August 7, 2025 • 22 mins
Taylor Zarzour and Coach Mac recap all the action from the Titans and Bucs joint practice from Tampa Bay as the teams prepare for the 1st preseason game of the season.
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Speaker 1 (00:11):
This is the OTP.
Speaker 2 (00:14):
That is the head coach of the Titans Radio network,
Dave McGinnis.
Speaker 1 (00:19):
I'm Taylor Zarzer.
Speaker 2 (00:20):
We are the voices you are going to be listening
to on the Titans Radio Network. Miss Amy Wells is
back in Nashville, so we are filling in for her
today on the OTP. There is something really important that
I need to say before we do anything else.
Speaker 1 (00:37):
Happy birthday, my friend.
Speaker 3 (00:39):
Thank you, Taylor.
Speaker 4 (00:40):
I've already gotten I'm accepting all money for our birthday.
No gifts, no tangible gifts, just American money.
Speaker 3 (00:47):
Thank you.
Speaker 2 (00:47):
I did say to Amy and de Red, hey, you
know it's Coach's birthday. And Amy said, you know what
would be great is if we took him out for
a birthday dinner and made him pay for it.
Speaker 1 (00:57):
That's what she said.
Speaker 4 (00:58):
And you know what, I would expect nothing less, Coach.
Speaker 2 (01:02):
We are on the road in Tampa, Florida, where the
Tennessee Titans have been practicing against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers,
playing them in a preseason game on Saturday night. This
is still sort of a new trend in the National
Football League in the last five to ten years, where
you go practice against a team, you're in full pads,
(01:22):
you tackle them to the ground before you play them
in a preseason game, and it seems like a very
young football team, which is what the Tennessee Titans are.
Speaker 1 (01:31):
Really get something out of that.
Speaker 4 (01:32):
Well, this is essential to do now, especially with three
preseason games. You know, when I first got into the league,
we'd have five preseason games and you'd have six weeks
of camp.
Speaker 3 (01:42):
Now everything is shortened.
Speaker 4 (01:44):
But with three preseason games, what this allows and people
are going to start doing this.
Speaker 3 (01:48):
They've already started across the league a lot.
Speaker 4 (01:51):
They're going to do this because in essence, just we'll
go into the practice that we had today, In essence,
what you get is two more preseason games. Yeah, because
what you can do you've got ninety players on each roster.
You can divide the fields up so you're getting double
the work. That's the first thing. We had the who's
who of the NFL at this thing today and sitting
(02:13):
there talking with Ronde Barber, talking with John Gruden. I mean,
the number of reps that you can get doing this
is so beneficial. And you brought up a good point.
A young football team like the Titans. We both talked
about it on the way back over here to the hotel.
This came at a great moment in time for the
Titans at this camp.
Speaker 3 (02:34):
A really good moment. This is very, very valuable work,
and it's not a zero sum event.
Speaker 4 (02:40):
I mean, so the competition is what you're looking for,
but just going to get somebody in a different uniform,
in a different jersey and you're not used to have
the way that they play. It was really beneficial today,
I thought, And I think you did too.
Speaker 1 (02:53):
Yeah, I really did.
Speaker 2 (02:54):
And I'll tell you this coach, it was interesting talking
to Chad Brinker into Mike Boorganzi, who of course in
essence or running the Tennessee Titans, about how you schedule
these and it's almost like a college program's athletic director
calling up another college's athletic director saying, hey, do you
want to have a game.
Speaker 1 (03:14):
That's the way you do it. You call up another team.
Speaker 2 (03:17):
In this case, the Titans called the Bucks, Hey can
we come see you guys? And next week can we
go see the Atlanta Falcons. Last year, they were talking
about how Chad Brinker called John Schneider of the Seattle Seahawks, Hey,
you guys want to come to Nashville and practice against us,
and then if they say, yes, we do, then you
have to call the National Football League and say, hey,
we intend on doing this. It's interesting how they work
(03:38):
these things out. Instead of the National Football League simply
scheduling them, you have to call another team and say,
can we come practice against you for a couple of years.
Speaker 4 (03:47):
When I've done this for a lot of times in
my career, there's probably the eighth or ninth time I've
done this, and of course, you know, being in position
to have.
Speaker 3 (03:54):
Made those calls before. Yeah.
Speaker 4 (03:56):
The other thing is is there in constant communication Taylor
prior to this about the way they want to practice
Because teams practice differently, the times are different. Anytime you're
a visiting team, you're on their timeframe. That's just the
way it's been as I've been on both ends of this.
But during the offseason, you're in constant contact saying, look,
(04:18):
here's why our team is, now, here's what we'd like
to work on in this period. Would you mind if
we linked in this period?
Speaker 3 (04:25):
Can we do?
Speaker 4 (04:26):
I mean it takes a lot of planning, not to
mention the ops planning that it takes for the operations people.
Speaker 3 (04:33):
This is a major, major event.
Speaker 1 (04:35):
And it's interesting the games.
Speaker 2 (04:37):
I'm not trying in any way to try to minimize
these preseason games for position battles all over the field.
They are essential, they're critical. I mean, people are winning
jobs and losing jobs on Saturday night when the Titans
play the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. But the thing that I
really enjoy about these practices coach is you get to
see the first team against the opposition's first team. And
(05:00):
nowadays in the preseason, you don't get to see the
first team, the entire first team very much, but you
really get to see it in practice.
Speaker 4 (05:08):
Well, look, when you practice against another team, the coach
is orchestrated. When you're playing a preseason game, you got
four quarters and you're trying to get reps to everybody.
Speaker 3 (05:20):
And especially with just three now, you're trying to get
reps to everybody.
Speaker 4 (05:23):
So once you start doing that, the number of reps
starts getting distributed throughout your roster and it's very minimal.
