Speaker 1: But Andy Wells. I'm Mike Keith and this is the
Speaker 1: OTP with Titan's head coach Brian Callahan, presented by Farm
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Speaker 1: eighty years. Titan's head coach Brian Callahan is here. Welcome,
Speaker 1: thanks for joining us.
Speaker 2: It's good to be here.
Speaker 1: It's good to have you as always. And Sunday's loss
Speaker 1: to Green Bay, was there an area where you really
Speaker 1: felt like the team took a step backward.
Speaker 2: I don't think so. I mean, we didn't perform as
Speaker 2: well as I think we're capable of. You know, I
Speaker 2: think the mistackles on defense was something that was out
Speaker 2: of character for what we've seen from our defense so far.
Speaker 2: That part was expected, But I don't think we took
Speaker 2: a step back. I think that, you know, they did it.
Speaker 2: They hit a couple of plays, and we continue to
Speaker 2: give the ball away at a rate that's not sustainable
Speaker 2: and put ourselves in a really tough spot. And that's
Speaker 2: ultimately where the NFL games are won and lost.
Speaker 1: So in some ways. Maybe you feel a little better
Speaker 1: after watching the tape.
Speaker 2: I wouldn't say I feel better.
Speaker 1: You were pretty down after the game.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean I'm still down, but I'm disappointed because
Speaker 2: it'd be one thing if I didn't think we were
Speaker 2: capable of winning that football game, and I thought going
Speaker 2: into it, we absolutely are, and I still believe that.
Speaker 2: I think we have a team that's capable of a
Speaker 2: lot better than what we put on tape through three weeks,
Speaker 2: and I'm frustrated and disappointed, and I think I should be.
Speaker 2: I think our players are, and I think they should
Speaker 2: be because we're better than that. We're an own three
Speaker 2: football team. We are what our record says we are.
Speaker 2: But I do believe we're better than that one three
Speaker 2: and we've got to prove it, and thus far we
Speaker 2: have not done a good enough job of doing that.
Speaker 2: But I still believe in our football team. I believe
Speaker 2: in the guys that we have in there. I believe
Speaker 2: in our coaching staff, and I do think we're close,
Speaker 2: and we got to find a way to get over
Speaker 2: that hump and get that first win and hopefully a
Speaker 2: few more come after that.
Speaker 3: Now, you amounts earlier today, when you spoke with the
Speaker 3: media that Cheetoh Woozie has a groin injury. He's going
Speaker 3: to miss some time, and so you're expecting Jarvis Brownlee,
Speaker 3: who's a rookie, to step up and take his spot.
Speaker 3: I'm going to start with a schematic question. Do you
Speaker 3: have to do anything differently when you are expecting a
Speaker 3: rookie to step in as opposed to a veteran.
Speaker 2: Yeah, there's always an element of what do they do
Speaker 2: well and how do we help them best? And yeah,
Speaker 2: we'll have to find that out. You know, he played
Speaker 2: for a half and roughly a half I think is
Speaker 2: about when I remember that happening, and so that part,
Speaker 2: you know, you get the chance to see him in
Speaker 2: live action and where they can be used effectively, and
Speaker 2: I think that that helps least play a little bit
Speaker 2: last this past game and moving forward, well, we'll have
Speaker 2: to find ways to make sure that he's put in
Speaker 2: the right positions to succeed and not not make it
Speaker 2: harder on him than.
Speaker 1: It needs to be.
Speaker 3: So in that half or so that you saw him play,
Speaker 3: how do you evaluate what he did against the Packers.
Speaker 2: I thought there was some good and some bad, like
Speaker 2: like any any game. Really, but for sure for him,
Speaker 2: as you know, he had a couple of spots where
Speaker 2: he could have made a nice tackle for loss and
Speaker 2: missed a tackle. And you know, he was right on
Speaker 2: top of that dagger route on third down they got
Speaker 2: given up, but it just wasn't quite tight enough to it.
Speaker 2: So there there's some things he's got to clean up
Speaker 2: technically to be able to be in better position. But yeah,
Speaker 2: he's going to have to step up, as it always
Speaker 2: goes in the football season when you lose guys, they
Speaker 2: got to find a way whatever is being asked of
Speaker 2: them to step up and perform.
Speaker 1: The Titans gave up seven plays of twenty yards or
Speaker 1: longer in the game against the Packers. Six of those
Speaker 1: were in the first half. What led to the increase
Speaker 1: in explosive plays by the opposition?
