Locked On Titans - Daily Podcast On The Tennessee Titans - Titans Training Camp Review - Day One's Biggest Stories: Wilson to COVID list, Beasley a No-Show and Two Injured Titans

Episode Date: July 29, 2020

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Welcome to the Locked on Titans podcast. I am your host, Tyler Rowland. Titans fans, today's edition of the Locked on Titans podcast is brought to you by rockauto.com. Amazing selection, reliably low prices, all the parts your car will ever need, rockauto.com. And as I'm certain you know, Titans training camp kicked off yesterday yesterday and we have no shortage of major Titans news to dive into. So today we are going to talk about all of the big time stories coming out of day one. Day one of Titans training camp and it doesn't even have the players in the building. So a lot to talk about on today's show. I'm going to be breaking down the latest news as I do every single week, Monday through

Friday. So make sure that you are subscribed to the Locked on Titans podcast, following on Spotify or whatever platform that you do stream your podcast. Make sure you're locked in to the Locked on Titans podcast and also make sure that you are following me on Twitter at Tic Tac Titans. I did post my slot cornerback film breakdown, my Tic Tac Titans film breakdown on Adoree Jackson on Tuesday. So go back and check that out on Twitter at Tic Tac Titans if you haven't already.

But as I mentioned, I'm going to be breaking down Titans news with you guys, talking X's and O's throughout the entire season, Monday through Friday. So make sure that you are subscribed so you get all of that daily Titans content. But speaking of that, we have a lot of Titans content to talk about today. And quite frankly, a lot of the news that came out of Mike Vrabel's Zoom conference was concerning, to say the least. Mike Vrabel's Zoom conference was concerning to say the least. So we will talk about all of those big news items coming out of Titans training camp day one. Let's get it.

The first bit of major news that we got from day one of Tennessee Titans training camp came from head coach Mike Vrabel's Zoom conference with local Nashville reporters. At the end of his conference, he dropped a bombshell on not only the Tennessee Titans, but also the NFL world, announcing that first-round pick, right tackle out of Georgia, Isaiah Wilson, will start training camp on the NFL's COVID-19 list. At this time, we do not know if Isaiah Wilson himself has tested positive for COVID-19 or if he has been in close contact with someone that has resulting in his need to quarantine. But at this time, we do know that Isaiah Wilson will not be able to go to the Titans facility

anytime soon to sign his rookie contract as he is the only member of the Titans 2020 draft class that has not signed their rookie deal yet. And also, we do know that either way, Wilson will be required to have negative results come back on multiple COVID-19 tests and spend time quarantined before he can even think about joining the Titans training camp. And when you think about a rookie who wanted to battle for a starting right tackle position going into week one, and you think about the limited offseason that Isaiah Wilson has already had, this will put him further and further behind the learning curve. further and further behind the learning curve, and it does seem like it gives veteran Dennis Kelly a very, very, very good chance to win the starting right tackle position going into week one of the regular season.

The next major piece of news we got coming out of Titans training camp day one is that the Titans' highest pricepriced free agent signing at this moment in time, outside linebacker Vic Beasley, who was coming over from the Atlanta Falcons, simply did not report for training camp. He was expected to be there and did not show. The Titans will be putting Vic Beasley

on the reserve list at this time, the non-report list, but it has to be concerning in Nashville, putting Vic Beasley on the reserve list at this time, the non-report list. But it has to be concerning in Nashville, in the front office, and for Titans fans to see someone who was paid $9.5 million and up to $12 million and was expected to have a major role in the pass rush unit for the Titans in 2020 simply not show up to work. It's something that was unexpected. And when you look at the Titans' 2020, simply not show up to work. It's something that was unexpected. And when you look at the Titans' edge-rushing group already,

you have someone like Harold Landry, who, although dropped in production at the end of the season, is a bright spot in the Titans' edge group and has immense potential. But after Beasley and Landry, you look at Kamalei Correa, who was effective last year, but is little more than just a role player and a rotation player, can't be relied on to play heavy snaps in the Titans defense in 2020. You look at someone like Reggie Gilbert, who the Titans traded for at the beginning of

2019, who's had ups and downs with injuries and can't necessarily be relied on as a full-time contributor. DeAndre Walker, the draft pick from 2019 that missed the entire 2019 season with an injury. And then you have an undrafted free agent from 2019 who played three games for the Titans, and Derek Roberson. And then an undrafted free agent

who's already going to have a steep learning curve in Kalen Curse-Thomas. So right now, the Titans' edge group, if for some reason Vic Beasley does not return anytime soon, could be in a very precarious situation with not a lot of talent and not a lot of depth. And that leads us into the thought process of why exactly did Vic Beasley not show up?