Speaker 3 (05:30):
Today.
Speaker 4 (05:31):
They got so much work today, to your point, that's
why they split up fields, and it takes a lot
of pre practice organization. Which field are we going to
be on, what are we going to emphasize how are
we coming together for team, how are we coming together
for the special teams.
Speaker 3 (05:48):
But the number of reps that you get and to
your point.
Speaker 4 (05:51):
Good against good, you can't get that in a preseason game.
Speaker 3 (05:55):
You just don't get it.
Speaker 4 (05:56):
You might get you might get two series in a preseason,
but most a lot of people if their roster is
pretty well set, because if you've got a veteran roster,
you're not going to play your guys a lot. You've
got a young roster, you want to play your guys
a whole lot. In practice like we just had today,
everybody gets a lot of reps and I thought it
was it was very, very beneficial. But that's why everybody
(06:19):
does it.
Speaker 2 (06:20):
Well, let's just start with the number one pick in
the draft, cam Ward, the first string quarterback for the
Tennessee Titans. You referenced John Gruden being in practice. He
stood between the two of us for most of the
practice watching cam Ward go up against one of the
best defenses in the National Football League. Todd Bowles is
the head coach of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. He's somebody
(06:41):
you have a ton of respect for. One of the
best defensive minds in the game of football. How did
you think cam Ward did against Tampa's defense?
Speaker 4 (06:49):
Well, I mean, in various drills, he really did well
that when they first got when they got to team,
the first pass he through got picked because he tried
to real quick slant with a look off, and they
they played mad and they jumped it just like you
knew that they were going to do. What I liked
was the way he reacted to it and he came back.
I mean, just standing there with you and you and
(07:11):
Gruden and John Gruden, you know when here's and John
Gruden is, let's just get this out there. He's a
quarterback guru. Oh yeah, he's a quarterback guru. He knows
he knows good from bad. I've known John forever, competed
against him when I was the head coach, and you
know we have We've had a lot of games against
one another. But what Gruds was saying every time, he said,
(07:33):
I really like it because he gets rid of it.
He gets rid of it. I always wanted my quarterbacks
to throw it. I wanted him to throw it, and
I thought that he did. I thought that he did
very well because here's what he did. The first pick
that he threw, which was a really good jump by
the corner, by the way, which they've got a really
good defense here. He came back and responded to it,
(07:54):
and so, I mean it was a pretty lively team period,
pretty lively team period. But just standing there just listening
to de Gruden unsolicited, he really likes what he saw.
Speaker 2 (08:06):
He also cannot get over that this man's Arizona Cardinals
beat his Oakland Raiders.
Speaker 4 (08:14):
Good look Grood. Grood has got one of those football minds. Yeah,
I said, hey, I said, John, you remember we had
David Boston. He remember it's Rod Wilson. He said, man,
just do you can't And so he just started the
whole game. Yeah, he's one of the He's a classic.
Speaker 5 (08:29):
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(08:51):
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to the.
Speaker 2 (09:02):
Yeah, no, he has a ton of respect for you,
like everybody else in the National Football League. Give me
a couple of guys that stood out to you in
practice against the Buccaneers.
Speaker 3 (09:11):
I like, what the rookie alec Ao Manor did. I mean,
the dude's a big unit and he told my God,
by the way he did.
Speaker 4 (09:18):
He did some he did some really, really really good
things I thought today, and that was that was a
lot a lot of pressure on him. Yeah, uh, I thought,
I thought, I thought, Uh, the DK looked good too.
Both of those rookie receivers did a nice job today.
They did a really good job. Now when the defense
(09:39):
was out there, of course, I mean you could you
could hear Big jeff You could hear you could hear
Jeffrey Simmons. But both of these defenses just today had
a little bit of an edge to him. They had
a little bit of edge to him. And then when
the one fight that we had when it looked like
brave heart both coming off the sidelines running downhill into
each other, I mean, you know, it starts, It always
(10:01):
starts with the defense. Oh yeah, it always does so,
but it was just one fight. Nobody got damaged.
Speaker 1 (10:09):
It was a man.
Speaker 2 (10:10):
It was great. I mean, you're gonna get fired up.
You've been all you've been doing is hitting each other,
and you finally get a chance to hit somebody else.
Speaker 1 (10:18):
The juices are going to flow.
Speaker 2 (10:19):
What was interesting is all those guys that were quote
unquote fighting each other went into the same cooling room
that the Tampa Bay Buccaneers have in their facility. As
soon as it was over, Buccaneers and Titans together went
into that same room, So it was nothing that lasted.
They all hugged each other when it was over with.
You said alec Io Manner's name. This kid is the
(10:40):
real deal. He is a big, physical receiver. His ability
to change directions as big as he is is something
that is noticeable. Watch out for number five, especially on
Saturday night against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
Speaker 1 (10:54):
Another guy to watch.
Speaker 2 (10:55):
And I mean, look, it's hard not to get excited
about all these rookies because this is the first time
we're getting to see them. But everybody's raving about the
draft class. The general manager Mike Borganzi and the Titans
have put together We've talked a lot about number one,
cam Ward. You just mentioned elki oh Manner. I'm going
to give you another one, number seven, Ola with Femi
Ola Dejho Femi is what we call him. Number seven
(11:19):
was out there with the first team lining up over
on the edge as a pass rusher for Denard Wilson's defense,
and he held his own against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
He was in the backfield against Baker Mayfield today.
Speaker 4 (11:32):
Well, as I say, and you and I talked about this,
and it's really true. At this point in camp, this
was exactly what this team needs. Yes, this was exactly
what this team needed for the development of the team.
And then you've got so many young players on this team.
