1
00:00:15,840 --> 00:00:19,000
Speaker 1: Welcome to the Titans Baby and Coach Mac podcast. Sent

2
00:00:19,120 --> 00:00:22,479
Speaker 1: it Buy Farm Bureau Health plays need great healthcare coverage

3
00:00:22,520 --> 00:00:25,400
Speaker 1: with an affordable price, sag Let Farm Bureau Health Plans

4
00:00:25,440 --> 00:00:28,159
Speaker 1: coach you through it. They've been protecting Tennessee AND's for

5
00:00:28,360 --> 00:00:31,920
Speaker 1: seventy five years. I'm Amy Wells. Mac is here too.

6
00:00:32,000 --> 00:00:34,120
Speaker 1: Thank you for joining us on the Titans Amy and

7
00:00:34,120 --> 00:00:37,279
Speaker 1: Coach Mac Podcast. This one is going to be a

8
00:00:37,400 --> 00:00:40,760
Speaker 1: quick one because his bye week, so there's no matchup

9
00:00:40,800 --> 00:00:44,280
Speaker 1: to preview, there's no interviews to do, and honestly, Mac,

10
00:00:44,479 --> 00:00:47,560
Speaker 1: I'm a little bit tired. Yeah, happy bye week. So

11
00:00:47,600 --> 00:00:50,239
Speaker 1: we are taking a bye week. We're gonna recap the

12
00:00:50,280 --> 00:00:52,880
Speaker 1: Titans win over the Commanders and then we are rolling

13
00:00:52,920 --> 00:00:57,280
Speaker 1: out of here. Yeah, but any kind of recap you

14
00:00:57,320 --> 00:00:59,160
Speaker 1: want to do. But bye week comes at a good

15
00:00:59,160 --> 00:01:01,440
Speaker 1: time for this team, for us because this has been

16
00:01:01,440 --> 00:01:04,280
Speaker 1: a pretty good grind so far. So whatever you've got,

17
00:01:04,400 --> 00:01:08,440
Speaker 1: let's go. It definitely has been a grind. But let's

18
00:01:08,440 --> 00:01:11,440
Speaker 1: review where the Titans are right now. They're three and two,

19
00:01:11,720 --> 00:01:15,039
Speaker 1: three straight victories. They're one to know in the division. Mac,

20
00:01:15,120 --> 00:01:18,279
Speaker 1: have you noticed a common thread at all about these

21
00:01:18,360 --> 00:01:21,240
Speaker 1: three Titans victories? Other than the fact that they ended

22
00:01:21,240 --> 00:01:23,600
Speaker 1: in wins. Well, they're able to play good run defense.

23
00:01:23,680 --> 00:01:26,560
Speaker 1: That's helped them, you know, quite a bit. That's on

24
00:01:26,600 --> 00:01:29,039
Speaker 1: the positive side. We've been able to get the running

25
00:01:29,040 --> 00:01:31,280
Speaker 1: game going. We've been able to get some traction with

26
00:01:31,400 --> 00:01:34,399
Speaker 1: Derrick Henry that helps the play action game. I mean

27
00:01:34,520 --> 00:01:36,480
Speaker 1: that that to me was a big key for this

28
00:01:36,520 --> 00:01:39,560
Speaker 1: football team going in and especially they're able to do

29
00:01:39,600 --> 00:01:42,600
Speaker 1: it with a lot of significant missing pieces. You know,

30
00:01:42,640 --> 00:01:44,760
Speaker 1: we keep talking about this, but I'm just telling you

31
00:01:44,800 --> 00:01:47,400
Speaker 1: from a lifetime coach in this league, it's tough when

32
00:01:47,400 --> 00:01:50,080
Speaker 1: you start missing those pieces and try to put together

33
00:01:50,440 --> 00:01:53,600
Speaker 1: a relative game plan week to week to week, putting

34
00:01:53,600 --> 00:01:56,320
Speaker 1: new faces in it. They've been able to maintain, you know,

35
00:01:56,400 --> 00:01:59,840
Speaker 1: their physicality even though they were missing a lot of players.

36
00:02:00,160 --> 00:02:02,400
Speaker 1: The downside, too, it is we're still giving up too

37
00:02:02,400 --> 00:02:05,080
Speaker 1: many explosive plays through the air, you know, on the

38
00:02:05,400 --> 00:02:08,440
Speaker 1: defensive side, because you can play really great defense and

39
00:02:08,520 --> 00:02:11,440
Speaker 1: one explosive can erase all of that in the course

40
00:02:11,480 --> 00:02:14,200
Speaker 1: of a ball game, just because it's yards and sometimes

41
00:02:14,200 --> 00:02:17,320
Speaker 1: it's touchdowns, as it was last week. So I mean,

42
00:02:17,480 --> 00:02:20,280
Speaker 1: the theme though, is this is clearly a find a

43
00:02:20,360 --> 00:02:22,800
Speaker 1: way team. This is what Mike Vrabel is. It's what

44
00:02:22,880 --> 00:02:25,320
Speaker 1: he's been ever since he's been here. That's the culture

45
00:02:25,400 --> 00:02:28,040
Speaker 1: that he has established in that locker room. He and

46
00:02:28,120 --> 00:02:31,520
Speaker 1: John Robinson, they have done it. You know. I said

47
00:02:31,520 --> 00:02:35,480
Speaker 1: it when I did a Twitter whatever you do on

48
00:02:35,520 --> 00:02:39,200
Speaker 1: Twitter saying after the football game, and I said, if

49
00:02:39,200 --> 00:02:41,320
Speaker 1: you don't have a Tennessee Tough sign in your yard,

50
00:02:41,360 --> 00:02:43,520
Speaker 1: get three of them, because that's what these three wins

51
00:02:43,520 --> 00:02:47,360
Speaker 1: have been about. In speaking about the culture, we heard

52
00:02:47,440 --> 00:02:50,280
Speaker 1: on Mike Vrabel's postgame speech in the locker room right

53
00:02:50,320 --> 00:02:52,680
Speaker 1: after the game, he said that when times get tough,

54
00:02:53,160 --> 00:02:55,840
Speaker 1: culture is kind of what you have to fall back on.

