Speaker 1: This is the OTP presented by Farm Bureau Health Plans.
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Speaker 1: Bureau Health Plans. They've been protecting Tennessee and since nineteen
Speaker 1: forty seven. This is Mike Keith and we hope you're
Speaker 1: enjoying the bye weekend and we have something special for
Speaker 1: you this week. We gathered together Jim Wyatt from Tennessee
Speaker 1: Titans dot Com, our own Amy Wells, and Titans Radio's
Speaker 1: head coach Dave McGinnis for a roundtable discussion that was
Speaker 1: part of our Titans All Access program. Well, we couldn't
Speaker 1: use all of it in Titans All Access, so we
Speaker 1: wanted to give you the whole experience on this edition
Speaker 1: of the OTP. A discussion wide ranging between offense and
Speaker 1: defense with three people who are around the team all
Speaker 1: the time and even me as well. First up, Amy
Speaker 1: Wells starts the discussion as I ask her the most
Speaker 1: impressive part of the Titans offense through twelve games. I
Speaker 1: think it's what they've been able to do and how
Speaker 1: much they've been able to do with so many changes.
Speaker 1: The Tennessee Titans offense lost most of their starters, The
Speaker 1: big name people that we were talking about in training
Speaker 1: camp and in the off season, Julio Jones, AJ Brown,
Speaker 1: Derrick Henry just to name a few, and they went
Speaker 1: away at different points throughout the season. And this Titans
Speaker 1: offense has continued to rise, continue to see performances by
Speaker 1: players that we never thought would be main stars on
Speaker 1: this Titans team, people that we thought would be supporting cast,
Speaker 1: and they've stepped into these roles in a big way.
Speaker 1: We've seen so many different starters on the football field,
Speaker 1: and I think that's been very impressive, the way that
Speaker 1: they've been able to rise and overcome the adversity. Jim,
Speaker 1: why did you take yours? No, but I'm going to
Speaker 1: piggyback out of hers. And I think it's the ability
Speaker 1: to run the football no matter who's a running back.
Speaker 1: And we all saw what Derrick Henry did at the
Speaker 1: start of the season nine hundred and thirty seven yards
Speaker 1: through eight games. But just this past week you see
Speaker 1: Dontrell Hilliard Dante Foreman both go for over one hundred yards.
Speaker 1: We've seen some different pieces, as Amy said in the
Speaker 1: you know on the offensive line, guys step out with
Speaker 1: other guys you know going down with injuries, and they've
Speaker 1: continue to be run the ball, number number five in
Speaker 1: the league in a rushing offense. So I'm impressed by
Speaker 1: that they stayed true to who they are, and that's
Speaker 1: important because sometimes when you start losing people, and you
Speaker 1: lose significant people, if you're not grounded in what you're doing,
Speaker 1: you start to panic, You start to panic and start
Speaker 1: trying to rework everything you're doing. They have not done that,
Speaker 1: and Jim spot on with what he says, they continue
Speaker 1: to stay with the run. Now. They hit a glitch
Speaker 1: when they were trying to fit two to three running
Speaker 1: backs in for a singular back, we had a dominating back.
Speaker 1: We were an anomaly in the National Football League with
Speaker 1: a dominating back. But now that it looks like, especially
Speaker 1: after this last game, even though we lost the game,
Speaker 1: the running game seems to have found a little bit
Speaker 1: of footing and we're going to need to continue that
Speaker 1: footing with these guys that they found. To me, staying
Speaker 1: true to who they were once they lost all of
Speaker 1: the initial players, that to me was a big thing.