Speaker 2: You know, I think they hit a couple of nice plays.
Speaker 2: I mean, the first play of the game was you know,
Speaker 2: we were they were pretty dialed in to go knock
Speaker 2: on the run out and it was a nice run
Speaker 2: action and they had a guy slide out the back
Speaker 2: door and good play. We weren't we weren't assign fully right. Obviously,
Speaker 2: That's how explosives get given up, but and then you
Speaker 2: know they they hit a one on one ball down
Speaker 2: the sideline. You know Rogerron Watson, and he won that battle,
Speaker 2: which happened sometimes. But the ones that are the hard
Speaker 2: ones are the are the third and long explosives that
Speaker 2: get first downs where you essentially have a team off
Speaker 2: the field and they gain a first down on an
Speaker 2: explosive play when it's third and fifteen. Those are the
Speaker 2: ones that are kind of critical and killer, and that
Speaker 2: that's where I was. Explosive plays happened, but those ones
Speaker 2: in particular were just tough to tough the stomach when
Speaker 2: we're trying to climb back in the game.
Speaker 3: Only two penalties against the Packers, and they were both
Speaker 3: in the third quarter, but they ended up being pretty
Speaker 3: significant moments in the game, which I guess when a
Speaker 3: team is losing, any mistake, big or small, is a
Speaker 3: real mistake that has an impact on the game. So
Speaker 3: I guess with that in mind, the question is do
Speaker 3: you worry about your team being so focused on not
Speaker 3: making a mistake.
Speaker 2: I don't feel that. And one of the things that
Speaker 2: I've preached since I've gotten here and throughout the entire
Speaker 2: process is you want guys to be loose and aggressive,
Speaker 2: and that's you know, don't fear failures ultimately what we
Speaker 2: what we preach, and I don't feel that. I don't
Speaker 2: think that that's how guys are playing right now. I
Speaker 2: don't sense that they're playing like they're afraid to make
Speaker 2: a mistake. I think we're assigned right a lot of
Speaker 2: the times, and I think we've we've had some losses
Speaker 2: in one on one spots that are that are you know,
Speaker 2: can be critical, but I don't sense it that from
Speaker 2: our team. And I think that thus far they've they
Speaker 2: play hard, they play physical, and we just need we
Speaker 2: need to do a better job of taking care of
Speaker 2: the football and trying to get it back is really
Speaker 2: the biggest I think the biggest reason that we've lost.
Speaker 2: And we put a stat up today of our turnovers
Speaker 2: and you know, I think seven turnovers and two block punts,
Speaker 2: so that's ultimately nine. You know, we're minus nine right
Speaker 2: now if you count the block punts. They don't count
Speaker 2: officially as a turnover, but in my mind they do.
Speaker 2: And we've given up fourteen points off interceptions, seven points
Speaker 2: off of a block punt, and then two fumbles and
Speaker 2: plus territor that led directly to field goals. That's six
Speaker 2: more points, and I think we ended up with our
Speaker 2: point differential being at thirty points. We lost by seven
Speaker 2: twice and we lost by sixteen, and then we've also
Speaker 2: given up thirty points on turnovers, and so when you
Speaker 2: look at thirty points, there's and that's it. And that's
Speaker 2: encouraging and discouraging all at the same time, you know,
Speaker 2: because I think we have the makings of a good
Speaker 2: football team, and we've been competitive and ultimately haven't made
Speaker 2: enough of the plays that help us win a game,
Speaker 2: particularly in the fourth quarter.
Speaker 3: So Ernest Jones led the team with thirteen tackles. Kenneth
Speaker 3: Murray had eight tackles and two sacks. Are you pleased
Speaker 3: overall with the of your linebackers.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I think it's a group that, you know, we
Speaker 2: had to remake in a sense, you know, we had
Speaker 2: to we had to go get two linebackers, and I
Speaker 2: think Jack's dide a nice job too. But Artis has
Speaker 2: really stepped up and played really well. That group was
Speaker 2: one that we had maybe some question marks going in
Speaker 2: the season, and thus far they have answered the bell
Speaker 2: and really played pretty well for us. I think both
Speaker 2: in the run in the pass coverage.
Speaker 1: Let me ask you about Devondre Sweat. Seems like we
Speaker 1: talk about him every week four tackles in the ball game.
Speaker 1: Most active he's been from a statistical standpoint is he
Speaker 1: gets his first four tackles as a Titan. Did he
Speaker 1: continue to make progress? Yeah?
