The OTP Daily | January 13

was doing a lot of self scout. They had a lot of meetings, Guys were getting treatment and lifts and things like that. Now we've reached the portion of the bye week as the actual buy where guys are taking some time off, They're spending times with their families. They are able to actually leave this building and the routine of football and take a couple of days to exist. And that's the rest and relaxation part of the bye week. That's the treat for being number one in the AFC.

Only guys here today are guys who are on rehab assignment, so some players milling about, but mostly just quiet and a pretty healthy football team. Yeah, and that's exactly what the Titans we're hoping for through all of the carnage of the twenty twenty one season. What we were hoping for is a healthy football team when it mattered. This is when it matters. This is when you want to

have that healthy team. And so having the extra time to really make sure guys can rest, guys can rehab, guys can do what they need to do to get their bodies right is a great advantage for a team that's been banged up all season long. Earlier this week, Amy and I had the chance to visit with Titans general manager John Robinson to talk about the twenty twenty one regular season, what is to come, and what he and the personnel staff are doing right now. Here's that

on this OTP date. Let's talk some regular season stuff. The Titans used an NFL record ninety one players this season. That obviously sounds very complicated. But John, when you talk about the specifics of how that works for a team, for the football staff, for the coaching staff, for everybody, how do you make that work? What are the complicated parts of using ninety one guys? Yeah? I think you know Mike certainly, when you know, when you go into the game each and every week, you know you're not

counting on injuries. You think they're gonna happen, but you have to be ready to react to what happens in the game and guys that get nicked up here or there, you know, certainly dealing with COVID still and with COVID

replacements and how all that stuff goes. But I think it's a testament to our personnel staff, our pro staff, you know, headed up by Ryan Calden, Manti Austin Fort, Brian Gardner, Kevin Turks, those guys having those lists ready, having evaluated, talk through players that may you know that

Mike could come in and help us. And then the coaching staff, you know, those guys being adapted, spending extra time with these guys, getting them ready on a weekend and week out basis, and their teammates, you know, their teammates accepting them and trying to help on game week John, the Titans defense improved dramatically. Let me throw some numbers at you. Nearly seventy less yards and a touchdown less per game than in twenty twenty twenty three, more sacks,

third down defense was fifteen percent better. What made all of that happen? Yeah, I mean I think, you know, we certainly turned that side of the ball over, you know, this past offseason. But you know, I think the biggest thing is probably the communication amy those guys weekend and

week out at practice. You know, the call comes in and the formation changes and you know they're in this offensively, and then they shift their motion to that, and those guys are talking, they're communicating, They're getting on the same page with whatever check maybe in place, you know, the games, the pass rush games upfront, being on the same page there just a great job by the coaches to continue to stress you know, the importance of the communication piece

on defense, and then the players executing it in practice and carrying it over to the games. John Deante Foreman and Dontrelle Hilliard combined to rush for over nine hundred yards and catch twenty eight passes in the last nine games. They were so effective. What made that duo work so well at the running back spot down the stretch. It's a different skill set that they both have. Both catch

the ball really well. You know, Foreman's a little bigger back, he's a little more downhill power guy Dontrelle has got some shiftingness, a little bit of cut and slash to his skill set. But I think the biggest thing was, you know, those guys were they were at home, they were working out, They didn't they didn't have a job,

and you know, we gave them an opportunity. And like I said earlier, their teammates welcomed them and got them on the same page with what we're about as an organization, as a football team, and those guys got a taste of success and they seized the opportunity and they didn't want to let it go. You know, they kept working a weekend and week out in the meeting room, on the practice fields, and you know, their their success showed

on game days. What impressed you the most about Ryan Tannehill season, Yeah, I think it's you know, he's such a commanding leader. He's done a great job from a leadership standpoint on the offensive side of the football. It's barely been a point of emphasis down the stretch here to take care of the football. He's been ever mindful of that. You know, I saw him Sunday in the Houston game, in that four minute situation at the end of the game, really rallying the guys like, let's put

this thing away. You could see how important, you know, that series was to him and this team is to him. He's made some great throws for us. He's made some huge plays running the football. The San Francisco game comes to mind on the scramble where he got us down there to kick the game winner. So, you know, both as a runner, as a passer, as a leader, you know, he's really done a good job for us this season. John.

