Locked On Titans - Daily Podcast On The Tennessee Titans - Titans Training Camp Recap: Treylon Burks BALLS OUT, Rookie Instant Impact & Offseason MVPs

Episode Date: July 27, 2022

The Tennessee Titans hit the practice field for the first time of training camp on Wednesday! The offense stole the show led by rookie wide receiver Treylon Burks! How did Burks do and what did he have to say? Tyler breaks all of it down! Next, some other Titans rookies had nice days and continue to show they can contribute early while there are plenty of positive signs for two recovering Titans veterans! Finally, Mike Vrabel announced offseason MVPs for both offense and defense. Tyler tells you who won and why it is such good news for Titans fans.Follow Tyler on Twitter @TicTacTitansFollow the show on Facebook @LockedOnTitansPodSubscribe to the Locked On Titans YouTube channel:https://www.youtube.com/c/LockedOnTitansSupport Us By Supporting Our Sponsors!DaveDownload the Dave app from the App store right now for an Extra Cash account and get up to 500 dollars instantly. For terms and conditions go to dave.com/legal. Instant transfer fees apply. Banking provided by Evolve. Member FDIC.Built BarBuilt Bar is a protein bar that tastes like a candy bar. Go to builtbar.com and use promo code “LOCKED15,” and you’ll get 15% off your next order.BetOnlineBetOnline.net has you covered this season with more props, odds and lines than ever before. BetOnline – Where The Game Starts! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Welcome to the Locked on Titans podcast. I am your host, Tyler Rowland. Titans fans, I am breaking down everything you need to know from the Titans' first training camp practice of the year on today's show. First, the star of the show was none other than rookie wide receiver Traylon Burks. I'm going to break down his day and a good day for the Titans offense. Then we're going to hit some other rookies and how their day went at Titans practice. We're talking Roger McCreary, Malik Willis, Chigga Conquo, plus some other veterans who had good days in Robert Woods

and Kayla Farley. Then we will cap off the show talking about the MVPs of the offseason on both the offensive side of the ball and the defensive side of the offseason on both the offensive side of the ball and the defensive side of the ball, according to head coach Mike Vrabel. Recapping everything you need to know from the Titans' first training camp practice of the year on today's edition of the Locked on Titans podcast. Let's get it! You are Locked on Titans, your daily Tennessee Titans podcast. Part of the Locked On Podcast Network, your team every day.

Titans fans, training camp has truly begun as the Tennessee Titans hit the practice field as a full team for the first time all year. That's right, folks. Football is back. I'm breaking down everything you need to know from Titans practice on Wednesday. On today's show, we are going to start by talking about the star of the day, and it was wide receiver rookie at that, Traylon Burks. I'm going to get into his performance and the offense in general. Before I do, I want to thank you guys again for making the Locked on Titans podcast your first listen every day.

If this is your first ever listen, well, strap in, folks, because I'm going to be putting out daily, Monday through Friday, Tennessee Titans content from now until next summer. So make sure that you stay subscribed or get subscribed to the Locked On Titans podcast, free and available on all platforms, including the Locked On Titans YouTube channel. Subscribe there. Smash the notification bell. Throw a thumbs up on the video if you're watching right now. It goes a long way to support the channel. You can find me on social media at TicTacTitans, on Twitter at LockedOnTitansPod,

on Facebook. Again, I am your host, Tyler Rowland. Been a Tennessee Titans fanatic for nearly 25 years, and I'm a certified film junkie ready to break down the X's and O's with you guys all season long. But enough of that. Let's dive into today's practice. And like I mentioned, Traylon Burks was the star, and it was a good offensive day in general for the Tennessee Titans. The Titans came out roaring in seven on seven. Of course, seven on seven is just the offensive skill players, running back, quarterback, and then the receiving threats

