This is the OTP presented by Farm Bureau Health Plans. No matter your life stage, you can plan on Farm Bureau Health Plans for great healthcare coverage with a sensible price tag. Visit FBHP dot com with Amy Wells, I'm Mike, Keith and our all friends. Sarah Walsh is here. She's now known as NFL Network Sarah Walsh. But you were on WKRN here.
How long three years is at all? That's it? But I feel like I was here in a really good special time.
I mean, obviously I'm completely biased, but I was even talking about it today the last it feels like that Titans never obviously get the national love I think that they deserve. I mean, even when you're the number one seeing in the FC.
I've seen it.
I've seen this team in all different incarnations, and it felt like the last time that it was like this national situation. I mean, I was here in the years of Eddie George, Steve McNair, Keith Bullock, Frank Wycheck, Javon Curse. I mean, this was this locker room to me, and I was much younger in my career, but you walked in that locker room and it was these superstar players that I felt like nationally got a lot of attention for Tennessee.
Now, so what is your job with NFL Network specifically?
Now, anything and everything they ask.
So for the last three years I have been primarily down in Tampa because there was a quarterback there that, yeah, you know, demanded a lot of attention. He didn't demand it, but you know, nationally he is Tom Brady. So I've spent the last couple of years covering Tom Brady in the Buccaneers. And that wasn't never really solely my job, but it became solely my job. So now I'm sort of I don't want to say I'm a free agent because I worked for NFL Network, but now I can
go to other teams. And not that I couldn't go to other teams before, but there was just never a situation that they were like, let's skip the cover.
It's okay that you say that, because I mean, Tom Brady was that kind of big deal that I mean, I guess Patrick Mahomes is that he can.
I mean he could. He has a chance to potentially catch Brady. A lot of things have to go right, but you know, Patrick Mahomes is the face of the league.
I don't think that that's right. You can't really argue that.
Tom Brady was a face beyond.
We're talking greatest of all time, right, yes.
But you're talking about also a super I mean he was married to a supermodel. He went to another team, and then that was a story because they won the Super Bowl. And I mean, if I'm NFL network, I'm going to cover every move Tom Brady makes.
Correct and people always ask me to you know, this ideal that he's just a regular football player. I mean he's not, though, because to your point, this is a guy that, like if you this is He sat in front of me when Bruce arians retired and he did his press conference.
Tom came in the room. He sits in front of me.
It's one of the rooms that I don't know if you guys still have it here, but back in my day it was like an auditorium or so they have the you know, like your old college, Like you've got the thing that you can put your phone on. And I remember Tom sitting in front of me and his phone's there and it was turned over, but I'm like, who's on that phone?
Like right now?
Like who's texting that phone. We're not talking it's not just like another star quarterback. We're talking billionaires. We're talking people that tra like far outside of football. I mean, he's just a different he's and so the best way I could explain to him, he's just a different level. It's not just hey, this guy's the best in the NFL. He's on a different like level in the entertainment, in all of those worlds.
All right, I got one more. Are you convinced he's retired?
Yes, I think he is. Now there there's always been. I'll tell you what.
When he was going to step away, we felt like we saw a lot of things in Tampa that made you think it was his last season. When there was a little bit of could Rabel get him, because you know they have a connection from the Patriots, I was like, this is going to be great for me. I'll just continue on. I'll go back to Nashville, Tennessee, where I still have a home, Like, let's keep it going.
So No, I do.
Think he's he's done. I mean he's been off on like a yacht overseas a summer. I mean, if Tom thought he was playing, Tom would be working, working, working, So yes, I think that chapter has finally closed, like he's living his best life.
But it also seems like you're living your best life in a lot of ways. I feel like we see you on TV all the time, and we see you in so many different spaces and doing so many different things. What stories are you most excited about following throughout the twenty twenty three season. Now that Tom Brady's on a yacht somewere.
There's so many things.