Speaker 1: The most impressive thing to me about the Titans offense
Speaker 1: through twelve games has been the job Rob Moore has
Speaker 1: done with the wide receivers, and you consider that before
Speaker 1: the year, we thought it's AJ and Julio and that
Speaker 1: they would put in another receiver at some point and
Speaker 1: have a great attack. Well a j Brown's misstime, Julio
Speaker 1: Jones's misstime. They've both played well when they've played. And
Speaker 1: then you've had guys like Marcus Johnson step in and
Speaker 1: have a hundred yard game. Nick Westbrook Akina has stepped
Speaker 1: in and had a hundred yard game. Cody Hollister, who
Speaker 1: hadn't played football all fall, had to step up and
Speaker 1: start the other day. That's good coaching to have receivers
Speaker 1: ready to play. And I know you're close with Rob Moore,
Speaker 1: so Coach Mack, you're probably very proud of the job
Speaker 1: he's done. It doesn't surprise me. He was that type
Speaker 1: of player for me at Arizona. I mean's he was
Speaker 1: always ap up guy when things were going good and
Speaker 1: when things were not going so good. Didn't surprise me
Speaker 1: a bit. Plus, if you know Rob his personality, it's
Speaker 1: very even killed. Rob is not an up the escalator,
Speaker 1: down the escalator type of guy, and so his even
Speaker 1: kill ability and plus, look, he's got major respect in
Speaker 1: that room because of the type of player that he was,
Speaker 1: and so he brings all of that dimension to his coaching.
Speaker 1: All right, most impressive part of the defense through twelve games,
Speaker 1: Coach Mack, you lead off this second, it's been the
Speaker 1: ability to get a four man rush when we have
Speaker 1: all our guys. That changed this defense. That changed this
Speaker 1: defense from some defense that was really scrambling to try
Speaker 1: to figure out how to get off of the field
Speaker 1: to a defense that was really getting people on the ground.
Speaker 1: And that's extremely important. The ability to rush with four
Speaker 1: people when we had our good people healthy and then
Speaker 1: the people that added in. Now, once you start losing
Speaker 1: some of that and we saw it, you know again
Speaker 1: this last week. It's hard when you only have a
Speaker 1: limit to the number of those people across the front.
Speaker 1: But when we can get those people back, that ability
Speaker 1: to rush with four and cover with seven, and you
Speaker 1: cover with seven with zone, then then you're able to
Speaker 1: go four over three, three over two on five eligible receivers,
Speaker 1: and then you're able to if you're playing a man
Speaker 1: to man, you're still able to have a spy, You're
Speaker 1: still able to have a low whole robber. If you
Speaker 1: can get there with four, that's what's impressed me. Yeah,
Speaker 1: and tremendous. There's no doubt about that. I'm gonna go
Speaker 1: with the run defense, and with so many injuries in
Speaker 1: the middle, I mean, Rashaun Evans has been out, John
Speaker 1: Brown has missed time, David Long's missed time, money rising
Speaker 1: down miss time. The inside bikers continue to do a
Speaker 1: good job, still doing a good job defending the run.
Speaker 1: That's where I'm going. I think it's that they already
Speaker 1: have twenty nine sacks to this point in the season.
Speaker 1: For reference, they only had nineteen in twenty twenty, so
Speaker 1: the amount of pressure they're able to get. Guys like
Speaker 1: Harold Landry with ten sacks already this year. Jeffrey Simmons
Speaker 1: was seven and a half already this year. There are
Speaker 1: guys who are consistently getting to opposing team's quarterbacks, and
Speaker 1: I think that's a huge improvement and a very welcome surprice.
Speaker 1: Most impressive part of the defense to me is the
Speaker 1: re emergence of Kevin Byard. What a year this guy
Speaker 1: has had so far, sixty four tackles, five interceptions, He's
Speaker 1: caused a fumble, he's got a quarterback sack. He scored
Speaker 1: the first two touchdowns of his career, Jim. The Titans
Speaker 1: needed him to be a big play guy again in
Speaker 1: this defense and the mayor of Murphy's Burr's doing it. Yeah,
Speaker 1: and he vowed to do it. I mean, that's one
Speaker 1: thing I remember about the end of the last season
Speaker 1: he took was so hard on himself on a kind
Speaker 1: of a season ending zoom called. Vowed to be better,
Speaker 1: vowed to work more, vowed to be a better player.
Speaker 1: Who's done exactly that. I mean, he has been a
Speaker 1: consistent performer for this team. Is leadership has been great.