against the back seven of the defense, the cornerbacks, the safeties, the linebackers. And Ryan Tannehill, first play, boom, deep shot down the field to Nick Westbrook-Akina. Then next play, boom, deep shot to Traylon Burks, a diving catch down the sideline for nearly 40 yards. The offense came out firing. You can actually see that catch by Traylon Burks

on the Tennessee Titans Twitter account. They put out the video of that play. Man, it just gets you so, so excited to see what Burks is going to be able to do. As I mentioned, not just Burks, but the offense in general. Ryan Tannehill was 11-4-11 on the day in 7-on-7 and full team periods. He completed passes to Chicka Conqua. Three of them, actually, but we'll talk more about that when we get to Chick.

Completed passes to Cody Hollister, Mason Kinsey. Of course, Nick Westbrook-Akina, and Traylon Burks. As we mentioned, Burks and Nick Westbrook-Akina's catches actually came when they beat Christian Fulton. So, you know, it was well earned. Not only that, but Burks had another catch on the day against Caleb Farley where he ran a comebacker to the right sideline and caught the pass.

So, a great day for Burks. And it wasn't just a great day on the field for Traylon Burks. It was a great day off the field as well. The media got to ask him questions. And as we know, there's one specific reporter in Tennessee that will ask the hard-hitting questions, and he wasn't alone. A lot of questions were fired at Traylon Burks about his weight, how things got off to a bumpy start, where he's at.

We all got to give Traylon Burks credit. He handled it as well as you could possibly handle it. He said, hey, I didn't, you know, take my asthma seriously enough. There are things that I needed to do to prevent my asthma from being a problem that I didn't do. And he took accountability for that, said he had to be better. Feels like he has been better. He's attacking it every day.

He's dropped five to six pounds already, and that may not seem like a lot. But when we're talking about high performance athletes, five to six pounds can make quite a difference. And everybody at practice mentioned that Burks looked noticeably slimmer, more explosive, obviously well-conditioned. He went through the entire practice. No worries there. So as somebody who was a little bit panicked and worried,

I got to say, looks like I was completely wrong on that. No reason to worry. It looks like Traylon Burks, not only do we not have reason to worry, it may be time to truly get optimistic here with the way that he's performing. And his praises were saying by not only, you know, the people in the media, but the people within the building. Ryan Tannehill talked about Traylon Burks and he said he's got a long way to go, of course, but if you continue making plays like he made out there today, it's going to go a long way to developing confidence with your quarterback

and developing that chemistry. And Ryan Tannehill said it best, if you get open and you make plays like you did today, I'm going to feel confident and throw you the ball. Mike Vrabel, obviously Mike Vrabel is not going to get too crazy, but he did call it a good start for Traylon Burks. So Traylon Burks, a little bit of maybe some false panic, not only from others,

but from myself as well about Burks. It looks like he's going to be ready to go and ready to contribute day one. Now, obviously, the expectations don't need to get too, too incredibly high, but if he keeps making plays like this with the first team offense and the opportunity that he should have

talent-wise on the team, whether you're a Titans fan or somebody who cares about fantasy football, might be time to go get yourself some Traylon Burke stock because it seems to be on the rise. But we got a lot to discuss. That's not it. A ton to talk about. We're going to talk a couple of rookies making plays out there,

including Malik Willis, who had a pretty good day. We're going to talk a couple of rookies making plays out there, including Malik Willis, who had a pretty good day. We're going to talk Caleb Farley, Robert Woods, and some positive news with them from practice. And then Derrick Henry and Jeffrey Simmons, who we've been monitoring since the coaches kind of said that their workload would be a little bit different. I got some nuggets about them as well. Before we cap off the show, talking about Mike Vrabel's MVPs

of the offseason on both offense and defense. And boy, what a great list of names to see as the MVPs of the offseason if you're a Titans fan. So we're going to get into all of that in just a moment. Before we do, I do want to tell you guys about the best-tasting protein bars in the galaxy from our friends over at Built Bar. You get the best of both worlds with this

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off your order once again that's promo code locked 15 for 15% off at built.com Titans fans, we are going to continue breaking down everything that you need to know from the Titans' first training camp practice of the year. We just talked about the good day that the offense had. We talked about Traylon Burks, how he was incredible not only on the field but off it in his interviews as well. I want to keep diving into some rookies right now and give you guys updates there. Before I get into it, I want to thank you again for making the Locked on Titans podcast your first listen every day.

