We welcome you to the OTP the official Titans podcast presented by your great friends at Farm Bureau Health Plans. To find out more about how Farm Bureau Health Plans can take care of you visit their website at FBHP.com. With Amy Wells I'm Mike Keith, joined by Rhett Bryan and Coach Dave McGinnis from Titans Radio. How is everybody? Lovely. And you? I'm lovely. No I'm great. This is this is great. I'm glad to be back with Amy again. I'm glad to be with Amy. I missed you guys. It was very lonely here. It was quiet. There were no shenanigans. It was very just. Are you suggesting they're often shenanigans? Consistently. Yes. Until it was sad to have you guys gone. But I'm glad you're back. All right. So we need to get Amy's viewpoint on the game. We've we've had yours coach Mack. We've had some of Rhett's will get more. But because Amy was not with us in Minneapolis where the Titans won Saturday night 24 to 16. Amy is going to give us five of her thoughts from the Titans preseason game number two victory and we will respond to them. Go right ahead. Well in in true form I have about nine. But but we'll we'll go with five unless Mike gives me time for honorable mention. I had a lot of thoughts. Thought number one. I loved that the offensive line had the starters play for the entire first quarter. I know that snap snap wise it was kind of equal to what they did in the first game. I think they had 12 snaps in the first preseason preseason game 16 snaps in the second. But I felt like there was a lot of benefit to that group of five guys going through the cadence of playing a series coming off the field making adjustments playing a series coming off the field and making adjustments. Mack you would know better than anybody else. Is that a real thing. That's a real thing. I mean you're you're so correct in that. And the biggest one of the biggest things of this training camp was developing the offensive line. We all knew it coming in. The coaches knew it. We knew it. The players knew it. So yes as many snaps as they can get together and you're a hundred percent right now. The reason it evened out was the first ball game they had an extended series the first series they had which culminated in a touchdown was perfect. This time we had a three and out. And so they were going to have to go back in there. But your point being that they were together and they needed those snaps. You're thinking correctly. And that's exactly how Mike Vrable and his coaching staff was thinking. Second point. My second point was that conventional wisdom says that people should be worried about depth at wide receiver in the wake of some injuries at that position. And yet I am not concerned. I'm not even a little bit concerned.  Now is this because of what the finished product of wide receiving room will look like come September the 10th in New Orleans. Is that a part of your evaluation as part of my evaluation. I'm excited about some of the guy. I mean obviously the Nick Westbrook equines. Obviously there's a very big name fellow also in there. So I'm excited about the starters but I'm also excited about some of the depth that they're still at that position that the guys that we're going to see get an opportunity to play in the wake of guys like Kyle Phillips not being in. I'm excited about like Mason Kinsey for example. I'm excited about things that he might be able to contribute. I think that there's a lot of things to still be excited about with the group that is there beyond the Deandre Hopkins of the world. In short term I'm a little concerned with them getting through the last preseason game Friday night and I wonder if they'll add somebody or whatever for that. In the long term I share your optimism that that wide receiving group is going to be pretty nice for the Titans. Point number three. Point number three. I really am enjoying watching Jack Gibbons Dr. Gibby and I kind of he's someone that has returned to my radar in the last couple weeks. Not as much as I know that your radar. I mean he left my radar a little bit. There were some other people that I was excited about and I am now fully on the Dr. Gibby train and now he's one of my like guys to watch as the season comes up and I'm really excited about him and I think he's just going to continue to improve as the season goes on. I coached a guy very similar to him in Brad Castle when I was coaching here. Those types of players the thing that they do they may not be the most athletic player on the field especially at the second level but they are so instinctive. They're such great K and D which is key and diagnosed guys. They can get ahead of blocks. They can be able to be in the right place at the right time and the other thing that happens is they can get other people lined up. Now he can make plays. He can make plays but these types of players always are important to your roster because they're dependable. You can depend on them. He's a physical physical player but he's really smart and that's I think that's what the coaching staff likes about him. I know that as a former coach and especially a linebacker coach you have to have guys at that second level because they tie the front and the back in together so they have to be able to get it pretty quick. They also have to be able to get it from you on the sideline because during the course of a game there are going to be things that change. You need somebody that can process it, can get it to the team in the huddle. All of those things make players like that extremely valuable.  He was like smart guy who does smart things and can help other guys and he's reliable. He's dependable but now he's like making plays and doing things that make me excited. He's listed first team. Yeah like that's a big deal. As he's Al Shire I mean he is listed as the first team linebacker in the unofficial depth and we'll see I mean we'll see where that goes but I mean I think he's putting himself in a great position right now. See it's exciting. So what you're saying is in your defense is that you're viewing him much like a very good offensive lineman who doesn't get the penalties called on him. Right. So he's just there. He was consistent guy and now he's like making notice of guy which is two different guys. The other point about this is I think we all will agree that our defensive front is going to be pretty special and anytime that you have a defensive front that is able to eat up and chew up what's going on up in front and get a lot of attention from the offensive line it cleans things up for those guys at the second level. And if you have guys at the second level that can get ahead of things and can benefit from that I mean he's an instinctive football player. He makes plays. Mike Vrable is not putting him on the first team in the unofficial depth chart just because he likes the person. He likes what he can do for him on the field. Point four. Point four. I guess while we're talking about defense let's continue to talk about defense. I'm excited about the