Speaker 2: And he's made progress really every time we've we've went
Speaker 2: out there and his every week that's gone by, he's
Speaker 2: gotten better. Him and Jeff are against the run particular,
Speaker 2: are a force. I mean, they're really we're really hard
Speaker 2: to run the ball to the middle of our defense
Speaker 2: right now, and they do a really nice job and
Speaker 2: sweat and just keep showing up. And that's why we
Speaker 2: drafted him where we did, because we saw that he
Speaker 2: had the potential to be an impact player. And guys
Speaker 2: that are his size and move like that and are
Speaker 2: really hard to move off the line of scrimmage are
Speaker 2: what you need in the NFL nowadays. And he's been
Speaker 2: everything we've hoped he would be so far. He just
Speaker 2: has to keep coming.
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Speaker 3: The Titans got off to a really good start against
Speaker 3: the Packers. They had a touchdown drive right off the bat,
Speaker 3: but then the offense wasn't as consistent as you would
Speaker 3: like for it to be. Where do you feel like
Speaker 3: you maybe left some opportunities for it to have been
Speaker 3: a little bit more productive day, you know, just.
Speaker 2: The third down conversions when we've had opportunities, you know,
Speaker 2: we go down, we score, We answer their their score
Speaker 2: with a score. Opening drive felt good. Did a lot
Speaker 2: of good things in that drive. Finish it with a
Speaker 2: touchdown in the red zone, which which we have to do.
Speaker 2: They go down and kick a field goal. It's ten
Speaker 2: to seven and we get our second possession and we
Speaker 2: throw on reception for a touchdown on our I don't
Speaker 2: know what it was the eleventh play of the game
Speaker 2: and now at seventeen to seven and puts us a
Speaker 2: little bit out of rhythm, and then we get back
Speaker 2: into a third and manageable. And then we took i
Speaker 2: think two sacks on third down in the first half
Speaker 2: on some unscouted looks which we knew was going to
Speaker 2: be something that we'd have to deal with because the
Speaker 2: film was limited on Jeff half of their coordinator, and
Speaker 2: they showed something they hadn't shown in two games and
Speaker 2: caught us. They played a snap of man coverage in
Speaker 2: the spot they played primarily zone, so we had a
Speaker 2: zone style play verse man and that didn't go great
Speaker 2: and have to hold the ball and we get sacked.
Speaker 2: And then very similar thing they did third and short
Speaker 2: that we got sacked on was, you know, we're trying
Speaker 2: to uncover man verse zone and we have kind of
Speaker 2: two plays called in the play call, and they react
Speaker 2: to emotion and they show essentially man coverage everywhere, and
Speaker 2: then on a snap they drop out into too Tampa.
Speaker 2: Really well done on their part, but forces us to
Speaker 2: hold the ball and react. It's not what we thought
Speaker 2: we were getting. And then took another sack there. So
Speaker 2: just the execution on third down, the plays, the selection,
Speaker 2: the process, everything just needs to be better so we
Speaker 2: can keep getting opportunities to drive the football, because when
Speaker 2: we drive the ball and we get first downs, we've
Speaker 2: generally been pretty good, but we've had way too many
Speaker 2: three and outs.
Speaker 1: DeAndre Hopkins' performance was that the biggest positive to come
Speaker 1: out of Sunday's game for the offense at least.
Speaker 2: Sure he's back to normal, it feels like, and made
Speaker 2: plays on the ball when the balls in the air
Speaker 2: found ways to get open, and he did a nice job.
Speaker 2: I mean, we needed we needed his help in that game.
Speaker 2: We needed him to make some plays and he did
Speaker 2: and he looked like the Hopkins that that everybody knows
Speaker 2: and love around here, and what he's done for his
Speaker 2: whole career. He's he's got a knack for getting open
Speaker 2: even at his at his years in the league, he
Speaker 2: just knows how to do it. And he's a very
Speaker 2: very very strong catcher of the football and so in
Speaker 2: those contested plays like on the touchdown, he goes and
Speaker 2: grabs the ball and makes play. And that's what we
Speaker 2: need more. We need more guys to make more plays
Speaker 2: like that, where it's just it's a it's a one
Speaker 2: on one that's us versus you go make the play.
Speaker 2: Ball's in a good spot. He goes and gets it
Speaker 2: and then finishes it with a touchdown, And that was
Speaker 2: really encouraging to see him back to the Hopkins that
Speaker 2: I think we all were hoping to see early on.
