The OTP: Week 2 of Training Camp

football back at St. Thomas Sports Park. What jumped out at you about pads the amount of work that they were doing. It didn't seem like the usual or what I have seen sometimes as the chaos of pads, where everyone's just flying around hitting everybody. It gets a little chaotic because people are just really excited. There's obviously a buzz and people were obviously fired up, but it seemed

like intentional. It felt like they were working. It felt more organized and like everyone was pulling in one direction, as opposed to sometimes when it's just mayhem because people are wearing pads. Did you notice that I think they're further along as a ball club, and it feels like they get more done because they're older. Yes, the team is older. The team has been with this head coach

for four years. The great majority of this coaching staff has been here all four years, and it's like they just dove right back in and picked up where they left off in January preparing for the Baltimore playoff game. It feels like an adult football team. That's a good

way to put it. Yeah, everyone feels grown up. But speaking of grown ups, one of the younger players, Caleb Farley, first round pick for Genia Tech, cornerback, talented guy called off of Fi and is practicing, not doing everything, but he's practicing. I don't need him to do everything, And I think that this is something that Titans fans need to keep in mind throughout the entirety of training camp.

Coach Vrabel does a really, really good job of monitoring his players, making sure they don't over exert themselves, making sure they're taking care of their bodies. And he's doing that with a lot of people this season. We're seeing already he's giving a lot of breaks to some of the older guys. He's making sure that Caleb Farley doesn't

do too much. He's making sure there a lot of different guys are out there, they're getting their work in, and then they're pulling them back a little bit, which I think is so smart because you're not winning any games out here right now. You're just not You're gonna win games in September. We need everybody to be healthy in September. So I think it's so smart what Mike Vrabel is doing and the way that he's managing this football team. But people sometimes see, what do you mean,

Caleb Farley didn't do every single thing. It's okay, it's good. Julio Jones off practice a couple of days after getting a little dinged up on Monday. Julio Jones could never practice again, and he would be just fine on Sundays. He's a thousand years old. He knows how to do this, a thousand years old. Speaking of players coming in, Sam Ficken is here, kicker, Jets cut him, Titans claim him

off waivers. They get rid of Blake Howbeal, the rookie from Ohio State, and now he is competing with Tucker McCann. McCann has been very consistent and you bring in a guy like Ficken who has some kicks in this league. Has been a little streaky in his career, but has made some big kicks at different times when he's played for the Rams and the Jets, and so the kicking competition winds forward. Both kickers appeared to have a very

good day on Wednesday. Yeah, they did. And it's a fun competition to watch because what this team is looking for it seems as consistency. It's not necessarily the biggest, strongest, most like longest kicks in the world, but you need someone consistent and reliable. That's what this team is looking for.

So to watch these guys battle it out and to see them working on the side, and then to watch them come on and do all the different kicks that they do during the special teams periods really fun to watch. I'm excited about it. But you're absolutely right, Mike. Tucker McCann's a guy who has been here for a while and has been able to keep working and keep developing as a kicker. So we'll see if that helps. And bringing in fresh blood always always makes the competition a

little bit more interesting. One thing about Tucker McCann too, is having been here, having been in this system, having understood all that goes on, certainly towards his favor. The other part, the Titans punter Brett Kern is a little bit older. He's mid thirties, and you know, he got dinged up in a game last year. Tucker mccan can punt. He was going to be the punter last year, we

thought until he got hurt in practice. When Kern got injured, then Tucker McCann looked like was going to be the guy. So you don't mind that versatility just as a little bit of a backup to potentially get you through a game. It was a pretty good punter when he did so at Missouri, right, Yeah, Yeah, he was a good punter, and so having that versatility and that kind of plan be really helpful because not every kicker can punt. No, it's a different skill set. It is a different skill set.

