Speaker 1: This is the OTP presented by farm Burea Health Plans.
Speaker 1: Look to the folks at farm Herea Health Plans when
Speaker 1: you need someone who understands the xs and ohs of
Speaker 1: healthcare coverage. They've been protecting Tennessee and since nineteen forty seven.
Speaker 1: My name is Mike Keith amy Wells is here as
Speaker 1: usual in amy Wells. I am so glad that we
Speaker 1: waited until the afternoon of Friday, August the seventh before
Speaker 1: recording this edition of the OTP, because there is definitive news.
Speaker 1: And when you have definitive news, who do you need
Speaker 1: to have on the OTP, Amy Wells? Jim Wyatt of course,
Speaker 1: Jim Wyatt, Tennessee Titans dot Com Senior writer editor. Let's
Speaker 1: talk Vic Beasley. Let's delve into this right away. First
Speaker 1: response to his reporting, Jim Relief, Yeah, I think so.
Speaker 1: I mean it, really you just want to have any
Speaker 1: distractions out of the way. You want to have this
Speaker 1: team all together and doing everything a ken to prepare
Speaker 1: for the season. And that was going to be a
Speaker 1: storyline and a topic of conversation until he showed up.
Speaker 1: So fact, he has started the process of the COVID
Speaker 1: testing and now you have to go through protocols like
Speaker 1: everybody else, to be in a physician, to be on
Speaker 1: the field this time next week. And you know, just
Speaker 1: to hear some of his teammates on the conference calls today,
Speaker 1: whether it's Kenny Vaccaro or Roger Sifold, you know they're
Speaker 1: they're glad to have him on board. And that's what
Speaker 1: the that's what this team signed him for him here
Speaker 1: was a big free agent acquisition. Still has some pop
Speaker 1: in his game and now it's the process of getting
Speaker 1: on the field and getting the best the team can
Speaker 1: get out of him. And the bottom line. Jim touched
Speaker 1: on some of the timing. Amy he comes in today,
Speaker 1: takes a COVID test, he will come in tomorrow and
Speaker 1: take a COVID test. He will come in on Monday
Speaker 1: and take a COVID test, and if he is cleared
Speaker 1: through those three tests, three negative tests, then he can
Speaker 1: join the football team on Tuesday. Tuesday is when the
Speaker 1: next phase of this unusual preseason training camp, summer camp,
Speaker 1: whatever you want to call it, starts. And so, I mean,
Speaker 1: he hasn't missed a whole lot. I guess that's the
Speaker 1: best news, right, Yeah, he hasn't really it's we're starting
Speaker 1: to transition into the more OTA like things, if that
Speaker 1: makes sense. So it's not just the meetings and getting
Speaker 1: familiar with the protocols and all of that. We're working
Speaker 1: more towards more football, if that makes sense. We're adding
Speaker 1: more football to the equation. So in terms of whether
Speaker 1: or not he will be behind, I don't really think
Speaker 1: that'll be an issue. Vic Beasley's a veteran and Kenny
Speaker 1: Vaccaro said during his media availability a little bit earlier
Speaker 1: today that he's not judging anybody for any decisions that
Speaker 1: they make throughout this process in twenty twenty. He's saying,
Speaker 1: you know what, I don't know this guy's life. I'm
Speaker 1: not sure what was going on. I don't hold anything
Speaker 1: against him. We're all trying to make the best decisions
Speaker 1: for ourselves and our families right now. I don't know
Speaker 1: what's been going on in his world, so we're all
Speaker 1: starting with a clean slate, and I thought that that
Speaker 1: was a really good kind of way for him to
Speaker 1: see the bigger picture of what's been going on with
Speaker 1: all of this. Everyone's just trying to make the decisions
Speaker 1: that are best for them in their families right now.
Speaker 1: And trying to wade through very bizarre time. So if
Speaker 1: he can come in, obviously test negative all the times
Speaker 1: he needs to, and then rejoin the team, he's not
Speaker 1: going to be that far behind. He's a veteran player.
Speaker 1: I mean, football is football, you know. And Amy touched
Speaker 1: on it, Jim about Kenny's comments, and a couple of
Speaker 1: other guys were asked about Vic Beasley too. Players don't
Speaker 1: generally judge other players in instances like this because they
Speaker 1: all know at some point that could be them, right,
Speaker 1: That's very true. I mean, covering this team, you know,
Speaker 1: as long as I have, I've pretty much seen it all.
Speaker 1: You know, whether it's a guy you know showing up late,
Speaker 1: like Samari Roll way back in the day. I remember
Speaker 1: he was dealing with the contract situation. He was late.