55
00:02:56,440 --> 00:02:59,400
Speaker 1: How true is that, especially for this Titans team, where

56
00:02:59,440 --> 00:03:02,679
Speaker 1: to your point, John Robinson and Mike Vrabel have been

57
00:03:02,800 --> 00:03:06,000
Speaker 1: very intentional about the people they've put on this team,

58
00:03:06,440 --> 00:03:10,280
Speaker 1: the way that this roster, this locker room is really

59
00:03:10,320 --> 00:03:14,280
Speaker 1: built in the mentality of every single player in that room. Yeah. Well,

60
00:03:14,280 --> 00:03:17,200
Speaker 1: the culture only matters if the people buy into it,

61
00:03:17,520 --> 00:03:20,480
Speaker 1: and that's all participants. And then coaches can only be

62
00:03:20,520 --> 00:03:22,440
Speaker 1: in the locker room so long. They've only got so

63
00:03:22,560 --> 00:03:25,840
Speaker 1: much time with these players. But your team leaders, your guys,

64
00:03:25,840 --> 00:03:28,120
Speaker 1: that are your dudes, in the locker room. They have

65
00:03:28,160 --> 00:03:30,520
Speaker 1: to carry that message and then they have to be

66
00:03:30,600 --> 00:03:34,200
Speaker 1: sure that everybody is onto that message. Because when you

67
00:03:34,240 --> 00:03:37,080
Speaker 1: talk about culture in the National Football League, you're really

68
00:03:37,120 --> 00:03:40,440
Speaker 1: talking about what you can lean on when times get hard,

69
00:03:40,480 --> 00:03:43,360
Speaker 1: and times get hard in the National Football League, you know,

70
00:03:43,480 --> 00:03:48,160
Speaker 1: on a consistent basis during ball games, you know, overcoming injuries,

71
00:03:48,400 --> 00:03:51,920
Speaker 1: being able to overcome circumstances in ball games. You know,

72
00:03:51,920 --> 00:03:54,360
Speaker 1: the National Football League is a down to the last

73
00:03:54,400 --> 00:03:56,920
Speaker 1: second type of a thing. And so if you don't

74
00:03:57,000 --> 00:04:00,200
Speaker 1: have that unified culture to lean on, then there's going

75
00:04:00,240 --> 00:04:02,360
Speaker 1: to be cracks and what you try to do. And

76
00:04:02,640 --> 00:04:06,120
Speaker 1: to me, that has been so evident here And you know,

77
00:04:06,160 --> 00:04:07,840
Speaker 1: we don't want to talk about last year, but I'm

78
00:04:07,840 --> 00:04:10,800
Speaker 1: going to go you go back to going through ninety

79
00:04:10,800 --> 00:04:15,000
Speaker 1: one players last year, that culture showed itself. We didn't

80
00:04:15,000 --> 00:04:16,800
Speaker 1: want to have to do that again this year. But

81
00:04:16,880 --> 00:04:20,000
Speaker 1: we're in that situation and it's still showing itself. And

82
00:04:20,040 --> 00:04:23,159
Speaker 1: so it's for real. It's not something that's just talked about.

83
00:04:23,440 --> 00:04:26,480
Speaker 1: It's something that the players believe in and they lean

84
00:04:26,560 --> 00:04:28,440
Speaker 1: on it when times get a little bit hard. So

85
00:04:28,560 --> 00:04:33,520
Speaker 1: let's talk about the Commanders game specifically, defensively, They've come

86
00:04:33,600 --> 00:04:37,360
Speaker 1: up big time and time again. This Titans defense has

87
00:04:37,400 --> 00:04:39,960
Speaker 1: really been kind of the backbone of this Titans team

88
00:04:39,960 --> 00:04:42,200
Speaker 1: in a lot of different ways. What do you like

89
00:04:42,279 --> 00:04:45,880
Speaker 1: about what you've seen from this group after five weeks, Well,

90
00:04:45,960 --> 00:04:48,480
Speaker 1: let's talk about that game. Let's talk about the last interception.

91
00:04:48,560 --> 00:04:51,040
Speaker 1: Let's wind all through the game, go the last interception,

92
00:04:51,400 --> 00:04:54,039
Speaker 1: and you and I get to watch practice every day,

93
00:04:54,440 --> 00:04:57,200
Speaker 1: you know, and I watched practice, and I watched walkthroughs.

94
00:04:57,480 --> 00:05:00,280
Speaker 1: They specifically walk through that in the red zone quite bit.

95
00:05:00,360 --> 00:05:02,560
Speaker 1: That was a pick, that was a pick play that

96
00:05:02,560 --> 00:05:04,680
Speaker 1: that was going to be run in the low red zone,

97
00:05:04,680 --> 00:05:06,640
Speaker 1: which is from the six yard line to the gold line.

98
00:05:06,960 --> 00:05:09,680
Speaker 1: They had they had worked on that because that's what

99
00:05:09,760 --> 00:05:12,560
Speaker 1: you know, they had shown, you know, in Washington, and

100
00:05:12,560 --> 00:05:16,239
Speaker 1: and so to me, that was a culmination of really

101
00:05:16,279 --> 00:05:20,160
Speaker 1: good film study, practicing on the field, putting it in

102
00:05:20,240 --> 00:05:22,880
Speaker 1: and then recognize in the moment. I mean, that was

103
00:05:22,920 --> 00:05:25,919
Speaker 1: a huge, huge play, not just because he caught it,

104
00:05:25,960 --> 00:05:28,600
Speaker 1: but he recognized it and played it because it was

105
00:05:28,640 --> 00:05:31,360
Speaker 1: a pick. He ran through the pick then went I mean,

106
00:05:31,480 --> 00:05:34,680
Speaker 1: he knew exactly what was happening, and so did everybody else,

107
00:05:34,800 --> 00:05:36,920
Speaker 1: and so That is what you have to do if

108
00:05:36,920 --> 00:05:39,279
Speaker 1: you're going to be a good defense. You cannot only

109
00:05:39,320 --> 00:05:41,640
Speaker 1: make the physical plays. You have to be mentally dialed

110
00:05:41,720 --> 00:05:44,200
Speaker 1: in to what your opponent is because each week is

111
00:05:44,200 --> 00:05:47,120
Speaker 1: a different challenge with your opponents. But you can get