Titan secondary and I'm not usually excited about the Titan secondary. What about the secondary you excited about. There are lots of things. I think there's depth there when in previous years we have not had a ton of depth. I think that there are guys that we have seen the Trey Avery's of the world that have just been showing up and making plays and showing that hey there there's a lot of guys here who can make an impact whereas before in previous years without the starters you kind of went hmm what's going to happen here. So I'm very excited about the secondary because I think there's a lot of playmakers on that side of the ball. I think they are hungry. I think that's a group of people that are consistently trying to make plays in a big way and are trying to almost show that they are not. I mean everybody talks about the defensive line. Everybody talks about the big guys up front when they talk about the Titans defense. The little guys in the secondary aren't letting that stand. They want to make plays too and they're showing that they deserve to be talked about just as much as the big guys up front and that's been really fun to watch. Well the fact that they've cut Chris Jackson and AJ Moore already two guys who've been on the roster that tells you what they think right now. Now of course they could bring those guys back and certainly guys like that will tend to come back to any NFL roster in week two when salaries are not guaranteed at that point. So that does happen. But at this point the lane has been opened for all these young guys to go get jobs.  The guy was brought in in a tryout situation got offered an opportunity. He's making the most of that opportunity 58174 appeared in over 60 games at Louisiana Lafayette due to scared of zero nothing. And not only that but he adds value as a special teams returner in this thing. I've really enjoyed watching him play and a lot of these young undrafted guys who are contributing in his preseason. But yes secondary is something to watch for sure. The thing that I think has buoyed this secondary those Christian Fulton came back ready to be a professional. Exactly. That was big. And then the sign of Sean Murphy Bunning. I mean this is a veteran player. So your two corners are pretty well set. And I'm not going to even talk about injuries. That's it. We're not going to have any. Also it allows you to take McCrary and put him in a slot because you're going to be playing a lot of altered defenses anyway this year like everybody in the National Football League does. That's pretty good. And the two starting safeties that we have those are legitimate dudes that you can do a lot of things with their interchangeable. You can move around. So those five players to begin with off the jump.  Those are good sized corners in this league. And to me but when you talk about the other younger players they have stepped up when they've gotten a chance and not only just occupied a spot.  I mean they can get involved. And so I agree with it. Point five. My final point is kind of for Rhett. My favorite player to watch right now is Tajé Spears. He is so much fun to watch. I want to see him on the field at all times basically like in every in every fastest of the game it's like we'll throw him out there see what he can do. He's a fun guy to watch run around. So I want more in the final preseason game. I want to see more selfish. You seem in the final preseason. I don't think so. But I'm to the point where I'm ready to see him play in his home native state week one September 10th in the Superdome. Yeah I'm really surprised. Of course I know this isn't a visual medium but I'm surprised Rhett's not wearing his Tajé Spears shirt that he has with Tajé Spears face on it. Yeah that he wore to practice. Tajé like that by the way. Why wouldn't he? Yeah and I always give Rhett credit because early on during the draft when we're vetting all these players this was his number one guy that he really liked. And when Mike Keith announced that that was our draft pick I mean I thought Rhett was going to cry. He did cry a little bit. Yeah a little bit. With tears of joy. But this guy is a legitimate player legitimate player and to me to Mike Keith's question you might have seen enough of him. Time for bubble wrap. You might have seen you might have seen enough of him because to me I mean he's he's shown everything on an NFL field that he showed at Tulane. Yeah everything. I just I want to watch him do anything like making breakfast. It's probably like I just I'd watch him do anything. I just think he's so much fun to watch and when I see him on the field I get excited. Well you know the thing that I find so interesting about Tajé Spears is all of these young men here who are fighting for roster spots have the drive and determination or they wouldn't be where they are. But this guy's got a hyper drive for that. He's as hungry as anybody I've seen in a while. He wants to make a better life for his parents who are working class folks and get them out of the hood as he says. And he seems to be an infectious person. I'm hearing stories from Ascension St. Thomas Sports Park about how well he interacts with everyone in the building. And when you couple that with what he's doing on the field I think I hear Titan there. I think that is an emulation of what they're looking for. All right. So do I want to give you one more since you had nine. Well I did have a lot. Do you have a bonus. One of one of my bonus points was I was excited to see Malik Wells get a full game. I don't love the circumstances under which it happened. But I think it was really good for him to have an entire game to get comfortable getting his groove show the improvements that he has made throughout the off season and throughout training camp show how much he's grown. I think we're starting to see him not starting to see we are continuing to see him grow and learn and his decision making. I mean Mike Vrable talked about it as well. We are seeing the progression of Malik Wells as a quarterback in the National Football League and I really enjoyed watching that and I liked seeing him get his feet under him. You know it wasn't the start stop that you get in the preseason especially with multiple quarterbacks and everything. He got to have a complete game all to himself and really just take the reins and go and I was excited for him to have that opportunity. Do you think about if he's healthy giving Will Leviss the whole game on Friday. Depending on how healthy Will Leviss is. You know we don't know the extent of what kept him out. Right. Clearly he suited up. He threw before he threw before the game. Certainly seem more precautionary than it did. They're fearful. I think you're a hundred percent right. Amy's point is very well taken. It I liked what he did the first ball game. I'm talking about the head coach Mike Vrable with these two quarterbacks because his point was very was really well taken because a guy's going to be a backup you've got to be able to come