Speaker 1: You've had other players who have had pretty public bitles
Speaker 1: with the team, and players don't get into the middle
Speaker 1: of all that. Again, the Beasley situation, I didn't have
Speaker 1: anything to do with the contract, but obviously there's something
Speaker 1: going on that kept Vic Beasley from being here. And
Speaker 1: I don't think anybody wants to be quick. I don't
Speaker 1: think anybody wants to jump out and condemn him or
Speaker 1: put him down. You know, the most important thing is
Speaker 1: to get him here working out with his teammates. People
Speaker 1: forget about those things, and I think fans will forget
Speaker 1: about it, you know, as long as he comes in
Speaker 1: does what he's supposed to do, you know, and it's
Speaker 1: productive on the field. That's what this team signed him
Speaker 1: for to get out of the quarterback. And I do
Speaker 1: think that, yes, he missed some time or early that
Speaker 1: and you'd like to see everybody in at the same time.
Speaker 1: But the on field work doesn't start unto the end
Speaker 1: of next week. There's plenty of time for him to
Speaker 1: get himself in good shape, plenty of time for him
Speaker 1: to get comfortable with what they're going to ask him
Speaker 1: to do. And this is not a first second year
Speaker 1: Guy's a guy who's done it for a while, and
Speaker 1: I expect him to be able to hit the ground running. Oh,
Speaker 1: he's gonna pay his price fine wise, I mean, that's
Speaker 1: that's between he and the collective bargaining agreement and whatever
Speaker 1: goes with that, and so that's that's another story. But
Speaker 1: as long as he goes and hits the quarterback a
Speaker 1: bunch in Denver on September fourteenth, and hits the quarterback
Speaker 1: on September twentieth against Jacksonville, and it hits the quarterback
Speaker 1: in Minnesota and September twenty seventh, all will be forgiven.
Speaker 1: I agree. I mean, I think it's so important. I mean,
Speaker 1: it's obviously important to have a guy that you kind
Speaker 1: of earmark and went after a free agy to have
Speaker 1: him show up, because you know, I think today he's
Speaker 1: the team's biggest free agent acquisition. But you know, while
Speaker 1: he was not here and there were questions about what
Speaker 1: and he was going to be here, I thought about
Speaker 1: guys like Harold Landry, and I thought about Camelot Karea,
Speaker 1: and I thought about you know, Derek Roberson and DeAndre
Speaker 1: Walker and all these guys who were gonna have to
Speaker 1: step up without him, And I thought, you know, all
Speaker 1: this talk about trying to reduce Harold Landry's workloads and snaps,
Speaker 1: you know you're not gonna able to do that if
Speaker 1: you're thin at that position, and and so so Beasley
Speaker 1: being back, being a part of the group helps everybody.
Speaker 1: I mean, it takes pressure off a Landry, it takes
Speaker 1: pressure off Karea, and you just didn't want to have
Speaker 1: anybody kind of scrambling for more answers or looking for
Speaker 1: more options with what's left in the market, because you
Speaker 1: want your own guy in here, the guy you went
Speaker 1: after to get. You know, that was so interesting, the
Speaker 1: landry piece that was written. And I was shocked at
Speaker 1: how many snaps he played in the playoff game. I
Speaker 1: guess it was Baltimore that he played all but two snaps.
Speaker 1: I mean that I had no idea he was on
Speaker 1: the field that much, and so it's kind of no
Speaker 1: wonder he wore down and Shane Bowen has talked about
Speaker 1: it extensively. Amy, did that surprise you did? I mean,
Speaker 1: you're down on the field. I know you probably don't
Speaker 1: count snaps, but I had no idea he played that much. Yeah.
Speaker 1: I mean, looking back on it, you kind of think weo, Yeah,
Speaker 1: that kind of makes sense. I mean, he was on
Speaker 1: the field a lot. But when the actual numbers came
Speaker 1: out in the percentage of the snaps that he played,
Speaker 1: it was like, oh, yeah, that is kind of a lot.
Speaker 1: And when he was asked about it and whether he
Speaker 1: wants I guess less snaps or something. I mean, what's
Speaker 1: any guy gonna say? No? Like he wanted to be
Speaker 1: out on the field right. He was happy to do it,
Speaker 1: and his whole thing was building his endurance so that
Speaker 1: when he's asked to do that again, he can still
Speaker 1: perform the same level and there's not a drop off
Speaker 1: even if you're getting tired. But I mean, for a
Speaker 1: guy playing that many snaps, of course you're gonna get tired.
Speaker 1: You're a human being. Were you surprised, Jim, I didn't
Speaker 1: realize that many I knew was planning, I didn't. I
Speaker 1: didn't realize the significance there. And uh, you know, obviously
Speaker 1: he's not wanting to make excuses. I'll say this. His
Speaker 1: stack numbers went down, but he was still getting after
Speaker 1: his quarterback pressure. Still, he was still disrupting plays even
Speaker 1: though he didn't have the stacks that he had during
Speaker 1: the first part of the season. One other thing I
Speaker 1: thought was interesting that he said, because I think I
Speaker 1: think everybody's looking for pass rushers to develop more moves,
Speaker 1: and he's talked himself about one to add more to
Speaker 1: his pass rush arsenal. But you know, you know, he said, hey,
Speaker 1: I'm not looking to have, you know, a thousand moves.
Speaker 1: I'm looking to perfect the two or three that I
Speaker 1: have to be as good as I possibly can at
Speaker 1: those and he figures that's a way he can be successful.