112
00:05:47,200 --> 00:05:50,159
Speaker 1: tells on your opponent if you'll dig them and you know,

113
00:05:50,240 --> 00:05:51,960
Speaker 1: dig in on them. And the coaches did that and

114
00:05:52,000 --> 00:05:54,080
Speaker 1: the players did it. So that's what made me so

115
00:05:54,120 --> 00:05:55,840
Speaker 1: happy about it, because I'd seen him work on that,

116
00:05:55,960 --> 00:05:57,680
Speaker 1: you know, I'd seen him work on it out there

117
00:05:57,720 --> 00:06:02,640
Speaker 1: in practice. This defense, you know, the front and especially

118
00:06:02,680 --> 00:06:05,279
Speaker 1: you know, I mean when when we lose some people

119
00:06:05,320 --> 00:06:07,479
Speaker 1: off that defensive front and then you've got some guys,

120
00:06:07,600 --> 00:06:10,240
Speaker 1: you know, like Tier Tart that has stepped up and

121
00:06:10,240 --> 00:06:12,200
Speaker 1: has been a massive part of what of what we've

122
00:06:12,200 --> 00:06:15,120
Speaker 1: been doing in there, with Jeffrey Simmons and Denico Autry.

123
00:06:15,400 --> 00:06:18,320
Speaker 1: They've had a you know, a rotating crew out there

124
00:06:18,320 --> 00:06:20,440
Speaker 1: on the edge. But you know, because we've lost our

125
00:06:20,520 --> 00:06:23,679
Speaker 1: top two edge guys right now, and those guys continue

126
00:06:23,720 --> 00:06:26,520
Speaker 1: to rotate, you know, through and are able to make

127
00:06:26,600 --> 00:06:30,520
Speaker 1: plays at opportune times. The thing that's important for this

128
00:06:30,680 --> 00:06:34,040
Speaker 1: defense in my in my opinion, is is that they

129
00:06:34,160 --> 00:06:37,760
Speaker 1: understand how to play complimentary ball with the first level,

130
00:06:37,839 --> 00:06:40,960
Speaker 1: second level, and third level. And that's that's so so important.

131
00:06:41,000 --> 00:06:42,800
Speaker 1: And we saw it. I mean we saw, you know,

132
00:06:42,839 --> 00:06:46,480
Speaker 1: our two of our two biggest dudes on defense, Jeffrey

133
00:06:46,480 --> 00:06:48,880
Speaker 1: Simmons and tier Tart Spider drop in the red zone.

134
00:06:48,960 --> 00:06:50,840
Speaker 1: And which that means is they started up and then

135
00:06:50,880 --> 00:06:53,320
Speaker 1: they pulled out and Carson Wentz didn't know whether he

136
00:06:53,400 --> 00:06:55,360
Speaker 1: was foot or horseback because he was trying to throw

137
00:06:55,400 --> 00:06:57,920
Speaker 1: crossers underneath and all of a sudden, you've got two

138
00:06:57,920 --> 00:07:00,400
Speaker 1: massive humans standing there in those lanes he trying to

139
00:07:00,440 --> 00:07:02,720
Speaker 1: throw in. So I mean, this defense is doing a

140
00:07:02,839 --> 00:07:06,279
Speaker 1: very good job of putting game plans into practice. As

141
00:07:06,279 --> 00:07:08,320
Speaker 1: I say, though, the thing that has to happen is

142
00:07:08,360 --> 00:07:12,040
Speaker 1: we have to eliminate the explosive plays. And because explosive

143
00:07:12,040 --> 00:07:14,600
Speaker 1: plays can alter a lot of the good things that

144
00:07:14,640 --> 00:07:18,000
Speaker 1: you did and turn them back towards a negative because

145
00:07:18,040 --> 00:07:21,080
Speaker 1: if they gain yards and touchdowns with explosives, that doesn't

146
00:07:21,080 --> 00:07:23,680
Speaker 1: put a lot of pressure on an offense. It lets

147
00:07:23,720 --> 00:07:26,280
Speaker 1: them off the hook. In other words, they're able to

148
00:07:26,320 --> 00:07:28,360
Speaker 1: get off the hook of not being able to move

149
00:07:28,360 --> 00:07:31,200
Speaker 1: the ball, you know, just structurally and fundamentally and be

150
00:07:31,240 --> 00:07:34,240
Speaker 1: able to do it with one big play. For guys

151
00:07:34,280 --> 00:07:37,520
Speaker 1: like Denico Autry and Jeffrey Simmons, they're on the field

152
00:07:37,640 --> 00:07:41,040
Speaker 1: for more than half the snaps of the defense, actually

153
00:07:41,080 --> 00:07:44,680
Speaker 1: the majority. Denico Autry against the Commanders played sixty eight

154
00:07:44,680 --> 00:07:47,360
Speaker 1: percent of the snaps, Jeffrey Simmon eighty four percent of

155
00:07:47,400 --> 00:07:50,920
Speaker 1: the snaps. How do they continue to perform at such

156
00:07:50,920 --> 00:07:54,240
Speaker 1: a high level over and over again when they're spending

157
00:07:54,280 --> 00:07:56,200
Speaker 1: so much time on the field. They have to, I

158
00:07:56,280 --> 00:07:58,640
Speaker 1: mean that's their job. I mean they have to. They're

159
00:07:58,680 --> 00:08:01,400
Speaker 1: both in in tremendous can addition the thing that you

160
00:08:01,400 --> 00:08:05,720
Speaker 1: would like though, and defensively, because defensively, it's hard for

161
00:08:05,760 --> 00:08:08,559
Speaker 1: those guys up front when they're leaning on three hundred

162
00:08:08,560 --> 00:08:11,360
Speaker 1: and thirty three hundred and forty pound offensive lineman continuously

163
00:08:11,560 --> 00:08:14,200
Speaker 1: whether it's run or passed. So it's it's it's a

164
00:08:14,240 --> 00:08:17,040
Speaker 1: great expenditure of effort. What you would like to be

165
00:08:17,120 --> 00:08:20,160
Speaker 1: able to do is rotate those people right now because

166
00:08:20,200 --> 00:08:23,080
Speaker 1: the situation that we're in injury wise, we don't have

167
00:08:23,120 --> 00:08:25,679
Speaker 1: the rotation that we need. At the end of the season.