I mean, I've been doing this for nearly forty years
in this league. So having confidence going against other people
(11:56):
only comes by going.
Speaker 3 (11:58):
Against other people.
Speaker 4 (12:00):
Yeah, and they gained a lot of confidence today because
they were like, you know what, this is a good
NFC football team.
Speaker 3 (12:06):
It's a really good football team. Ten wins last year.
Speaker 4 (12:10):
You know, Todd Bowles one of my favorites in the
league forever to compete against. But he just does it
the old fashioned, really really old school way, he's got
a good football team. This was a great test for
this young team today.
Speaker 2 (12:24):
I also want to mention Calvin Ridley. I know we're
talking about all these young guys. This guy that's thirty
years old looks like he's about to have the best
season of his entire career if he can stay healthy.
And he looks like he's in terrific shape. You look
at what he did last year. This is my cheat sheet,
by the way, my board that I will be using
on Saturday night. Sixty four catches last year for the
Tennessee Titans. I expect him to go far about above
(12:49):
that number in twenty twenty five. He is clearly the
number one target for cam Ward, not only during practice
and during scrimmages after practice too. They're catching extra balls.
You're gonna hear from Calvin coming up here in just
a minute, right after he called a bunch of balls
from cam Ward. But number zero for the Titans looks ready.
Speaker 4 (13:08):
Yeah, And you know about the third play of what
on once he went out there and put a little
hezy move on the corner and then took off and
it was a beautiful throw.
Speaker 3 (13:17):
I mean, it was a.
Speaker 4 (13:19):
Classic, classic veteran move against a really really good corner.
The competition today was really good, and it started to
increase the longer they were out there against one another.
It started to increase. Now we were on their home turf.
So when the fight started, I mean the fans were
booing because they broke the fight up, and then they
(13:40):
bowed the Titans when they came to their sideline over there.
So it had all the elements of what you're looking for.
Speaker 2 (13:46):
It certainly did, and there was a lot of juice
out there on that field today. Now, don't just take
his word or my word for it. Let's take Calvin
Ridley's word for it. Right after practice, we had a
chance to catch up with number zero, though he wasn't
wearing number zero. In fact, find out right now here
he is. We are with the top receiver for your
(14:06):
Tennessee Titans, number zero, Calvin Ridley, who, as you can see,
is in the shape of his life.
Speaker 6 (14:12):
True.
Speaker 1 (14:12):
No, uh yeah, this is hard. Football is hard.
Speaker 3 (14:16):
It's hard to get in shape. But I'm pretty good.
Speaker 6 (14:18):
The big three to oh hit you recently? I mean
you look like the big two. Oh right now?
Speaker 7 (14:23):
Yeah, I still feel young. I run just like I said,
I always I still run fast the two o's. I'm
three to oh, but I still run fast with two o's.
But yeah, I feel great. I'm in, you know, some
of the best shape of my life. Yeah, I'm not
declining for sure.
Speaker 2 (14:36):
No, And you can see that in practice the last
a few weeks, Calvin, you played great for the Crimson Tide,
for the Falcons, for the Jaguars.
Speaker 6 (14:43):
You had some adversity.
Speaker 1 (14:44):
Along the way.
Speaker 2 (14:45):
It feels like you have found your groove in Nashville, Tennessee.
Speaker 3 (14:49):
Yes, sir, I'm happy.
Speaker 1 (14:51):
I'm happy.
Speaker 7 (14:52):
Got a pretty good life, got a great family, got
good friends around me. I got a great teammates, great coaches,
And like I said, it's my second year here, and
I'm excited about this organization. I'm excited about our quarterback.
I'm excited about the players that we have. And uh,
it's time to win, win some games and go to
the playoffs, and it's time to do you know, big things.
Speaker 6 (15:10):
Well, I know that all starts with great quarterback play.
Speaker 2 (15:12):
You got to have that if you're gonna do anything
in the National Football League. And you've been raving about
the first pick in the draft and how wise beyond
his years.
Speaker 6 (15:21):
He is what is so special about Cameron Ward.
Speaker 7 (15:23):
Yes, sir, he's a he's a confident guy.
Speaker 1 (15:25):
Man.
Speaker 7 (15:26):
He has the arm, talent, he's a confident guy. He
comes to work and then, uh, he's just that man.
He just shows us he's that man with his confidence. Man,
I haven't been around a young guy with that confidence
and that swagger in a long time.
Speaker 2 (15:38):
You said after the first practice a few weeks ago
that he acts like a ten year of that give
us an example of how.
Speaker 7 (15:44):
Uh it's just like I said, his confidence. You know,
he doesn't he doesn't crack easy. You know, he makes,
you know, some bad plays, he moves on to the
next play. He makes good plays. He moves on to
the next play. And you really don't see that. And
it's timing, you know, with his arm, he's pretty accurate,
pretty on time with the ball, and obviously you can
always get better with it. But you know, coming in
as a young guy like that, and you know, being
(16:06):
up to date like that, I mean I think he's
ahead of his time.
Speaker 6 (16:08):
You know, we had to wait a few extra minutes.
Speaker 2 (16:10):
He does wear number zero usually, but after practice every
day he takes this jersey off and you do extra
throwing with number one?
Speaker 6 (16:19):
Why is that important to you?
Speaker 7 (16:20):
Just to get you know, extra timing down communication We talk.
We do more talking in that period than throwing, honestly,
but yeah, like you know, just to get the communication down.
You know, we want to be really really good on
game days, so you know we need to do that
at the practice a lot. We don't have that much
time in practice to No, I don't get every rip
with him, and I just do that just to get
some more reps.
Speaker 2 (16:39):
As you can imagine, everywhere I go, people like Taylor,
how are the Titans going to be this year? So
you know what I'm gonna do instead, I'm gonna say, Calvin,
how are the Titans going to be this year?