Speaker 1: I thought that was an interesting approach that he's taken,
Speaker 1: and I think that's, you know, it's a smart move.
Speaker 1: I mean, if he can be as good as he
Speaker 1: can possibly be with some of the moves that he
Speaker 1: feels or his strengths, then that's gonna go along way.
Speaker 1: He has that bicycle lean that the birthday boy Dave
Speaker 1: McGinnis Happy birthday, Coach Mac. He has that bicycle lean
Speaker 1: that Coach Mack talks about Amy and Vic Beasley has
Speaker 1: it too, and they are those kind of rushers. Roberson
Speaker 1: has that Krey is a stiffer, more power rusher. That's okay,
Speaker 1: that works as well. But you love having some of
Speaker 1: those guys who really put pressure on those tackles on
Speaker 1: the edge. Landry Roberson a guy, a guy like Vic Beasley,
Speaker 1: who I mean, listen, if you've put up fifteen and
Speaker 1: a half sacks in a season at some point, which
Speaker 1: he has, you can rush the passer. You know you
Speaker 1: don't do that by accident. I'm gonna be honest with you, Mike.
Speaker 1: I don't care what kind of moves you have I
Speaker 1: don't care if you're running, walking, crawling. However, you get
Speaker 1: there and get the man on the ground. That's what
Speaker 1: I'm interested in. How you get there. If you're skipping
Speaker 1: or spinning or none of that matters to me. Just
Speaker 1: get there. But speed rush is a big deal in
Speaker 1: a three to four. You've got to have power guys,
Speaker 1: but you've also got to have speed guys so that
Speaker 1: you can get there when you're only sending four people.
Speaker 1: You can't blitz all the time. You just can't. Jim,
Speaker 1: I agree, And I do think this team's obviously better
Speaker 1: in my mind than it was last season from an
Speaker 1: edge rush, pass rush standpoint, a team that went to
Speaker 1: LFC Championship game last year. So I think Beasley, if
Speaker 1: he gets in here, get some self ready to go
Speaker 1: and plays, you know, like he's capable playing. I think
Speaker 1: you can see him improved Harold Lander this year. I
Speaker 1: really like the way kaya finish the year last year.
Speaker 1: And then you just get really one of the other
Speaker 1: two Walker and Robson to step up and help you,
Speaker 1: and both of them could. I mean, I think you'll
Speaker 1: use a lot of guys in rotation. When I look
Speaker 1: at the defense, I think the edge Rush has a
Speaker 1: potential beat even better than the last season. You know,
Speaker 1: the guy we don't talk about enough in that is
Speaker 1: Gilbert because Gilbert comes over from Green Bay. He's coming
Speaker 1: back from an injury. He did some good things at
Speaker 1: different points. But I know Shane Bowen's been talking about
Speaker 1: the fact that him being healthier, he may be able
Speaker 1: to give more this year. Jim, Yeah, and I probably
Speaker 1: should have mentioned him in that group because he is
Speaker 1: you know, they thought enough of him to bring him
Speaker 1: back for another year, and he has some experience. You know,
Speaker 1: he dealt with an injury when he first came to Tennessee.
Speaker 1: He kind of battled through that. He's a hard working guy.
Speaker 1: So when you talk about rotation, when you talk about
Speaker 1: guys competing, he's very much in the mix there and
Speaker 1: really anxious to see how some of these guys look,
Speaker 1: you know, especially Gilbert, Robertson and Walker. When camp starts,
Speaker 1: all right, Amy, let me ask you a question. Go
Speaker 1: put you on the spot just a little bit. Do
Speaker 1: you think that in twenty nineteen the most improved tighten
Speaker 1: from twenty eighteen was Harold Landry? Was he the most
Speaker 1: improved player from the year before? Probably I would put
Speaker 1: Harold Landry and Rashaun Evans kind of on a similar
Speaker 1: line there, although Rashaun Evans was playing great at the
Speaker 1: end of twenty eighteen. Yeah, but I still think that
Speaker 1: he was more consistent in twenty nineteen and he was
Speaker 1: more effective in twenty nineteen. All Right, that's fair. Who
Speaker 1: will be the most improved Titan in twenty twenty? Maybe
Speaker 1: you can go first, and then I'm gonna let Jim go,
Speaker 1: and then I've got one. Well can I pull one
Speaker 1: that it's kind of a cop out answer, Well, yeah, sure,
Speaker 1: what have you won? Okay? I think Jeffrey Simmons, because
Speaker 1: he's going to have a full year, have a full offseason,
Speaker 1: have a working leg. I mean, he's already leaps and
Speaker 1: bounds above where he was at this point a year ago.
Speaker 1: So I think that, just by a productivity standpoint and
Speaker 1: not having so many cards stacked against him, I think
Speaker 1: Jeffrey Simmons is my guy. So we've already done something
Speaker 1: with Jeffrey Simmons for TV and I asked him the question,
Speaker 1: I said, where is your knee braves? Yeah, he does
Speaker 1: not know where it is. He doesn't know where it is.