168
00:08:25,800 --> 00:08:28,760
Speaker 1: Last year, our defensive our defense was a really really

169
00:08:28,760 --> 00:08:32,360
Speaker 1: strong defense because we had healthy people that we could rotate.

170
00:08:32,960 --> 00:08:36,040
Speaker 1: We're not in that situation right now. So those guys

171
00:08:36,080 --> 00:08:38,600
Speaker 1: are carrying a big load and so far they're doing

172
00:08:38,640 --> 00:08:41,240
Speaker 1: a great job of it, just like Kevin Byard carrying

173
00:08:41,240 --> 00:08:45,120
Speaker 1: a huge load right now. And that's that's that's just

174
00:08:45,160 --> 00:08:47,640
Speaker 1: what has to happen, though, when you're down in numbers,

175
00:08:47,679 --> 00:08:50,280
Speaker 1: I mean, it just has to happen. Let's talk about

176
00:08:50,280 --> 00:08:53,760
Speaker 1: explosive plays. You mentioned earlier week after week. One of

177
00:08:53,800 --> 00:08:56,560
Speaker 1: the keys for this Titans defense is to not give

178
00:08:56,640 --> 00:08:59,880
Speaker 1: up explosive plays against the Commanders. They gave up sick.

179
00:09:00,600 --> 00:09:03,920
Speaker 1: Are there skill sets specifically that you can work on

180
00:09:04,160 --> 00:09:06,360
Speaker 1: or is it a mental fit? What is it that

181
00:09:06,679 --> 00:09:09,680
Speaker 1: maybe could be tweaked to be more effective? But I

182
00:09:09,679 --> 00:09:12,560
Speaker 1: mean it comes down and most of the explosive plays

183
00:09:12,559 --> 00:09:14,319
Speaker 1: were in the passing game. You know now that the

184
00:09:14,559 --> 00:09:16,480
Speaker 1: game against the Giants, the explosive plays were in the

185
00:09:16,520 --> 00:09:18,360
Speaker 1: run game. I can tell you exactly what happened there.

186
00:09:18,360 --> 00:09:21,120
Speaker 1: It was fits, fits or misfits, you know, whatever you

187
00:09:21,120 --> 00:09:23,160
Speaker 1: want to say it. But in the passing game, it

188
00:09:23,280 --> 00:09:25,840
Speaker 1: normally comes down to one on one making plays downfield,

189
00:09:25,840 --> 00:09:28,920
Speaker 1: and it also comes down to quarterbacks having time to throw.

190
00:09:29,280 --> 00:09:31,360
Speaker 1: You just mentioned all the snaps our guys are playing

191
00:09:31,440 --> 00:09:34,920
Speaker 1: up front. I mean it sometimes then they can't get

192
00:09:34,920 --> 00:09:37,679
Speaker 1: the quarterback off the spot, you know, as quickly as

193
00:09:37,679 --> 00:09:40,240
Speaker 1: they would like to, just because you know they're not

194
00:09:40,280 --> 00:09:42,680
Speaker 1: they're not fresh legged in there. So if that happens,

195
00:09:43,000 --> 00:09:46,000
Speaker 1: then who's ever in the back end and who's ever responsible,

196
00:09:46,120 --> 00:09:48,839
Speaker 1: whether it's man or zone sooner or later, the top

197
00:09:49,160 --> 00:09:51,320
Speaker 1: the top of the defense, the top the roof of

198
00:09:51,320 --> 00:09:53,280
Speaker 1: the defense has to be able not to let the

199
00:09:53,320 --> 00:09:55,960
Speaker 1: ball go over their head. That's just that's just it,

200
00:09:56,080 --> 00:10:00,199
Speaker 1: you know, bottom line. And so I mean, there's not

201
00:10:00,240 --> 00:10:02,800
Speaker 1: a defense that's designed to let somebody run over the

202
00:10:02,800 --> 00:10:06,680
Speaker 1: top of your head. Nothing, there's none non defense ever designed.

203
00:10:06,840 --> 00:10:09,800
Speaker 1: I don't care whether you're man, zone, quarters, quarter has thirds,

204
00:10:09,840 --> 00:10:13,880
Speaker 1: I don't care what you're in. So it's not scheme

205
00:10:14,920 --> 00:10:17,400
Speaker 1: you've you've got to produce when you're in that situation.

206
00:10:17,840 --> 00:10:20,000
Speaker 1: Let's switch over to the offensive side of the ball,

207
00:10:20,040 --> 00:10:23,240
Speaker 1: because there's some interesting things to discuss, some bright spots

208
00:10:23,240 --> 00:10:26,600
Speaker 1: and then some areas of improvement. We said all week

209
00:10:26,840 --> 00:10:29,400
Speaker 1: that the play action is where Ryan Tannehill is the

210
00:10:29,440 --> 00:10:31,320
Speaker 1: most successful. He does a great job. He's a great

211
00:10:31,360 --> 00:10:34,080
Speaker 1: play action quarterback. In order for that to work, you've

212
00:10:34,120 --> 00:10:35,920
Speaker 1: got to get the run game going. That is a

213
00:10:35,960 --> 00:10:39,080
Speaker 1: crucial part. Derrick Henry then has one hundred and two

214
00:10:39,160 --> 00:10:45,480
Speaker 1: rushing yards. So we did it. Congrats, like that's success, right, Well, sure,

215
00:10:45,520 --> 00:10:48,360
Speaker 1: I mean, but to get traction in the run game,

216
00:10:48,559 --> 00:10:51,000
Speaker 1: and it's not all gonna be, you know, twelve thirteen,

217
00:10:51,080 --> 00:10:54,040
Speaker 1: fourteen yard runs. It's got to be systematic. What they've

218
00:10:54,040 --> 00:10:56,920
Speaker 1: been able to do though, Amy they've been able to

219
00:10:56,960 --> 00:11:00,520
Speaker 1: incorporate some very innovative screen games into you into a

220
00:11:00,600 --> 00:11:03,280
Speaker 1: part of their run game, which is very big because

221
00:11:03,320 --> 00:11:06,160
Speaker 1: now you know the linebackers at the second level. If