Speaker 1 (16:47):
Hey?
Speaker 6 (16:47):
Just wait and see it's close.
Speaker 2 (16:49):
Yeah, yes, sir, give us a couple of things on
offense that you've liked the last couple of weeks.
Speaker 7 (16:54):
Uh, we throw the ball pretty well. I think I
think we're getting in the groove.
Speaker 1 (16:59):
Will learn.
Speaker 7 (17:00):
Like I said, we got young, you know guys around us,
But we're getting in a groove and I've seen some
things that I like that. You know, we can move
the ball. We just got to connect more and lock
in more and do what coach is and uh' gonna
be all right.
Speaker 1 (17:12):
Tight Up, Tighten Up.
Speaker 5 (17:13):
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Speaker 3 (17:27):
Tighten Up.
Speaker 5 (17:29):
Home is the forefront of all we do. It's why
we're so committed to caring for the places and spaces
in which we work and live. Ashley the official furniture
provider of the Tennessee Titans. Now back to the OTP.
Speaker 2 (17:44):
Coach, what are your thoughts about the leadership that Calvin
Ridley can bring to this very young offense.
Speaker 4 (17:50):
The biggest compliment I can give a player in this league,
and I've said it many times when I get to
know the players, is that they're professional. Being a pro
is much more than getting a paycheck. Being a pro.
This guy's a true pro and he has demonstrated that
this whole off season. He has been front and center
with everything that they've done, and he's also been front
(18:12):
and center trying to help develop this young team. As
I say, the biggest compliment I can give somebody that
makes a living in this league.
Speaker 3 (18:20):
Is there a true pro? He's a pro.
Speaker 2 (18:23):
He is, and we expect him to have a big season.
Catching the football from number one cam Ward Okay Coach,
Saturday Night, Tennessee Titans preseason game number one, Raymond James
Stadium against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Give me a thing
or two that you think is most important to see
from the Titans on Saturday.
Speaker 4 (18:42):
I think it's important for this offensive line to play
together as a group for a couple of series. I mean,
at least that because we really feel like from tackle
to tackle, don't we that they've made a big improvement,
But they've got to play together. That the symbiotic relationship
that you have to have an offensive line from tackle
to tackle can only develop during games.
Speaker 3 (19:05):
Can only develop.
Speaker 4 (19:06):
You can only develop it so much during the practice,
but during games it has to come together. To me,
that's the number one thing to look at.
Speaker 2 (19:14):
I mean, you stole my player, Elkio Manor, and you
stole the thing that I'm most.
Speaker 1 (19:17):
Excited to see.
Speaker 3 (19:18):
I don't mean to be stealing this, just.
Speaker 1 (19:20):
Great minds think alike.
Speaker 2 (19:21):
And that's where I was going to go too, because
and we said it to each other during practice, coach,
if cam Ward has time to go through his progressions
and if he's able to get the ball down the field,
I think that's going to be a critical part of
the Titans offense, and that offensive line in front of
him is going to have to give him that time.
So that is exciting to watch on Saturday night. He's
(19:42):
going to play at least a couple of series on
Saturday Nights, so at the beginning of the game, that's
what certainly we will be looking for.
Speaker 6 (19:49):
Pass rush.
Speaker 2 (19:50):
Can the Titans impact the other quarterback, whether it's Baker
Mayfield playing any on Saturday Night, or it's Kyle Trask,
or it's any other quarterback that they're going to face
during the season. The Titans need to be in the
backfield in twenty twenty.
Speaker 4 (20:02):
Well, the first thing they've got to do defensively, and
again don't I don't ever refer to the year's pass
because the league is ever changing. But you've got to
you've got to renew yourself every year. But they've got
to start the run. They've got to do a much
better job than they did towards the end of the
season last year stopping the run. It's just fundamental to
play in defense because you earn the right to rush
(20:25):
the passer. And the only way you earn the right
to rush the passer is you put the put the
offense behind the chains. And to put the offense behind
the chains, you've got to play good run defense. That's
the first thing I'm going to look at, because I'm
very interested to watch this linebacker group, you know, behind
a defensive front in a game where they're trying to
run the football. Which state, what's this team that we're
(20:46):
playing in Tampa? They know how to run it?
Speaker 1 (20:48):
Yeah, they certainly do well.
Speaker 2 (20:49):
I can't wait to be looking at this board on
Saturday night, representing the Tennessee Titans doing the play by play.
It is the honor of my career, truly to get
to do this, to represent a community that I care
so deeply about on the microphone with you, with Rhett Brian,
with Will Bowling, with the rest of our team. I
(21:10):
cannot wait to get started with you, my friend, on
Saturday night.
Speaker 1 (21:13):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (21:13):
Well, Titans Radio is a big thing for Titans fans,
and we love the fact that you're here and we're
gonna crush it.
Speaker 2 (21:20):
Yes, we are. Happy birthday to you. Special shout out
to Jack and the Max. I think Max lost fifteen
pounds in practice on Thursday. My man Big Jack was
sweating bullets even before practice.
Speaker 4 (21:33):
Yeah, I got a bad he's got a bad knee.
He's playing hurt. He's playing hurt with these two guys.
They're the best. But can I tell you what, People
were moving fast out there today.
Speaker 1 (21:41):
They work their tails off.
Speaker 3 (21:43):
It was a little bit warm out there today.
Speaker 2 (21:45):
We're sitting in for the President of Everything, Miss Amy Wells,
for the head coach of the Titans radio broadcast. My
man Dave McGinnis. I'm Taylor's ourzer. We cannot wait to
be joining you on Saturday night on Titans Radio.
Speaker 1 (22:00):
Tighten up, Yeah,
This is the OTP.