I was recently at Panther's trading camp and Bryce Young is could be a new up and coming And it's one of those things where I always say it's difficult for me to look at practice and when you're in the minutia of drills, when you're in the mundane until you get in a game situation, it's hard to see certain things. Went to Panthers practice and you could see Breakstlete's really good, Like there's just something, there's a factor. There was like an excitement, so like I potentially could
be dealing with them. I've been in Jacksonville. If it wasn't the Buck stays with Jacksonville they have I know this might be a bad topic here on this particular Show's okay, they're just really they're really excited down there. There's an energy they again they've been they have been. This isn't I'm not gonna sugar it. They've been bad for a long time. And last year I was in trading. This is what's cool about the NFL. And I've talked about this before in terms of parody. A year ago,
we go to Jacksonville. They're coming off that debacle season. They were hoping to just improve a little bit. They're just hoping to improve. They don't they They're like, we're never gonna pick number one overall again. They did it two years in a row. It was dire down there for them, and so they'd like to see improvement, you know. And I don't know that they envisioned that it would have turned out to be as an exciting finish as it was for them. I know at some point that
was at the Titans expense. But they were a fun story of a team that was looking at the league's worst record to at one point going into Arrowhead in the playoffs and taking it to the Chiefs.
I mean, they really, like people thought that wasn't going to be a game.
It was a game, and so I always think too, going into the preseason, I'm like, who's the Jaguars that we're not talking about? Who had three wins last season that you're giving that nobody's giving any chance to but that you can turn it around overnight. Here in some regards, it doesn't happen for everybody, But every year there's teams in the playoffs that weren't in the playoffs this season ago well.
And the other part of it, too is that's always how it happens when you least expect it. It just all of a sudden becomes a title wave. It's the coolest thing, you know. When we got good in ninety nine, we'd been eight and eight three straight years, and then all of a sudden we go to the Super Bowl. The Rams on the other side had won four games the year before, and you see that that whole thing happened. I think that's the best thing about the NFL.
That's why it's so exciting. Again.
You can sit there and be down on your luck and things can change. And actually, and now I'm gonna watch the stat but I was talking to you about that. I was on Good Morning Football this summer and we did this segment called what if, like name something that happened in the NFL, what if it didn't happen, how would it change fates? And I said, what if the Music City Miracle didn't happen? And now I'm going to
watch the stat because I've lost it. But after that game, which obviously knocked Buffalo out, they didn't see a postseason for and I'm running now.
Almost like twenty years.
Yeah, it was twenty years to think that you're that close, that game's over, Buffalo is going to the postseason to lose the way that they lost, And to think if you would have told the Buffalo Bills fans in the hour after the Music City Miracle happens, hey, guys, buckle up, because you're not going back to the postseason for twenty years.
Like that's insane.
I mean, it's like when you fall And they were the most successful playoff team of the nineties, even though they didn't win a Super Bowl. They were in the playoffs seemingly every year and competitive and went to Super Bowls.
But when you fall off the cliff too, it's like when you ride the title wave up, somebody else rides the tidle wave down, and you know, we went nine years without a playoff appearance here, and you don't think when we lose that game to Baltimore at the end of two thousand and eight that we're supposed to win and that we're not even going to make it back to the playoffs for nine years. You're like, oh my goodness.
It's crazy.
It is crazy, which is why you always say, don't take it for granted. And there's guys that get to the super Bowl, and we've heard this a million times, that go to a super Bowl in their first year lose it, but you always think, well, I'll be back, and you don't know if you ever get back.
It's just crazy. I think specifically for Tennessee.
I've always thought Mike as someone that worked here that the Titans, no matter what they do, never got enough credit, you know what I mean. Like even when this team like two years removed from being the top team in the AFC, right, and what do you hear about? You hear about the Chiefs, the Bills, the Patriots for the
longest time. And I just feel like, and people here in Tennessee know that you're sort of like insulated, and you know in our world of like I just feel like they've never gotten nationally the love that at times they've deserved.
But don't you think Amy that's I don't think it's a chip on the shoulder thing. I think it's we don't have a Brady or a Manning here. We haven't had a Brady or a Manning. People can now fly into Nashville easier, which helps because the media comes in here a lot more than they did back when you were at Channel two. But I just think the other thing is too we don't play a run and gun style and gain five hundred yards a game and score
forty points. I mean where the team that very much matches its city, where the hardcore, tough guys, blue collar Eddie George Derrick Henry sort of thing. And I think to be a story you've got to have a stylized point. The guy who really brings us there, I think is Vrabel.