We said early on the star of training camp might have been a Moni hooker intercepting passes, making things happen. I wonder has that turned to Christian Fulton now, who has had a really nice week so far. I think they could be co stars. Is that possible? Can they be co stars of Camp because yes, they have both been showing marked improvement from last year to this year, and they both look very comfortable in having more responsibility and take on bigger roles on the field. We've seen

both of them make plays. I'll give him co stars. Mike Luke Stocker is back. Luke Stocker is back. Luke Stocker, who joined the Titans in December of twenty seventeen after being waived by the team who drafted him Tampa Bay, spent the rest of seventeen In all of eighteen with the Titans, last two years with the Falcons. He is thirty three years old, the eleventh year man out of Tennessee. Big burly blocking tight end Jeff Swain has not been practicing,

so Luke Stocker has gotten all of those reps right. Absolutely, He's got that veteran presence the same way that Jeff Swain does, so he's able to come in. He understands what he needs to be doing. He's able to make an impact pretty quickly on the field in terms of helping some of the other guys in that room figure out what they need to be doing. And yeah, he's a guy who we know can be a consistent player. We've seen what he's able to do, and he's a

strong dude. He is strong and strong a lot the same build as Tommy Hudson, who is in his second year with the Titans out of Arizona State. Last year on the practice squad, Tommy Hudson getting a lot of reps, getting a lot of work, got a chance right now to make his mark towards towards I think making the fifty three man roster. To me, for Tommy Hudson, it's going to be how do you translate that to the preseason games? The preseason games are kind of the next piece.

You know, when you break down training camp, you talk about actually getting to training camp, and then you put the pads on and then you've got the preseason games. So seeing some of these guys like a Tommy Hudson out in action when everything is live and seeing how they react, how they're able to make plays, and are they able to still execute their assignments, that's going to be the next test. But yeah, Tommy Hudson has been getting a lot of recognition these last couple of days

for what he's been able to do in practice. You know who else has two is Marcus Johnson, the fifth year wide receiver from Texas. He has done a nice job and with Julio Jones taking some time off and Josh Reynolds being a little dinged up too, he has had the opportunity to get a lot of first team reps. Keeps making plays. And here's an interesting thing about him,

and I want to throw this one at you. He caught a pass in practice earlier this week in the end zone and he and the defensive back caught each other's feet. They got their feet tangled, so they're both falling backward to the ground, and Marcus Johnson catches the pass in this prone position. Great catch, falling backward. The defensive back whose name escapes me right now, hits the

ground first and Marcus Johnson lands on top of him. Okay, and then because they're nearer the sideline, after he lands on top of the defensive back, he rolls out of bounds. And he lands out of bounds. He has caught the pass, so the question becomes he lands on top of the defensive back. It's not pass interference because their feet got tangled, so there's no penalty. But the question is he lands on top of the defensive back who appears to be

fully inbounds. Okay, but the first time Marcus hits the ground, he's out of bounds. So I had a question. I said, is that a catch and a touchdown? Or is it an incomplete pass? I actually went to the NFL officials, the officiating office, and ask them that question, and they email me back immediately with a very definitive answer, touchdown or incomplete pass. Well, it's a touchdown, right because the player is an extension of the ground, so he lands on top of the player who is fully on the

ground on the ground. Okay, so there you go. Ashley Farrell says it's an incomplete pass, and Ashley Farrell is correct. Interesting, it's correct because he did not complete the catch in bounds. The contact with the ground was out of bounds. That's where he completed the catch, and because of that, according to the officiating office, it is an incomplete pass. So landing on another human does not constitute being in bounce. Correct. All right, interesting note, but more you know, But Marcus

Johnson has had a wonderful week. Looks like tier Tart is living up to the preseason bill from just what I've seen in contact so far as advertised is what it looks like to me. Yeah, I mean a lot of conversation about the work that he's done this offseason, and now I think he's seeing some of the benefits of that work. He seems to be getting a lot of recognition and praise from coaches, from teammates, and we're

seeing him get a lot of reps. So all of that is exciting for him and hopefully he can keep going. Same for John Simon, the veteran ninth year outside linebacker who signed with the Titans last week, really has looked

good at the outside linebacker position. Knows what Vrabel wants, knows what Shane Bowen wants in that defense, and even though bud Dupree has not started practice yet, although good reports on his progress as he comes back from the knee surgery last fall, having a veteran like John Simon in position to take a lead role until bud Dupree is ready opposite Harold Landry feels like a good thing. Derek Robertson back to practice, but he's gonna have to battle.