Speaker 1: I don't know where it is. I happy because I
Speaker 1: thought maybe he burned it or he was going to
Speaker 1: auction it off for charity. But he said, you know
Speaker 1: the truth is, I don't even know where it is.
Speaker 1: I said, that's the best answer you could have given me.
Speaker 1: That makes me happy. That means it's not even in
Speaker 1: his mind. In his mind, Jim Wyatt, all right, So
Speaker 1: I'm gonna give it to you. Who is going to
Speaker 1: end up being the most improved Titan in twenty twenty. Well,
Speaker 1: I'm going with A J. Brown. And people say that's
Speaker 1: crazy because this had a thousand yards receiving last year
Speaker 1: and eight touchdowns and you know, he already looked like
Speaker 1: he was NFL ready last year. But I think that
Speaker 1: just kind of was to tip the iceberg for him
Speaker 1: about how good he can be. He can better those
Speaker 1: numbers and then some because I think he's going to
Speaker 1: be that much better from you know, a technique standpoint,
Speaker 1: from a knowing what defenses are trying to do to him.
Speaker 1: You know, it lit a fire underneath them. The fact
Speaker 1: that he didn't have some success late in the season
Speaker 1: and some of those games that he did early in
Speaker 1: the year, and I think he's motivated to show that
Speaker 1: he can be a tremendous pro and you know, felt
Speaker 1: the perceived snub from being third in offensive Rookie of
Speaker 1: the Year. I think has been on his mind as well.
Speaker 1: So I think A. J. Brown takes it up another
Speaker 1: notch in twenty and twenty and is uh, you know,
Speaker 1: becomes a Pro Bowl caliber receiver. Maybe Wells. Who is
Speaker 1: Mike Keith gonna say? I don't know. I'm sitting here
Speaker 1: looking at my roster trying to figure out who you're
Speaker 1: gonna say, someone goofy. I've got no say. Who am
Speaker 1: I going to say? He's gonna say a Moni hooker? No?
Speaker 1: Actually no, although I thought about that, I think it's
Speaker 1: Adam Humphries. I wouldn't h And it's not fair to
Speaker 1: say he played poorly because he didn't. I just think
Speaker 1: he never got on the same page with Mariota because
Speaker 1: Mariota was, you know, let's face it, markets in the
Speaker 1: same book. No, he wasn't playing that well. And then
Speaker 1: he finally gets Tannehill in there and it looks like
Speaker 1: they're gonna establish some rhythm and he gets hurt. I
Speaker 1: think we will see the Adam Humphreys from twenty eighteen
Speaker 1: in Tampa with the Tennessee Titans in twenty twenty. I
Speaker 1: think you're talking about a guy. I think he leads
Speaker 1: the team in catches and I'm not saying he leads
Speaker 1: the team in yards. I think he leads the team
Speaker 1: in catches. Reaction response, I'm here for it. I think
Speaker 1: that's great. I was excited when we signed him last year.
Speaker 1: I was disappointed that he didn't get off to the
Speaker 1: start that I think we all, including himself, wanted him too. Sure,
Speaker 1: So I'm I'm okay with that, Mike, Like, if he's
Speaker 1: the most improved Titan, that would make me very happy.
Speaker 1: And I think that our why receiver room would be
Speaker 1: pretty pretty solid if Adam Humphries has the season that
Speaker 1: we're all expecting him to have. You spent some time
Speaker 1: with him, didn't you, Jim. I did. Yeah. There's actually
Speaker 1: a story on Tennessee Titans dot com about Adam Humphries
Speaker 1: that was posted this morning, so good timing on that.
Speaker 1: And he's excited. I mean, I think he felt, like,
Speaker 1: you know, he would make more of an impact at
Speaker 1: times last season, and just the transition and getting comfortable
Speaker 1: in a new offense and with new quarterbacks. That off
Speaker 1: obviously was an adjustment for him. There was a stretch
Speaker 1: there in the middle of the season where he was
Speaker 1: having games where he caught four or five passes and
Speaker 1: he felt good, and then he had the ankle injury
Speaker 1: in Indianapolis and missed six games, including the two playoff games.
Speaker 1: You know, he feels like the team having tanney Hill back,
Speaker 1: the team having so much continuity on offense, that's going
Speaker 1: to go a long ways. And you know, he's comfortable
Speaker 1: in Tennessee. You know, in Tampa he talked about, you know,
Speaker 1: living in an apartment with two of his teammates his
Speaker 1: entire time there, and now he's bought his own place
Speaker 1: here in Tennessee. Again, he's fired up by tanney Hill.
Speaker 1: He did a lot of work this saw season to
Speaker 1: get himself ready to go. And I think that's a
Speaker 1: good kind of breakout candidate because you look at his
Speaker 1: numbers and they don't jump off the page at you.