Speaker 2 (00:14):
That is the head coach of the Titans Radio network,
Dave McGinnis.
Speaker 1 (00:19):
I'm Taylor Zarzer.
Speaker 2 (00:20):
We are the voices you are going to be listening
to on the Titans Radio Network. Miss Amy Wells is
back in Nashville, so we are filling in for her
today on the OTP. There is something really important that
I need to say before we do anything else.
Speaker 1 (00:37):
Happy birthday, my friend.
Speaker 3 (00:39):
Thank you, Taylor.
Speaker 4 (00:40):
I've already gotten I'm accepting all money for our birthday.
No gifts, no tangible gifts, just American money.
Speaker 3 (00:47):
Thank you.
Speaker 2 (00:47):
I did say to Amy and de Red, hey, you
know it's Coach's birthday. And Amy said, you know what
would be great is if we took him out for
a birthday dinner and made him pay for it.
Speaker 1 (00:57):
That's what she said.
Speaker 4 (00:58):
And you know what, I would expect nothing less, Coach.
Speaker 2 (01:02):
We are on the road in Tampa, Florida, where the
Tennessee Titans have been practicing against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers,
playing them in a preseason game on Saturday night. This
is still sort of a new trend in the National
Football League in the last five to ten years, where
you go practice against a team, you're in full pads,
(01:22):
you tackle them to the ground before you play them
in a preseason game, and it seems like a very
young football team, which is what the Tennessee Titans are.
Speaker 1 (01:31):
Really get something out of that.
Speaker 4 (01:32):
Well, this is essential to do now, especially with three
preseason games. You know, when I first got into the league,
we'd have five preseason games and you'd have six weeks
of camp.
Speaker 3 (01:42):
Now everything is shortened.
Speaker 4 (01:44):
But with three preseason games, what this allows and people
are going to start doing this.
Speaker 3 (01:48):
They've already started across the league a lot.
Speaker 4 (01:51):
They're going to do this because in essence, just we'll
go into the practice that we had today, In essence,
what you get is two more preseason games. Yeah, because
what you can do you've got ninety players on each roster.
You can divide the fields up so you're getting double
the work. That's the first thing. We had the who's
who of the NFL at this thing today and sitting
(02:13):
there talking with Ronde Barber, talking with John Gruden. I mean,
the number of reps that you can get doing this
is so beneficial. And you brought up a good point.
A young football team like the Titans. We both talked
about it on the way back over here to the hotel.
This came at a great moment in time for the
Titans at this camp.
Speaker 3 (02:34):
A really good moment. This is very, very valuable work,
and it's not a zero sum event.
Speaker 4 (02:40):
I mean, so the competition is what you're looking for,
but just going to get somebody in a different uniform,
in a different jersey and you're not used to have
the way that they play. It was really beneficial today,
I thought, And I think you did too.
Speaker 1 (02:53):
Yeah, I really did.
Speaker 2 (02:54):
And I'll tell you this coach, it was interesting talking
to Chad Brinker into Mike Boorganzi, who of course in
essence or running the Tennessee Titans, about how you schedule
these and it's almost like a college program's athletic director
calling up another college's athletic director saying, hey, do you
want to have a game.
Speaker 1 (03:14):
That's the way you do it. You call up another team.
Speaker 2 (03:17):
In this case, the Titans called the Bucks, Hey can
we come see you guys? And next week can we
go see the Atlanta Falcons. Last year, they were talking
about how Chad Brinker called John Schneider of the Seattle Seahawks, Hey,
you guys want to come to Nashville and practice against us,
and then if they say, yes, we do, then you
have to call the National Football League and say, hey,
we intend on doing this. It's interesting how they work
(03:38):
these things out. Instead of the National Football League simply
scheduling them, you have to call another team and say,
can we come practice against you for a couple of years.
Speaker 4 (03:47):
When I've done this for a lot of times in
my career, there's probably the eighth or ninth time I've
done this, and of course, you know, being in position
to have.
Speaker 3 (03:54):
Made those calls before. Yeah.
Speaker 4 (03:56):
The other thing is is there in constant communication Taylor
prior to this about the way they want to practice
Because teams practice differently, the times are different. Anytime you're
a visiting team, you're on their timeframe. That's just the
way it's been as I've been on both ends of this.
But during the offseason, you're in constant contact saying, look,
(04:18):
here's why our team is, now, here's what we'd like
to work on in this period. Would you mind if
we linked in this period?
Speaker 3 (04:25):
Can we do?
Speaker 4 (04:26):
I mean it takes a lot of planning, not to
mention the ops planning that it takes for the operations people.
Speaker 3 (04:33):
This is a major, major event.
Speaker 1 (04:35):
And it's interesting the games.
Speaker 2 (04:37):
I'm not trying in any way to try to minimize
these preseason games for position battles all over the field.
They are essential, they're critical. I mean, people are winning
jobs and losing jobs on Saturday night when the Titans
play the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. But the thing that I
really enjoy about these practices coach is you get to
see the first team against the opposition's first team. And
(05:00):
nowadays in the preseason, you don't get to see the
first team, the entire first team very much, but you
really get to see it in practice.
Speaker 4 (05:08):
Well, look, when you practice against another team, the coach
is orchestrated. When you're playing a preseason game, you got
four quarters and you're trying to get reps to everybody.
Speaker 3 (05:20):
And especially with just three now, you're trying to get
reps to everybody.
Speaker 4 (05:23):
So once you start doing that, the number of reps
starts getting distributed throughout your roster and it's very minimal.
Speaker 3 (05:30):
Today.
Speaker 4 (05:31):
They got so much work today, to your point, that's
why they split up fields, and it takes a lot
of pre practice organization. Which field are we going to
be on, what are we going to emphasize how are
we coming together for team, how are we coming together
for the special teams.