And the number one thing that will come to mind is he could be considering potentially opting out for the 2020 season, which we saw multiple big name players do on Tuesday. Now, one thing about Vic Beasley's opt out, if he does choose to opt out, then at this time, it appears that the Titans will be responsible for honoring his contract in 2021 if he decides to come back next season. That puts the Titans in limbo of managing their cap space, knowing exactly what it's going to look like, and they're already going to be dealing with a reduced cap number due to the financial impact of COVID-19. So this could put the Titans in a bind, not only in 2020 from missing the talent

and the depth that Beasley was going to add, but also add to their burden in 2021 as they try to figure out a limited amount of cap space then. So the two biggest news stories coming out of Titans training camp, and both quite frankly are pretty concerning. And if you think those are concerning pieces of news for the Tennessee Titans, just wait until we get into segment two. We have, unfortunately, even more concerning news for the Titans, I would say, a little bit less concerning ultimately,

and I will explain why. But we have two Titans that appear to be still dealing with some major injuries that will affect their ability to be a part of training camp. So I will tell you who those two Tennessee Titans are in our next segment. But first, before we jump into that, I do want to let you guys know about the schedule coming up. So we obviously did part one of our roster predictions in yesterday's show, talked about the offensive side of the ball. And while we do need to get to the defensive side of the ball, I thought in my personal opinion that the big news items we got

out of day one of Titans training camp were, I guess, more of a priority to talk about. So I am going to be finishing off the second part of our roster prediction series talking about the defensive roster predictions that I have, but this news that we got today just takes precedent, quite frankly. So I am going to continue breaking down the big news items coming out of Titans Training Camp, talking about two injured Titans who will not be ready for training camp in our next segment. Before we do that, I want to tell you guys about rockauto.com. So I've been talking about rockauto.com for a few weeks, and I will continue to let you guys know that there is no better way to shop for your car

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as I mentioned, prices at rockauto.com are always reliably low and the same for everyone. So why spend twice as much for the same exact parts? Go to rockauto.com right now, see all the parts available for your car or truck, and make sure that you write locked on in their how did you hear about us box. Once again, there's a box on the website that says how did you hear about us. Make sure you write locked on in that box so they know that I sent you. Amazing selection, reliably low prices, all the parts your car will ever need. RockAuto.com. Let's continue talking about some of the biggest news items coming out of day one of Titans training camp.

And the reality of the situation is Titans really didn't do much veteran player testing. The real news came from Mike Rabel's conference call, his Zoom conference. And we got more news about other Titans roster moves. I obviously just updated you guys on Isaiah Wilson being on the COVID list and Vic Beasley being a no-call, no-show on day one. That frustrates me beyond belief. How could you just not show up? I don't understand the lack of communication there,

but hopefully we get more information on that throughout the week. Definitely need to know what's going on there. It's going to look really bad for the Titans if for some reason Vic Beasley opts out and they don't end up getting Jadavion Clowney. Oh man, the edge is going to be in a tough, tough spot, but that's something that we're going to get into is some other tough spots that the Titans are going to run into here with the next two big pieces of news coming out of day one of Titans training camp and that is two veteran Titans who will start training camp on the physically unable to perform list so often you'll see it the pup list PUP is what you'll see it written as. That means physically unable to perform. And basically that means that Jayon Brown and Corey Davis are still rehabbing from injuries.

Whether those injuries are left over from last year, whether those injuries were sustained during training throughout the all season, we can't know for certain at this time. And the Titans are not giving any information about what those injuries are where they're located the recovery time how serious it is we got nothing all we know is the two players who are injured and I will let you guys know first wide receiver Corey Davis Corey Davis it seems like since the time the Titans drafted him, has had injury concerns of some kind, whether it be soft tissue with the hamstrings, last year dealing with a toe injury

that could still be lingering. At this moment in time, the toe injury could be what is hurting Corey Davis, but like I said, we don't know. We don't have any confirmation at this time what the injury actually is, so it's not always great to speculate, but based on the toe injury Corey Davis fought through last season, it would make sense that maybe he's still rehabbing from that. Now let's get into the after effects here. The aftermath of this situation. Let's say Corey Davis is not ready for the regular season. Well, the Titans are going to be in a bad spot at wide receiver with just A.J. Brown, who I have all the confidence in the world in A.J. Brown, but the reality is he is a