Speaker 1: But you got to consider that he did miss a
Speaker 1: significant stretch and he was adjusting the different quarterbacks like
Speaker 1: everybody else. So he's a good candidate to make a
Speaker 1: huge jump in my mind as well. All right, telling
Speaker 1: me ask you this we're at August seventh. The Titans
Speaker 1: had one player opt out, Anthony McKinney, an undrafted rookie
Speaker 1: offensive lineman who quite frankly, was going to be hard
Speaker 1: pressed to make this roster, and so the Titans current
Speaker 1: roster was not affected by the opt out thing to
Speaker 1: a big degree. Now they're in a situation where Vick
Speaker 1: Beasley is back, Jayon Brown has been activated from pup.
Speaker 1: He's back to work or ready to start work as
Speaker 1: they get deeper into things, waiting on Corey Davis at
Speaker 1: this point, he's still on the pup. So things have
Speaker 1: settled down a little bit. Jim, I'm gonna give you
Speaker 1: first cracking the namy. You go with some cap money.
Speaker 1: Does John Robinson, now that he's got some things sorted out,
Speaker 1: does he start to make a few moves? Now? Is
Speaker 1: this where he starts to kick some tires and light
Speaker 1: some fires and bring some free agents? And I know
Speaker 1: everybody's gonna assume this is a Jadevian clowney comment, not
Speaker 1: just saying that maybe he does, maybe he doesn't. But
Speaker 1: do we see business start to pick up for Titans
Speaker 1: as far as free agents, no matter who that may be. Well,
Speaker 1: I guess with John nothing surprises me because he is
Speaker 1: aggressive and he does you know, he does surprise people
Speaker 1: from time to time on some of the bold moves
Speaker 1: that he makes Personally. I mean, I kind of get
Speaker 1: the hunch that because he's waited so long this offseason
Speaker 1: ootas and many camps and really an offseason program, I
Speaker 1: just think he's chomping at the bit to see his
Speaker 1: own guys, and I think he's going to give those
Speaker 1: players a long look during the early portion of camp
Speaker 1: to kind of gauge what he has exactly, and if
Speaker 1: he doesn't like what he has after a couple of
Speaker 1: weeks or it feels like the team needs to upgrade
Speaker 1: at certain positions, I kind of think that's when he
Speaker 1: jumps out and makes a move, you know, at certain spots.
Speaker 1: I thought it was interesting when the team cut down,
Speaker 1: you know, got us roster down to eighty, that the
Speaker 1: team parted ways with players that had some experience, not
Speaker 1: the undrafted guys that probably some people expected. And the
Speaker 1: reason the team did that because they want to look
Speaker 1: at these undrafted guys and then at that point they
Speaker 1: feel like the guys that they released initially are going
Speaker 1: to be better options. Then you'll bring those guys back.
Speaker 1: But I think this is the time now, whether it's
Speaker 1: with Logan Woodside or whether it's with some of the
Speaker 1: rookies who are gonna be buying for spots. I think
Speaker 1: you got to give those guys a shot, and then
Speaker 1: I think you kind of jump in and add to
Speaker 1: the roster because we still have time. I mean, the
Speaker 1: seasons still over a month from now. Some of these
Speaker 1: veterans you'd be bringing in, maybe they don't need the
Speaker 1: camp as much as some other guys do. So I'm
Speaker 1: over the feeling that he's going to wait a little bit,
Speaker 1: look at what he has, and then decide to make
Speaker 1: some moves. I think you also have to consider the
Speaker 1: financial aspect of this, and Mike you had mentioned that,
Speaker 1: you know, we still have some cap room and money
Speaker 1: to work with, and I think that John Robinson is
Speaker 1: going to be a little bit more I don't know
Speaker 1: if frugal is the right word, but he's going to
Speaker 1: be a little bit more aware of socking away some
Speaker 1: extra money for the season than maybe we would see
Speaker 1: in other situations. Because we don't know what this season
Speaker 1: is going to look like. There's a chance that there
Speaker 1: could be a lot of turnover on a roster, and
Speaker 1: you've got to have money to pay people to play
Speaker 1: for you. So it wouldn't surprise me if everyone kind
Speaker 1: of sits on this team that we have for a while,
Speaker 1: really evaluate the guys that are in the building, see
Speaker 1: what we can put together, and then make some tough
Speaker 1: decisions from there. But I don't think you're going to
Speaker 1: see any big just blow them out of the water,
Speaker 1: big surprise moves until after training camp is over, and
Speaker 1: John Robinson may look at this roster and say, Okay,
Speaker 1: we need to fill in some pieces. But I think
Speaker 1: he's going to hang on to more money than he
Speaker 1: typically would because we don't know what's going to happen
Speaker 1: with this roster, and we don't know how many holes
Speaker 1: he's going to have to fill as this virus kind
Speaker 1: of moves through cities and locker rooms and whatever else
Speaker 1: may happen this season. That's a great point because there's