Speaker 1: The biggest surprise for the Titans offense through twelve games, well,
Speaker 1: I have to say it. I don't mean to go
Speaker 1: negative here. I guess the turnovers by Ryan Tannehill and
Speaker 1: it's the only time I'll go negative here. Seven interceptions
Speaker 1: in sixteen games last year, only six and ten stars
Speaker 1: previous year. This is not all on Ryan Tannehill. Obviously,
Speaker 1: we know we know the situations with his team, Asia
Speaker 1: Brown being out, Hulu Jones been out, MARKA. Johnson being out,
Speaker 1: young guys stepping in. But it's been uncharacteristic some of
Speaker 1: the mistakes that he has made. And obviously if his
Speaker 1: team is going to get its footing back in the
Speaker 1: second half of the the season. That's going to have to
Speaker 1: be better, coach Mack. It's being able to switch from
Speaker 1: a singular running back to a running back back committee.
Speaker 1: That's not as easy as it sounds, and it's not
Speaker 1: as easy as it sounds for this reason. When you're
Speaker 1: game planning and you understand your singular back and what
Speaker 1: he can do, and you've got two and a half
Speaker 1: years of knowing what this guy likes and what he
Speaker 1: does best, and how to formulate a game plan individually
Speaker 1: against the opponents with what he likes to do. Now
Speaker 1: with him gone, you're trying to find out not only
Speaker 1: what you can do structurally, but you need to find
Speaker 1: out what the strengths are of the core of running
Speaker 1: backs now that you're trying to run the ball with
Speaker 1: being able to make that switch. That's hard to do
Speaker 1: in the middle of the season, and especially when you're
Speaker 1: in a playoff push. That's impressed me. For me, it's
Speaker 1: the consistency within the offensive life. Despite all of the
Speaker 1: changes they've seen this season through twelve games, they still
Speaker 1: haven't had all five starters finish a game together. So
Speaker 1: going week to week, with different injuries, going almost minute
Speaker 1: by minute play to play with different guys on the field,
Speaker 1: you haven't seen huge drop offs in their level of
Speaker 1: play and consistency in what they're able to do. And
Speaker 1: I think that's very impressive because in years past we
Speaker 1: haven't always seen that when someone goes down there's a
Speaker 1: bit of a drop off in what they're able to do.
Speaker 1: This year, we're not seeing that. I'm kind of coming
Speaker 1: off your topic. My biggest surprise about the offense is
Speaker 1: David Quessenberry starting twelve games at right tackle, playing well.
Speaker 1: We know he's a great story. We know he had
Speaker 1: a four year battle with cancer. We know he battled
Speaker 1: his way off the practice squad. We know he started
Speaker 1: the end of last year at left tackle, which was
Speaker 1: certainly not his natural position. But at the age of
Speaker 1: thirty one, he is the Titans starting right tackle, has
Speaker 1: played all twelve games and has done a fantastic job overall.
Speaker 1: For me, David Questenburry, we didn't think he'd be the
Speaker 1: starter in the offseason. He has emerged as the most solid,
Speaker 1: consistent piece at least to this point for the Titans.
Speaker 1: All right, biggest surprise about the Titans defense through twelve games.
Speaker 1: Coach Dave McGinnis. The biggest surprise to me was an
Speaker 1: improvement a third down defense, and that goes with the
Speaker 1: last segment of what I said about a four man rush.
Speaker 1: Anytime you can win first and second down, you can
Speaker 1: take all of the angst off of your defense on
Speaker 1: third down. It's a huge plus. But to do that,
Speaker 1: you have to be able to win first and second down,
Speaker 1: and to win first and second down, you have to
Speaker 1: be able to deploy yourselves to put the offense in
Speaker 1: conflict first and second down. We've done that, and then
Speaker 1: our third down defense has gotten markedly better. Now it
Speaker 1: goes off of what I said in the first segment
Speaker 1: about being able to rush with four We need to
Speaker 1: be able to get back to that because all three
Speaker 1: of those elements cascade off of that. For me, it's
Speaker 1: that the Titans defense has become one of the strengths
Speaker 1: of this Titans team. In twenty twenty, that was not
Speaker 1: the case, and you could tell it really bugged not
Speaker 1: only the guys on defense, but Mike Rabel and he
Speaker 1: really put a concerted effort into changing this defense and
Speaker 1: really getting them back on track, and they've become a powerhouse.
Speaker 1: They are the game wreckers for this Titans team. They're
Speaker 1: making plays, they're generating points, They're doing all the things
Speaker 1: that you needed defense to do to play complimentary football
Speaker 1: and win football games. So I think that that has
Speaker 1: been surprising, not only that they're better and they have improved,
Speaker 1: but that they make such an impact every single Sunday.