Speaker 3 (05:48):
But the number of reps that you get and to
your point.
Speaker 4 (05:51):
Good against good, you can't get that in a preseason game.
Speaker 3 (05:55):
You just don't get it.
Speaker 4 (05:56):
You might get you might get two series in a preseason,
but most a lot of people if their roster is
pretty well set, because if you've got a veteran roster,
you're not going to play your guys a lot. You've
got a young roster, you want to play your guys
a whole lot. In practice like we just had today,
everybody gets a lot of reps and I thought it
was it was very, very beneficial. But that's why everybody
(06:19):
does it.
Speaker 2 (06:20):
Well, let's just start with the number one pick in
the draft, cam Ward, the first string quarterback for the
Tennessee Titans. You referenced John Gruden being in practice. He
stood between the two of us for most of the
practice watching cam Ward go up against one of the
best defenses in the National Football League. Todd Bowles is
the head coach of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. He's somebody
(06:41):
you have a ton of respect for. One of the
best defensive minds in the game of football. How did
you think cam Ward did against Tampa's defense?
Speaker 4 (06:49):
Well, I mean, in various drills, he really did well
that when they first got when they got to team,
the first pass he through got picked because he tried
to real quick slant with a look off, and they
they played mad and they jumped it just like you
knew that they were going to do. What I liked
was the way he reacted to it and he came back.
I mean, just standing there with you and you and
(07:11):
Gruden and John Gruden, you know when here's and John
Gruden is, let's just get this out there. He's a
quarterback guru. Oh yeah, he's a quarterback guru. He knows
he knows good from bad. I've known John forever, competed
against him when I was the head coach, and you
know we have We've had a lot of games against
one another. But what Gruds was saying every time, he said,
(07:33):
I really like it because he gets rid of it.
He gets rid of it. I always wanted my quarterbacks
to throw it. I wanted him to throw it, and
I thought that he did. I thought that he did
very well because here's what he did. The first pick
that he threw, which was a really good jump by
the corner, by the way, which they've got a really
good defense here. He came back and responded to it,
(07:54):
and so, I mean it was a pretty lively team period,
pretty lively team period. But just standing there just listening
to de Gruden unsolicited, he really likes what he saw.
Speaker 2 (08:06):
He also cannot get over that this man's Arizona Cardinals
beat his Oakland Raiders.
Speaker 4 (08:14):
Good look Grood. Grood has got one of those football minds. Yeah,
I said, hey, I said, John, you remember we had
David Boston. He remember it's Rod Wilson. He said, man,
just do you can't And so he just started the
whole game. Yeah, he's one of the He's a classic.
Speaker 5 (08:29):
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(08:51):
of your Tennessee Titans. Download the Little Caesars app. And
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to the.
Speaker 2 (09:02):
Yeah, no, he has a ton of respect for you,
like everybody else in the National Football League. Give me
a couple of guys that stood out to you in
practice against the Buccaneers.
Speaker 3 (09:11):
I like, what the rookie alec Ao Manor did. I mean,
the dude's a big unit and he told my God,
by the way he did.
Speaker 4 (09:18):
He did some he did some really, really really good
things I thought today, and that was that was a
lot a lot of pressure on him. Yeah, uh, I thought,
I thought, I thought, Uh, the DK looked good too.
Both of those rookie receivers did a nice job today.
They did a really good job. Now when the defense
(09:39):
was out there, of course, I mean you could you
could hear Big jeff You could hear you could hear
Jeffrey Simmons. But both of these defenses just today had
a little bit of an edge to him. They had
a little bit of edge to him. And then when
the one fight that we had when it looked like
brave heart both coming off the sidelines running downhill into
each other, I mean, you know, it starts, It always
(10:01):
starts with the defense. Oh yeah, it always does so,
but it was just one fight. Nobody got damaged.
Speaker 1 (10:09):
It was a man.
Speaker 2 (10:10):
It was great. I mean, you're gonna get fired up.
You've been all you've been doing is hitting each other,
and you finally get a chance to hit somebody else.
Speaker 1 (10:18):
The juices are going to flow.
Speaker 2 (10:19):
What was interesting is all those guys that were quote
unquote fighting each other went into the same cooling room
that the Tampa Bay Buccaneers have in their facility. As
soon as it was over, Buccaneers and Titans together went
into that same room, So it was nothing that lasted.
They all hugged each other when it was over with.
You said alec Io Manner's name. This kid is the
(10:40):
real deal. He is a big, physical receiver. His ability
to change directions as big as he is is something
that is noticeable. Watch out for number five, especially on
Saturday night against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
Speaker 1 (10:54):
Another guy to watch.
Speaker 2 (10:55):
And I mean, look, it's hard not to get excited
about all these rookies because this is the first time
we're getting to see them. But everybody's raving about the
draft class. The general manager Mike Borganzi and the Titans
have put together We've talked a lot about number one,
cam Ward. You just mentioned elki oh Manner. I'm going
to give you another one, number seven, Ola with Femi
Ola Dejho Femi is what we call him. Number seven
(11:19):
was out there with the first team lining up over
on the edge as a pass rusher for Denard Wilson's defense,
and he held his own against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
He was in the backfield against Baker Mayfield today.
Speaker 4 (11:32):
Well, as I say, and you and I talked about this,
and it's really true. At this point in camp, this
was exactly what this team needs. Yes, this was exactly
what this team needed for the development of the team.
And then you've got so many young players on this team.
I mean, I've been doing this for nearly forty years
in this league. So having confidence going against other people
(11:56):
only comes by going.
Speaker 3 (11:58):
Against other people.
Speaker 4 (12:00):
Yeah, and they gained a lot of confidence today because
they were like, you know what, this is a good
NFC football team.
