Speaker 1: We welcome you to the Official Titans Podcast, the OTP,
Speaker 1: presented by Farm Bureau Health Plans, with Amy Wells, I'm
Speaker 1: Mike Keith and a special guest to begin a special OTP.
Speaker 1: It's the headball coach himself, Mike Trabele. How are you, sir?
Speaker 1: I'm doing great, Mike, how are you well? It is
Speaker 1: scheduled day and so we're all very excited about that. Aby.
Speaker 1: You want me to just roll through it. The Tennessee
Speaker 1: Titans will open the regular season on September fourteenth, Monday
Speaker 1: Night Football, the last game of Kickoff weekend in primetime
Speaker 1: at Denver. It's a nine to ten Central Time kickoff.
Speaker 1: The Titans home opener comes to following Sunday, September the twentieth,
Speaker 1: at Nissan Stadium against AFC South rival Jacksonville. Spoiler alert,
Speaker 1: the Tight don't play the Jags on Thursday night for
Speaker 1: the first time in this century. I think something like that.
Speaker 1: Week three, Tennessee is at Minnesota, the first trip for
Speaker 1: the Titans to US Bank Stadium in Minneapolis. The first
Speaker 1: quarter of the season ends with a home date against
Speaker 1: the Pittsburgh Steelers. It's actually the first of three straight
Speaker 1: home games to begin October. That Pittsburgh game is on
Speaker 1: October fourth. Tennessee host Buffalo October eleventh, Houston October eighteenth,
Speaker 1: the Titans by week In Week seven, that's the weekend
Speaker 1: of October the twenty fifth. After the bye, the Titans
Speaker 1: make a November first visit to Cincinnati. The Bears come
Speaker 1: to Nashville on November the eighth, and then the Colds
Speaker 1: hit town for Thursday Night football November the twelfth. That's right,
Speaker 1: a second primetime game for the Titans. Stay tuned. There
Speaker 1: is another one to come, but first let's hit back
Speaker 1: to back road games to end November at Ball tomorrow
Speaker 1: November twenty second, at Indianapolis November the twenty ninth. December
Speaker 1: starts with a visit from the Cleveland Browns. The Titans
Speaker 1: then head to Jacksonville on Sunday, December the thirteenth. In
Speaker 1: Week fifteen, Tennessee's final regular season home game, hosting Detroit.
Speaker 1: It'll either be Saturday, December nineteenth or Sunday December twentieth.
Speaker 1: Whether it's Saturday or Sunday against the Lions be determined
Speaker 1: later in the year, and then tough ending roadwork big
Speaker 1: time Sunday night Football at Green Bay December the twenty seventh,
Speaker 1: and at Houston in week seventeen, which comes on January
Speaker 1: the third. Coach, very well, we have a lot of
Speaker 1: questions for you about this schedule. NFL fans around the league,
Speaker 1: of course, are super excited to be seeing this schedule.
Speaker 1: As players and coaches, how do you approach this news today, Well,
Speaker 1: we had an idea of who we played, and we
Speaker 1: knew where, we just didn't know when. So I think
Speaker 1: it's most important for us to work on maybe the
Speaker 1: common opponents, the opponents that we have an idea about,
Speaker 1: maybe we played them last year, teams out of our division,
Speaker 1: for example, the difference between the Denver Broncos, the Baltimore Ravens,
Speaker 1: the Buffalo Bills, or maybe the Vikings or the Packers
Speaker 1: that we're not quite so sure about or haven't played recently.
Speaker 1: I think that's the first thing that comes to mind,
Speaker 1: is is who you're familiar with and who you've played recently.
Speaker 1: Every years a new year, amy but we're certainly excited
Speaker 1: to continue this preparation as we work our way through
Speaker 1: these virtual meetings. When you get this schedule, how do
Speaker 1: you begin to start breaking it down and kind of
Speaker 1: putting it into more manageable chunks. Okay, we always talk
Speaker 1: about the season in four quarters. But I'm not going
Speaker 1: to sit here and do what we ask our players
Speaker 1: not to do, which is which is count numbers. Is
Speaker 1: to sit there at training camp with ninety players and
Speaker 1: that we're gonna get it down to fifty five and
Speaker 1: to have guys sit there and start counting, well, how
Speaker 1: many guys in my position? What number am I? Um?