Speaker 1: He clearly helped Will Levis. How do the other receivers
Speaker 1: work going forward to be that same sort of help
Speaker 1: to your young quarterback?
Speaker 2: Yeah, I think I think we've seen glimpses of what
Speaker 2: they're capable of with with Hot having a nice game
Speaker 2: and then Calvin had a really nice game last week.
Speaker 2: And now we got to find a way to get
Speaker 2: more opportunities for both those guys. And Tyler does what
Speaker 2: he does, which is convert third downs and and like
Speaker 2: he did in the first drive of the game. Those
Speaker 2: guys are all productive players. I think they're all right
Speaker 2: about I think they all have what eight catches right now,
Speaker 2: I mean, but I'd like to see them all have more.
Speaker 2: That would be the goal. And you know, we didn't
Speaker 2: get it, didn't get the run game going very well
Speaker 2: in this past game. We didn't have many carries. Part
Speaker 2: of that was the game got away a bit and
Speaker 2: they were making it hard to run it, and so
Speaker 2: we just started to throw it and it was relatively effective.
Speaker 2: But again, I think we've yet to hit on all
Speaker 2: cylinders at any point on offense, both in the run
Speaker 2: game and the past game, and need more opportunities so
Speaker 2: guys can keep having opportunities to make plays.
Speaker 3: The Titans are going to take on the Dolphins on
Speaker 3: Monday night football. How do you plan to use the
Speaker 3: extra day of preparation.
Speaker 2: We use it on the front end of the week
Speaker 2: to pick up an extra day. We'll keep our normal
Speaker 2: coaching staff routine. We'll treat this like a normal week,
Speaker 2: and then we pick up a little bit of time
Speaker 2: at the end of the week to refine. Now we
Speaker 2: won't necessarily like stay till midnight tonight because we have
Speaker 2: the extra day, so you kind of space it out
Speaker 2: just a little bit, but we try to be as
Speaker 2: ahead by the end of the week. Whereas the players,
Speaker 2: you give them a little bit the extra day on
Speaker 2: the front end to get off the game, and so
Speaker 2: tomorrow is the off day. Wednesday is like a bonus
Speaker 2: day where we have a walk through introduction, so you
Speaker 2: kind of take half of what you do on a
Speaker 2: normal Wednesday, do it then, and then do the other
Speaker 2: half the next day when you actually start your week
Speaker 2: on what is Thursday. And it's kind of weird, but
Speaker 2: Thursday is Wednesday for us on a Monday night game.
Speaker 1: So we walk around doing that all week and it
Speaker 1: confuses people. Monday is Thursday is Wednesday, and Friday is Thursday.
Speaker 1: Peeople look at you like you've got six hands.
Speaker 2: Yeah, but we were in It's just the way our
Speaker 2: world works. But that's how we'll do it. We'll give
Speaker 2: the players the front end, then we'll try to be
Speaker 2: ahead as a coaching staff with the game plan, and
Speaker 2: then we catch up a little bit at the end
Speaker 2: of the week as they work through the normal process
Speaker 2: starting on Thursday for the Monday night game.
Speaker 1: So like last week, you're not going to know who
Speaker 1: the opponent's quarterback is going into all of your prep.
Speaker 1: What's a little different, though, is with the Dolphins and
Speaker 1: kind of their mix of guys. Guys they could change
Speaker 1: a lot of what they do offensively based on who
Speaker 1: they decide to put in that spot.
Speaker 2: Is that concerning, I mean, it's always concerning. Yeah, it's
Speaker 2: it's just an element of what it is in the
Speaker 2: NFL right now, and I think Mike is as an
Speaker 2: excellent offensive football coach. He knows how to put his
Speaker 2: players in great positions. And whatever quarterback we have, you know,
Speaker 2: is going to be put in those advantageous spots as
Speaker 2: best they can. They're going to help the quarterback every
Speaker 2: which way as possible, and they we have to be
Speaker 2: able to play with the rules. We have to make
Speaker 2: sure we're tackling sound, make sure we're sounding every which
Speaker 2: way we are because they're already a difficult scheme to
Speaker 2: go against. They just they do a really nice job
Speaker 2: and they got good players in the perimeter, and so
Speaker 2: they'll put the quarterback in spots to be successful. And
Speaker 2: I think that you just you have to be on
Speaker 2: your rules and be ready for whatever it is they're
Speaker 2: going to do. And it's a copycat league on top
Speaker 2: of it, so if you if you show that you
Speaker 2: had troubles stopping something, you should expect the probably see
Speaker 2: it again. And I'm sure we'll see some some copycat
Speaker 2: things that the Packers did that we'll have to make
Speaker 2: sure we correct so we don't make the mistake again.