Speaker 1: And we've say so many players step up and play well.
Speaker 1: Was Jeffery Simmons or Kevin biod or Harold Landry. I'm
Speaker 1: gonna go David Long just because of the way he
Speaker 1: played is very Unfortunately he got hurt, but begin the season,
Speaker 1: there's so much conversations about Rashaun Evans and so much
Speaker 1: conversation about Jayon Brown, and once David Long got an opportunity,
Speaker 1: he's just kind of took office. Unfore she got hurt.
Speaker 1: Hopefully he's back here quickly after the Bob, but really
Speaker 1: impressed with the way he played. The Titans strength too,
Speaker 1: and maybe a surprise is the incredible versatility in the
Speaker 1: defensive line. Look at all the guys who have stepped
Speaker 1: in during the course of the year, with not just
Speaker 1: Jeffrey Simmons and Denico Autry who have been excellent, but
Speaker 1: tier Tard has been a factor. They've been able to
Speaker 1: get Laurell Murchison in there, and then Peco and a
Speaker 1: whole group of different guys who have stepped in and
Speaker 1: been productive. Some guys for just one game when they
Speaker 1: were called up from the practice squad and then unfortunately
Speaker 1: for them, they were let go the next week. But
Speaker 1: a nice job by the defensive staff and the defensive
Speaker 1: line coaches as a whole getting these guys ready to
Speaker 1: play and certainly giving them a chance to make a
Speaker 1: difference in the course of ballgames. No matter what the
Speaker 1: combination was. Amy Wells is going to lead it off
Speaker 1: here as we talk about the player on offense who
Speaker 1: has impressed you the most through the first twelve games,
Speaker 1: it's Nick Westbrook Akina. He is someone who even throughout
Speaker 1: training camp we thought would be a solid supporting cast player.
Speaker 1: That's kind of what I expected out of him anyway,
Speaker 1: to see the way that he has stepped up when
Speaker 1: his number is called. He's got twenty five catches for
Speaker 1: two hundred and ninety seven yards and three touchdowns so
Speaker 1: far this season. He showed up in a big way
Speaker 1: and at times when the team really needs someone to
Speaker 1: make a play. So for him to step beyond being
Speaker 1: a supporting cast member and to be a star player
Speaker 1: on this offense, very impressive by him. I'm going deck
Speaker 1: Henry just because he's still on this football team even
Speaker 1: though he's on injured reserve. The start he got off too,
Speaker 1: he was at an MVP pace. He was going to
Speaker 1: lead this league and rushing again hopefully weekend. I'm back
Speaker 1: in a Titan uniform again the season. But I just
Speaker 1: think the start that he got this team off too
Speaker 1: is really going to put this team in a position
Speaker 1: when the AFC South. Ben Jones has been a solidifying
Speaker 1: factor in the middle of that offensive line. In previous segments,
Speaker 1: we've talked about the offensive line juggling people. Quisenbury is
Speaker 1: another nice story, but Ben Jones is the rock of
Speaker 1: that offensive line. He has had different people on the
Speaker 1: left and the right side of him, and also on
Speaker 1: the edges. The center in the National Football League is
Speaker 1: so important, especially if you're running check with me is
Speaker 1: if you're identifying fronts, all of those things. The other
Speaker 1: thing is is he's been available. An availability on this
Speaker 1: football team has been at a premium this year. That's
Speaker 1: been extremely important. My vote goes for Ben Jones because
Speaker 1: I can say this, and I think Ben Jones won't
Speaker 1: mind that I say this. He's not completely healthy. He
Speaker 1: has been playing through some things and has been playing
Speaker 1: very well. Ben Jones is my guy. Guys, you took
Speaker 1: all of mine. I would have said Ben Jones. I
Speaker 1: would have said Derrick Henry because he was on a
Speaker 1: historic pace. I would have said Nick Westbrook, akena. So
Speaker 1: what do I have left? I guess I have to
Speaker 1: go back to David Quessenberry being there for all twelve games.
Speaker 1: But I lose. I lose going like, can I say this?