Speaker 1: We ask our players not to do that, So as
Speaker 1: the head coach, I'm not going to do that and
Speaker 1: start counting and saying, well, this is a tough game.
Speaker 1: This is I mean, I've I've all been in the
Speaker 1: NFL a lot a lot of years, twenty years for me,
Speaker 1: and they're all tough. And when you play well, you
Speaker 1: have a chance to win, and when you don't play well,
Speaker 1: I guarantee that you're gonna lose. So, um, we have
Speaker 1: a great operations team, we really do, led by Brent
Speaker 1: Acres and his staff, and I know that they'll have
Speaker 1: us prepared for when we have to travel, and we're
Speaker 1: excited about having home games here early coach, was there
Speaker 1: anything that surprised you about this schedule? Nope. I'll figure
Speaker 1: out what uniforms we wear before we go out on
Speaker 1: the field that day, you know, Mike. Mike always wonders
Speaker 1: what uniform we're gonna wear and what time Z owned
Speaker 1: and at what time and what station. So I'll let
Speaker 1: you know as soon as we go out to kick off. Well,
Speaker 1: we know all the games around Titans Radio. That's good news, Mike,
Speaker 1: So we are definitely sure about that. I do want
Speaker 1: to ask you, though, Monday Night Football week one in Denver,
Speaker 1: how excited will the Titans be to take part in
Speaker 1: Monday Night Football the last game of kickoff weekend. Well,
Speaker 1: it's always an honor. I think when you grow up
Speaker 1: watching football, and you did, and I did, and a
Speaker 1: lot of our fans that when you grow up watching football,
Speaker 1: you watch Monday Night Football. I mean that's your last
Speaker 1: taste of it until now on Thursday. And so before
Speaker 1: it was and there was no Thursday night football, so
Speaker 1: it was like, man, we got to get this game
Speaker 1: in and then get all the way to the weekend.
Speaker 1: So it's an honor to play on Monday Night Football.
Speaker 1: Certainly a great challenge to go on the road in Denver.
Speaker 1: You know, hopefully we can score a point this year
Speaker 1: and see how that goes a little better. But it'll
Speaker 1: be a great way to start the season. There'll be
Speaker 1: a lot of excitement and a lot of people tuning
Speaker 1: in three primetime games for the Titans on the schedule.
Speaker 1: How excited are you for Titans fans that this club
Speaker 1: gets the show of respect it does by being selected
Speaker 1: to play in primetime at least three times this year? Well, again,
Speaker 1: you ear in respect by winning football games and by
Speaker 1: playing hard, and you know we got to continue to
Speaker 1: do that. But it is certainly an honor and you
Speaker 1: want to be ready to go and be at your
Speaker 1: best at those games. They all count the same, but
Speaker 1: I know a lot more people are watching and players
Speaker 1: around the league, you know, are tuning into those games
Speaker 1: as well. Mike, speaking of Titans fans, four of your
Speaker 1: first six games are at Nissan Stadium, six of your
Speaker 1: first nine. The Titans and Titans fans have to find
Speaker 1: a way to take advantage and make Nissan Stadium as
Speaker 1: tough as they possibly can, especially to begin twenty twenty. Yeah, way,
Speaker 1: do you know? We have to start better and we
Speaker 1: played well down the stretch last year and that's really
Speaker 1: what it allowed us to get into the playoffs and
Speaker 1: win a couple of games, and we're gonna have to
Speaker 1: start the season off better so that margin Frere isn't
Speaker 1: so thin, you know, we have to The goal is
Speaker 1: to in the division, to host home playoff games, to
Speaker 1: put ourselves in the best position possible. And that'll start,
Speaker 1: you know, early in the season with those games that
Speaker 1: you mentioned that we have at home. And you know,
Speaker 1: I think people are you know, I just think the
Speaker 1: confidence and a momentum in which we had at the
Speaker 1: end of last year. I hope that our fans had
Speaker 1: that same type of feeling. You know. I know a
Speaker 1: lot of people had watch parties. Unfortunately, we couldn't have
Speaker 1: a watch party at Nissan because we were on the road.