You get a guy like Simon in there who knows what he's doing, does it right all the time, whether it's run or pass. That consistency is something that's you know, really valued by the coaches and a young player like Rashad Weaver the fourth round pick out a pit. If you're in that battle right now, you better be good every day at OLB right, consistency seems to be the

number one thing for Mike Vrabel. He wants guys who he can rely on no matter what, to know what to do and do it fast, and having the veteran leadership component where he can help the young guys get to where they need to be and bring them up to speed so that they can be consistent on play after play. That seems to be a premium that the Tennessee Titans coaches are looking for. My most consistent Titan

to this point is Jeffrey Simmons. Yes, I agree. We would be wasting the ot people's time to sit and gush about Big Jeff because all he does is Big Jeff things every day every day. Yeah, I mean the guy. The guy is just I think he is on the brink of something really special because the knees no longer

a problem he has experienced. He's got other helpers on the defensive line in Denico Autry and tier Tart Laurel Murchison, And I mean, he just keeps getting better and better, and it's he blew up a play yesterday, Yeah, and just because he was just there. Yeah. He's in such a great position right now because, as you mentioned, the pieces that are around him, he's able to continue to do Big Jeff things and he doesn't have to do

some of other people's things. You know, he doesn't have to fill in those gaps because he's able to he can just focus on being Big Jeff and just wrecking things. And see on the OTP we can talk about the b j T Big Jeff things. BJT like that. We don't need any more acronyms. Mike turn to the folks who have been in the game since nineteen forty seven. Farm Bureau Health Plans offers the great healthcare coverage you

need with a price tag you can afford. One thing that we do feature on the OTP is the OTP cues. Speaking of acronyms, we have a few and submit him all the time. We're not gonna do, as it stands right now, just an OTPQUES show because we're doing training camp shows and we want to talk about certain things that we're seeing in other topics, but we want to

sprinkle in your questions and comments. So Amy Wells tell people how they could submit their ot EPQ Tennessee Titans dot Com slash o t p Q. Send them there, I will receive them. We will ask them on this show. What do you have? Well, we've got some good ones that I want to ask, but then we have a couple where I need to coach you through it a little bit. So we're gonna start Farm Bureau Health Plants can coach you through it. Well, there you go. See

it's it's all a theme, Mike. So we're gonna start with this question from Adrian and it says, how yo Adrian? What Rocky Yo? Adrian? Rocky Balboa. I'm gonna say something that's gonna make you sad. His wife was Adrian never seen? Oh wow, you can no longer work here, Please get up and leave. I think I've seen Rocky. What's the one with the Russian man? That's Rocky four? I've seen

Rocky fo Yeah, I've seen Yeah, I've seen that. If he dies, he dies, yeah, yeah, I haven't seen one through three and anything after don't see, don't see the fifth one because it's terrible, okay with Tommy Gunn okay, horrendous, but every other one is fantastic. How many are there? It's like a lamb before time. Well there's sixth total because the fifth one you don't want to see. But then they came back with Rocky Balboa, which was the great clothes that that should have been the final one.