Speaker 1: You don't lose because you picked this staff for this
Speaker 1: segment here, and you picked a quality staff. Thank you, coach.
Speaker 1: That's a great quality of a head coach being able
Speaker 1: to pick a really smart well to let me throw
Speaker 1: the bouquet right back at you and you start this segment.
Speaker 1: Dave McGinnis. The defensive player who has impressed you the
Speaker 1: most during the first twelve Jeffrey Simmons. Jeffrey Simmons has
Speaker 1: been everything that we thought and more. And he said,
Speaker 1: you know, he talked about you know, Kevin Byard declaring
Speaker 1: coming into a season that he was going to make
Speaker 1: a difference. Well, Jeffrey Simmons did the same thing, and
Speaker 1: not for recency bias to come up and what I'm saying,
Speaker 1: but this last ball game, to see it a defensive
Speaker 1: tackle the twelfth week of the season, making perimeter plays
Speaker 1: against screens, being the primary tackler against screens, that's impressive.
Speaker 1: I mean, this guy has done it all and more.
Speaker 1: And plus he's been available too. Jeffrey Simmons, to me,
Speaker 1: by far is the dude I'm looking at and we
Speaker 1: need him to continue that for the rest of the season.
Speaker 1: Harold Landry, he has been a quiet consistent contributor and
Speaker 1: Mike Keith, you talk all during the games on Sundays.
Speaker 1: How many times do you say Harold Landry's name. He
Speaker 1: is just always there. He's always getting that pressure and
Speaker 1: he's on pace to do some pretty incredible things in
Speaker 1: terms of sack numbers and disrupting some sack records for
Speaker 1: the Tennessee Titans. So that's an exciting thing to watch
Speaker 1: going forward. But man, he just he doesn't talk a lot.
Speaker 1: He kind of does his own thing and is really cool.
Speaker 1: But then you get him on the field on Sundays
Speaker 1: and he is a major player, and he's making a
Speaker 1: lot of noise. And we've hit on some of the
Speaker 1: big stars. I'm gonna go, who go back to Denico Autry,
Speaker 1: who I think has really played well for this team.
Speaker 1: I mean, his numbers may not look like Landry's and
Speaker 1: may not look like Simmons, but they're not necessarily supposed
Speaker 1: to with what he's doing. He's getting his hands up,
Speaker 1: he's knocking balls down, he's working in tandem with Jeffrey Simmons.
Speaker 1: He's brought a big boost to this team's defense. So
Speaker 1: I'm going Autry. And the big news about Autrey is
Speaker 1: he doesn't play against us anymore. God Lee, I was
Speaker 1: so sick of seeing that guy with the Raiders and
Speaker 1: the Colts. The Titans never blocked him ever, and it
Speaker 1: was like we signed him. I wanted to hug him
Speaker 1: and say thank you for not playing against us anymore.
Speaker 1: But I'm actually looking at the defense, and obviously Kevin
Speaker 1: Bayard as a player that would be easy to mention
Speaker 1: in this I'm gonna go Christian Fulton and here's why,
Speaker 1: vastly improved corner. And I know he's missed some time
Speaker 1: with injury, but I think he's a key player down
Speaker 1: the stretch, because in the early part of the year
Speaker 1: he looked like a shutdown corner. His improvement from year
Speaker 1: one to year two vast excited to see more of
Speaker 1: him coming up during the rest of the year. I
Speaker 1: think he could be a centerpiece for this defense going forward. Coach,
Speaker 1: it's hard to find shutdown corners, well, a shutdown corner.
Speaker 1: I mean, it's easy to say, it's extremely difficult to do.
Speaker 1: I coached for thirty one years in this league. I
Speaker 1: had won Anis Williamson, He's a Hall of Famer and
Speaker 1: so that's usually what those guys are. And Christian Fulton.
Speaker 1: I agree with you a lot on this, Mike. You
Speaker 1: could tell the difference when we first got to training
Speaker 1: camp and just watched him come out on the field.
Speaker 1: He looked different physically, so he put in that type
Speaker 1: of work and then he was really having a nice,
Speaker 1: nice year, and like a lot of our other good players,
Speaker 1: unfortunately they've missed some time. But I agree with you
Speaker 1: one hundred percent on that. Good to have him back.
