play your game with Fanduel, the official sports betting partner of the NBA. All right, fellas, I wanted to get to some of the questions because there have been a lot of them in the chat.

One of them asked if Brad Hopkins can come back and coach the O line. You might need to bring that blank check for Brad Hopkins. I'm pretty sure that's what he's going to want there on that side. All right. As far as some of the questions, we had one earlier in the show when we were talking about the trade deadline, asking about Calvin Ridley if it was the best thing for the Titans to trade him, considering he has been such a huge part of Cam Ward's development

through the off season. What do you guys think about that question? I think it was Zachary's story with that, and I'll put it up on the chat on the screen if we can find it. If somebody will take Calvin Ridley for a fourth or a third round pick, you've got to do it. You've got to do it. He hasn't been around a couple of weeks.

He struggled to start the season. You know, the reason for keeping, Calvin Ridley around was Cam Ward's development. You don't want to take too much away from Cam Ward. But Cam's played his two best games with basically no Calvin Ridley. You know, like it's just, what are we doing here? At this point, like I was saying earlier, Calvin Ridley is probably the one guy who could get you a third or fourth round pick back.

And the Titans will probably have to take on some of the money because he still has a pretty high salary for the year. So if the Titans eat the salary and send him away to another team, that'll only increase the value of the draft pick that they get back because they're going to eat money. I think that Calvin Ridley, there was some rumor out there whispers that Calvin Ridley could be a potential ad for the Pittsburgh Steelers. They've gone out and added Marquez Valdez Scantling and free agency, so maybe that's completely off the table now. But yeah, I think that Calvin Ridley hasn't helped Cam Ward's development enough to prevent them from trading him if they get a good off. and again, he's the player who would get you the best return

draft pick-wise. So I would trade Calvin Ridley in a second. We've seen that he isn't going to have a big enough positive impact on Cam Ward to justify keeping him around if they get a good offer. They'll likely cut him in the all season because he's set to make so much money and they can save about $16 million to do it. You know what I mean? And go full youth movement here.

So if you plan on cutting him after the season, I would trade him now. Yeah, well, I'll put it this way. I mean, we know historically who Calvin Ridley has been. He just hasn't been that guy for this team. 290 total yards and six games targeted 35 times, 16 receptions. I've just not seen this electric player that would all of a sudden, you know, just want to bring a market for any team to want to just grab him. You know, if anything, if I were Calvin, I'd want to get healthy, get back on the field,

show them that I have some sort of resemblance of the dude that, you know, had a lot of potential and promise when he came here. because right now that ain't the guy you know what i mean so if he were the person that could come in here start making these explosive plays happen get the chemistry right with cam and all of a sudden be his go-to guy despite coverage despite anything else then i can say well hey look this guy has some value to bring us other draft equity and and kind of change the trajectory of this team but i just don't see that right now you know i was excited like everybody else man we got calvin ridley we got calvin really and and now i'm looking at if you just were to rip the number off of all the receivers

which one is Calvin Ridley? You see what I'm saying? As far as standing out and being a difference maker for this offense, I just haven't seen it consistently. This one comes from Ray Thompson 6305. In anyone's opinion,

does any of the position coach is worth keeping around if the new coach wanted to keep them? Bones Fossil. If the Titans do go out and hire Mike McCarthy, which is a name that they should be paying attention to for multiple reasons, Bones Fossil was the special teams coordinator

under Mike McCarthy when they were in Dallas. a connection there, and I think it is inarguable that the Titans special teams is significantly better this year than they were last year. You give Bones Fossle an opportunity to come back, continue working with these guys, you keep them with a coach that has worked with them before, and Mike McCarthy, that would

make sense, but other than that, the answer is no. And a lot of it is, you know, coaches are going to hire who they want. It's not like every coach gets interviewed to stay on the staff afterwards. Like, it's just not going to be the case. But I think you've got to find connections

with people more than look at the skill of how good they're coaching. I think Luke Stocker at tight end has gotten a lot of praise and the tight ends have been pretty solid. I think that's a guy who could probably stick around two. There are some holdover sometimes, but for me, Bones Fossil is the only logical one because I think about any head coaching candidate and the NFL would respect him and want him on the staff. You know, I'm going to be biased. Luke Stocker was a guy that I coached before the combine for six weeks. He and I worked together at D1. You know, I can say that I helped him learn how to pass block.