222
00:11:06,160 --> 00:11:09,240
Speaker 1: you're continued to worry about a big back slamming up

223
00:11:09,280 --> 00:11:10,920
Speaker 1: in there on you all the time, all the time,

224
00:11:10,920 --> 00:11:13,559
Speaker 1: all the time, it brings the level of your linebackers

225
00:11:13,640 --> 00:11:16,600
Speaker 1: or your safeties up. It brings them up and so

226
00:11:16,960 --> 00:11:19,520
Speaker 1: and then what happens is is if you've got defensive

227
00:11:19,520 --> 00:11:21,960
Speaker 1: lineman trying to edge the offensive lineman get on the

228
00:11:22,080 --> 00:11:24,079
Speaker 1: edge of their pads and get up the field to

229
00:11:24,200 --> 00:11:27,320
Speaker 1: disrupt those outside zones or those pen and pull runs

230
00:11:27,320 --> 00:11:29,439
Speaker 1: that they're doing, then you can counter it with a

231
00:11:29,520 --> 00:11:31,960
Speaker 1: screen game. They've done a really nice job with some

232
00:11:32,040 --> 00:11:34,680
Speaker 1: very innovative screens in the last three games of being

233
00:11:34,679 --> 00:11:36,640
Speaker 1: able to counter that, and they're going to have to

234
00:11:36,640 --> 00:11:39,920
Speaker 1: continue to do that. But it starts with running the football.

235
00:11:39,960 --> 00:11:43,280
Speaker 1: If you can't get anything ginnin running the ball, then

236
00:11:43,320 --> 00:11:45,960
Speaker 1: you're not going to be able to play action. Nobody's

237
00:11:46,000 --> 00:11:50,320
Speaker 1: gonna nobody's going to honor the play action. The Titans

238
00:11:50,320 --> 00:11:53,640
Speaker 1: are banged up, specifically on the offensive line. It's a

239
00:11:53,679 --> 00:11:56,600
Speaker 1: big issue for this Titans from a protection standpoint, but

240
00:11:56,679 --> 00:11:59,959
Speaker 1: it also impacts other elements of what the offense is

241
00:12:00,160 --> 00:12:03,640
Speaker 1: able to do as a hole, specifically for the tight ends, right, Well, yeah,

242
00:12:03,679 --> 00:12:05,880
Speaker 1: they've got to help. They've got to help Chip. I mean,

243
00:12:06,120 --> 00:12:08,560
Speaker 1: if we're having trouble on the edges, you know, and

244
00:12:08,640 --> 00:12:11,320
Speaker 1: both you know, and that it's just we are, you know,

245
00:12:11,320 --> 00:12:13,840
Speaker 1: because you've got Ben Jones was the only singular guy

246
00:12:13,920 --> 00:12:17,960
Speaker 1: in there. You know that everything around him is revolving door.

247
00:12:18,360 --> 00:12:20,800
Speaker 1: And so you're gonna have to help Chip. And so

248
00:12:20,840 --> 00:12:22,600
Speaker 1: you got to do what you have to do to

249
00:12:22,640 --> 00:12:25,400
Speaker 1: win the game. It's not just say, well, let's just

250
00:12:25,559 --> 00:12:29,120
Speaker 1: go out there and play one on one pass protection

251
00:12:29,320 --> 00:12:32,160
Speaker 1: and let Ryan Tannehill. You know, suck it up and

252
00:12:32,200 --> 00:12:35,000
Speaker 1: get hammered. You can't do that. You just can't. I mean,

253
00:12:35,040 --> 00:12:37,200
Speaker 1: he got hit too many times in the Commander's game,

254
00:12:37,520 --> 00:12:39,800
Speaker 1: you know, Mike Vrabel was very specific about that. And

255
00:12:39,840 --> 00:12:42,680
Speaker 1: so offensively, you're gonna have to work out ways to

256
00:12:42,720 --> 00:12:45,280
Speaker 1: be able to help that. The run game helps it.

257
00:12:45,360 --> 00:12:47,959
Speaker 1: But protection wise, you're right, you're gonna have to use

258
00:12:48,000 --> 00:12:50,240
Speaker 1: your tight ends or you're gonna have to use your

259
00:12:50,240 --> 00:12:53,520
Speaker 1: backs in protection because right now, and especially against that

260
00:12:53,559 --> 00:12:55,439
Speaker 1: front that we've played against the Commanders, you've got three

261
00:12:55,520 --> 00:12:57,640
Speaker 1: number ones in there that are legitimate dudes in the

262
00:12:57,760 --> 00:13:00,480
Speaker 1: National Football League. They're gonna give a lot of people headaches.

263
00:13:00,720 --> 00:13:03,360
Speaker 1: But when they can just get in that sprinter stance

264
00:13:03,400 --> 00:13:05,840
Speaker 1: and tee off on you, because first and second down

265
00:13:05,880 --> 00:13:09,200
Speaker 1: hasn't been successful, you got problems. All week we talked

266
00:13:09,200 --> 00:13:11,679
Speaker 1: about the need for receivers to step up in place

267
00:13:11,720 --> 00:13:14,080
Speaker 1: of trailing Burkes. He was put on injured reserve with

268
00:13:14,200 --> 00:13:18,240
Speaker 1: turf toe. How pleased were you with the showing of

269
00:13:18,280 --> 00:13:20,559
Speaker 1: some of the other receivers in that room, Well, I

270
00:13:20,559 --> 00:13:23,400
Speaker 1: thought Nick Westbrook a Keenan, showed up big, showed up

271
00:13:23,480 --> 00:13:25,640
Speaker 1: big time. He took two deep shots to him that

272
00:13:25,640 --> 00:13:28,439
Speaker 1: one deep shot that he caught. That was just that

273
00:13:28,520 --> 00:13:31,439
Speaker 1: was a really veteran move by the quarterback of avoiding

274
00:13:31,720 --> 00:13:34,880
Speaker 1: pressure again and then watching the safety. The safety did

275
00:13:34,880 --> 00:13:37,600
Speaker 1: it boy a three sixty holy bird, and so the

276
00:13:37,720 --> 00:13:40,520
Speaker 1: quarterback recognized that and just threw it to the open

277
00:13:40,559 --> 00:13:44,320
Speaker 1: grass and and Nick Westbrook did a nice job of