in. I mean you got to be able to start stop. I mean that has to happen. But the way the circumstances were and what Amy said is right. The thing that I liked about it was Malik Willis didn't flinch. He came right in and just took it because he knew it was going to be his now. Look he is a he's a work in progress but those of us that have been around Ascension St. Thomas Sports Park all the time and have watched him all the time even when it's not open to the public. It's not open to the media. We've seen this progression. You know starting with the offseason what he did. So I like the fact that he did that in the game and the other thing is he had some teachable moments in that game that you can't get unless you've been in the flow of a football game. So I'm all about his development and to me you've got to give of course the coaches get a lot a lot of the credit but he gets a major part of the credit. He knew what he didn't know and he was humble enough to admit it and work on it. He's worked at his craft and he's still he's still not completely there. You're never completely there as a quarterback in this league never until maybe your 45 year old Tom Brady. But this guy has done himself a lot of favors in this offseason and having to play a whole game I think was very good for him. Hey Titans fans it's always game on with Duncan. So grab a coffee and kick off the action whether that's drinking a cup of coffee on your way to the game Friday night or grabbing one to go before watching the game at home. Duncan is always there to help you get your game on just like the pros we need to be at our best come game time which is why Duncan is the most important part of your game day ritual because it's always the best call for football. America runs on Duncan. Mike Vrabel said on the Mike Vrabel show the first one of the season 6 p.m. Central time every Monday night from here until hopefully Valentine's Day. That would be the goal. That would be awesome. That would be the goal. He said that because the team is not going to scrimmage the Patriots they are having a draft. They are having a blue and white scrimmage. Terrell Williams will coach one team. John Striker better known as Stretch will coach the other team. The draft went all the way down to the trainers. So one team will warm up on one field. One team will warm up on another field. Coach Mack the decision to hold the blue and white scrimmage from Mike Vrabel's standpoint. Why do this? Competitive to begin with. It's not just the same routine as a practice. Competitive adds a little juice to it. But again because New England is not coming here this gives you we saw the value of working against somebody else in a different environment as far as really meaningful snaps every day up there in Minnesota. We saw it at this point in camp. This will be very very competitive. And plus you are you're going to be able to with the draft you'll be able to match people up against people that you know that you'd like to see them against. It's really a good idea because the thing that happens and again training camp is different than it used to be but still you want to stay in a routine but you also want to shock the routine because when you're playing in a ball game there's a lot of different things that happen that are a shock to the system.  More and more teams it seems like are cancelling second joint practices. Now this one was done because New England had the injury at Green Bay. They were scheduled to fly directly here. The Titans had conversations with the Patriots while they were still on the ground getting ready to leave Minnesota and it was decided that there would not be joint practices. I think at least three others have been canceled. Coach Mack I'll ask you this first. Are we learning now in the three pre-season game era that the second joint practice which seems like a good idea in theory maybe too much? Mike you and I talked about this earlier and then so I'm going to share what we talked about. The two days of work at Minnesota were very beneficial but you had two head coaches that had control of their teams. You had no fights. You had some jawing back and forth. You had you know a couple of swipes. No no coach she's eating a Snickers. She's Amy Wells in the middle of Coach Mack's comment. It was before it started let me say this Mike. She's eating a Snickers. No no no Mike before she looked like a raccoon in a campsite. She took the lid off the Snickers jar and was trying to and was trying to sneak it before anybody in the tent saw what she was doing and then when you were talking opening this segment which you're a professional she was trying you are and she was she was unwrapping it like she was unwrapping it hoping nobody and I'm sitting there because I can see her I'm sitting here looking at her like this and plus the fact I mean she was eating she looked at that thing I mean like she she and then she started in on it like she was going to the electric chair I mean like it was going to be the last meal she ever had and I wasn't going to say anything because it's not my place it's not my place you're the boss of all of this I'm not I saw her as I said as Rocky raccoon that went into the Snickers jar and tried to be as quiet as possible so I'd look over you're giving a good answer I just want to see if she would like to follow your point well no she can't because her mouth's full of Snickers she cannot she's actually weeping now I was so hungry and I sat down and I was like I can wait till the end of the show turns out I can't well I'll follow what I was saying before the Snickers interrupted you and I talked about this you had two very beneficial days in Minnesota I think we all agree with that but your two head coaches clearly had laid out how this was going to work tremendous work physical work worked very hard against one another but there were no there were no brave heart fights nobody came together there was no rumbles and I mean it was good now the thing that happens I think we all know this I've experienced it I can't count how many times with joint practices in my career what happens is is that whichever team gets up on the other one the first day then the team that got over on is in those meetings that night going hey is this who we are is this what they're going to think about us and all of that and these are competitive alpha dudes out there so the next day it's going to be even ramped up even more that's what impressed me so much about our work with Minnesota is we were able to keep it on an even keel with high intensity high level but practice football and to me I think what's going to start happening is is people will schedule one day and then the problem is is when you put everything together it took us it takes that ops crew and everybody to to get there and to schedule two days I mean you have to do it to me I think people will still schedule two days but you need to pick and choose who you work against that's important that and the point too