Speaker 1: Great to have him back. Player to watch on offense
Speaker 1: during the final five weeks of the regular season and
Speaker 1: hopefully into the postseason. Jim Wyatt, you take the lead here.
Speaker 1: I'm going back to Ryan Tannehill. You know I talked
Speaker 1: earlier about some of his turnovers. Uncharacteristic turnovers have been
Speaker 1: a little bit surprising. He's a good quarterback. I think
Speaker 1: we all know that he's proven that during the course
Speaker 1: of his career. I think once he starts getting some
Speaker 1: of his pieces back a j Brown, Julio Jones, some
Speaker 1: guys start to get healthy. I think Ryan Tannehill is
Speaker 1: going to take off. He's going to play like the
Speaker 1: Ryan Tannehill that we've come to know here over the
Speaker 1: last couple of years. So I'm looking for a strong
Speaker 1: finish from Ryan Tannehill. He's a guy that we're obviously
Speaker 1: all going to be watching. I had Ryan Tannehill as
Speaker 1: well because of his mindsett and his mentality going into
Speaker 1: these last five games, but because Jim Wyatt took mine.
Speaker 1: I'm also going to say Dante Foreman because I think
Speaker 1: that as he continues to get comfortable in this system,
Speaker 1: We've seen him already have a one hundred yard plus
Speaker 1: rushing game. I think that as he continues to get comfortable,
Speaker 1: learn more about this offensive line, get more in sync
Speaker 1: with Ryan Tannehill, all those things that happen in training
Speaker 1: camp and OTAs and those times that he just didn't
Speaker 1: have with this Titans team. As he gets in the
Speaker 1: groove a little bit more, I think we're going to
Speaker 1: see more and more of those big plays and hopefully
Speaker 1: we're going to see him breakaway for even more of
Speaker 1: those big yardage moments that we all love so much.
Speaker 1: Talking about big yardage, I'm gonna give you two headed monster.
Speaker 1: We need aj Brown Julio Jones to show up the
Speaker 1: last part of this season. That's going to be a
Speaker 1: major major for this football team because what we're lacking
Speaker 1: right now offensively, and it's through nobody's fault, is the
Speaker 1: explosive plays you start talking about forming in the run game.
Speaker 1: We talked about the run game starting to coalesce a
Speaker 1: little bit and come together. Ryan Tannehill is going to
Speaker 1: be on track to be on track though. We need
Speaker 1: more explosive plays down the field. Those two guys can
Speaker 1: provide it for us. That's who I'm looking for. I'm
Speaker 1: going with the left side of the offensive line, Roger
Speaker 1: Saffold and Tator to one. The buy think comes at
Speaker 1: a fantastic time for these players. Older players a little bit.
Speaker 1: They've been dinged up. They've certainly done some good things,
Speaker 1: but when they're rolling, I think it's the best left
Speaker 1: side of the line in the National Football League. As
Speaker 1: they get healthy and have a chance to take over
Speaker 1: in cold weather, I think for foreman, for Hilliard, for
Speaker 1: everybody who carries the ball, for protecting Tannehill, I think
Speaker 1: those guys can be absolutely huge for this football team.
Speaker 1: I think the buy comes at an incredible time for
Speaker 1: Roger Saffold and Taylor to one player on defense to
Speaker 1: watch in the final five games, Dave McGinnis, you go first.
Speaker 1: I'm gonna go to Deneico Autry and Denico Autry for
Speaker 1: this reason, people have a lot of film on us
Speaker 1: right now, and they're going to zero in on Jeffrey
Speaker 1: Simmons and they're going to find ways to be able
Speaker 1: to get hats on who's ever playing at the second level.
Speaker 1: Denico Autry is a major disruptor, and major disruptors are
Speaker 1: usually what you can count on towards the end of
Speaker 1: the season, and he has been very, very consistent. Jim
Speaker 1: said it. He doesn't have the numbers, but Denico Autry,
Speaker 1: to me, he's a Lynchpin for this going forward. I
Speaker 1: say Jeffrey Simmons because I don't think all that tape
Speaker 1: that's floating around on Jeffrey Simmons matters all that much.