second year wide receiver who didn't get a normal offseason. And who's to say whether or not he comes out and sets the league on fire again? It wouldn't be the first time somebody over performed early in their career got Titans fans too excited and then underperformed afterwards and let people down I'm not wishing for that I'm not trying to speak that into existence obviously but I'm just saying we have to be prepared for all possible outcomes here and if Corey Davis is not available that that leaves just A.J. Brown a second round or a second year wide receiver. Adam Humphreys, who's not a very athletic or physically

dominant wide receiver, not really a threat, just a quick guy over the middle who completely underperformed his contract last year and was banged up for a lot of the season. And then after that, you're looking at Kalief Raymond, Cam Batson. I don't trust those guys to play more than 50% of snaps at wide receiver for the Titans on offense. I mean, the Titans would have to, have to at that point in time consider a veteran help like a Josh Gordon or a Taylor Gabriel. I mean, I think if Corey Davis wasn't ready for week one, the Titans would have no other option. And here's why. And I'll get into the second player after I give you this piece of information.

If either of these players, Corey Davis and then the other veteran, are on the PUP for week one of the season, that means that they can't come back for six weeks. So if Corey Davis isn't ready by week one to come off the PUP, he's not going to be able to return to the Titans until week seven. That would be an absolute disaster for a wide receiver core that wasn't added to enough in my opinion. We had a historic wide receiver draft with the amount of receiver talent that was available early on. The Titans 100% neglected getting a wide receiver in the draft so that they could, or not so that they could, and instead added a bunch of undrafted free agents who are going to

have an insane learning curve this offseason. And the Titans knew about COVID when the draft happened. So the fact that they totally disregarded a historic wide receiver class in the draft, this is going to bite them if Corey Davis isn't ready to go. And what we've known about Corey Davis in the past is it's going to take him some time to heal. He's not a fast healer. So I'm incredibly concerned about the Titans wide receiver group at this moment in time going into a Super Bowl or bus season about the Titans wide receiver group at this moment in time going into a Super Bowl or bus season for the Titans you don't accept anything less than taking the next

step and that's what the mentality is in the building as well so can't fault me for having that mentality and seeing the Titans just not doing enough at wide receiver and putting themselves in a pretty tough spot here if Corey Davis is unable to go by week one for some reason. The next player, just as concerning to me, Jayon Brown. Jayon Brown will start training camp on the physically unable to perform list, the pup list, and we saw Jayon have a pretty rough injury during the playoffs. He injured his shoulder against the New England Patriots. Was not a factor against the Ravens.

Shout out to David Long for filling his spot and doing a pretty good job. But Jayon's shoulder injury could still be giving him issues. And maybe there's a lack of medical attention that he's been able to get throughout this limited offseason. We don't even know if it is the shoulder injury at this moment in time, but it makes the most sense that these guys are still rehabbing from the injuries that had them less than 100% at the end of the season last year. And the Titans played late into the season.

They played three playoff games. That's a lot more wear and tear on your body than some other guys in the NFL had to deal with, and it could have made their rehab from those injuries fall behind. It could have fell behind with the limitations in the medical field and also playing so late into the season. So Jayon Brown, Corey Davis right now both starting training camp on the PUP list, and as I mentioned, if they are unable to be ready to go by week one and come off the PUP, then they will mandatory have to sit out the first six weeks of the regular season.

And the Titans may be able to recover from Jayon Brown missing that time with somebody like a David Long. But besides that, the Titans let go of Wesley Woodyard. They let go of Darren Bates. They added Nick DeZubnar, but he's been mostly a special teamer, not an every-down defensive linebacker. And other than that, all they have is a couple undrafted free agents. And while I'm pretty high on Cal Garrett from Missouri and his ability to maybe make this roster, I don't forecast that, but it's a possibility.

While I'm high on that, there's just no way that an undrafted free agent is going to be able to come in in this environment and make a big enough impact to lessen the blow of Jayon Brown being out for six weeks. So right now, that's incredibly concerning from the Titans' perspective. There's really no other way to cut it. I'm concerned the Titans don't have a lot at inside linebacker now in terms of talent. They have a little bit of depth, but not a lot of talent and the Titans don't have talent or depth at wide receiver. So those are two positions that, and along with the, with the Vic Beasley news about the edge, I mean, interior defensive line,

edge, wide receiver, interior linebacker. I mean, these are concerning positions if the Titans start getting some injuries that are actually going to affect the regular season. So that's four pieces of news so far that aren't quite positive. Quite positive. Unfortunately, the last two pieces of news are not exactly positive, but they're not very consequential either. So I'll let you know what those two pieces of news are as we round out the major headlines from day one of Titans training camp. Let's round out today's show going over the last two major pieces of news. And I say major

because they're the least major of all of the major news, but still, hey, this is big Titans news heading into training camp. So let's actually take a look at these last two pieces of news. First, first, the Titans cut outside linebacker Jordan Williams. Williams is a bubble veteran. He was fighting for an opportunity. It looks like these are part of the cuts that we saw when the Titans cut the first initial six guys over the weekend. None of them were undrafted free agents.