is where we were the facility that they have at Minnesota we mentioned last week it's on the old property of northwest airlines headquarters and so it is I guess thousands of acres has to be and the hotel is right across the parking lot basically it's a five minute walk for the operations crew that's as good a setup as you'll ever find for a joint practice and it's still hard it's still hard to to get the plane and to get everybody up there because you have to take so much stuff so you won't find a better place to do it than Minnesota and yet it's still an incredible amount of work and an incredible amount of upheaval for the entire football staff well Arizona was following us in there and I think people around the league if they've ever been up there I was taken aback by how good that facility is I'd never seen it before the practice facility been in the stadium before but I've never seen the practice facility it's you could not be more ideal and as you said to host another team it was seamless it was it was not only seamless I mean it seems like all of the support people that they had there at Minnesota to help our support people there was a gang of them I mean there was an army of people outstanding job it really was and so Minnesota will have people wanting to come there if they're going to play there and when you got to you know to at home to away on alternating years but for us for us I'm glad we were able to get those two days in with that place because I'm like you I've seen a lot of facilities in this league that one was like okay wow yeah wow the other thing too rent let's talk about us bank stadium and let's talk about that roof and let's think about the roof we're going to have at the new titan stadium which is going to be the same thing and the way it felt you know we got there in the afternoon and the sun still shining and it it you know it feels like you're outside it's phenomenal it totally did and because the same architecture firm that built that is going to be building the new titan stadium when we had the opportunity Brad Willis and Phillip Noel and I had an opportunity to go over pretty early on on Friday afternoon to set up equipment in the booth and we kind of just took notes and looked at a lot of things with that in mind and thinking about the possibilities what that East Bank is going to look like in a few years you know not that far down the road it's an impressive building like the design like what they did with it the amenities involved but you're right with that roof the way that it is it is just like it's outdoors it's just a in this case at that place it's a glass filter more or less yeah although it's some sort of high level plastic didn't you have the net you had the name and I can't I can't say it properly but it's the new thing and you can open the doors to just like it so far and just like at US Bank apparently I think I don't know if a legion is exactly like it the roof is but you can open the doors and get the airflow and yet Saturday they chose not to because it was stifling heat because it was so hot outside because it's so hot outside so you got to be in a nice indoor situation which I think everybody's like retractable roof but a dome it's like no those things aren't there anymore this is what you're going for and this is what the new stadium is going to have well and that's we've played in stadiums like that and being down on the field throughout those games at SoFi at US Bank there you forget that you're indoors it really is because of the sunlight because of the crosswind that you can have I mean the first time I ever went to SoFi I was not dressed properly because I dressed like we were going to Houston where Houston is very much at they have a retractable kind of situation but I mean when we're there they're never using it so it's always you feel like you're playing in a box well unless it's during COVID unless it's during COVID and they put us on the other side of the stadium but decided to open the roof for that game and then at the end of the first half we have the sun shining directly in our eyes yeah I forgot about that and then in the second half we're in total darkness over there that was that was not great that was not great not ideal but it's like playing in a climate control box there right this is not going to be that experience because it really feels like you're outside you just don't get rained on which is awesome well and you know there was a lot of discussion when the news of the new stadium came about and the renderings and all these things about a retractable roof and and why not and Titan CEO and President Burke Nyhill and I had a conversation about that and he explained it well here on the OTP about you know it's like having a really expensive nice car that you know it's got a nice giant sunroof that you just never use he does maybe you're not a sunroof person but in this case you know Houston is a prime example in the 20 plus years that Mike and I have been going down there doing Titans radio games I can count on one hand with fingers left over how many times that roof's been open and one of those is because there was remnants of a hurricane had come through and it removed and ripped the panels off of it so it wasn't even a choice yeah it was it was a weather thing by force in this case and so I think Burke's numbers were three or four percent of the time you would actually use it and open it and for what the cost and mega bucks addition to already and you know a handsome bottom line in this thing well I mean how many times have we gone to Indianapolis where every week the conversation is open or closed roof open or closed I I mean I worked for that team for a year and then have played against them for a decade and I can probably count on one maybe two hands how many times that roof was ever open yeah and that's their big selling point mr. Ursa loves to play that game doesn't yeah but hardly ever is it open yeah hardly ever except that one day in uh 20 when it's about 20 he was trying to play freeze out and they still lost the game 19 or 20 2019 or it was 19 2019 where he decided to open the roof much to the chagrin of the fans and his own like equipment staff didn't even have the proper gear and the officials didn't have the proper gear yes and ended up having to borrow it from the Tennessee Titans whatever you need guys our warmest coats as we talk about stadium visit titansnewstadium.com to take a look at what's going on with the new stadium or to place a deposit for your psl or get higher on the priority list by becoming a season ticket member today as a matter of fact if you buy a 2023 titan season ticket which you have to get a psl yes that psl amount will be credited toward the new stadium so you not only get tickets for this year but you get in line for the future<PHONE_NUMBER><PHONE_NUMBER> to get involved in that tear tart you mentioned tear tart a moment ago getting in a fight at the at the practice he did throw punch one swing one swing