Speaker 1: I think that even though teams know what to expect
Speaker 1: from him and know what he's able to do, the
Speaker 1: man is a monster. He's a machine, and with teams
Speaker 1: knowing what he's capable of, he's still able to have
Speaker 1: seven and a half sacks and thirty four tackles so
Speaker 1: far this season, and he's taken these last two losses
Speaker 1: that the Titans have had a little personal He's mad.
Speaker 1: He expects more from himself, he expects more from the defense,
Speaker 1: and he said it all the way back in the
Speaker 1: beginning of the season. I'm the leader of this group
Speaker 1: of guys, and I expect us to play it a
Speaker 1: certain standard. It seems to me he hasn't seen that
Speaker 1: standard in the last two weeks, and he's got a
Speaker 1: whole week to just sit and get angry about it,
Speaker 1: and Stu, I think that Jeffrey Simmons is going to
Speaker 1: be a beast in these last five weeks. I'm going
Speaker 1: back to christin Fulton because, as you mentioned earlier, I mean,
Speaker 1: he's shown so much improvement during the course of the season.
Speaker 1: Had to a little spell there where he was out,
Speaker 1: kind of got himself back in a position where he's
Speaker 1: feeling good again. I think now the next step for
Speaker 1: him is to make some of these game changing plays
Speaker 1: like Byer's done at safety. So I'll look for Fulton
Speaker 1: to have a couple of picks, make some plays that
Speaker 1: it's going to help change games here down the stretch
Speaker 1: minus safety, a Monty hooker and the reason is a
Speaker 1: money hooker had four picks last year, and early in
Speaker 1: the season before he got danged up, a Monty hooker
Speaker 1: was all over the place. It's kind of been working
Speaker 1: his way back in. I think there are big plays
Speaker 1: in number thirty seven the rest of the way to
Speaker 1: sort of piggyback off of what Kevin Bayard has been
Speaker 1: able to do. As you look for guys who can
Speaker 1: take that step forward down the stretch. To me, a
Speaker 1: Monty Hooker at safety is a guy who can certainly
Speaker 1: do that. So it's time now for each member of
Speaker 1: our panel, Jim White, coach, Dave McGinnis, and Aby Wells
Speaker 1: to provide a key to the rest of the season.
Speaker 1: Coach Dave McGinnis of Titan's Radio, You were first. You
Speaker 1: got to get back into the plus turnover margin world.
Speaker 1: You've got to get back to that. It's incredibly important.
Speaker 1: It's been an issue. We know it's been an issue,
Speaker 1: and we're always honest this team. Mike Rayel's honest with
Speaker 1: his team. We're always honest with our listeners. You've got
Speaker 1: to get back to that world. You have to get
Speaker 1: back to the plus turnover world. And it happens in
Speaker 1: two ways. You've got to protect the ball when it's yours.
Speaker 1: That goes without saying, but you've got to make a
Speaker 1: particular point of doing that because when people see on
Speaker 1: film that they can take it away from you, they're
Speaker 1: going to work even harder in practice to practice going
Speaker 1: after it. And then it's not turnovers on defense, it's takeaways.
Speaker 1: You've got to get takeaways. We defensively have to take
Speaker 1: the ball away from our opponent. We need to get
Speaker 1: back to the plus turnover margin world. This team has
Speaker 1: got to get healthy and it's got to stay healthy.
Speaker 1: I mean, we're in the position we're in now coming
Speaker 1: in with the two game losing streaking the bye week
Speaker 1: because of all these injuries seventeen guys on injured reserve,
Speaker 1: set of league record for most players used in a season.
Speaker 1: You need to get some of our key players back
Speaker 1: in the lineup. You know, some of it's just bad luck,
Speaker 1: but I think that's the key of the season. This
Speaker 1: team's only gon beit to go as far as as
Speaker 1: the injuries and the health of the key players going
Speaker 1: to take them. The Titans need to score in the
Speaker 1: red zone. They're doing a good job of moving the
Speaker 1: ball and getting into that scoring area, they are not
Speaker 1: scoring once they get there, and that's something that really
Speaker 1: is impacting this Titans team. Just having field goals isn't enough.