And then of course he's in the Creed movies. This is exhausting. This is a whole world to get into. Adrian. Oh, how many people do you think? By the way, last week went and watched The Crush after we talked about it on the OTP over the weekend. We always come out with the movie review. There you go go see all the Rockies, not five, don't see five, don't see Tommy Morrison not good? All right, OTP ques let's get back on track. Tommy Marrison's a nice guy though. This

is Adrian. She's from Texas and she asked Texas, lamassa is that a place? YEA, All right, Adrian, I'm so sorry. We will get to your question. How hard do you think it will be for other teams to come up with a defensive game plan against the four horsemen, which is Bryan Tannehill, Derrick Henry, A. J. Brown, Julio Jones Hard. I think you're gonna have to make a choice, Amy,

and that's the part of it. I'm certainly not the expert that Dave McGinnis is, but we've seen this in our history when it was Eddie George and Chris Johnson, and now with Derrick Henry. Is teams will immediately go at the Titans to stop the running back because they know if they can't stop the running back, it doesn't matter what else they do. Now, if you set your whole defense to stop Derrick Henry, you are putting yourself in some one on one situations on the outside. Because

it's not just the four horsemen. It's Josh Reynolds, it's Anthony Ferkser, it's Darrenton Evans, who, by the way, has had another good week. There are other receivers that potentially can get into the act, other tight ends that can get into the act. So I think that's that's the biggest thing that the Titans have going for them. Now, please take this from the point of love, Okay, don't get real caught up in what the offense looks like

in the preseason. Please don't, please don't say, oh, Todd Downing runs a boring offense, because A, I don't think you're gonna see many of those guys very much. You may see him some, but I don't. I don't think you're going to see him a whole lot. Secondly, they're not gonna show anything formationally, and so they're not gonna scheme. They're gonna get out there and they're gonna run plays.

And the reason that they're going to do that is to give Evans plays at tailback, to give Marcus Johnson plays at wide receiver, to give Chester Rogers plays at wide receiver, Des Fitzpatrick, Racy McMath. You know all of those guys, Nick Westbrook, Akina, Tommy Hudson's it's probably not gonna be dramatically sexy in terms of all the running and jumping in the formations and things like that. So

kind of hang on to your viewpoint. But to answer your question, towards September twelfth against Arizona, I think that's gonna be a tough decision for Arizona. I agree, Mike. Here is another otp Q from Pearson. He's from Clarksville, Tennessee. I know how to say that. He says, from what we have seen of Racy McMath in training camp, is there a possibility that he could assume more of a tight end role for the Titans. It's a great question. And do you know that I actually asked that question

of Mike de Tilier when the Titans drafted him. Mike D is in Louisiana. He is best friends with Edozeron. They grew up together, and so nobody knows more about LSU football on the outside than Mike D and so I asked him that very question. Could you add weight to this player and have him be a tight end? Eventually, he said absolutely not. He said he's a wide receiver, and in watching him while, I think he will continue to develop and grow and he might gain some weight

naturally just as he gets a little bit older. No, I don't think so. I think the tight end the Titans are going to use as a wide receiver will be Firk Sir. So if Racy plays wide out this year, and I think it's going to be hard for him to crack the rotation based on what the Titans have barring injury of course, and knocking on wood. What I'm excited about with Racy is he's with big receivers who know how to do it, so he's going to learn a lot of tricks from the guys that he's playing with.

Great thing. The other thing, too, is I compare him to a Moni hooker, And what I mean by that is he's a player that is probably going to get a year or two to develop. He'll probably play some special teams, he may play situation, he may get in games, you know a little bit. But he's got that upside and I think he's going to have time to explore that upside. People are really excited about him, and I get it, but kind of slow your role just a

little bit and give him some time. I you know, if if he ends up Rookie of the Year, that'd be great, but I don't think he's probably destined for a role that would give him that at least right now. That may change. Yeah, I think that. I like the fact that he's got time to develop. That excites me. Yeah, I think I think you're right on that. Mike. I haven't, I know, I don't. I don't say two. Yeah, I have another one here. This is from my friend Clifton.