um max sounds like me then he goes out and is dominant in the game he also had a viral moment during a practice where he how would you term that where he hip toss the guy or hump move hump move reggie white hump move yes but he did is that the technical term yes he threw him i mean he threw this guy out of the way and it's a it's a big man what is tear tart right now where is tear tart right now what how do you summarize how he fits on this football team and what he's trying to be and what he can be let's start where t a tart tear tart started from when he came here first of all i mean he had a pretty he had some stops in college before he got to where he finally ended up he comes in here and is as raw as meat i mean he is raw raw raw i mean we had i won't go into it but had some illustrious media guru said he couldn't play because he couldn't hit a sled we'll go past that when you start to do when you start developing him and start to look at him this is a big body dude that's got some twitch to him the issue with him his entire career i would assume is his endurance because this is a big thick man now he's worked on his body he has worked on that and the other thing that i think has really helped him he can play a shade which is between the center of the guard to jeffrey simons three technique because now people are so worried about jeffrey simons is a three the better tear tart works he's going to see more single blocks this this guy has has with coach uh coach t has done a great job with him because he was patient he was forceful with him and then mike drabel has been very good with him too and mike drabel has been very honest with we need you to be able to up your conditioning so that you can play more than 15 or 18 snaps a game because we need you in there i think we're seeing the development of a guy that he's a perfect shade technique which again is between the center of the guard away from the three technique which is on the outside shoulder guard on the other side but he's a guy that people have to pay attention to now that hip talk that was bradbury by the way a number one pick is a center the hip toss that he made there you don't hip toss people first of all unless you understand what you're doing you're evolved for life you saw redgie white do it i did just because redgie white was redgie white it's not an easy thing to do i mean there and to me we're only going to see him blossom more and more i like the player because the other thing about him is he's got a little bit of stuff in his neck too and that's what you want from those guys up there but the progression that he's made since he has come here due to the coaching and also due to his realization that i've got a chance here i've got people here that are investing in me so i'm going to invest in myself i mean he came in here just a big guy but now he's become more than that and i really like what he's done he is trying to go from being just the run stuffer to the complete player yes and i mean and he's never going to be a silky smooth guy but silky smooth guys is not what you need a lot up there we've got one we've got a we've got an anomaly we've got a bear on two legs over there jeffrey simons but this guy's a great great compliment but he's improved himself as a football player he wasn't content with what he was he's improving himself who else is showing in the defensive line red uh so honestly if if i'm looking at the whole thing i i've been watching sam okawanu in year two and seeing the steps he's trying to make forward in this now he's a big thick guy and rocked up now he's he's different from the tear tart we just mentioned i've been watching him as we get closer to the end of this thing and heading into the regular season because he's a guy that wants to make this roster jayden pv is another and a guy who has transformed his body in a way and you're talking about a mammoth human human being in jayden pv he i remember seeing him come in here last night i thought he was a tackle or something he was so big well there was there was a time they were going to look at him potentially as an offensive yeah because his arms are so long that he really fits that i mean you're saying oh my goodness and there are a lot of defensive linemen who become very good off at your tight ends and defensive linemen oftentimes become very good offensive tackles is he a five technique as you call it if he if he's doing what he does well yes because it you length a five technique someone that lines up on the outside shoulder of an offensive tackle in a in a three four defense because when you've got an outside backer outside of him but his length any the further away that you move from the ball you know the length becomes a little bit more because the long arm stuff to shorten where you're getting into the cylinder becomes important but yes that's what he is all right he's good looking player the other the other guy that i'm watching and and you know he's not necessarily on the defensive line but he's a pass rusher and it's a young man who's really started making plays in these first two previews in james and calip murphy the undrafted free agent from ferris state and that's another guy like tajae spears i kept talking to coach mack about it like this guy's from ferris state and he's getting invited to the combine that tells me somebody sees something now can he use some functional play strength in those things yes but that that's what ascension st tom of sports park and frank perino and taught towards selling and all these guys that's what they're there for is to get that you want to say something about him well no it was just ret just read that right out of my brain because i was thinking someone talk about calip murphy somebody say it and you said it but the question for a calip murphy though coach is as you try to put together a fifty three to go to new orleans where does he fit well and that and that's the trick with several of these guys that many of us are excited about you know the defensive backs and all of the running backs is like you can't keep them all no and you've got to put together the fifty three that is the most functional you know how do you do it that's the ginga puzzle yeah of putting together an initial fifty three an initial fifty three and the other thing that you got to think is this if you don't put them on the fifty three well thirty one was is somebody in the thirty one willing to take him and put him on their fifty three right because when you claim somebody off waivers this you have to put them on your fifty three you can't claim them to put them on your practice squad this guy to me and then needs to do exactly what rachad weaver did this offseason marry yourself to the iron he needs to get because rachad weaver has transformed his game with functional strength ret's a hundred percent right he needs more nfl functional strength he doesn't have an nfl body yet he's got an a frame that can grow into an nfl body once he gets with frank