278
00:13:44,360 --> 00:13:46,319
Speaker 1: adjusting to that. Tried to hit him on a deep

279
00:13:46,320 --> 00:13:48,240
Speaker 1: shot going the other way earlier in the game and

280
00:13:48,320 --> 00:13:50,480
Speaker 1: just missed him. And so, you know, I thought that

281
00:13:50,559 --> 00:13:55,600
Speaker 1: was very good. I mean, Robert Woods uncharacteristically dropped one,

282
00:13:55,720 --> 00:13:57,600
Speaker 1: but he's gonna have to be a big part of

283
00:13:57,600 --> 00:14:00,360
Speaker 1: what we are doing, you know. Offensively, it was good

284
00:14:00,400 --> 00:14:02,679
Speaker 1: to get Phillips back in there because he made he

285
00:14:02,800 --> 00:14:05,640
Speaker 1: made some catches and so it all has to work

286
00:14:05,720 --> 00:14:08,520
Speaker 1: hand in hand together. But for us to be able

287
00:14:08,559 --> 00:14:11,440
Speaker 1: to take deep shots, we have got to be able,

288
00:14:11,640 --> 00:14:14,080
Speaker 1: as I say, get traction in that run game first,

289
00:14:14,240 --> 00:14:16,880
Speaker 1: and then everything emanates off of that. But the protection

290
00:14:16,920 --> 00:14:19,280
Speaker 1: part of it, they're gonna have to devise ways when

291
00:14:19,320 --> 00:14:21,280
Speaker 1: they do want to throw it to be able to

292
00:14:21,280 --> 00:14:24,160
Speaker 1: give the quarterback some time to get in the cylinder

293
00:14:24,360 --> 00:14:27,240
Speaker 1: and find his people. The Titans were able to score

294
00:14:27,280 --> 00:14:30,600
Speaker 1: in the second half, which seems silly, but they broke

295
00:14:30,640 --> 00:14:36,080
Speaker 1: a two week second half drought. Basically, how big of

296
00:14:36,120 --> 00:14:39,160
Speaker 1: an accomplishment for was that for this team to be

297
00:14:39,240 --> 00:14:42,560
Speaker 1: able to go into the locker room at the half, regroup,

298
00:14:42,680 --> 00:14:45,040
Speaker 1: come out and be able to put some points on

299
00:14:45,040 --> 00:14:47,000
Speaker 1: the board in the second half. Well, we won by

300
00:14:47,000 --> 00:14:49,720
Speaker 1: twenty one seventeen, so we needed it, right, I mean,

301
00:14:50,000 --> 00:14:51,400
Speaker 1: and that's just the way it is. I mean, you

302
00:14:52,280 --> 00:14:55,120
Speaker 1: can't you can't rest in the National Football League. First

303
00:14:55,120 --> 00:14:57,240
Speaker 1: of all, on what you've done the previous week. You

304
00:14:57,280 --> 00:14:59,560
Speaker 1: can't just say because it worked previous week, it work.

305
00:15:00,000 --> 00:15:02,040
Speaker 1: You can't risk because you know the first half was

306
00:15:02,080 --> 00:15:04,240
Speaker 1: good and so the second half is going to be good.

307
00:15:04,440 --> 00:15:07,240
Speaker 1: You've got to constantly be producing play after play after

308
00:15:07,240 --> 00:15:10,040
Speaker 1: play in the National Football League. And that's why coaches

309
00:15:10,160 --> 00:15:12,960
Speaker 1: at all the time and players too, they talk about

310
00:15:13,320 --> 00:15:16,440
Speaker 1: and they preach consistency. That's what you're looking for. You're

311
00:15:16,440 --> 00:15:19,680
Speaker 1: looking for a consistent traction. You're looking for a consistent

312
00:15:19,720 --> 00:15:21,920
Speaker 1: you know, the chain being in the spokes all the time,

313
00:15:21,960 --> 00:15:24,760
Speaker 1: all the time, because it's really hard. I mean, you

314
00:15:24,760 --> 00:15:27,400
Speaker 1: don't get good gas modeates when you start stopping. I mean,

315
00:15:27,440 --> 00:15:30,400
Speaker 1: and so it's you need, you need constant movement, and

316
00:15:30,800 --> 00:15:33,360
Speaker 1: it helped I mean, it helped us win the game.

317
00:15:33,400 --> 00:15:35,880
Speaker 1: I mean, and so that's the most important thing, especially

318
00:15:35,920 --> 00:15:38,040
Speaker 1: with this team. Amy. We keep saying it's a find

319
00:15:38,040 --> 00:15:40,480
Speaker 1: a way team. It is a find a way team.

320
00:15:40,560 --> 00:15:43,120
Speaker 1: Right now, Well, let's talk about that momentum a little

321
00:15:43,160 --> 00:15:46,640
Speaker 1: bit because it's stopping with the bye week, and I

322
00:15:46,720 --> 00:15:49,480
Speaker 1: need you to decode some coach speak for me just

323
00:15:49,560 --> 00:15:52,200
Speaker 1: a little bit here, so you can be my translator,

324
00:15:52,240 --> 00:15:57,480
Speaker 1: my conduit to to coach Lingo. Every bye week, we

325
00:15:57,640 --> 00:16:00,600
Speaker 1: hear the coaching staff is going to do as self scout.

326
00:16:00,640 --> 00:16:02,840
Speaker 1: They're going to take time, they're going to analyze the

327
00:16:02,840 --> 00:16:05,160
Speaker 1: first few weeks of the season, and then we're going

328
00:16:05,240 --> 00:16:09,240
Speaker 1: to regroup. What does that self scout process actually look

329
00:16:09,280 --> 00:16:11,440
Speaker 1: like during a bye week. First of all, you self

330
00:16:11,520 --> 00:16:14,640
Speaker 1: scout after every game. You've got reports on your desk

331
00:16:14,800 --> 00:16:17,760
Speaker 1: every week. Here's where we are, Here's where our tendencies,

332
00:16:17,760 --> 00:16:20,560
Speaker 1: I mean, the world the world we live in Now.