Again, Monday through Friday, free Tennessee Titans content on the Locked on Titans podcast on all platforms, including on YouTube. Make sure you guys subscribe. It's going to be your team every single day. So stay with me here if you're new or join me here if you're new. Stay with me if you've been around for a while. I appreciate all you guys. But diving back in here, Malik Willis. Let's get a little update there. So of course, I think we've gotten to the point where the expectations have gone, they've dropped off entirely. It was fun to talk about Malik, what his future could be, all that,

but it's time to worry about football in 2022. And I don't really see Malik being involved in football in 2022 all that much, but what we saw out on the field from Malik on Wednesday was incredibly positive for the slow timeline that he's on. So he was 4-4-4 throwing the football in I believe a 7-on-7 period.

Completed passes to Reggie Roberson, Kyle Phillips, among others. His throwing motion is really what stood out to me though. We can look at the baby stats of his limited reps but his motion was a little elongated

it was a little squirrely coming in it was something that everybody knew fundamentally had to be cleaned up you had to tighten it up get it quicker and I think his throwing motion looks night and day now somebody pointed out to me in my comments that his footwork,

he's still got a little bit of a skip step on his forward foot. All right, you know, progress. But his motion was compact. It was tight. I thought it was right by the ear hole getting the ball out. It just looks a lot cleaner than it looked in college and in the pre-draft process. So you love to see those steps for Malik Willis who needs to work on not only

the organizational aspects of running an NFL offense, but also cleaning up some technique things to kind of hone that incredible, incredible off-the-charts talent that he actually has. But again, Malik Willis, it's time to stop worrying about his trajectory right now and his future and all that because it's time to play some football. And a guy who, based on the retirement of Buster Screen, is going to have to play some football right away is Roger McCreary. And he made the defensive highlight of the day for the Titans defense.

He knocked away a pass over the middle from Cody Hollister. Again, it was an offensive-driven day. But that was the big play that the defense made all day long, and it was from Roger McCreary. So, I have very high hopes for McCreary and what he'll be able to do for the Titans as he slides into a role

sooner because of the retirement of screen than maybe we expected. Chigaconqua, though, a guy I've been beating the table for since before the draft. I mean, I wanted Chig on the Titans. He's here. He caught three passes on Wednesday,

all three of them from Ryan Tannehill in team period. That tells me that Chig is running with the first team offense quite a bit. If all of his passes are coming from Tannehill, that means he's out there working with the top dogs. I would love to see Chigokonkwo take over tight end two from Jeff Swain immediately, right away. And I also want to mention that one big takeaway from yesterday,

the first day of Titans training camp, when we got all the press conferences from Vrabel and Cowden and GM John Robinson, they all talked about the tight end group. I mean, it is night and day. Jeff Swain was the number one tight end last year. I mean, what an absolute travesty that truly was. Insanity, when we look back on it that that wasn't a bigger deal.

What a nightmare that turned out to be. So, if we could go all the way to where Jeff Swain is tied in three to start the year, I'm feeling good. I'm feeling good about it. So, we talked about Chig.

We talked about McCreary. We talked about Malik. Not a lot of info on NPF and not a lot of info on Chance Campbell or Theo Jackson or anything like that. So Kyle Phillips caught a few passes but again, nothing of note.