Yeah, yeah, I think that's very interesting.
I think Mike Vrabel is the guy that brings us kind of the sex appeal that this team didn't have for a long time, just because he's got the personality, he's got the attachment to the Patriots, he's got the successful playing career, he'll give you the SoundBite that kind of goes viral and that will be played in lots of different places. But the supporting cast, if you can call it that, that is the roster, is made up of a lot of guys that you kind of go, oh.
Yeah, I've heard of him, or oh yeah, i've seen him play really good.
Oh yeah, he's he's on his second swing of whatever, which for us is great as a team. We've got a team made up of guys that are really fighting for and they want it really bad because they're on their they're second go around. They're getting another crack at it, they're getting another opportunity.
But for everybody else.
They're like, oh that was a bust right, he's bust guy. Well, no, he's not bust guy. He's a great player. But it's just a very different story here.
And I think that to your point, it gets lost in.
The in the machine of the NFL and all of the personalities and all of the big stars.
So I can see both sides of it.
But I think the Titans as a franchise thrive on that.
I think it's almost become sort of not in the spotlight.
I think it's become part of their identity is that like we could win it, we could not. The stories will be the same, so let's sneak up on them.
And I like that. I like that. I think it makes the team tough and scrappy.
I like to Sarah leave the Snickers hot seat to go.
You guys, this is like when you trick or treat at people's houses and you're like, they gave you the full size. It's fair, no expense here. Titans fans like these. They're not the bite size, full one.
I can take one to talk.
Yes, absolutely, Okay, So final question before you depart, how many of the NFL Network shirts do you have?
Oh my god, I mean pay for them. We don't pay for them, so a way, this is probably gonna get me fired.
Mike so uh, he's a great guest.
I love Charlie.
Every year they send us, you know, like if you're going two weeks in a row and you can't wash anything, then you need a bunch.
They would send like a huge amount of shirts, and I'm like, I don't need.
First of all, I was mostly in Florida and it's always hot, so I'm always gonna go to Leeveless. They send us so many shirts, and I'm like, so every year, I'm like, I don't you guys don't even have to send me and I'm good, I'm good, and they're like, no, we need to send it, and they send like a new box this year. Until today, we were wearing NFL Plus shirts. There's a big difference there, Mike. It says NFL Plus NFL Network. I got to just transition today
to NFL Network. So yeah, I've got I've got a close.
You can't exactly wear those at to dinner in Tampa because it's like, oh, look, Sir Wallace wants everybody knows she works for Ye. No, I don't.
I don't, but like I'll run into target sometimes sometimes there's breaks in between practice and I'm not, yeah, I.
Don't want people. I don't.
I feel like it looks like I'm out like walking around like this. But at this way, I have more NFL Network shirts than I have w Kreen shirts. They did not give me a litany of w k although I did have some w kre and polos I wore in training camp.
I will say, I think about it. I have these live shots.
From training camp back in the day, and I did have a w kre in polo.
I remember it was Navy blue.
Sarah, get out of here, okay, I got a flight ticket. It's so good to see you.
Thank you so much.
I hope we're very proud of you here, but I know her.
Oh thank you.
I have obviously such a special place in my heart for Tennessee. I still have a home here, like I said, And I was just asked downstairs while Brabel was talking, so do you get to be up here this season? Because you know there's Tom has left the league, and I'm like, it's done. You guys like you guys are good, like I feel like I will be up here. So motivation, I would love it, soul consider that he's.
A better team than what people know. I'm telling you.
I well, like, let's go. I'm happy to be here.
All right, get out of here, okay, leaving the OTP. I mean as we're doing this, she'st down, she's running out the door, all right. So with Sarah Walsh having departed, that's time for us to let you know, Hey Titans fans, hey ot people, 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, or grabbing one to go before watching or listening to 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. And the game Saturday is at noon.
The game, I don't know, you're gonna need.
Coffee because it's the first game. Yeah, you're not ready for this, Well you're not.
The people have been in training camp too.
Bot people. I mean, I hope I'm not ready for it, but I mean it's August the twelve.
I know it's at noon.
It's not a seven o'clock game. Yeah, you need Duncan. You need your coffee, you do.