And I really loved him as a player and as a coach. He understands exactly. Frank Bush, he was on my staff, on our staff, but also as a former player as Houston, Northern. Stephen Jackson, defensive backs coach. He was another guy that, you know, I understood from a very early on situation that these guys know how to communicate with players. You know what I mean?

But, you know, sometimes just hard coaching a turd. I'm just going to say that. Am I saying they're all turds? I'm just saying that sometimes it's at the end. of the day if you don't have talent that you're telling what to do at the end of the day is still a turd you know so you know getting guys into develop a roster's never been an easy situation but you also got to understand your audience and know how to communicate with players to get the most out of them and it just seems like somewhere there's a disconnect so there are a few dudes that i

believe in just because i understand who they were historically and how they can be difference makers because they had playing experience and those are just a few names but other than that Whosh, they all be good. Brad, you got to know football and you got to know people. That's the key with coaching. You got to know football and you got to know people. And they need somebody who desperately knows how to do both of those. Real quick, before we go, guys, what's one thing you're looking for

as the Titans return home this weekend, face the Chargers? It's another opportunity, man. It's another opportunity. Like I said earlier in the show, you know, is it probable that they'll beat Justin Herbert and the Chargers? No. Is it possible that they could beat Justin Herbert and the Chargers? Yes, it's possible because these guys put pants on like we put pants on. You know, this is an NFL roster like that's an NFL roster. And these guys have any sort of pride about them, they have any sort of like anything that says, hey, look, we're going to defend our home turf, especially after this season has looked

so inept. We can go out there and we can do stuff. In other words, what are the coaches saying to their players this week. Are they saying, well, hey, after we lose Sunday, maybe we can just do, no, they're not saying that. They're trying to tell them things that can get them the confidence and give them the ability to go out there and win a ball game. They're not going to waste this week, just screwing off and saying, you know, oh, wo is us. We've only won one game this year. We fired our head coach, all the things, right? They're going into this week, trying to put together a game plan that says, hey, look, we can give ourselves a chance. And we'll see what looks like on Sunday.

I want more youth. Like, let's get these players in here who are going to be around next year. Let's see more Gunner Helm. Let's see more Chimdke. I'm still going to beg for them to bring up Xavier Restrepo instead of Mason Kinsey. Like, Mason Kinsey is not good enough on special teams

to act like he's a significant, you know, better call up than Xavier Restrepo who can actually help on offense. Like, let's see more Tage Spears in the backfield instead of Tony Pollard. I think Pollard is a great. trade option. Pollard is worn down from the workload that he had last year. He just doesn't have the same explosion. On defense. At some point, can we try James Williams next to Cedric

Gray and give Cody Barton a rest, even for a series? Just for a second, we're going to see more Marcus Harris at cornerback this week. He's been a disaster on special teams. Maybe he'll be better on defense. Let's see more Kevin Winston, unless Quandre Diggs, unless Xavier Woods, and these guys who are just so slow and have no juice in the back end at all. Like, I just want to see all the young players who could potentially have a future here because the Titans need to figure out whether they do or not. And that's what really matters when these games are going to be difficult to win. So just continue the youth movement.

That's all I really want to see. I will say, Tyler, if there was an asteroid that was coming at Earth, I'd want to be near Mason Kinsey because he's survived this long. He is a cockroach. indeed he is yeah you know for for me block out the noise you know coach gets fired midseason everyone's saying you stink and now with the trade rumors and and the trade deadline approaching you saw mccrary go and and guys are feeling a little bit vulnerable right now i just block out the noise and compete and that's that's the biggest thing for me okay everybody thank you

for joining us here on the titan squad show we're here twice a week every tuesday and game day here live on youtube and of course you can get us on audio wherever you get your podcast make sure you like comment subscribe and also check out tyler's a locked on titan show every single day here on the locked on podcast network but for now i'm julian minnisone that's tyler roland and the legend brad hopkins we'll see you guys next time