Speaker 1: But you know, let's see if we can't have a
Speaker 1: couple of watch parties down there at Nissan Stadium. Are
Speaker 1: there specific preparation challenges for you and your staff and
Speaker 1: this football team with the schedule, you know, those are
Speaker 1: some things that you look at, those quick turnarounds, you know,
Speaker 1: the Sunday that Thursday, the Monday night to Sunday, you know,
Speaker 1: traveling to Denver not much of a time zone, and
Speaker 1: we can't do much to replicate altitude don't don't have
Speaker 1: any on the West coast, So those are some things
Speaker 1: you worry about. It'll be cold in Green Bay, you know,
Speaker 1: it's just you know, we approach those things, you know
Speaker 1: when they happen, but certainly we're very aware of them. Um.
Speaker 1: You know, now as it starts unfold, you mentioned that
Speaker 1: Green Bay game. That's one of the last two games
Speaker 1: that are on the road, at green Bay and then
Speaker 1: at Houston. Does that almost add extra emphasis or drive
Speaker 1: home the need to make sure that the twenty twenty
Speaker 1: Titans are getting a home playoff game. It's important that
Speaker 1: that we put ourselves in the best position to be
Speaker 1: playing meaningful games. And we all know that a lot
Speaker 1: of those seasons started Thanksgiving, where where teams start to
Speaker 1: you know, some start to continue to improve and some
Speaker 1: don't and some kind of flatten off. So you know,
Speaker 1: we have to be playing our best football late. The
Speaker 1: teams that do and continue to improve are the ones
Speaker 1: that go into playoffs. And whether you play them on
Speaker 1: the road or your play them at home, you're gonna
Speaker 1: still have to play well enough to win. Finally, Mike,
Speaker 1: how is all the virtual offseason going with your current
Speaker 1: players couldn't be happier. I think it all started with
Speaker 1: the draft and the work that our it department, in
Speaker 1: our video department, and everybody put in to making sure
Speaker 1: that that draft ran smoothly on a virtual level. I
Speaker 1: think that really carried over to our coaching staff and
Speaker 1: these meetings. I think the players are excited to see
Speaker 1: each other on the screen, on the on the computer screen.
Speaker 1: Our coach has done a fantastic job with being great
Speaker 1: teachers film and making sure that the players are getting
Speaker 1: exactly what they need. Players are engaged, They're making sure
Speaker 1: that they are answering questions and asking questions when they
Speaker 1: don't know something. When can the rookies get started, Mike,
Speaker 1: We'll be starting with these guys Tomorrow morning at nine o'clock.
Speaker 1: There'll be a squad meeting. We'll go through introductions and
Speaker 1: these guys are getting ready to go. And finally, what
Speaker 1: uniforms are you going to wear in Denver on September fourteen?
Speaker 1: I have no idea. They'll have hamlets and shoulder pads
Speaker 1: on be dressed as the Titans, for sure. Mike thinks
Speaker 1: so much. We always appreciate your take, especially on a
Speaker 1: day like this that made so much to Titans fans
Speaker 1: when they get the schedule for twenty twenty. Yeah, thanks Mike,
Speaker 1: Thanks Amy. Titans head coach Mike Vrabel kind enough to
Speaker 1: take time with us aby as we get ready to
Speaker 1: run through the OTP presented by Farm Bureau Health Plans.