I had a box of twenty five munchkins this morning.
Golly, it was good.
By the way, you've changed seats. You're now in the Snickers hot seat, and it's amazing how this works.
Humphy, I'm hydrating. I'm closer to the Snicker.
Yes, okay, well we're glad. We're glad to see you there. I want to go over something as we get ready for the first preseason game, and I want to call it three to see. Okay, each of us, Mike Keith and Amy Wells will pick three players that we want to see against the Bears. All right, all right for the Titans, I'm going to take out the kickers.
Okay, okay, you got to see the kicker.
We got to see. I mean we all know that all of the ot people are saying, oh, which one of them is going to say the kicker? No, we're not. We're shocker spoiler alert. We're not because we everybody wants to see. What's the Titans have to pick a kicker between Caleb shoot Deck and Trey Wolf.
Right, that's a given.
That's a given. And then you're going to say, oh, you're going to say the backup quarterbacks. No, you all want to see Malik Willis and you all want to see will Levis. We all do. Yeah, so they're out. Okay, we we understand. We want to see them run the offense. I mean, we could go through all of the coach speak about the kickers and the quarterbacks. We get it.
Okay, so those are off the table.
They're off the table, so we will go back and forth. Okay, three to see Amy Wells. You get to pick one first.
I think my first one is going to be wide receiver Kyle Phillips.
And I'll tell you why.
Kyle Phillips showed up for training camp and his body looked different. He is still not a big dude. He will never be a big dude. His just skeleton won't allow for that. But he looks like he has become more sturdy, sturdy, he looks a little more built, and I think that that is going to go a long way with helping him stay healthy.
He's going to be more durable.
We saw him have some of the highest highs and lowest lows within like a matter of minutes. Yeah, that you never see. You never see someone that high and that low within the same five minutes of each other. And so I think there's so much potential there. Throughout camp, We've seen him make plays. He's more confident in this offense.
He's more confident in his abilities. I'm excited to see him get on the field and really see what he can do in a game, because I think he's going to be a little more sturdy, a little more durable, a little more confident, and hopefully that leads to more consistent.
I've said multiple times, I'll try not to repeat it. I think the addition of DeAndre Hopkins means he probably has to play less offensive snaps, which should make him more effective. And the biggest area where he can help this team. He can be the best punt returner this team has had since Mark Marianni.
Which is so excited, and.
This team hasn't returned to punt for a touchdown in nearly ten years and really hasn't gotten much out of the punt return game overall. That's an area where if he's able to concentrate on it, if he's not so winded, if he's not so you know whatever, then he's not going to fumble a punt. He's not going to put that pressure on himself. He's going to do what we saw him do on the first punt return of the year and what we saw him do in training camp.
So I think that's a good one because I don't think there would be very many people among the ot people who would think Kyle Phillips cannot help this football team. He clearly can help this football team. He has shown that he can help this football team and in a very specific role, in a very specific role where this team has not always had that guy. They've gone looking for that guy in several different places. If he stays healthy, I mean, I think he's a I think he's a winner in this offense.
I think he's a guy where almost less is more for him. I think if he can focus in on what he needs to do and not need to do all of the things, I think it's gonna be beneficial all the way around. I think he will be a better punt returner. I think he'll be a better receiver if he is able to focus in on what he does really well and do it to the best of his ability.
My first of the three to see is defensive tackle Jaden Peevey, who wore seventy two last year and he appeared in one game. He's wearing number ninety two. Now six ' five listed at three oh eight, first year man out of Texas A and M probably weighs less than three oh eight. He has slimmed down some. He still has the amazing thirty six inch plus arms. It's like thirty six and an eighth or thirty six and a quarter, which makes him crazy long to be able
to get into an offensive lineman. He had a great offseason. He's taken a lot of snaps. The acting coach for this week's game, Terrell Williams, who is the defensive line coach, says, this is a guy who's made a move. Can he make a move to the point where he's on the active roster For all of the talk about the off season program and OTAs in the mini camps and we've done everything, We've been great in meetings, it's still about executing and making plays in his case, for what you're
asked to do as an interior offensive lineman. You're not asked to make every tackle, you're not asked to sack the quarterback on every play, but you're asked to do your job well enough where you're getting that penetration, you're getting that knock back, you're staying in your gaps, and then do all of those responsibility things and still be able to make some plays. So I'm very interested to see jadenpev play against the Chicago Bears.