perino once he gets with the nutrition system but he's got a little something to him because he can separate and get to the quarterback and those guys are hard to find to your question is you you you make two decisions who do we bump if we keep them on a fifty three or do we take the chance that somebody else of the other thirty one will put him on their fifty three sure yeah and i'm afraid if you put them on the practice squad that will come to pass i think there's enough well you've got a wave you're waving first you've got to wave him on the twenty nine that's right a week from tuesday that's right that's a different move and then you've got to get him through because if he's a waiver claimed by somebody you know then then that becomes a thing and if he clears waivers then you can sign him to the practice squad and we've seen this over the years legaret blunt jack doil there have been other guys and people say well why did they do that that was so that the legaret blunt that was so well it's like yeah the legaret blunt thing is because we don't have enough linebackers any linebackers you needed a spot and we need numbers in a position and the jack doil thing is they needed a spot and you're trying desperately to get to that fifty three and and be ready to play week one you're you'd like to think about 2024 you'd like to think about later in the season you'd like to think about development but the first roster is about beating new world you're a hundred percent right and and there's a so much that goes into it and you know we all know it i've lived it for a lot of years is those decisions sometimes come down to a feel as to what they're doing but sometimes it's out of necessity and you're right with a little garret blunt and i was here for that one i mean that was a hard hard thing to do because you know we had taken legaret blunt as a free agent when nobody else would touch him get near him wouldn't nobody would touch him jeff fisher said i can handle him any could but so those are decisions it's not because you didn't like the player it's not because they didn't like jack doil but they needed some other positions at the moment and that's that are the those are the decisions that personnel people and coaches really agonize over i promise you going into this cut well and then the agony to with the o jackson being put on the practice squad last year minnesota comes after the o jackson the titans are desperate to keep him but they don't have a roster spot don't have a spot i mean and so theo signs with minnesota he's doing very well now minnesota they got a bunch of safeties we'll see hopefully things will work out well for theo but you know if you're the player you've got a chance to go get on an active roster he didn't really want to leave here his dream was to play for the titans but you've you've got to have that availability or you say well you know we're carrying an extra receiver maybe we can dump in a receiver and call him up to the active roster so he won't leave and then sometimes you can't and with the injuries that the titans have had the last two years they've lost some good players at different points that could have helped them later in the year because they had injuries and necessity at that moment so that's a hundred percent right and from a coaching aspect of it and from an organization aspect of it if a guy gets a chance to sign on an active roster when he's on your practice squad and you've developed him i mean you can't blame them they have to go because they're they're time to make money is short and the difference between an an active roster check even the minimum and a practice squad check i'm not real good at math but it's a lot well and then you start earning that time toward your pension right all of that to become you know getting a year closer to being a vested veteran free agency but also hey that pension is a big deal for for any player i remember we resigned to player one year for the last two games and that got him to his pension level and he was thrilled i mean it was christ it was literally christmas time and but to him he knew financially what that was going to mean for him later in life and that's real that's real life there it's three it's three years three games that's right three years three games and uh you don't begrudge any of them trying to get that while they're trying to play good ball breaking news titans fans you're going to want to hear this it's official seat geek is now the official ticketing partner of the tennessee titans that's right the deal is finalized and seat geek is the newest member of the titans family my mic i don't know my mic mic let me tell you if you haven't heard the name yet get used to it because you'll be hearing it a lot this season whether you're buying or selling tickets to titans games or any other live event in nashville seat geek is the place to do it seat geek the new official ticketing partner of the tennessee titans so titans fans ken fan you're listening to the otp presented by farm bureau health plans farm bureau health plans is celebrating 76 years of providing tennesseeans with high quality health coverage at an affordable rate visit fbhp.com to learn about their history in tennessee are you going to eat more let me tell you what she was doing she would look like weller her dog major molly your dog's looking at a hand bone on the on the floor she was while you were talking she was doing like this you were considering going after the side eye and that that look i'm going to get her off the hook here all i wanted mars chocolate is an official partner of the tennessee titans and as it says here on the label all she's trying to do during this otp is keep from making rookie mistakes does anybody know why it's named snickers no why anybody know do you know absolutely oh why the mars family that started it yeah okay mars bar clearly was your first one right it's mars yeah they also owned horses their favorite horse was named snicker no kids snicker died and so when they came out with this one they named it snicker to honor after the horse named after the horse are you like family friends with the mars family be honest i just know stuff i feel like this would be like well yeah they were our neighbors i know important stuff like that that's very good that is good that was a nice little nugget that's why i named snickers nugget snickers was the name of the horse that's tremendous that's good how many roster spots are literally still up for grabs david mcganis four four four on average you say four per team probably yes so some teams three some teams six but it would average out to four three to six normally is what it is i think four on this football team because of injury and also there are a lot of times and you talk about roster decisions there are a lot of times where you know you you've got decision between a vet and the first year guy and maybe that vet is and the first year guy's coming on but maybe that vet won't get picked up by somebody