Speaker 1: Let's go through that schedule one more time. The Tennessee
Speaker 1: Titans opened the season at Denver on Monday Night Football
Speaker 1: on September fourteenth at nine ten pm Central Time. Then
Speaker 1: Jacksonville comes to Nissan Stadium on September twentieth. Tennessee is
Speaker 1: at Minnesota on September twenty seventh, and the Steelers will
Speaker 1: be in Nashville on October fourth. Two more home games
Speaker 1: in a row after Pittsburgh. October the eleventh against Buffalo,
Speaker 1: October the eighteenth against Houston, then the bye October the
Speaker 1: twenty fifth. That's in week seven. On November first, Tennessee
Speaker 1: is at Cincinnati. The Titans are home for back to
Speaker 1: back games next November eighth against the Bears, followed by
Speaker 1: Thursday Nights Football against the Colts. Ten days later, Tennessee
Speaker 1: is on the road at Baltimore. Then the following Sunday
Speaker 1: it's second meeting in seventeen days with the Indianapolis Colts,
Speaker 1: this time on the road. All right, here are the
Speaker 1: final five down the stretch for the Titans. A home
Speaker 1: game with Cleveland, a road trip to Jacksonville home for Detroit,
Speaker 1: either on Saturday, December nineteenth or Sunday, December twentieth, Sunday
Speaker 1: Night Football in Green Bay, where Amy Wells will need
Speaker 1: a parka on the sidelines, and then January third at
Speaker 1: Houston to end the regular season. So more expert analysis
Speaker 1: about this schedule. We welcome to the OTP, presented by
Speaker 1: Farm Bureau Health Plans, Jim Watt, the Great Jim White
Speaker 1: from Tennessee Titans dot com, and also coach Dave McGinnis
Speaker 1: from Titans Radio. Amy, you may proceed with the questioning.
Speaker 1: Now that sounds so formal, Mike when you say it
Speaker 1: like that. These are friendly questions, and I want to
Speaker 1: start with Jim, and then I'll ask Coach Mac. Give
Speaker 1: me the game on the schedule that jumps out to
Speaker 1: you the most and tell me why. Well, I think
Speaker 1: it's the December twenty seventh game at Green Bay, the
Speaker 1: one Mike just mentioned on Sunday Night Football. Have to
Speaker 1: have it means something for that game to be important, obviously,
Speaker 1: But the thought of going to lambeau Field in December
Speaker 1: on a Sunday night, a team that just went thirteen
Speaker 1: and three, a team that's coached by Matt Laflora, a
Speaker 1: guy who used to be Tennessee's offensive coordinator. I think
Speaker 1: that game has a heck of a lot of intrigue.
Speaker 1: And that's in a schedule that's pretty attractive with three
Speaker 1: prom town games. Map. What about you the Houston game
Speaker 1: before the bye. Houston's won this division for out the
Speaker 1: last five years. You want to go into the bye
Speaker 1: on a positive feeling. We've got our five of the
Speaker 1: first six or AFC games, four over mur at home,
Speaker 1: big time. Important to win that Houston game before the bye.
Speaker 1: Coach back, and then I'll ask Jim the same question.
Speaker 1: Is there anything on this schedule that surprises you? The
Speaker 1: only thing that when I look at it is when
Speaker 1: you look at the opener at Denver, Okay on Monday night.
Speaker 1: I mean, there's clearly a reason that they felt like
Speaker 1: we needed to go out to the AFC West coming
Speaker 1: off of a shortened off season, and who knows how
Speaker 1: much training camp we have. I mean, that's interesting to me.
Speaker 1: We're gonna do it. We'll go out there and beat them.
Speaker 1: But that just looking at it right from jump, I went, Okay,
Speaker 1: there was a lot of talk leading up to the
Speaker 1: schedule coming out and don't I haven't seen schedules for
Speaker 1: other teams yet, but I know there was a lot
Speaker 1: of conversation leading up to schedule, at least about the
Speaker 1: potential for out of conference games within the first four
Speaker 1: weeks of the season. I look at the Titan schedule,
Speaker 1: I see three out of four games against AFC opponents,
Speaker 1: including a home game against a division foe in the
Speaker 1: Jacksonville Jaguars. I think that's the biggest surprise to me.
Speaker 1: I was expecting to see a lot of NFCC teams
Speaker 1: early in case the schedule needs to be moved, in
Speaker 1: case the season needs to be shortened because of a
Speaker 1: lot of unknowns going on with the situation that the
Speaker 1: league and the world is in right now. But it
Speaker 1: didn't play out that way, at least for the Titans. Jim,
Speaker 1: the Titans have three prime time games. Is this a
Speaker 1: reflection of the success that the team had in twenty
Speaker 1: nineteen making it so deep into the playoffs? I definitely
Speaker 1: think so, man. I think the success of the Titans
Speaker 1: had the fact that Derrick Henry's back, or Iyan Tanney
Speaker 1: Hills back into the team that was exciting down the stretch,
Speaker 1: going to win in New England and Baltimore in the playoffs.