Speaker 1: In all of your travels in coaching, have you overlapped
Speaker 1: any with Mike McDaniel at all, And are you guys
Speaker 1: being offensive guys, are you really acquainted?
Speaker 2: I've known Mike for a long time because he's running.
Speaker 2: He was in that same circle that that the floor
Speaker 2: is and and Kyle Shanahan and all those guys. They
Speaker 2: we sort of. I was kind of in the same
Speaker 2: progression as them. I was quality control and they were
Speaker 2: quality controls and all those things. So I've always had
Speaker 2: a respect and admiration. I've never worked with Mike. You know,
Speaker 2: I spent some time in Denver probably you know he
Speaker 2: had been there at one point, and so a lot
Speaker 2: of mutual friends, a lot of mutual respect. I think
Speaker 2: he's proven to be one of the one of the
Speaker 2: best comatic coaches out there, and they do stuff that
Speaker 2: everyone tries to emulate. They got a really unique blend
Speaker 2: of skill players and uh in a really unique scheme
Speaker 2: that that's really hard to defend.
Speaker 3: Another week and another great corner. This time it's Jalen Ramsey.
Speaker 3: What kind of a challenge does he pose to your
Speaker 3: entire passing game.
Speaker 2: He's able to take away receivers and that's what these
Speaker 2: these corners do, and they find ways to eliminate half
Speaker 2: of the field when they can. And you know, we've
Speaker 2: played against Jalen before and he's fantastic. He's as good,
Speaker 2: He's as good as they come. I mean, we just
Speaker 2: we go from Jalen Johnson the sauce Gardner, to JayR
Speaker 2: Alexander to Jalen Ramsey and so the hits just keep
Speaker 2: on coming. I mean, there's every team's got good corners,
Speaker 2: and we happen to be playing against defenses that are
Speaker 2: really good defenses, and a large part of that is
Speaker 2: because of the type of corners that they have, and
Speaker 2: they make life really hard offensively. So we got to
Speaker 2: work cut out for us. We got to find ways
Speaker 2: to put our guys in position to go attack the defense.
Speaker 2: And you know, Jalen's a hard corner to go scheme against.
Speaker 2: He's really good and the highest paid player at the
Speaker 2: position for for a reason. So we have a work
Speaker 2: cutout for us.
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Speaker 1: is your offensive line specific challenge going against the Dolphins
Speaker 1: defensive front?
Speaker 2: Yeah, different, different style than we've played against the last
Speaker 2: couple of weeks. You know, really a little bit similar
Speaker 2: to our defense with Anthony Weaver there as a defense
Speaker 2: coordinator new this year, comes from the same staff as
Speaker 2: then Art came from and so there's some carriers of
Speaker 2: Raven Raven the Raven defense. It's, you know, a bunch
Speaker 2: of people now are running and he's part of that family,
Speaker 2: and he's got his own twist and his own things
Speaker 2: he likes and does. But the core of the system
Speaker 2: is one that we've we've practiced against, so that is
Speaker 2: at least has some redeeming quality that you got some familiarity.
Speaker 2: But they'll have their own twists, and they got different
Speaker 2: players in the front has traditionally been a three to
Speaker 2: four style front over the years, and a little bit
Speaker 2: different than the upfield jet penetrating defensive lines we've played
Speaker 2: the last couple of weeks. So just different style doesn't
Speaker 2: make it good or bad. It's just different. So they
Speaker 2: got a good front too, and Klays Campbell's out there
Speaker 2: still after all these years playing at a high level,
Speaker 2: which it's like him and Cam Hayward, they just don't
Speaker 2: ever go away. They're just still out there wrecking people's games.
Speaker 1: He's a monster.
Speaker 2: Yeah, he's They're good. He's he's he's one of the
Speaker 2: best to ever do it.
Speaker 1: Wow. Good stuff, Brian Callahan, thank you so much for
Speaker 1: the time you got it for Brian Callahan and Amy Wells,
Speaker 1: I might keep thanking you for joining us for the
Speaker 1: OTP