333
00:16:20,880 --> 00:16:24,240
Speaker 1: That may have been true ten twelve years ago when

334
00:16:24,280 --> 00:16:27,640
Speaker 1: everybody was compiling everything by hand. Now with what we

335
00:16:27,680 --> 00:16:29,680
Speaker 1: have now and the number of people that you have

336
00:16:29,720 --> 00:16:33,360
Speaker 1: on a staff, they're responsible for that solely, and so

337
00:16:33,440 --> 00:16:36,480
Speaker 1: you everybody's got a report. You know, coordinators, head coach

338
00:16:36,600 --> 00:16:40,640
Speaker 1: got all the reports. Coordinators have the reports. Position coaches

339
00:16:40,680 --> 00:16:43,880
Speaker 1: have the report every week. You go through that every week,

340
00:16:43,920 --> 00:16:46,400
Speaker 1: and so it's not like it's just it's kind of like,

341
00:16:46,440 --> 00:16:49,920
Speaker 1: you know, the misnomer of people talking about halftime adjustments.

342
00:16:50,120 --> 00:16:52,280
Speaker 1: I mean, you've got twelve minutes. You know, in two

343
00:16:52,280 --> 00:16:54,680
Speaker 1: minutes is a two minute warning, So figure it out.

344
00:16:55,200 --> 00:16:57,720
Speaker 1: This this I mean you don't, I mean you've already

345
00:16:57,760 --> 00:17:01,040
Speaker 1: got all of that done. What this allows you to do, though,

346
00:17:01,320 --> 00:17:04,199
Speaker 1: in the bye week is take a broader look at

347
00:17:04,240 --> 00:17:06,600
Speaker 1: it because you don't have anybody to prepare for. You know,

348
00:17:06,640 --> 00:17:08,320
Speaker 1: sooner or later you've got to quit looking at what

349
00:17:08,440 --> 00:17:11,080
Speaker 1: you've done when you're preparing for somebody and go and

350
00:17:11,119 --> 00:17:13,480
Speaker 1: get to work on what you're getting ready to play

351
00:17:13,760 --> 00:17:16,359
Speaker 1: now without something, without something in front of you getting

352
00:17:16,359 --> 00:17:18,520
Speaker 1: ready to play, you can take a longer and a

353
00:17:18,560 --> 00:17:21,560
Speaker 1: broader look at it. But believe me, it's not just

354
00:17:21,600 --> 00:17:24,440
Speaker 1: like this week they're going to get other reports and say, oh,

355
00:17:24,480 --> 00:17:26,520
Speaker 1: that's what we've been doing for the last five weeks.

356
00:17:26,760 --> 00:17:29,240
Speaker 1: They know, week to week to week what's going on. Well,

357
00:17:29,280 --> 00:17:33,720
Speaker 1: unto your point, everybody expects sweeping changes because you have

358
00:17:33,760 --> 00:17:37,119
Speaker 1: a weekend off. It's it's a weekend. I mean, you

359
00:17:37,160 --> 00:17:41,359
Speaker 1: can't make wholesale changes, but maybe some finite adjustments. Well,

360
00:17:41,400 --> 00:17:44,280
Speaker 1: I mean you're always making adjustments. But you know, you know,

361
00:17:44,480 --> 00:17:46,879
Speaker 1: and again it's not it's not the general public's fault.

362
00:17:46,960 --> 00:17:49,040
Speaker 1: They have no idea what goes on down there. There's

363
00:17:49,080 --> 00:17:51,800
Speaker 1: a lot that goes on. That's what we're here for. Well, yeah,

364
00:17:51,840 --> 00:17:54,720
Speaker 1: that's why we have a job. Yeah, well not really.

365
00:17:55,320 --> 00:17:58,600
Speaker 1: The thing. The thing, the thing I want to emphasize

366
00:17:58,720 --> 00:18:01,720
Speaker 1: is it's a constant, it's a constant evaluation, it's a

367
00:18:01,760 --> 00:18:06,160
Speaker 1: constant tweaking. It's a constant but at the open date

368
00:18:06,320 --> 00:18:08,760
Speaker 1: gives you a chance to look at it a little

369
00:18:08,760 --> 00:18:11,560
Speaker 1: bit longer and kind of and try to figure out.

370
00:18:11,720 --> 00:18:14,160
Speaker 1: And a lot of it amy in the National Football League,

371
00:18:14,240 --> 00:18:17,960
Speaker 1: especially with this team now, is dependent upon who you

372
00:18:18,000 --> 00:18:20,760
Speaker 1: have to play with. That's very dependent on who you

373
00:18:20,800 --> 00:18:22,879
Speaker 1: have to play with. Because something that may have worked

374
00:18:23,080 --> 00:18:26,280
Speaker 1: when your team was wholly healthy may not work now,

375
00:18:26,480 --> 00:18:28,960
Speaker 1: and so you have to be willing to change that

376
00:18:29,240 --> 00:18:31,360
Speaker 1: and you have to be willing to work around that.

377
00:18:31,359 --> 00:18:33,760
Speaker 1: That's where the adjustments come. The adjustments come in the

378
00:18:33,840 --> 00:18:37,960
Speaker 1: National Football League most of the time, not all the time,

379
00:18:38,000 --> 00:18:41,560
Speaker 1: I'd say ninety eight percent of the time, because of injuries. Well,

380
00:18:41,600 --> 00:18:44,879
Speaker 1: hopefully having some time to rest and recover, the Titans

381
00:18:44,920 --> 00:18:47,480
Speaker 1: will be able to get some people back from injury.

382
00:18:47,960 --> 00:18:50,200
Speaker 1: How do you balance the need to get that rest

383
00:18:50,280 --> 00:18:54,200
Speaker 1: and make sure everybody's getting healthy was still staying engaged

384
00:18:54,240 --> 00:18:57,159
Speaker 1: and staying mentally sharp. Well, they need to get away first.

385
00:18:57,359 --> 00:19:00,000
Speaker 1: I mean, this is a grind. They need to get away.

386
00:19:00,600 --> 00:19:03,240
Speaker 1: The people that are injured will be here. There's no

387
00:19:03,400 --> 00:19:06,320
Speaker 1: way for them. They're here, you know, they're here working

388
00:19:06,320 --> 00:19:09,480
Speaker 1: on it. Anybody else you need a little time, you know,

389
00:19:09,520 --> 00:19:12,000
Speaker 1: whenever the you know, we've had since we've been doing

390
00:19:12,040 --> 00:19:14,399
Speaker 1: this together, we've had bye weeks that have been early.