Just a general day but talking about those four rookies, I feel very excited about what the 2022 draft class could be for the Titans, not only in the future, but immediately right now. Now, outside of rookies, there are veterans

Caleb Farley and Robert Woods. No knee brace. No knee brace for Robert Woods the whole day. And then Caleb Farley took off his knee brace during practice. So that's just phenomenal news for what could be the Titans number one corner and number one wide receiver, both to be healthy coming off ACL tears. Absolutely critical for the Titans. Great news.

And Ryan Tannehill even mentioned, you know, it was really good to see Robert Woods out there going full speed. So very exciting stuff. Very exciting stuff. As for the top dogs on the team, Derrick Henry broke off a big long run in team period. According to Jim White, it probably would have been a touchdown. Love hearing that. And Derrick Henry's got the big one dreadlock all let go to where it's loose and hanging.

Man, I think it is so fire. I think his hair looks awesome. And I hope he leaves it for the season. I know that he won't. I know he'll go back to the horn or whatever it is. Man, I love it hanging down loose. I love it. I love it!

Jeffrey Simmons. Contract in the air. Is he going to sign one? But Jeff does not care, for real. The media asked Jeff about his contract multiple times in a row. And he said, I'm not going to talk about that. I saw he got a little frustrated at one point. He said, I'm not talking about the contract.

I'm ready to play football. I'm here to play football. So, no distraction. And here's my little nugget for you. I think Jeff is acting like that. I think the Titans are acting like that. Saying that, you know, he's going to have a different plan than other people. And John Robinson saying he's talked to his agent.

I think a contract's done. I think it's a timing issue. I think whatever. You know, they're just waiting on the timing. But I truly do think a contract's done. I believe whatever. You know, they're just waiting on the timing. But I truly do think a contract's done. I believe that. So I'm going to ride with that in my heart going forward. Speaking of going forward,

Mike Vrabel announced his offseason MVPs on offense and defense. I'm going to go over the list to tell you why. This is one of the most positive developments that we've seen all season long. So we're going to get into that in just a second. Before we do, I want to thank you guys again for making the Locked on Titans podcast your first to listen every day. As for your second listen, check out the Locked on NFL podcast. It's also free and available Monday through Friday on all platforms,

including the Locked on NFL YouTube channel. I host the Thursday show. So if you would check it out and subscribe over there, it'd show me some support as well, and I would greatly appreciate it. But we are going to talk about all-season MVPs next. We'll be right back. Titans fans, I'm going to give you guys a little advice here is what I'm going to do just from me to you as football fans. I love keeping up on everything that's happening in the NFL.

I think one of the best accounts you could follow on Twitter is at the numbers 3-2 Beat Riders. Literally gives you all the insights from all the Beat Riders around the NFL for all the other teams. Really helps me stay locked in to what's going on. But either way, we're moving forward here, recapping everything that took place at the first Titans training camp practice of the year. We talked Traylon

Burks in the offense. We gave updates on the rookies and the stars. Now I want to talk about Mike Vrabel's MVPs of the offseason. Time to get excited, folks. So Mike V Rabel announced that the MVPs of the offseason, he said it was based on improvement, dedication, and... There was a third word in there. Improvement and dedication. Whatever. You guys get the idea. Alright. So, they're the MVP of the offseason because they worked really hard and got a lot better during the offseason.

On offense, woo, Dylan Radins. Let's go, baby. Let's go. The Titans need Dylan Radins to be a player, okay? That's important. He needs to start at right tackle this year. There's no question about it.