Speaker 1: You've got to score touchdowns. You've got to create those
Speaker 1: big margins between you and the other team. It seems
Speaker 1: so silly to say score more points, but you got
Speaker 1: to score more points to win the ball game. That's
Speaker 1: the whole point of football. So when you're in the
Speaker 1: position to score, you've got to take advantage of it.
Speaker 1: You got to cut out the mental mistakes. You know,
Speaker 1: the penalties in the New England game early in the
Speaker 1: contest on special teams were killers. So the penalty on
Speaker 1: the first punt change field position by thirty two yards.
Speaker 1: That's not Titans football, that's not Mike Vrabel football. They've
Speaker 1: got to get back to doing what they do. Let
Speaker 1: the other team do that. You know. That's what's happened
Speaker 1: when the Titans have won, is they have watched the
Speaker 1: other team make mistakes and then they have taken advantage.
Speaker 1: For the Titans get back to playing smarter. And some
Speaker 1: of that is due to the fact that you're playing
Speaker 1: guys who are inexperience. Got it but to win down
Speaker 1: the stretch, I think that's a big key for the
Speaker 1: Titans and certainly something they're capable of doing. The bottom line, though,
Speaker 1: Dave McGinnis, is the season really starts now the first
Speaker 1: twelve games. You're eight and four, you have a two
Speaker 1: game lead in the division. Here you are. If you
Speaker 1: play well from here on out, it can be very
Speaker 1: special to this pointless season. Everybody. It's positioning and they
Speaker 1: and the Titans have done enough earlier in the year
Speaker 1: to position themselves. Have they done enough to be able
Speaker 1: to sit in a position where they can't be caught? No,
Speaker 1: So this is a new season. It does start now.
Speaker 1: To Jim's point about getting people back, that's going to
Speaker 1: be huge, But all of these points that we've brought up,
Speaker 1: Believe me, Mike vary Well and his staff this week
Speaker 1: in the off date, that's what they're going over. And
Speaker 1: then they will very specifically go over not only as
Speaker 1: a group with this football team, but individually they will individually.
Speaker 1: And that's what you do after you individually go and
Speaker 1: you have nameless rank debriefings individually after the open date.
Speaker 1: During the open dates, you do it, and then you
Speaker 1: have to have honest discussions with each individual player saying
Speaker 1: here's what you have to do, here's what you must do,
Speaker 1: and here's what you have to eliminate. That's going to
Speaker 1: go on this week. Yeah, Mike Vaibel said it on
Speaker 1: his radio show, Truthtelling. We're going to spend some time
Speaker 1: with the truth, Jim. Yeah, and sometimes the truth hurts,
Speaker 1: but that's how you get better. And I think that's
Speaker 1: what this team will do. Evaluate itself. Usually sometimes during
Speaker 1: the byway you can do some self scouting. The five
Speaker 1: week comes late this year, you've got a bigger body
Speaker 1: of work to look over, what's going right, what's going wrong,
Speaker 1: and you've got time to get it fixed. This team's
Speaker 1: in a good spot with five games left, now again.
Speaker 1: Just need to get healthy, play better football, make a run,
Speaker 1: make a run. It's about that time. This is when
Speaker 1: the football starts to get exciting. This is when every
Speaker 1: game in the NFL really matters. As a Titans fan,
Speaker 1: this is a great time to be watching football because
Speaker 1: there's a lot of games out in the world to watch.
Speaker 1: There's a lot of games that matter to Tennessee Titans fans,
Speaker 1: so there's lots of football to watch. And then the
Speaker 1: Titans have an opportunity to do something really cool and
Speaker 1: control their destiny a little bit. That was a lot
Speaker 1: of fun. We hoped you enjoyed it. This edition of
Speaker 1: the OTP presented by Farm Bureau Health Plans. Look to
Speaker 1: the folks at Farm Bureau Health Plans when you need
Speaker 1: someone who understands the x's and o's of healthcare coverage.
Speaker 1: They've been protecting Tennessee and since nineteen forty seven for
Speaker 1: coach Dave McGinnis, Jim White and Aby Wells. Mike Keith,
Speaker 1: thanks you for listening to the o t P. Welcome
Speaker 1: to the Big Show where the legends go. Everybody knows
Speaker 1: it's our house. Find foot Tennessee Makingstree greatness is means
Speaker 1: to be. We got side and Boodle running through a vase.