Speaker 1: I think the three prime time games served as a reward.
Speaker 1: I kind of anticipated one of those prime time games
Speaker 1: being against the Ravens since that would have been a
Speaker 1: rematch of a division additional playoff contests that had been
Speaker 1: a new game in November, but the ones that are
Speaker 1: on the schedule, exciting opening in Denver facing a team
Speaker 1: that obviously beat the Titans last year kind of led
Speaker 1: to the quarterback change. In Tennessee, facing Jurrell Casey in
Speaker 1: Week one of former great time Titan and then having
Speaker 1: a chance to play against the Colts in a game
Speaker 1: that's certainly will mean a lot here in Nashville on
Speaker 1: a Thursday night, and against the Packers on that Sunday
Speaker 1: night game I mentioned, it's a reward for a good
Speaker 1: season from twenty nineteen, and it's the chance for the
Speaker 1: Titans to kind of show how we've still got it
Speaker 1: all right, Coach Mac, A question for you which is
Speaker 1: the bigger challenge. A Monday night game in Denver that
Speaker 1: kicks off well past my bedtime with a short week
Speaker 1: to get ready for Jacksonville right after that. Or back
Speaker 1: to back road games in November at Baltimore and then
Speaker 1: at India. It's the back to back games in November
Speaker 1: for me, those are AFC games we're going to be
Speaker 1: fighting for playoff positioning. Then look, the Monday night game,
Speaker 1: the opening, I love it. You've got a lot of
Speaker 1: time to prepare for it. And if you're going on
Speaker 1: the road in an opener on Monday night, then at
Speaker 1: least your second game that you're coming off with one
Speaker 1: less date of repair, it's against a very very well
Speaker 1: known opponent for us, So to me, it's much much
Speaker 1: more difficult later in November those two that you mentioned.
Speaker 1: This is the Official Titans Podcast, presented by Farm Bureau
Speaker 1: Health Plans. Healthcare coverage from Farm Bureau Health Plans is
Speaker 1: like an extra set of pads when you need them
Speaker 1: the most. They've been protecting Tennessee and since nineteen forty seven.
Speaker 1: All right, for the three of you, I'm going to
Speaker 1: ask this question, so Amy, get ready. I want to
Speaker 1: start with Jim then Amy, then coach Titans get a
Speaker 1: bye week Week seven, October the twenty fifth. They will
Speaker 1: have played four of their first six at home. As
Speaker 1: a matter of fact, they won't hit the road for
Speaker 1: six weeks from September twenty seventh through November first, because
Speaker 1: of three straight home games and the buye It's really
Speaker 1: kind of an intriguing type of scheduling quirk. If you will,
Speaker 1: Jim Wyatt, do you like to buy and we seven?
Speaker 1: Would you rather have it earlier or later? I'd rather
Speaker 1: have it later. They tell you it's never a bad
Speaker 1: time for the by a week, except for maybe if
Speaker 1: it's week three, and I think the Titans had a
Speaker 1: Week three by a week way back back in the day.
Speaker 1: I would have preferred to have seen it right close
Speaker 1: to the middle of the schedule. But I do think,
Speaker 1: you know, after a tough stretch of three straight home games,
Speaker 1: you can get off to a good start, You can
Speaker 1: kind of catch your breath a little bit and then
Speaker 1: get get loaded up for the final ten. But if
Speaker 1: I have my druthers, I think I'd go I'd pick
Speaker 1: after a week eight or nine. Amy. I think I
Speaker 1: agree with Jim and that if I were allowed to choose.
Speaker 1: I'd have it be a couple weeks later, but I
Speaker 1: like the idea of having a chance to rest, let
Speaker 1: guys get really healthy, and then pushed through to the end.
Speaker 1: It gives you a chance to build that momentum with
Speaker 1: hopefully a healthy squad. You know what I'm on a
Speaker 1: First of all, I'm on the question the great Jim
Speaker 1: Watt's math at seven weeks that's pretty close to the
Speaker 1: middle of sixteen. Okay. Now the other the other thing
Speaker 1: is I like it. I like it coming right where
Speaker 1: it is because you've come off five of six AFC opponents.
Speaker 1: I like that you should have set yourself up for
Speaker 1: some success down the stretch. I like that where it is.