and you don't have to guarantee a contract for the entire year if you sign them in a week after the first week all of those things filter in and so i've been involved in a lot of roster setups and so a lot of all those things fit in but normally it's three to six the better teams you have and here's the other thing too just like we worked out against minnesota this personnel group that was up there with us the personnel department they were scouting the vikings really hard at every practice they were really scouting them and so you're always looking for somebody there's somebody that is somewhere that you may have had an eye on during the draft or you may have an eye on during free agency period that somebody else got that is teetering on the edge of somewhere else so it's not just necessarily who you've got here that you're looking at it's who you're looking at league wide too all right let's put red brian on the spot practice squad spot 16 how many of those guys do you think for the titans are here right now what's your number you don't have to name them but just your number i'll say at least a dozen of them amy yeah i was gonna say 10 to 12 10 i think that's right 10 i think there's a goodly number here some years it's been you just wipe the slate clean and go get 16 guys other places i mean that it's a good roster the other point about the practice squad is we all know that i mean when they first started it was five right and it was also five with the caveat that they had to have two years experience or less so that cut your number way down now you've got 16 which clearly the math is more but you've got six spots that you can have veteran players on there too you know and and pay them incrementally more than you pay you know the first so it putting together the practice squad that's changed a lot for personnel departments and coaches too so i think 10 though i think we've got 10 guys here that they'd probably like to continue to develop and then that leaves you six somewhere else three quarterbacks on this roster yes i believe so i don't have any doubt about it right now no no doubt no doubt but that means a roster spot has to come from somewhere else that's correct more than likely on the offense so it might be a running back you think so i think so really i mean just out off a jump huh what what position were you thinking amy maybe a receiver maybe i'm thinking tight end see okay that was my that was my gut and i i'm thinking tight end because i think tight end is a place where you could carry two guys on the practice squad as tight ends because you think about the the other strategy in practice squad that is not discussed enough is it's for practice and your tight ends are guys who can run scout team on offense or defense and you need to get you know the look teams have to do that and it's like coach variable was talking about mason kenzie mason kenzie has been a very valuable practice squad player because he can practice on offense or defense to help the team get ready so the only thing about tight ends to me especially with what tim kelly's doing now it looks like it's going to be a multiple tight end offense and they're they they've shown it already in preseason so i'm not giving anything away no we see in practice you've seen a lot of them in the backfield too and you've seen a lot of i mean moving in the backfield you know so it's going to be interesting to see but you could always call that player up on the weekend too you can do that you got so many moves you can make you can you can do that and you've got some guys who have the kind of experience that you could call them up in a heartbeat and and do it west co is an interesting player because i think he's probably the best blocking tight end naturally they've had in how long red a while yeah craig stevens maybe cat stevens was the best blocking tight end okay when i was here okay cat stevens was really good as a blocker yeah really good i don't know if they've had anybody that good since then as a blocking tight end i mean i've missed a few years when i was going another team but west west coast pretty good obviously you've got a con quo i think wiley is coming on and you're going to start to see more of him is there a fourth you know does a raider make it odakoya is a guy that has been talked about as well who has obviously improved his blocking dramatically but with some of the ways that those guys will be used i think we're going to see them more in receiving roles than maybe we've seen in blocking roles in the past just because of what tim kelly likes to do and so then maybe you can take a receiver spot and then there's your quarterback because you can utilize the tight ends in so many different ways but i think we've been doing i think you're gonna have five active receivers on game day absolutely because i think more is going to play special teams and obviously westbrook akinae is going to play that's that's that's a key that's a key with running back and tight end and receiver who is your legitimate core four special teams player right that's that's the that's the case for all of this because a lot of teams just keep four receivers active on game day because they need a player to another position to play special teams the tight ends are different in that they are going to have five guys and i mean obviously hopkins is not playing special teams no berks is not playing so you got three yeah phillips maybe as a punt returner you know but other otherwise you need you need because craig arkman needs core teamers and that's what you know we talked about it during the broadcast of why they're returning all of those kickoffs that are five and six yards deep because they're trying to find somebody that can block in space because that's the hardest thing to do blocking in space on a kickoff return is the hardest thing to teach because none of them have ever done it before and plus there's still people are running 35 yards at them full speed and they've got to come to balance and also be able to shield them and get them at least past the break point of the return so they're trying to find those dudes by the way i was just i was trying to just check the time here and i've gotten a message from collin all red your former linebacker senator collin all red running for senator running for senator collin what do you think about that really that one of your guys one of your dudes is in congress you remember how smart he was oh yeah he was a he went to baler he was a smart smart dude and always you could tell that that collin there was he was going to do something else besides this yeah i mean you always knew i mean i've you know when he's yeah he's running for that senate seat in texas and uh i hope he gets it but you're proud of those guys i mean of course coach i mean look you've got coaches you've got business owners you've got a congressman who's running for senate i mean it's well first of all when he came in here he had no guarantees to make anything of