Part of the success of this team is some guys stepped forward to play more important roles for the Titans than we probably expected in training camp. Who are some of those guys that you'd like to site that stepped forward in a bigger way than maybe what was expected. Yeah, I mean, I think I think my you could name it just about anybody on the football team. That's everybody's probably worthy mentioning their name here, because you know, so

many guys have contributed. I mean, Randy Bullock wasn't even on the team in training camp, and he's made some huge kicks for us this season. The two running backs that we mentioned, Dylan Cole, who we signed and caused a big fumble that change the outcome of a game for us on a kickoff Cover. You know, there's just so many guys that have come in here and done

things for us. Buster Screen comes to mind, you know, Cover guy who you know we signed a month month and a half ago and he's done some really good things for us. But that's the mindset of this football team. That's a fabric of this football team is you know, we said that all the time, it doesn't matter when you get here or how you got here, but that you take advantage of the opportunity when you do get it.

We've got a great locker room full of guys that are supportive, great staff of coaches that get these guys ready to play. I'm just I'm proud of the team i'veford. It truly has been a team. I've certainly been some great individual performances from players throughout the season, but the effort of a football team, which is the most important thing, has been really good this season. John, both you and

Mike Vrabel are constantly looking for areas of improvement. What are some areas where this Titans team can improve in the postseason? Yeah, I think you know, it's really playing sixty minutes of Titan football. You know, we've certainly done that at times in games this season, and there's been games where you know, one half is really good and then the second half or the first half is slow,

and we pick it up in the second half. We've got to replicate what we've done in those games where we, for sixty minutes have played stylistically fast, aggressive, physical football. We've got to do that in the playoffs. You know, it's a single elimination tournament. It's going to take all sixty minutes to stay in the tournament, and we've got to play our style of football for those sixty minutes. The goal is to win the Super Bowl, and that's

what you're focused on right now. But in your area of the team, you're also getting ready for the Senior Bowl, which is three weeks away. The Combine is less than two months away. Free agency is roughly two months away. The next three to four months for you and the football personnel folks, I mean, they're wild anyway. So how do you balance the run to the Super Bowl and sing ahead, which you absolutely have to do. Yeah, that's I mean, that's the way it goes, Mike. I mean

it's it's the same thing every year. I mean, our focus you know this week is is you know, watching who we're going to play, familiarizing ourselves for the divisional round game. It's it's it's one game out of time. That's our focus. You know, we've seen a lot of these teams in the regular season, but it's it's getting to know and watching film on some of the teams that we haven't seen this season. And our focus is

on that divisional round game. And you know, from a roster standpoint, our college scouts are at these All Star games. You know, they're watching these guys. Our pro scouts, you know, they're certainly working on the advances for our potential opponents here in the playoffs, but they're working forward towards free

agency and evaluating those potential players. And you know, we'll have those meetings on those guys, you know, after the Senior Bowl, probably the first of February, you know, as we start to strategize and try to map out the roster plan you know, for the future seasons. But it's right now, you know, all focuses on our next opponent, you know, whoever that may be. And whenever we find that out. All chips will be in on that game. So from a football standpoint, how do you spend this

weekend when you're not playing. Yeah, well it'd be a good, great chance for our players to get some rest. We've gotten some work in this week with the downtime, some conditioning, a little bit of stuff on the field. Let guys get healthy, you know, that's the that's the that's the big thing about this that has been about this bye week is getting guys healthy so that we're you know, hopefully we're one hundred percent, you know for the next

week's game. But you know, we'll be watching these these playoff games this weekend and taking notes on players and you know, spending a little bit more, maybe a couple extra hours with the family at night, have some dinner. And we hadn't seen him in a while, but you know, we're looking forward to getting back at it and making run at this thing in the playoffs. That's General manager John Robinson on this edition of the OTP Daily, presented

by Farm Bureau Health Plans. Healthcare coverage from Farm Bureau Health Plans is like an extra set of pads when you need them the most. They've been protecting Tennessee and since nineteen forty seven. Tomorrow on the OTP Daily Friday, January fourteenth, a chat with Julio Jones until then, for Amy Wells, I might Keith thanking you for listening to the OTP Kitty