Speaker 1: so much talk about with the cap going down next year, Jim,
Speaker 1: people are holding on to money and moving it to
Speaker 1: next year. But Amy's right, if you keep five million
Speaker 1: in reserve to get through a season in a normal year,
Speaker 1: you may need eight to ten million this year to
Speaker 1: get through it because you you just don't know what
Speaker 1: it's going to end up looking like, you just don't
Speaker 1: have any idea. Yeah, and I think I think the
Speaker 1: teams and I saw the updated list, you know, just
Speaker 1: the other day, and I think the teams that have
Speaker 1: a little bit of money to work with probably sleep
Speaker 1: a little bit better than night sure because of that issue,
Speaker 1: because you don't know what's going to happen, like Amy said,
Speaker 1: during the course of the season. So we'll see what transpires,
Speaker 1: I mean, and again I think he'll probably get a
Speaker 1: better picture of what he has and where this team
Speaker 1: may need to add some some pieces. But you also
Speaker 1: got to consider a whole other group of players is
Speaker 1: going to be available for you once roster cuts are made,
Speaker 1: you know, at the end of camps and into September,
Speaker 1: and you know, maybe you wait and to get a
Speaker 1: guy who's gone through camp, whose body is in shape,
Speaker 1: is not gonna have to come in and go through
Speaker 1: a testing system and protocols that we put them behind
Speaker 1: the eight ball. When you're getting closer to the season,
Speaker 1: maybe you're better off waiting identifying some of those guys. Unfortunately,
Speaker 1: thing is without the preseason without the benefit of having
Speaker 1: some of these in joint practices. You haven't been able
Speaker 1: to see some of these guys up close, so you're
Speaker 1: really doing some of this stuff blindly, which is completely
Speaker 1: different than years past. Yeah, it's a it's a totally
Speaker 1: different situation one hundred percent. And I think everybody understands
Speaker 1: that that's going to be you know, how it all
Speaker 1: goes down now that what's going to happen at this
Speaker 1: point is eighty players will go out through the eleventh
Speaker 1: in what is a conditioning period? Am I saying that right? Amy?
Speaker 1: An acclamation period? I guess is how you better say it?
Speaker 1: And then the twelfth through the sixteenth that's gonna sort
Speaker 1: of look like Phase two of OTA with helmets and
Speaker 1: do I have that right? Yeah? It sounds like limited
Speaker 1: field work whatever that means. So, I mean that typically
Speaker 1: is a lot of kind of individual position work. You're
Speaker 1: wearing helmets, maybe you're wearing shells, but you're not going
Speaker 1: up against people, you're not putting your hands on guys
Speaker 1: in other positions. Typically, that's what that means. I mean,
Speaker 1: I didn't write it, so I don't really know. But
Speaker 1: so the transition comes on August seventeenth though, right, Jim,
Speaker 1: that's the day when you're allowed to start putting pads
Speaker 1: on for the first time and have you know, contact,
Speaker 1: And I mean this is also new to all of
Speaker 1: us because we are used to guys reporting and then
Speaker 1: being on the field the next day and a couple
Speaker 1: of days in you're having goal line drills and you're
Speaker 1: having eleven on eleven and doing things from a completely
Speaker 1: different standpoint as far as intensity goes. You know, as
Speaker 1: ask Bribal, you know this week during a video converence,
Speaker 1: College is kind of to walk me through what phase
Speaker 1: we're in, expecting him to say, well, we're in phase two,
Speaker 1: and he said, well, the rookies are in phase seven.
Speaker 1: And I'm like, well, you know what will happen in
Speaker 1: phase three, four, five, and six. I mean, there's all
Speaker 1: this terminology and where they are so different than where
Speaker 1: it's been in years past. And it has been a
Speaker 1: slow lead in that has involved testing and walked through
Speaker 1: and meetings and conditioning and a lot of work that's
Speaker 1: been done before you even think about getting on the
Speaker 1: football field. I think we're all excited about being out
Speaker 1: there next Friday to watch, but it's still gonna be
Speaker 1: a little while before we're really able to evaluate guys
Speaker 1: and seeing competitive drills. Jim, you have not watched this
Speaker 1: team do anything yet, by rule, and yet you're still
Speaker 1: writing tons of stuff at Tennessee Titans dot Com. You're
Speaker 1: still on Twitter throwing things out all the time. How
Speaker 1: are you covering this team and this quote unquote training
Speaker 1: camp without being able to see any of it. I
Speaker 1: have stock pilots. I've talked to a lot of guys,
Speaker 1: like at the Adam Humphreys story that I wrote for
Speaker 1: this morning, I talked to him, you know, a couple
Speaker 1: of weeks prior, and there are a couple of guys
Speaker 1: I've talked to just to really make sure leading up
Speaker 1: to camp, I had enough stuff to get me to camp.