Clifton and I need you to hang with me. Okay, this is a statement sort of, so he wants to know if he's on the right track here with this. He's hearing a lot on who benefits most from us getting Julio? Okay, with one man, can he get us to the super Bowl? This is what Clifton thinks. Okay, he makes every person better offense and defense because on offense with him now they have to respect all receivers, not load the box, which is easier on the line and opens up more for Tanny to bust them up.

Bust them up. Adrian defense will more than likely have less time on the field that keeps them fresh. Tutta, what do you think? I think he's dead on. Yeah, I think And you know, that's what coach Mack said. Coach Mack felt like when we asked him right after Julio came in. Dave McGinnis said, the offensive line is the one who benefits because it backs people off, and

that benefits Henry, that benefits Tanny Hill. I think he's right, and it affects the defense too because and if you can go score, I mean, this team didn't play defense very well last year and still won eleven games because the offense could score, right, you know, the whole the whole thing is if this defense can take the opponent's third down percentage, which was over fifty percent conversions last year, first team in NFL history to make the playoffs allowing

over fifty percent opponent third down conversions. If that number drops below forty, if it's thirty nine percent, this team's gonna be really good. That is a That is a big stat, all things being equal, if that number drops under forty. Now, it'd be great if it was thirty five or thirty or even little, but I'm just saying under forty, then that means you're getting the ball back for the offense more and more quickly. So yeah, I think that's dead on Julio Jones. Trading for him help

this entire football team. It helped Racy McMath. It's a confidence boost overall. And when he went down the other day in practice, two defensive backs are running over to help him up because they get that he's a big part of what we want to do and they get who he is. You know that that this is a guy who's going to the Hall of Fame someday. There's so much respect for him on this ball club. There's so much excitement even within the walls about him. That's

a it's a big deal. The thing that makes Mike Keith so great at what he does is he gave a very serious answer to a question that ended in tada, like that was the end of it, ta tada, And you gave a real answer to that, and I think that's a great I have one more because I want to coach up my friend Namesh a little bit. Because Namesh sent a question sort of. All he said was OTP, which I really oh he submitted, submitted otp at otp q thattp. It just said, and I really appreciate it.

And I'm there with you a Namesh. I want to give you another chance because what I'm gonna need is a question or even a statement or heck a tadah. We really like all of those things. I'm gonna need a little bit more. But do you think do you think he's like my dad? And he sent it before he had finished actually got it in right, very possible,

which is why I want to give another shot. Come because my dad will just send words and he will not realize that then he sent it already, and then he doesn't send the rest of it right, and it doesn't make any sense. That is why this is my call to namesh give us the question. Try again. You were close. You got your words in the right spot. If yeah, I mean we got something in the form, we got sent to the right person. You're one percent there.

Do it again, get the full question right. I'm glad he wasn't like submitting a draft pick on draft night though, me too. It's like and the Tennessee Titans select linebacker. But that's okay. No, we're shouting out. We're shouting out because we love you. I want that's what we're doing because we want you to come back. We want you to be the comeback OTP Q of the year. I want to know what the question wants because with that much effort, there was something there and I want to

know what it is. So this is my public cry, come back, no mess. I got to do a couple of things here before we go with this OTP remind everybody the open practice August sixteenth, Nissan Stadium, five to seven. Gates open at four, go to Tennessee Titans dot com and you can find more information about that. Claim your ticket.

It's important. Yeah, that's right. So the only open practice right after we get back from Atlanta the first preseason game Monday, August sixteenth, five to seven at Nissan Stadium. We want a massive crowd there. Yes. The other thing, I want to make sure the Titans five k is something that's really cool. And I know this because my son runs five k's and Heath just thought it was just so great he got to run the five k. The event is August the twenty first at seven am.