I think that's a good point that you made about being able to take all of the progress that someone like PV has made throughout the offseason.
You've heard about.
Mentally how well he's doing physically, how conditioned he is, and how well he's doing in that regard, but now being able to put it all together on the field, that's like the last step, the last piece of the puzzle. So being able to see that thread pulled all the way through the off season, that was a good one, Mike.
Thank you.
I like that one.
Remind you too, Open a Titans checking account from Pinnacle with at least one hundred dollars and a recurring direct deposit by August the eighteenth, and you could get two tickets to five Titans home games. Details at Titansbanking dot com. Titans Checking from Pinnacle play Hard Bank Easy member FDI.
See, so I'm going to go back to offense, Okay, and I guess I guess I've got a returner thing because I'm kind of sticking in that realm. Ty Ja Spears is the guy I'm excited to see, and obviously we know that he is very gifted as a running back. We know that there's some excitement around what he can provide for this offense as a compliment to Derrick Henry and will we see all of that in the preseason?
We don't know, right, I mean, you don't see more of the fancy stuff really, some of the trickery and that in those first preseason games.
That's not really what It's.
Very hard to tell. To further your point, it's very hard to tell about the run game in the preseason because you're not scheming up in anything. In the run game, you're not trying to outflank anybody.
You're just kind of trying to make plays and run the ball, right, Yeah, So will we see all of that?
I don't know.
But the kick return game is something that's very interesting to me, and I think there there's a lot of opportunity for him there as a returner.
I think that there's.
There's just a lot of excitement about some of the other things that he can provide beyond just the running back stuff.
That's what I'm looking for.
That's what I'm excited to really see, is where he can plug in there and where he can make a name for himself beyond just being the other guy with twenty two.
I want to see the shake and that's that's what he showed us at the Reese's Senior Bowl. That's why when they picked him in the third round, I was excited. Even though many thought they should take another position like a tight end or wide receiver. I thought, that's a guy you can't pass up because what he has that
very few players have is he's got shake. And if he can show that on a kick return, running the ball, catching a pass, I think that will get Titans fans excited because the more it's like, the media out at practice at Ascension Saint Thomas Sports Park has become excited about him, watching him because.
Like, oh, like watch a video game.
It's it's like whoa what? WHOA? What is that? You know, because he's not the biggest guy, and he's not the fastest guy, and yet there's something about like when he's in the one on one tackling drills and the guy has to come to balance and decide which way he's going to go. I mean, it's very difficult because there is an element to him that is just God given. It's shake.
Yeah, it's hard to decride. I mean, shake is the right saying. But I can't talk about him without like moving my whole body somehow.
You know.
It's like I can't find the word for exactly what it is he does.
It's like a I can't like, I can't say it. I just have to move.
Some people have shake, I know, and that that's what it is.
It's shake. I didn't I guess I've never thought about it before. But it's just it's a it's a way of life.
It's it's it's shake. It's not learned, No, I mean you can learn how to master it. It's a god given. Yeah, there's something about him that is just totally different.
I'm so glad that we have added video to the OTP because I can't because it I just have to move.
You've shown the shake, all right. So my second of the three to see is Reggie Robertson. No, I mean this guy has shown up as a wide receiver. The back end of the wide receiver corps is not set. We know that there's gonna be a lot of guys battling. We're gonna see Kiss Jackson from Georgia, an undrafted rookie. We're gonna have a chance to see Treyshawn Harrison. Obviously, Mason Kenzie is still fighting for a spot. Uh. There, you know Colton Dow, the seventh round pick, is fighting
at the back end of the roster. Reggie Robertson is a guy that when he's good, he is really really good. And for the most part, he's been really really good in practice. Inconsistency is what has been the bugaboo for him through his time. Now he's he's come back from fully come back from the surgery. Now from a couple of years ago, he looks more confident. He's playing faster. I think he may have a chance to show big. But we'll see. I mean, this is this is certainly his moment.
That's Ah, that was a good one too. You've got a good list.
Well, let's see what your third one looks like.