391
00:19:15,000 --> 00:19:16,480
Speaker 1: We have bye weeks that have been in the middle.

392
00:19:16,520 --> 00:19:19,040
Speaker 1: We've had bye weeks that have been extremely late. And

393
00:19:19,080 --> 00:19:22,000
Speaker 1: so but whenever the bye week comes, you need to

394
00:19:22,040 --> 00:19:24,560
Speaker 1: be able to get away as players and take a

395
00:19:24,560 --> 00:19:27,320
Speaker 1: little bit of a breather. Coaches do too, They need

396
00:19:27,359 --> 00:19:29,600
Speaker 1: to be able to get away and breathe a little

397
00:19:29,600 --> 00:19:33,080
Speaker 1: bit because really, when you're when you're on the weekly

398
00:19:33,160 --> 00:19:35,560
Speaker 1: grind of preparing to play a National Football League game,

399
00:19:35,560 --> 00:19:37,960
Speaker 1: and then you're through the three hours and twelve minute

400
00:19:38,000 --> 00:19:41,080
Speaker 1: stress their National Football League game is. It takes it

401
00:19:41,119 --> 00:19:43,000
Speaker 1: out of you. And so when you do get a

402
00:19:43,119 --> 00:19:46,840
Speaker 1: chance to regroup, you need to take it. Well, let's

403
00:19:46,880 --> 00:19:50,160
Speaker 1: do that. Then let's regroup. Mac. Yeah, I'm regrouping. I'm

404
00:19:50,160 --> 00:19:52,120
Speaker 1: going to La to call another game. That's how much

405
00:19:52,119 --> 00:19:54,600
Speaker 1: I'm regrouping. Are you seriously? Yeah, I'm gonna do a

406
00:19:54,680 --> 00:19:57,200
Speaker 1: national game. I'm gonna do the Rams and the Carolina

407
00:19:57,320 --> 00:20:00,119
Speaker 1: Panthers in so far, and then I'm gonna meet with

408
00:20:00,200 --> 00:20:01,760
Speaker 1: my group that wants to write a book out there

409
00:20:01,760 --> 00:20:06,000
Speaker 1: in La Soul. Oh I fear this book. No, no,

410
00:20:06,040 --> 00:20:09,600
Speaker 1: you look, I've already got I've already got somebody that

411
00:20:09,720 --> 00:20:12,520
Speaker 1: already got him in place now to proofread. Here's the thing.

412
00:20:12,640 --> 00:20:15,160
Speaker 1: Here's the thing. You don't need to be afraid of it. No, really,

413
00:20:15,240 --> 00:20:19,400
Speaker 1: nobody here in this organization needs to be worried about anything.

414
00:20:19,560 --> 00:20:22,879
Speaker 1: Everybody that's in this Titans organization will have a really

415
00:20:23,040 --> 00:20:25,719
Speaker 1: great We'll have the love reading this book because when

416
00:20:25,760 --> 00:20:28,000
Speaker 1: their name pops up, it'll be a plus. Some others

417
00:20:28,040 --> 00:20:30,280
Speaker 1: not so much. Well, here's the thing I'm going to

418
00:20:30,359 --> 00:20:33,000
Speaker 1: be annoyed if my name is not in the book.

419
00:20:33,040 --> 00:20:35,520
Speaker 1: Oh it will be. I mean, I don't want to

420
00:20:35,560 --> 00:20:38,160
Speaker 1: say I expect a chapter. No, you're not gonna get

421
00:20:38,160 --> 00:20:41,080
Speaker 1: a chapter. But I mean, but you want to be

422
00:20:41,400 --> 00:20:47,960
Speaker 1: like a main supporting character. We'll probably not. But you

423
00:20:47,960 --> 00:20:50,240
Speaker 1: you realize I've had a lot of main supporting characters

424
00:20:50,240 --> 00:20:55,200
Speaker 1: in thirty seven years in this business. Well that that

425
00:20:55,400 --> 00:21:00,960
Speaker 1: is one hundred percent true. I can't argue that. Well,

426
00:21:01,040 --> 00:21:04,040
Speaker 1: mac Enjoy, you're working bye week. I will for sure

427
00:21:04,160 --> 00:21:07,200
Speaker 1: not be working. I Am going to take some time

428
00:21:07,320 --> 00:21:09,479
Speaker 1: and then we're gonna get back to it because we

429
00:21:09,520 --> 00:21:12,720
Speaker 1: still have a long way to go in this Titan season. Yeah,

430
00:21:12,720 --> 00:21:14,760
Speaker 1: we got one more week to go. That's all. That's

431
00:21:14,760 --> 00:21:16,360
Speaker 1: the way you gotta look at it. We got one

432
00:21:16,359 --> 00:21:18,880
Speaker 1: more week to go. When we get back, We've got

433
00:21:18,880 --> 00:21:22,879
Speaker 1: one more week playing our favorite team. We're playing the

434
00:21:22,920 --> 00:21:25,520
Speaker 1: Indianapolis Colts on the other side of the break, our

435
00:21:25,560 --> 00:21:28,359
Speaker 1: favorite team. And I you know, even though it's a

436
00:21:28,359 --> 00:21:32,240
Speaker 1: long way off, I can already hear Nissan rocking because

437
00:21:32,280 --> 00:21:35,640
Speaker 1: it's gonna be rocket. They're coming to our house. It's

438
00:21:35,640 --> 00:21:38,520
Speaker 1: gonna be awesome. It's going to be homecoming week. It

439
00:21:38,640 --> 00:21:41,760
Speaker 1: is crucial catch game. So many good things happening at

440
00:21:41,840 --> 00:21:44,600
Speaker 1: Nissan Stadium, but that's in two weeks because this week

441
00:21:44,800 --> 00:21:48,520
Speaker 1: I'm taking a nap so for coach Max. I'm Amy Wells.

442
00:21:48,760 --> 00:21:51,840
Speaker 1: This has been the Titans Amian Coach Mac podcast. We'll

443
00:21:51,880 --> 00:22:10,000
Speaker 1: see you guys, jo your n start to baster