Speaker 3 (12:06):
It's a really good football team. Ten wins last year.
Speaker 4 (12:10):
You know, Todd Bowles one of my favorites in the
league forever to compete against. But he just does it
the old fashioned, really really old school way, he's got
a good football team. This was a great test for
this young team today.
Speaker 2 (12:24):
I also want to mention Calvin Ridley. I know we're
talking about all these young guys. This guy that's thirty
years old looks like he's about to have the best
season of his entire career if he can stay healthy.
And he looks like he's in terrific shape. You look
at what he did last year. This is my cheat sheet,
by the way, my board that I will be using
on Saturday night. Sixty four catches last year for the
Tennessee Titans. I expect him to go far about above
(12:49):
that number in twenty twenty five. He is clearly the
number one target for cam Ward, not only during practice
and during scrimmages after practice too. They're catching extra balls.
You're gonna hear from Calvin coming up here in just
a minute, right after he called a bunch of balls
from cam Ward. But number zero for the Titans looks ready.
Speaker 4 (13:08):
Yeah, And you know about the third play of what
on once he went out there and put a little
hezy move on the corner and then took off and
it was a beautiful throw.
Speaker 3 (13:17):
I mean, it was a.
Speaker 4 (13:19):
Classic, classic veteran move against a really really good corner.
The competition today was really good, and it started to
increase the longer they were out there against one another.
It started to increase. Now we were on their home turf.
So when the fight started, I mean the fans were
booing because they broke the fight up, and then they
(13:40):
bowed the Titans when they came to their sideline over there.
So it had all the elements of what you're looking for.
Speaker 2 (13:46):
It certainly did, and there was a lot of juice
out there on that field today. Now, don't just take
his word or my word for it. Let's take Calvin
Ridley's word for it. Right after practice, we had a
chance to catch up with number zero, though he wasn't
wearing number zero. In fact, find out right now here
he is. We are with the top receiver for your
(14:06):
Tennessee Titans, number zero, Calvin Ridley, who, as you can see,
is in the shape of his life.
Speaker 6 (14:12):
True.
Speaker 1 (14:12):
No, uh yeah, this is hard. Football is hard.
Speaker 3 (14:16):
It's hard to get in shape. But I'm pretty good.
Speaker 6 (14:18):
The big three to oh hit you recently? I mean
you look like the big two. Oh right now?
Speaker 7 (14:23):
Yeah, I still feel young. I run just like I said,
I always I still run fast the two o's. I'm
three to oh, but I still run fast with two o's.
But yeah, I feel great. I'm in, you know, some
of the best shape of my life. Yeah, I'm not
declining for sure.
Speaker 2 (14:36):
No, And you can see that in practice the last
a few weeks, Calvin, you played great for the Crimson Tide,
for the Falcons, for the Jaguars.
Speaker 6 (14:43):
You had some adversity.
Speaker 1 (14:44):
Along the way.
Speaker 2 (14:45):
It feels like you have found your groove in Nashville, Tennessee.
Speaker 3 (14:49):
Yes, sir, I'm happy.
Speaker 1 (14:51):
I'm happy.
Speaker 7 (14:52):
Got a pretty good life, got a great family, got
good friends around me. I got a great teammates, great coaches,
And like I said, it's my second year here, and
I'm excited about this organization. I'm excited about our quarterback.
I'm excited about the players that we have. And uh,
it's time to win, win some games and go to
the playoffs, and it's time to do you know, big things.
Speaker 6 (15:10):
Well, I know that all starts with great quarterback play.
Speaker 2 (15:12):
You got to have that if you're gonna do anything
in the National Football League. And you've been raving about
the first pick in the draft and how wise beyond
his years.
Speaker 6 (15:21):
He is what is so special about Cameron Ward.
Speaker 7 (15:23):
Yes, sir, he's a he's a confident guy.
Speaker 1 (15:25):
Man.
Speaker 7 (15:26):
He has the arm, talent, he's a confident guy. He
comes to work and then, uh, he's just that man.
He just shows us he's that man with his confidence. Man,
I haven't been around a young guy with that confidence
and that swagger in a long time.
Speaker 2 (15:38):
You said after the first practice a few weeks ago
that he acts like a ten year of that give
us an example of how.
Speaker 7 (15:44):
Uh it's just like I said, his confidence. You know,
he doesn't he doesn't crack easy. You know, he makes,
you know, some bad plays, he moves on to the
next play. He makes good plays. He moves on to
the next play. And you really don't see that. And
it's timing, you know, with his arm, he's pretty accurate,
pretty on time with the ball, and obviously you can
always get better with it. But you know, coming in
as a young guy like that, and you know, being
(16:06):
up to date like that, I mean I think he's
ahead of his time.
Speaker 6 (16:08):
You know, we had to wait a few extra minutes.
Speaker 2 (16:10):
He does wear number zero usually, but after practice every
day he takes this jersey off and you do extra
throwing with number one?
Speaker 6 (16:19):
Why is that important to you?
Speaker 7 (16:20):
Just to get you know, extra timing down communication We talk.
We do more talking in that period than throwing, honestly,
but yeah, like you know, just to get the communication down.
You know, we want to be really really good on
game days, so you know we need to do that
at the practice a lot. We don't have that much
time in practice to No, I don't get every rip
with him, and I just do that just to get
some more reps.
Speaker 2 (16:39):
As you can imagine, everywhere I go, people like Taylor,
how are the Titans going to be this year? So
you know what I'm gonna do instead, I'm gonna say, Calvin,
how are the Titans going to be this year?
Speaker 1 (16:47):
Hey?
Speaker 6 (16:47):
Just wait and see it's close.