Speaker 1: You know what's interesting with it is if the Titans
Speaker 1: do have training camp as normal, and if there are
Speaker 1: four preseason games as normal, then that would actually come
Speaker 1: at the midway point of football, meaning that you would
Speaker 1: have had four preseason games in six regular season games,
Speaker 1: and you would have ten games to go, so it
Speaker 1: would be technically the middle of football. Now, again, we
Speaker 1: don't know how it all works out with preseason and such,
Speaker 1: but I like it. I think I think right there
Speaker 1: is a great time especially knowing that if you got
Speaker 1: somebody banged up, man, it would be great to get
Speaker 1: an extra week to go into that sense of natty
Speaker 1: game and be as healthy as possible. I also like
Speaker 1: having it to be able to spend a little time
Speaker 1: on Cincinnati or a little extra time on Cincinnati and
Speaker 1: Joe Burrow, who will probably just be settling in at
Speaker 1: that point. I will never question the great Jim Wyatt.
Speaker 1: I questioned his math are a little I think you
Speaker 1: just questioned it. Hey, let's talk about someone coach. You
Speaker 1: take this first, and then Jim next. Jonathan Joseph thirty
Speaker 1: six year old, corner speaking of math. By the way,
Speaker 1: the Titans will be off five weeks or will be
Speaker 1: at home five weeks, not six. That's my bad on math,
Speaker 1: So figure that Weber twenty seventh to November first. I'm
Speaker 1: sorry anyway. Jonathan Joseph signs with the Titans. Thirty six
Speaker 1: years old, former first round pick, fourteen years in the league,
Speaker 1: nine years in the division. How does he help this defense?
Speaker 1: Coach Mac I love his press conference. This is a
Speaker 1: pros pro. You can tell just by way he talks.
Speaker 1: I mean you can tell he gets it. He gets
Speaker 1: it at all levels. He gets who he is. He's
Speaker 1: very comfortable in his own scan. Look a pro that's
Speaker 1: comfortable in their own skin, especially if you're not going
Speaker 1: to have a lot of time to involve yourself with
Speaker 1: with your new teammates. Well, I tell you one thing,
Speaker 1: players respect longevity in this league because to be in
Speaker 1: this league that long, especially at that position, you have
Speaker 1: to have a lot of water in your bucket. And
Speaker 1: I like that. I like that a lot. When I
Speaker 1: heard him today on the press conference, I was really impressed.
Speaker 1: Nice edition. Yeah, I thought it was intriguing too. I
Speaker 1: didn't realize his wife went to Hillsborough High School and
Speaker 1: then went to Tennessee State University. It was interesting and
Speaker 1: ends up in Nashville, where his wife, you know, grew up.
Speaker 1: I think he's a great addition. This is obviously a
Speaker 1: team team that has lost some really good leaders, including
Speaker 1: Logan Ryan. In that secondary room, He's won somebody that
Speaker 1: can come in and provide, you know, some great knowledge
Speaker 1: to some of the younger guys, and just his love
Speaker 1: of the game and his ability continue to play. After
Speaker 1: fourteen season in the league. He's made a lot of
Speaker 1: plays on the ball that was interesting to hear him
Speaker 1: say he thought if he thanks you dropped thirty thirty
Speaker 1: five interceptions during the course of his career, just because
Speaker 1: he's been around the ball so much so he's got
Speaker 1: a great relationship with Ben Jones. Just to hear Ben Jones,
Speaker 1: a former teammate of his in Houston, talk about him
Speaker 1: kind of reassures you that this is a quality guy
Speaker 1: coming in who's going to help that secondary room. It's
Speaker 1: going to need some need some more veterans to step
Speaker 1: up and help some of the young guys. All right, well, Jim,
Speaker 1: there was another signing in the secondary, Abraham Campbell. He's
Speaker 1: a safety from Green Bay. Where do you think that
Speaker 1: he could fit in. I think he adds depths to
Speaker 1: the safety position. He's been a really good special teams player.
Speaker 1: Is something this team has done here in recent week
Speaker 1: is just trying to find some guys that will compete
Speaker 1: on the back end, give you some depth. I think
Speaker 1: the fact that this offseason, that the fact that there
Speaker 1: may not be an offseason, an offseason program ots mini camp.