Okay, so my third one, I'm going to the defensive side of the ball. Now we've got to switch at some point here.
Manti Rice.
Okay.
I'm excited to see what he is going to be able to do. The poor guy struggled with injury throughout his career as a Titan, and I think that that his kind of It's like he's never been able to really get traction. You know, we've seen some good things from him. Obviously, he's familiar with this defense. He's familiar with this team. You just want to see him get his wheels on the ground and really take off. And so that's what I'm excited to see. I'm excited to
see him healthy. I'm excited to get to see him get in the rotation, really see what he can bring to the defense. I think that I think there's a lot to watch. I think that that linebackers group is kind of an exciting group. It is, and so I'm excited to see what he's able to bring to it and where he's able to kind of find his niche niche.
Where he's able to find his niche.
I say niche, but on on HGTV they say niche.
Yeah, so it could be a niche niche. Yeah, I guess that's how it's.
A niche space. But if you're just calling it the space by its name, it's a niche. Yes.
Well, I'm hoping he finds a spot. Yeah.
Well, I mean, as he's Al Shier is the leader of that group, right, And I don't think I'm breaking any news by saying. I mean he's just come in and it's just like I'm the boss, and yeah, that's the that's the way this runs. And then you've got Jack Gibbons who's really playing well, and Chance Campbell who's come back from injury and he's playing well. And then they bring in a guy like Benneman who's a veteran linebacker.
And the other guy that they bring in, Luke Gifford, who can play inside linebacker, has great length, and he's going to be a special teams stalwart. So I mean there's a there's sort of a squish in that area. You know, there's a there's a tightening of all of that at the linebacker. Well, somebody's gonna have to yep, that's a great point. Watch the linebackers. Uh. My final of the three to see is Adam Rupsich six six three eighteen out of Culver Stockton. That's in Missouri, right, Sure,
you're from Missouri. You don't know that well?
I mean, I don't know all of the places Surrey, how do I Not? Everybody is as well versed in their home state as you are, Mike Keith.
Okay, fine, Rupsich comes out of this very small program and he is six six three eighteen, And I think Andrew would be that big even if he weren't a football player.
Yeah, just naturally.
He's a naturally large human. He's got some athleticism, he's competitive, he was on the practice squad all of last year. He took a red shirt which he needed and has transformed his body, is playing different positions, and my question about him is, I don't think Andrew. I don't think at this time at least that Andrew Rupsich is probably
a starter on September tenth at New Orleans. But the question becomes, does Andrew Rupsig make the team as the eighth of the ninth offensive lineman because he can play multiple positions. There are several guys that would be competing in that area. With Nicholas petif Frere suspended for the first six games, you would have a John leglu who has played some some ball for the Steelers at different points. Uh, They've just brought in a veteran player and Justin Murray
who would be fighting for that. They've just bought in a veteran player in Jimmy Murray, who is fighting for that. Because you're you're looking for guys outside the first five who can be part of your EID on game day and probably part of your nine offensive linemen on the roster. Could could Rupsich be back on the practice quite sure? Yeah, I mean, but I'm wondering does he take the step because you just don't see many guys and the Titans have two of them right now, Jalen Duncan, who they
drafted out of Maryland and Andrew Rupsig. Great size, Yeah, naturally, I mean Duncan's six six three oh five and he's another one. He would be that big a man no matter what. And the reason I say that is when you're that big a human, naturally, you're generally a better athlete because you're not bulking up or you're you know, this is who you are, this is how you. It's
like Ben how Ben Jones was. Ben Jones was a great baseball player because he was naturally as big as he was, and so his athleticism was, you know, caught up with his body size, so to speak.
Right, And those people are so valuable to any team, but especially to this team where you've got to have that depth, You've got to have those guys that can fill in in multiple different places.
It's just so useful to have.
And even if he were to end up either one of those guys were able to end up on a practice squad. It's still so valuable because of the grind of a regular season and you've got a lot of football to play, and you're taking a beating at that position.
All along the offensive line. You need to have that depth.
You need to have those people that you can rely on to say, all right, next man up, let's go.
I think that over the years, we've seen.
What a premium there is on guys who are big, who are naturally gifted and strong and can fill in in a lot of different places. So being able to find a couple of them to have just to help this team awesome.