Speaker 2 (16:49):
Yeah, yes, sir, give us a couple of things on
offense that you've liked the last couple of weeks.
Speaker 7 (16:54):
Uh, we throw the ball pretty well. I think I
think we're getting in the groove.
Speaker 1 (16:59):
Will learn.
Speaker 7 (17:00):
Like I said, we got young, you know guys around us,
But we're getting in a groove and I've seen some
things that I like that. You know, we can move
the ball. We just got to connect more and lock
in more and do what coach is and uh' gonna
be all right.
Speaker 1 (17:12):
Tight Up, Tighten Up.
Speaker 5 (17:13):
Hey Titans fans, With a Kroger Boost membership, You'll score
big with double fuel points, free delivery, and lots more.
Go to Kroger dot com slash boost for details. Kroger
the official grocer of the Tennessee Titans.
Speaker 3 (17:27):
Tighten Up.
Speaker 5 (17:29):
Home is the forefront of all we do. It's why
we're so committed to caring for the places and spaces
in which we work and live. Ashley the official furniture
provider of the Tennessee Titans. Now back to the OTP.
Speaker 2 (17:44):
Coach, what are your thoughts about the leadership that Calvin
Ridley can bring to this very young offense.
Speaker 4 (17:50):
The biggest compliment I can give a player in this league,
and I've said it many times when I get to
know the players, is that they're professional. Being a pro
is much more than getting a paycheck. Being a pro.
This guy's a true pro and he has demonstrated that
this whole off season. He has been front and center
with everything that they've done, and he's also been front
(18:12):
and center trying to help develop this young team. As
I say, the biggest compliment I can give somebody that
makes a living in this league.
Speaker 3 (18:20):
Is there a true pro? He's a pro.
Speaker 2 (18:23):
He is, and we expect him to have a big season.
Catching the football from number one cam Ward Okay Coach,
Saturday Night, Tennessee Titans preseason game number one, Raymond James
Stadium against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Give me a thing
or two that you think is most important to see
from the Titans on Saturday.
Speaker 4 (18:42):
I think it's important for this offensive line to play
together as a group for a couple of series. I mean,
at least that because we really feel like from tackle
to tackle, don't we that they've made a big improvement,
But they've got to play together. That the symbiotic relationship
that you have to have an offensive line from tackle
to tackle can only develop during games.
Speaker 3 (19:05):
Can only develop.
Speaker 4 (19:06):
You can only develop it so much during the practice,
but during games it has to come together. To me,
that's the number one thing to look at.
Speaker 2 (19:14):
I mean, you stole my player, Elkio Manor, and you
stole the thing that I'm most.
Speaker 1 (19:17):
Excited to see.
Speaker 3 (19:18):
I don't mean to be stealing this, just.
Speaker 1 (19:20):
Great minds think alike.
Speaker 2 (19:21):
And that's where I was going to go too, because
and we said it to each other during practice, coach,
if cam Ward has time to go through his progressions
and if he's able to get the ball down the field,
I think that's going to be a critical part of
the Titans offense, and that offensive line in front of
him is going to have to give him that time.
So that is exciting to watch on Saturday night. He's
(19:42):
going to play at least a couple of series on
Saturday Nights, so at the beginning of the game, that's
what certainly we will be looking for.
Speaker 6 (19:49):
Pass rush.
Speaker 2 (19:50):
Can the Titans impact the other quarterback, whether it's Baker
Mayfield playing any on Saturday Night, or it's Kyle Trask,
or it's any other quarterback that they're going to face
during the season. The Titans need to be in the
backfield in twenty twenty.
Speaker 4 (20:02):
Well, the first thing they've got to do defensively, and
again don't I don't ever refer to the year's pass
because the league is ever changing. But you've got to
you've got to renew yourself every year. But they've got
to start the run. They've got to do a much
better job than they did towards the end of the
season last year stopping the run. It's just fundamental to
play in defense because you earn the right to rush
(20:25):
the passer. And the only way you earn the right
to rush the passer is you put the put the
offense behind the chains. And to put the offense behind
the chains, you've got to play good run defense. That's
the first thing I'm going to look at, because I'm
very interested to watch this linebacker group, you know, behind
a defensive front in a game where they're trying to
run the football. Which state, what's this team that we're
(20:46):
playing in Tampa? They know how to run it?
Speaker 1 (20:48):
Yeah, they certainly do well.
Speaker 2 (20:49):
I can't wait to be looking at this board on
Saturday night, representing the Tennessee Titans doing the play by play.
It is the honor of my career, truly to get
to do this, to represent a community that I care
so deeply about on the microphone with you, with Rhett Brian,
with Will Bowling, with the rest of our team. I
(21:10):
cannot wait to get started with you, my friend, on
Saturday night.
Speaker 1 (21:13):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (21:13):
Well, Titans Radio is a big thing for Titans fans,
and we love the fact that you're here and we're
gonna crush it.
Speaker 2 (21:20):
Yes, we are. Happy birthday to you. Special shout out
to Jack and the Max. I think Max lost fifteen
pounds in practice on Thursday. My man Big Jack was
sweating bullets even before practice.
Speaker 4 (21:33):
Yeah, I got a bad he's got a bad knee.
He's playing hurt. He's playing hurt with these two guys.
They're the best. But can I tell you what, People
were moving fast out there today.
Speaker 1 (21:41):
They work their tails off.
Speaker 3 (21:43):
It was a little bit warm out there today.
Speaker 2 (21:45):
We're sitting in for the President of Everything, Miss Amy Wells,
for the head coach of the Titans radio broadcast. My
man Dave McGinnis. I'm Taylor's ourzer. We cannot wait to
be joining you on Saturday night on Titans Radio.
Speaker 1 (22:00):
Tighten up, Yeah,
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