Speaker 1: You know everything's gonna be sped up when the team
Speaker 1: returns to training camp, so you need as many veterans
Speaker 1: there instead of trying to rely out undrafted free agents
Speaker 1: to healthy and certainly the team signs some guys, fourteen
Speaker 1: of them. We're gonna talk about those guys here shortly,
Speaker 1: but I think he will bring knowledge to the team,
Speaker 1: to special teams, to that secondary safety position, and he'll
Speaker 1: have a chance to compete in our respond. Yeah, he's
Speaker 1: a veteran special teams contributor, and that's huge. We won
Speaker 1: some games last year on special teams guys. I mean,
Speaker 1: you have to do that in the National Football League.
Speaker 1: That's vital. You used to could be able to before
Speaker 1: free agency in the salary cap. Keep about six seven
Speaker 1: eight year vets at all they did was play special teams.
Speaker 1: Having a special teams contributor that knows how to do it,
Speaker 1: that's huge. All right, So Jim mentioned fourteen undrafted free
Speaker 1: agents have signed with the Titans. I'm going to ask
Speaker 1: each of you to give me one name among the
Speaker 1: undrafteds to keep an eye on. Jim Wyatt, you lead
Speaker 1: us off, Well, I'm gonna go Tucker McCann, the kicker
Speaker 1: from Missouri, who I'm sure as a fan of got
Speaker 1: a couple of Missouri guys on here. Sixteen to twenty
Speaker 1: two field goals last year thirty four or thirty seven
Speaker 1: extra points. He can punt, so he can take a
Speaker 1: little pressure off of Brett curning Camp. But he's obviously
Speaker 1: brought in here to compete for the kicking position. And
Speaker 1: Greg Joseph is another player that's gonna be in the
Speaker 1: mixed here who finished the season last year. I think
Speaker 1: some people expect the type to maybe draft a kicker,
Speaker 1: potentially signed somebody during the course of this obvious and
Speaker 1: that has not happened. So Tucker McCann has a chance
Speaker 1: to earn a job, there's no question about it. I'm
Speaker 1: curiously how this one plays out because you have mccannon,
Speaker 1: you can have Joseph competing, and we've seen some offseason
Speaker 1: the past where you've got young guys competing. You know,
Speaker 1: if one of them doesn't kind of stand out, you
Speaker 1: could always dip back into free agency at that point.
Speaker 1: That's what happened, was Ryan suck up. You know several
Speaker 1: years ago. It could happen Ryan suck up again. I
Speaker 1: think once he gets healthy and healed up in a
Speaker 1: position to kick again, maybe he gets back into the mix.
Speaker 1: But in the meantime, talker mccainn and Greg Joseph are
Speaker 1: going to have a chance to win the job. Well,
Speaker 1: I'm going to go with another Missouri guy, because of
Speaker 1: course I am Kale Garrett. He's a linebacker. He wasn't
Speaker 1: on the field a ton at Missouri. He struggled with
Speaker 1: some injury issues, but I think that when he was
Speaker 1: on the field, he really impressed coaches and I'm excited
Speaker 1: to see what he's able to bring to the next level.
Speaker 1: And he's a pretty versatile guy. I think that he
Speaker 1: if he's able to find his niche somewhere, I think
Speaker 1: that he could carve out a little spot for himself.
Speaker 1: And you can never have too many linebackers, so I'm
Speaker 1: excited to watch him through camp. You know, Coach Mack,
Speaker 1: had he not torn his peck last year in the
Speaker 1: fifth game of the year, he would have been an
Speaker 1: All American. He was having a phenomenal year for the Tigers,
Speaker 1: very productive linebacker and well known to SEC fans. So
Speaker 1: he will certainly be one to watch. Who's Your Gay
Speaker 1: from Anthony Anthony McKinney TCU tackle six eight, three hundred
Speaker 1: and fifteen pounds. You know, and this kid is just
Speaker 1: now learning how to play football. I mean, he was
Speaker 1: a wrestler in high school and then went then went
Speaker 1: to Iowa Western Community College and he's just now learning
Speaker 1: how to play six eight, three to fifteen. Uh. He
Speaker 1: was at he was at Uh and look, I recruited
Speaker 1: those Iowa junior colleges. Iowa Western puts out some really
Speaker 1: good players. Uh. I got one hundred dollar bill here.