Amy's three to see in Chicago. Wide receiver Kyle Phillips number eighteen, running back potentially kick returner Taj Spears number thirty two, Linebacker Monty Rice number fifty six. My three to see in Chicago seventy six, Adam Eruptsich, offensive line eighty Reggie Roberson, wide receiver ninety two, defensive lineman Jaden Peeve. We both agreed to stay away from the kickers Caleb Shudeck and Trey Wolf and the quarterbacks Malik Willis and Will Levis because those were obvious.
Mike, I didn't break the rules a single time game.
Coach Mack would be so proud.
I know.
Breaking news for Titans fans out there that you're gonna want to hear. It's official. Seat Geek is the official ticketing partner of your Tennessee Titans. You think I'm kidding, but I'm not. The deal is finalized. Seat Geek is the newest member of the Titans Titans family. If you haven't heard the name yet, it's because you haven't been listening to the OTP. Come on on, you get used to it because you'll be hearing Seat Geek a lot
more this season. Whether you're buying or selling tickets to Titans games, there any live event in Nashville, Seat Geek is the place to do it. Seat Geek is the new official ticketing partner of the Tennessee Titans. So Titans fans, Ammy Wells knows the lingo. You've done well, all right, So I want to discuss as we wrap up. And by the way, thanks to Sarah Wallash for coming by.
Yeah, it was so great to see her.
Very proud of her, Yeah she was. She was very nice when she was here at w k R n and she's done well. And that's one of those people you all he's pulled for. And I'm very happy that she's a big star nationally now.
I hope she's coming around more this season.
To the head coach for Saturday's game at Chicago will be Terrell Williams. Yeah, and he's the defensive line coach. This does not surprise me because Mike Rabel made him the assistant head coach in the off season and in talking about it and in discussing this move this week, Mike brought up something interesting. He said that Big T,
as he's called around here. You know, at times, to be honest, we have had to stop and look and see, oh it's Terrell Williams because everybody's like, hey Tea, hey big T.
Yeah, sometimes you forget well, I.
Mean he's just like the nicest guy. He has a relationship with people throughout the team.
Yah.
He is a coach that transcends just the defensive line or the defensive room. He has a relationship throughout the ball club. And who does that make me think of? Mike Rabel? Oh and you think about this. One of the reasons DeAndre Hopkins said he was interested in Tennessee is that he had a relationship with Mike Rabel. They really didn't have much to do with football.
He just liked him.
They talked about things. He was a guy that reached out beyond barriers. He wasn't a position coach who just tried to stay focused in on his area and acted like other positions didn't exist or another side of the ball didn't exist. I think it's an exciting thing, and I think the players think it's a very exciting thing because they like Terrell Williams so much.
Absolutely, I think that it's a great opportunity for big t Trolliams to expand and kind of get that experience and get that exposure to what kind of the grind of being a head coach looks like and what that cadence is like in that room team. And I think the players are excited for him and they're responding to it. You know, they're excited about having the opportunity to almost
make him look good. You know, does that make sense, of course, to have the opportunity to show him off and what he's able to do, because coaching.
And the performance on the field are so intertwined.
Sure, so I think that that's something the whole team is responding to and listen, this is the most Mike Vrabel move you could possibly see him having the idea to do this. He said that it was something he thought about during the off season and then it all kind of came together. And I think that this is Mike Rabel doing what Mike Rabel does, which is caring about the people that are around him, caring about his staff, wanting to invest in them beyond just winning a football game,
beyond just prepping for the season. This is an opportunity to invest in that coach's future. It's an opportunity to invest in this team and the culture as a whole, showing that hey, when you show me that you deserve an opportunity, I'm giving you the opportunity. And that is so on message with what he says all of the time, and he is continuing to put his money where his mouth is and just build relationships.