All of them were veteran bubble guys that were looking for an opportunity to stay in the league. So Jordan Williams is another one of those cats. He has actually been cut. That gets the Titans. And it's a little bit of a spoiler alert to the next piece of news that I will give you guys but that leaves the Titans with 79 people on the roster heading in to training camp now the last piece of news for the day what got the Titans down to that 79 they were at 81. We saw Jordan Williams cut and then we saw undrafted free agent tackle out of TCU. Anthony McKinney opt out due to COVID-19. He was one of many players on Tuesday to opt out

of the 2020 season. We saw six or seven decent sized names on the New England Patriots opt out. It's been a rash of opt outs here. I'm not going to come on here and bash anybody who decides to opt out of the season. I know me personally, it's not something that I would do if I was put in that situation, but I'm not put in that situation. So from Anthony McKinney's standpoint, I'm not going to fault him. Who knows what his personal situation is. But one thing that is tough for Mr. McKinney's standpoint I'm not going to fault him who knows what his personal situation is but one thing that is tough for Mr. McKinney here is he hasn't played in the NFL before he wasn't guaranteed a roster spot so he's not going to get that $150,000 or $350,000 stipend so it's going to be a tough situation for Anthony McKinney deciding what he has to do next, but he doesn't

want to take the risk, and that is his own personal decision to make. Some of the bigger names that we've seen opt out from the NFL just around the league on Tuesday, though, were Eagles new wide receiver Marquise Goodwin, Bears defensive tackle Eddie Goldman, Packers wide receiver Devin Funchess, Goodwin, Bears defensive tackle Eddie Goldman, Packers wide receiver Devin Funchess, Vikings defensive tackle Michael Pierce. So a lot of these names like Marquise Goodwin, Devin Funchess, Michael Pierce, and think, go back to what if Vic Beasley is deciding to opt out. A lot of these names that are opting out are actually guys that were free agents this year. And the reason that they would do that is because their contract has to be honored next season if they do sit out because it's a one-year deal so from that perspective they can

kind of sit out get that stipend and still have the deal that they signed waiting for them so that's something to consider now let's hear from Anthony McKinney and what he actually had to say about his decision. This quote comes from Justin M underscore NFL. Justin does a great job covering the Titans, covering draft related items for the USA Today as well. So Justin got this quote. Anthony McKinney said, it was very difficult coming to this decision, but I made it for the higher risk members of my family. The virus is no joke.

My family was exposed to it in the early stages of the pandemic, and it almost cost us. With another wave expected to hit this fall, I simply wouldn't be able to forgive myself if something happened and I wasn't there. So that's what McKinney had to say, and I would encourage all of you to respect his decision, respect his view on things, and let him do what's best for his family. So, big day of Titans news. Wow, I was kind of trying to figure out how to break it all down for you guys, how to best position all these pieces of news,

plus with the roster predictions on defense, Mike Vrabel's press conference that he did, all of these different things that I want to give to you guys, I want to explain to you guys, I want to go over everything right now. It's going to be a great week of Titans content on the show, though, with all of that information. I'm obviously going to bring you guys the highlights of Mike Vrabel's press conference. There was a lot of information in there. More Clowney Watch stuff. Defensive play caller conversation. So probably going to bring that to you guys on tomorrow's show.

And then, of course, we have the defensive roster predictions that we still have to get to. So really excited to continue to cover all of this information. Bring you guys some additional pieces of content that I have planned for the rest of the week. Make sure that you are subscribed to the Locked on Titans podcast on Apple Podcast or iTunes, whatever you want to call it. Make sure you're following on Spotify or

whatever platform you do stream. Follow me on Twitter at TicTacTitans. Remember, I did put out my Adoree Jackson TicTacTitans film breakdown talking about his ability to play slot cornerback on Tuesday. So head over to my Twitter account at Tic Tac Titans and check that out. But that is going to do it for me today. A major day on day one of Titans training camp.

I will be back with you guys tomorrow. As always, I am your host, Tyler Rowland, and this was Locked on Titans.