Speaker 1: And then it turns out that camp is not camp
Speaker 1: as we know it. I have some stuff, some features
Speaker 1: that I still have kind of held on too. I
Speaker 1: got to do position previews and usually roll those out
Speaker 1: and the two weeks leading up to camp, and again
Speaker 1: I had to put pauls on those, you know, partly
Speaker 1: because of the long build up to camp, and also
Speaker 1: because I didn't want to put a position preview out
Speaker 1: on the outside linebackers, and you didn't know exactly sure
Speaker 1: what was going to happen with Vick Beasley. So I've
Speaker 1: pressed Pauls on that and now I can get those
Speaker 1: rolling again. So a combination of the interviews I've done,
Speaker 1: the previews that I have, you know, these video conference
Speaker 1: calls at four guys on today that I may able
Speaker 1: to use content off of that. There's some other things
Speaker 1: that I can do between now and then where I'm
Speaker 1: gonna make it to camp. I've got I've got enough
Speaker 1: stuff to get to access next week. What I'm most
Speaker 1: looking forward to doing, I think what fans are most
Speaker 1: looking forward to seeing these practice sports and hearing who's
Speaker 1: looking good in camp and who's out there. And we're
Speaker 1: not gonna be to tell them who's running with the
Speaker 1: at nicol and who's running with the ones, but we
Speaker 1: can at least give them, you know, some insight on
Speaker 1: who looks good, what they're doing, you know, hopefully have
Speaker 1: some some highlights on Twitter, uh from you know, from practices,
Speaker 1: and just get football going again. But it has been,
Speaker 1: I mean, it still has been a flurry of activity
Speaker 1: as far as I'm concerned. Because in the NFL, there's
Speaker 1: always something right about. There's always something going on, and
Speaker 1: you know, I try to keep doing my part to
Speaker 1: keep the website fresh, Mike, isn't it Isn't it ridiculous
Speaker 1: that there is no access to football for us right now?
Speaker 1: We can't go to these practices, these walk throughs and things.
Speaker 1: Jim Wyatt is still making us look bad, like this
Speaker 1: is unbelievable. Out Jim Wyatt's grinding, I'm in a bubble
Speaker 1: bath somewhere. That's not true. You've been to the facility.
Speaker 1: I know you have. I have been to the facility
Speaker 1: and it was the greatest feeling. You got to tape
Speaker 1: an interview, right I did tape an interview, and I'm
Speaker 1: very excited about it, and it's amazing what they've been
Speaker 1: able to do with the studio to get it set
Speaker 1: up so that everybody is still safe, but we can
Speaker 1: have interactions with people via video. It's very star Trek
Speaker 1: the whole thing. But it felt really really good to
Speaker 1: be back in the studio and be back in the facility. Mike,
Speaker 1: I called you all emotional. Well, I felt that way too.
Speaker 1: I was there for two days and got a chance
Speaker 1: to start doing some interviews with players. They're not in
Speaker 1: the same room with us. It's gonna look very I
Speaker 1: think it's been described as Scott van Peltish. Yeah, how
Speaker 1: he does his interviews where he talks to somebody on
Speaker 1: the screen. That's how we're gonna have to do it,
Speaker 1: you know. And and the setups from I mean, we
Speaker 1: will continue to have to do some things from home.
Speaker 1: I think it's going to continue all year. But what
Speaker 1: we know for the three of us is we are
Speaker 1: gonna get to watch ball practice one week from today.
Speaker 1: I know it's coming. I can. I can hear the
Speaker 1: sounds and smell the grass, and it makes me very happy.
Speaker 1: The question is can Dave McGinnis socially distanced at practice.
Speaker 1: Absolutely not. I'll put twenty bucks on the fact that
Speaker 1: coach Max whatever tracking beeper is going off within sixty seconds,
Speaker 1: is being open. It's definitely gonna be a different season,
Speaker 1: I mean, because as you mentioned, the interviews that you
Speaker 1: guys are doing, and the fact that you know the
Speaker 1: locker room's not going to be open to reporters all season.
Speaker 1: You know, it kind of remains to be seen whether
Speaker 1: anyone will be President Mike Rabel's press conferences, but I
Speaker 1: anticipate the majority of those in video conference call and
Speaker 1: after games, you know, I you know, I think the
Speaker 1: league's still working through the process of how that's going
Speaker 1: to be handled. I think you'll still maybe see Mike
Speaker 1: Rabel behind the podium post game, and we'll see whether
Speaker 1: players are there, you know, NC double a style behind
Speaker 1: the desk, or whether they're gonna be all zoom. But
Speaker 1: it's gonna be a different year covering this team, you know,
Speaker 1: for all of us. Let me ask you a question, Jim,
Speaker 1: because and Amy, I want you to comment on this too,
Speaker 1: because I know you're a big college football fan. So
Speaker 1: sixty nine NFL players opted out. I was not surprised
Speaker 1: by that in the least. I thought that that probably
Speaker 1: sounded about right. Are you surprised, Jim and a lot
Speaker 1: of these college players choosing to opt out? I'm not.