this team we talked about we talked about dr gibby you had a smart guy could get lined up was willing to do whatever it took special teams and whatever and every time because you have daily meetings during this coaches and personnel people okay give me your give me your four give me your five give me your four give me your five give me your six give me your definite gone draw the line you all you're going to hear that all the time these personnel meetings draw a line for me draw a line for me amy on the on the on the receiver draw a line where's the line you're always fighting as a coach if you're in the room with them and you and you have they have something intrinsically to them you're always fighting to keep him above that line as long as you can and as long as they do their part then sometimes you end up with the colonel red stories he fought for four years four years to make the football four years and you made it every time but he he earned above that line and when you earn above that line uh i hope he wins that senate seat then i'll have some pool and stay back in austin there it is well but i i mean that that just goes to tell you i mean anybody who fights it but like what kenzie's doing right now when when you have guys who who fight for it for that period of time uh there's a level of respect for them as human beings like we told the story the other night on tights radio but kenzie being the emergency quarterback and so i went down in pregame and he's running some pass routes and i pulled him aside i said mason i said when's the last time you played quarterback he said eighth grade good and i said really he goes yeah he goes i went out for quarterback we ran the triple option and i went out for quarterback and i got beat out i said so did you play some quarterback after they go nope none times yeah none times and so so then i said okay um i said if we have to if you have to go in a quarterback tonight against the vikings how many plays can you run he said all of them i went to the walkthrough and watched him you know the walkthrough that they had when they put him in i went okay i had no idea about the eighth grade eighth grade i'm thinking about the eighth grade when i was in snider texas travis junior high blue devils i can't even remember what was going on then but for him to pop that out with you and you know what when they put him in there to run those those rpo's he did it he looked pretty good well it worked i mean it worked yeah so that's awesome let me tell you something else too okay that just shows you this head coach and his coaching staff they're not afraid to try anything let's go back to that houston game way long time ago when we had nobody left and they put the king cat in 2018 we won the game with the king cat with a depleted offensive line with i mean just and they walked through it and put it in on a saturday morning in the bubble shut the bubble nobody else is in there this coaching staff knows what they're doing that was matlow floor i mean and mike verable no left tackle no right tackle no delaney walker no marcus mariota but you had the king pretty wild it wasn't great as mike has named it the king cat and it worked yeah my variable second game is that go the best passer that day was kevin buyard yeah 66 yarder to dan crook shane a two yard throw and 64 yards late that's right he left handed it out there it was scared me to death i'm like oh gosh he's going to throw this ball and i think we all appreciated it you know and it's a former coach you look at that and you go no that's a ball coach when you've got nothing and you make something of it and not only make something of it you want a division game with it big one big one that's what i think is so cool about this blue and white scrimmage in the last week of training camp to your point about getting guys re-energized and making it through that last stretch before you have to make difficult roster decisions and the regular season comes what a cool concept and idea that you know coach terrell williams who's already coached a preseason game is going to be on one side john striker stretch his right hand man is going to do the other he's already coached a game too by yeah he absolutely has and then i'm fascinated to know what the draft order was how high a draft pick was john takahashi or joey baranko or matt thompson you're talking about members of the staff yeah the ot people might not know yeah they went down through all of those things i love it i think it's a great idea what a way to end a long training camp it doesn't surprise any of us and it should surprise none of the otp listeners the ot people that mike variable thinks outside the box well he tries to keep it interesting for guys too he tries to keep people engaged he tries to use the use every minute to get better in a way but understanding the monotony of what this can become if you let it if you let it and he does not let it become monotonous well it just he just gets it he gets the national football league on a lot of levels a lot of levels well because when guys are engaged and they're excited about what they're doing you're able to make more progress you're able to continue to work on things it's like teaching babies different skills if you teach them a song in a game they're engaged with it and so then the skills come with it it's not to say that the tennessee titans players are babies but your point is against your point the titans are hooked on phonics yes yes they are math is fun um no but because they are engaged because there's an excitement to it because there's a competitive aspect to it it's not the same rote scheduled day after day of meetings practice meetings walk through meetings well because coaches will tell you the last thing you want in this period of time is i mean i remember just two days from high school and just trying to survive and all you were trying to do is just not die i mean you were just trying to you were just trying to make it through you can't do that in the nfl you can't you can't have that mindset you've got to get better every single day you've got to keep it competitive every single day because time is so precious with evaluating eric garer or looking at something offensively or figuring out who's the right right tackle for the first six games i mean these are answers that if we look back in eight months and it's been a good year then we'll say man did they come up with the right answers in those moments in august that's so true i mean you you've got to have the right answers and the correct decision at the right time because there's always those moments that could come up i mean as i said this head coach mike rabel gets it you want to eat the rest of your schnickers now yeah i really do go ahead i'm really all right if i'm making a rookie mistake i'm really hungry that's going to do it for the rest of the otp for coach dav mcginnis and ret brian and amy wells who's having a schnickers i'm mike keith thanks for joining us for the otp