I think three things. Number one, it's a great thing for the organization to do. I think number two, Terrell Williams is already getting a lot of publicity and most people around the NFL did not know who he was because you honestly you cannot name thirty two defensive line coaches in the NFL. Most people who love the NFL couldn't name but three or four. And yet now you're going to know this name. And as Sarah Walsh and Ian Rapaport and Scott Pioli we're here today from NFL Network,
that's certainly a focus of what they do. So that's a good thing. I think the other thing, too, is it gives the team a little sort of jolt for a first preseason game. It makes it a little more interesting. It kind of focuses them in just a little bit more. Now. I don't think it's going to be the difference in winning and losing the game, because winning and losing in the preseason is not the big thing. But Mike is looking for any advantage to add a little focus, to
add a little spend, to add a little interest. He does it in practice. He does it with things like this, He does it in meetings. He does it with what we're doing next week with the Titans Foundation Luncheon, which on August the fifteenth, We're having the Foundation Luncheon at the Grand Hyatt to raise money for the Titans Foundation, which gives away a lot of money. It'll be the first time we have ever had the whole team. The whole team, yeah, at any event since we've been here.
Awesome.
I mean that's hard. It's hard to do. It's not that people didn't care. But so he thinks that's going to be a big deal. As the team's on their way to Minnesota to practice. So that's something the whole team can do together. That's like this, you know, and and so I I think everybody's first thought. Who knows anything about what we do here, they've been like, wow, cool, good for Big T and and good for you know, the organization overall, good for Vrabel. I just think a perfect thing.
Yeah, it's a shakeup wells.
And it will be interesting for Vrabel too, because when he was out for the game a couple of years ago when he got COVID, he had to be at home because he was obviously sick, and he said he thought that was valuable as he watched it. It will be an interesting viewpoint too, to kind of see the dynamics of the communication among the staff and to look at the side his sideline from a different standpoint than
what he knows. He won't learn everything because it's not a regular season game, but he's always looking to pick up one or two little things that they can do better.
And that's the The other part of this that I think is so interesting and so beneficial is that it's not like Mike Rabel's gonna be out of town, right, He's not going to be at the house.
Yeah.
No, he's going to be there. He's going to be able to observe. He's going to be able to be hands on in a different way. It gives everybody the opportunity to kind of readjust the kaleidoscope and the picture comes in to focus a little bit differently. What can you glean in that time that you take into the regular season that you notice maybe you wanted.
To maybe Spears has a little shake.
Oh there you go, Yeah, a little shake. I think there's oh my gosh, I don't need any of those. I think there's so many good things that can come out of this. I'm so excited for everyone involved, for the players, for the coaches, for Big T, for my Rable.
I think this is great. Ten out of ten decisions, all right.
So a couple things that we want to mention as we finish up this edition of the OTP that is sponsored by our tremendous friends from Farm Bureau Health Plans. See how much you can save on your health coverage with Farm Bureau Health Plans. Get a quote at FBHP dot com. If you go to the Titans YouTube channel, you can watch a program called Titans Camp rewind Yes and it's sort of some of the features that have been done during the course of the week. What's going
on with the ball club? Be something to get you ready for the Chicago game that you would really enjoy. That's at the Titans YouTube channel. We did one last week. It was really well received. Bless you all for watching. Hopefully more we'll watch this week. We're trying to do one a week through Training Camp. Titans YouTube channel. Titans Radio on the air Saturday, eleven am Central from Soldier Field in Chicago, kick off at twelve oh two Central time.
Titans and the Bears preseason game number one.
It's happening, Mike Keith, No, are you so excited? I am hearing you give like you know it's football time. When Mike Keith is telling you the Titans radio programming schedule, that's right, Like that's how you know that's what I've been waiting months for.
Goosebumps.
I was talking to my mom and she said, you know where am I going to watch the game?
I said, you're going to listen.
So you couldn't listen to games, because no, I'd rather watch. That hurts.
My dad was telling me the other day that his tips and tricks for syncing up the TV to.
The rate they're I have to have him on the OTP to discuss that.
Yeah, I mean, my man's got a whole like plan.
This is how he does it, doctor Will, I know, pretty bright gas.
I was very impressed by he's got it refined to an art.
Now he does. All right, So we're coming to you from Shytown. You can bet that there will be some Chicago style pizza. Oh, I mean, you can bet that there will be some football and here we go, ot people, here we go.
It's happening.
It's happening. Thanks so much for joining us. For Amy Wells and Sarah Walsh, I'm Mike Keith, and you've been listening to the oh T T