No question about it. So the fact that he's being noticed and highlighted for his work in the offseason, that's great news. Des Fitzpatrick. Now I'll tell you, I'm not a Des believer. I'm not, but I could be wrong. I'm wrong all the time. I'm wrong all the time. It happens. It happens. So Des, I was super right about Des last year, but he has the time now to prove me wrong. I don't believe it. I don't think that it means anything personally, but good for Dez that he was in there getting better and the coaching staff noticed and there was a real opportunity to be the number four, number five wide receiver on this team. I mean, it's wide open. Dez Fitzpatrick

as a second year veteran should be able to beat out a guy like Kyle Phillips for opportunities so it's wide open for Des if he wants to take it we will see if he's able to do so Torrey Carter did you guys see Torrey Carter's little fashion in the foyer

video on the Titans social media accounts him wearing the designer glasses. Dude is swaggy, okay? To be that violent and aggressive and swaggy too? Unheard of. Unheard of. The only place you're ever going to get that is with a full back in football, baby. I'm so excited for Torrey Carter. He was one of the more underrated players on the Titans last year. Their run game suffered. Even though the Titans still year. Their run game suffered. Even though the Titans still had a good run game,

the run game could have been that much better and was that much better statistically. You look at yards per carry. When Torrey Carter was at fullback as opposed to Corey Blossom game early in the year or no fullback later in the year. So I even did one of my film articles at the end of the year on Torrey Carter right when I thought he was of my film articles at the end of the year on Torrey Carter,

right when I thought he was going to get activated to the roster and then he wasn't. Fight me on that. God, it's annoying. When you spend hours and hours and hours working on an article and then it goes the opposite way you expected. Whatever, you know, writer's problems. But,

love hearing that from Torrey Carter because I think the fullback and the tight ends need to be a major part of the Titans offense this year. I've been talking about those heavy packages. 22, 13, 21. We need more. We need more. So let's see some more Torrey Carter this year.

Hopefully he can stay healthy. The defensive MVPs. Just as exciting as Dylan Radins on the offense. Are you guys ready? Are you ready? If we had Dylan Radins on offense who needed to have a big season

and we got the top MVP on offense for him, what could mirror that in terms of excitement as an MVP on defense? Let's say it together. 1, 2, 3. Caleb Farley! Yes, that's right. Caleb Farley was one of the defensive MVPs

of the offseason for the Titans. I mean, rave reviews for Farley all across the board. Ryan Tannehill even said today, can't believe how fast he is. People are just like, I can't believe how fast he is. I can't believe how long he is. If Caleb Farley stays healthy, folks.

Oh boy. Oh boy, do the Titans have themselves a stud on? I mean, what if it's a Jeffrey Simmons situation? The Titans take a chance on a risky player with some injuries in the mid of the draft and get themselves a top five, top ten talent superstar. I mean, that's what John Robinson's doing when he takes those risks. If he can hit on both those guys,

ooh, buddy. This defense, I mean, it's going to get gross. Disgusting, quite frankly. I don't know if YouTube will strike the video if I keep talking about the Titans defense at this rate, okay? It's that scary, quite frankly. Going to have to put a warning label on the podcast.

But all jokes aside, besides Caleb Farley, Demarcus Walker came over from Houston, has had some sacks in recent years, some real NFL production. Demarcus Walker is a guy who I think could be a heavy outside linebacker or be that 4-3 defensive end and four-man fronts that Danico Autry does for the Titans. Like a Jack Crawford type role for Demarcus. I think Demarcus Walker makes the team.

I've said that all along. It was in my official prediction as well. I think Demarcus Walker is going team. I've said that all along. It was in my official prediction as well. I think Demarcus Walker is going to have an impact on this team. I think that him and Rashad Weaver could really be valuable rotational rushers on the D-line. I just really think that's where the Titans are going to get their backup pass rush from. Other than that, Amani Hooker.

No surprise there. Hooker's a freaking beast. And if he's the all-season MVP, he was a top three safety per pro football focus last year. We saw that interception in the playoff game. My God, pay the man. I was told that the Titans traded away A.J. Brown so that they could pay a bunch of other people.

Amani Hooker better be one of them. That's all I know. But that is my recap of the first training camp practice of the year for the Titans. Practice on Thursday as well. I'll be here on Thursday evening to break all of that down for you guys heading into the weekend. But that's going to do it for me today, folks. As always, I am your host, Tyler Rowland, and this was Locked on Titans.