Speaker 1: I mean, I actually thought the number would maybe be
Speaker 1: higher in the NFL than ended up being. Yeah, you know,
Speaker 1: the college players. I kind of had gotten a sense
Speaker 1: in talking to some people, you know, in the last
Speaker 1: couple of weeks, that this was coming and if football
Speaker 1: doesn't go, I mean, I know, it's a lot of
Speaker 1: these conferences are now talking about going to the spring
Speaker 1: you know, I'm keeping my fingers crossed that, you know,
Speaker 1: the SEC and these Power five conferences will be able
Speaker 1: to play in the fall. But if the conferences or
Speaker 1: football by some reason had to get moved to the spring,
Speaker 1: use I think, you know, floodgates would open up with
Speaker 1: everyone to claim for the draft and not come back
Speaker 1: for their final season. So some of these other players
Speaker 1: are going to see the moves that these guys are
Speaker 1: making and have to start thinking themselves about, you know,
Speaker 1: does it make sense for me to come back, you know,
Speaker 1: for one more year with so many concerns with COVID,
Speaker 1: and is it smarter for me to get ready for
Speaker 1: the draft. And I'm just curious to see what those
Speaker 1: numbers look like as we move forward here in August.
Speaker 1: Oh gosh, it's already so hard for players, especially players
Speaker 1: who are having some success at the college level, to decide, Okay,
Speaker 1: when do I declare if that's something that looks like
Speaker 1: I'm kind of eligible for I could have some success there,
Speaker 1: when do I walk away? Do I stay? I want
Speaker 1: to get that extra experience, But could I get hurt?
Speaker 1: Will my I guess stock rise or fall in making
Speaker 1: that choice? And now these poor kids also have this
Speaker 1: virus that I could get sick, my teammates could get sick,
Speaker 1: and then the season's over, I've lost tape then, Like,
Speaker 1: there's all these different things that these kids have to
Speaker 1: think about for them and their families, and I wouldn't
Speaker 1: want to be them for the world. I wouldn't want
Speaker 1: to be going to college myself right now, just as
Speaker 1: a regular person who can't do anything like that's challenging.
Speaker 1: So making some sort of an athletic decision that could
Speaker 1: impact your career for years to come. Who I wouldn't
Speaker 1: wish it on anybody. These kids are in a tough spot.
Speaker 1: Some of the guys who have already declared that they
Speaker 1: are going to opt out are players who, according to
Speaker 1: the experts, that the three of us rely on our
Speaker 1: first round picks. You know, that's a that's a big
Speaker 1: part of this right now is you've got some folks who,
Speaker 1: I mean, these are these are big name players. Greg
Speaker 1: Russo from Miamia, Florida, one of the best edge rushers,
Speaker 1: a six seven guy with incredible length, and I mean
Speaker 1: Bateman from Minnesota, really good looking receiver who can do
Speaker 1: a lot of things. Certainly gotten everybody's attention. You know
Speaker 1: who's screaming right now, Agents of kids who are opting
Speaker 1: out a year early because they now have to find
Speaker 1: places for these kids to work out for a year.
Speaker 1: They've got to find lodging for them with those trainers.
Speaker 1: Usually they're paying for most, if not all of that,
Speaker 1: all of their living expenses and things like that, while
Speaker 1: these kids are trying to prep their bodies and make
Speaker 1: sure that they're in shape to go to the next
Speaker 1: level after taking a year off. If you're an agent,
Speaker 1: you better fire up that credit card because you've got
Speaker 1: to supply a lot of things for these kids. A
Speaker 1: year before they'd be needing places to stay in trainers
Speaker 1: and all of that. Anyway, now you've got to do
Speaker 1: it for a full six months too. You've got It's
Speaker 1: for the OTP presented by Farm Bureau Health Plans. Get
Speaker 1: the home field advantage with healthcare coverage from Farm Bureau
Speaker 1: Health Plans. They've been protecting Tennessee and since nineteen forty seven.
Speaker 1: Jim Wyatt, please tell everyone how they can follow you
Speaker 1: on social media at j Wyatt Sports on Twitter and Instagram,
Speaker 1: and in addition to my story has been on Tennessee
Speaker 1: Titans Dot com post them on Facebook as well, So
Speaker 1: you got a lot to write about it, and starting
Speaker 1: gonna have a lot to write about starting next week.
Speaker 1: Heyby Wells, how do people follow you on social media? Well,
Speaker 1: I'm at Titans Amy Amie on Twitter, Titans underscore Amie
Speaker 1: on Instagram. It's kind of a long story, but underscore
Speaker 1: on Instagram. I locked myself out of the real Titans Amy.
Speaker 1: That's the story you did, I really did. I was
Speaker 1: trying to make a Titans Amy Instagram profile. I decided
Speaker 1: I didn't like something, so I tried to delete it
Speaker 1: and I was like, no, I can do that. So
Speaker 1: I tried to restart it and they were like no,
Speaker 1: that name has already been used. And I tried to
Speaker 1: contact them and be like no, it's me. I'm yeah no,
Speaker 1: So I had to get clever. So Titans underscore Amy
Speaker 1: on Instagram. That's good stuff, good good stuff. Jim, Thanks
Speaker 1: for taking time with Amy and me for this edition
Speaker 1: of the OTP. We appreciate you always and love what
Speaker 1: you do at Tennessee Titans dot com. You do make
Speaker 1: us all look good and look bad. The hardest working
Speaker 1: man in show business Jim Watt Aby Wells I'm might Keith.
Speaker 1: Thanks for joining us for the o PT