Speaker 1: Everybody see it. Everybody see this one hundred dollar bill.
Speaker 1: One question. All three of you start with Amy, what
Speaker 1: are what is the mascot for the Iowa Western football program?
Speaker 1: You are you ready? All right? You don't know? Next Janus, Yes,
Speaker 1: and then look it up. A lizard of some sort.
Speaker 1: It's not a lizard. Jim go, I'm gonna go with
Speaker 1: the dollar bills since you're held up money. Okay, that's
Speaker 1: exactly wrong. Mike Keith chiefs, Okay, that was that was closer.
Speaker 1: It's the Reavers, the Reavers, the R E V E
Speaker 1: R s, the Reavers. Yes, I will tell you what
Speaker 1: a rever is. A rever of the thirteenth and the
Speaker 1: seventeenth century on the border of Scotland and England. They
Speaker 1: had a lot of river pirates in Autumwa, Iowa. I
Speaker 1: mean this splits the De Moron River splits the city
Speaker 1: in half, so they're the river pirates the Reavers. There
Speaker 1: you go, I can't. I can't do that well, actually,
Speaker 1: but here's mine. Their four receivers signed among the undrafteds.
Speaker 1: Christian Wilkerson is really interesting to me because he went
Speaker 1: to Memphis Craigmont and then he played at Simo and
Speaker 1: did a great job there. Nick Westbrook from Indiana is
Speaker 1: a receiver that was on his way to something special
Speaker 1: with the Hoosiers, had an injury and is just now
Speaker 1: coming back. Kyle Williams from Arizona State is a talented
Speaker 1: young guy, really smart, gonna be a doctor. But the
Speaker 1: name I give you from Barry College in Rome, Ga,
Speaker 1: I'm talking about none other than Mason Kinzie, a Division
Speaker 1: three player, the first ever player from Barry College to
Speaker 1: sign with an NFL team. He's from Demerist, Georgia. That's
Speaker 1: a town of about fifteen hundred to two thousand. He
Speaker 1: caught fifty touchdown passes and he did a great job
Speaker 1: in a postseason bowl game. I think it was the
Speaker 1: Shrine Bowl. He played in and played really well. A
Speaker 1: D three player trying to make an NFL roster is
Speaker 1: something else. But Mason Kinzie is a guy who signed
Speaker 1: with the Tennessee Titans. Interesting player to watch. How about
Speaker 1: that you cannot gets anywhere else in the world, virtual
Speaker 1: non virtual, face to face nowhere else in the world.
Speaker 1: Nobody would one hundred dollars and I had let us
Speaker 1: place at the receiver position. There's I think there's a
Speaker 1: spot to be had. You know, Corey Grace, A. J. Brown,
Speaker 1: Adam Humphrey's gonna be on this team. I think calif
Speaker 1: Raymond has the edge over Cam Batson for the four spot.
Speaker 1: Then you got Batson, whether he can establish himself and stick.
Speaker 1: And then all of these undrafted free agents who have
Speaker 1: a chain it. So with the fifty five man roster
Speaker 1: with extra room on the practice squad, one or two
Speaker 1: of these guys I think is gonna end up sticking. Yeah,
Speaker 1: that's a great point. Well, this has been really good.
Speaker 1: We've talked schedule, We've talked undrafted's, We've talked about Jonathan Joseph,
Speaker 1: We've talked about Reavers, and I mean so much that
Speaker 1: we have packed into this edition of the Official Titans Podcast,
Speaker 1: brought to you by Farm Bureau Health Plans, Get the
Speaker 1: Home field advantage with healthcare coverage from Farm Bureau Health Plans.
Speaker 1: They've been protecting Tennessee ands since nineteen forty seven. We
Speaker 1: move ever closer to football season as we get the
Speaker 1: schedule today exciting for Titans fans. Three count them, three
Speaker 1: primetime games for Amy Wells, Jim Wyatt and coach Dave McGinnis.
Speaker 1: Mike Keith, thanks you for listening to the Ode Teeth