We'll be in Tampa because we've got a preseason game that night. But you want to if you're if you're a runner or a walker or whatever, you want to do this, go to Tennessee Titans dot com Slash five k. It includes a shirt and a ticket to Thursday night football against the forty nine ers. Oh that's cool on December twenty third. But the t shirt is really cool. You get to finish the race in the stadium and you get to run through sort of a downtown. Matthew

told me it's a it's a great course. The route you walk it, I have walked parts of it. I'm not a runner, that's okay. I don't run, but I know the course is really cool. It takes you through Nashville and then yes, you end right on the fifty yard line. So it's a really cool thing to be able to see some of the highlights of They announce your name. They do. They announce your name. That's right.

You see yourself come in and they're like, here's Jim Smith from Clark Range, right, you know, blow blowing and going as he comes through here. Heightwa hightway. They don't do your heightway do Tennessee Titans dot com slash five k again. The event is August twenty first seven am. Includes a shirt and a ticket to Thursday night football against the forty nine ers. Have you for, my fellow valls, Have you heard about this deal? No? Speaking of this, okay,

I understand. The first ever co branded professional football and college football hat. Very cool, first ever for forty nine dollars. There's a power t on the side of a Titans hat. It's so if you if you love the balls and you love the Titans, you get a hat that has the fireball on the front and the power tea on the side. It's really cool. Forty nine dollars, only five hundred available. The package includes a three hundred level game ticket to our game with the Colts along with the hat,

and the proceeds benefit the University of Tennessee Foundation. Email groups at Titans dot NFL dot com for more information. Groups at Titans dot NFL dot com for more information. So if you all wear it till like a balls game, do you kind of cock it to the side. Oh, you could be for both. That's it's a good thing. I cheer for one team when you could cheer for two. And the group ticket thing too, Groups at Titans dot nfl dot com. Minimum of ten tickets required for a group.

We're doing a lot of groups in hospitality. The Fireball fast passes back. Love that. Yeah, three hundred bucks. You get a three hundred level ticket to all ten home games. You know you sit in a different seat. It's thirty bucks. Yeah, you're in deal. Well, that means you're also in for the Kansas City game, you're in for the Buffalo game, you're in for the Cardinals opener, all of it. You

are in the house. Fireball fast pass they're partial plans two games, three games, in five game packs, so you can pick and you can still buy a PSL. See do you want that PSL. Let's just get right to the six is another way that you can do. Tickets because you're gonna having seen this football team practice, you're gonna want some tickets. You're gonna want to see this football team. And I know we say it a lot, but like we really mean it this time, really really

do not mean misleading you. Like maybe some years, um, just because we work for the team, go see Rocky one or two or three years, don't don't see the fifth one. For the love of God, don't see five. That's not great, even though I like Tommy Morrison's a nice guy. Interviewed him, really nice guy. I think he still lives in Tennessee. By the way, why did you interview him? He was a heavyweight fighter, Tommy Morrison was, and he got selected to play Tommy Gunn in the movie.

The movie was not his fault. It was just a bad idea. That's a really informative story. Doesn't give me any clarity as to why you were talking to him because he was training in Knoxville. He trained in Knoxville. Last time I heard I think he was living in Cookeville. Really, Yeah, his fighting career is obviously way over. No, No, I don't think that's Larry Stone. Maybe you could take out Larry Stone. There are we done? I think we're very done.

Training camp has really said it has again solidly in week two. Let's let's remind you we have more training camp coming up. Tennessee Titans dot Com. Jim Wytte has tons of stuff every single day, and you want to keep up with it that way. And remember the first preseason game is August thirteenth at Atlanta. It's a six o'clock kickoff and that's six o'clock Central. You'll be able to hear that on Titans Radio. And then the following Monday,

the sixteenth open practice at Nissan Stadium, five to seven. Awesome, we got it all in, We got it all in. All right. Well, that's going to do it for this edition of the OTP for Ashley Farrell and Amy Wells. I'm Mike Key, thanking you for joining us for the o T Welcome to the Big Show where the Legends go. Everybody knows it's our house, Tennessee. Making us to re greatness is meant to be aw we got sighting Burter running through a vase.