But Andy Wells.
I'm Mike Keith and this is the OTP with Titans head coach Brian Callahan, presented by Farm Bureau Health Plans. In the Game of Health Coverage, Farm Bureau Health Plans is the MVP. Tennesseeans have relied on their unmatched rates, coverage and service for nearly eighty years. We welcome in head coach Brian Callahan. Coach, good to see you again this week.
Good to be here.
I wish it was under better circumstance.
No, I know it'll happen. We promise it'll be a lot more fun.
I promise.
You mentioned in your press conference that you thought overall Will Levis played better in a lot of facets against the Jets than he did against the Bears. One thing that stuck out to me in kind of watching some things back, will Levis was not afraid to go at Sauce Gardner, one of the best cornerbacks in the league. A lot of young quarterbacks would would not do that. But will Levis is not afraid. We know he's not afraid. When he runs. He's averaging over nine yards of carry guys on pace for over five hundred rushing yards. This season. Sometimes he doesn't slide, and that's not always the greatest thing in the world, but.
He did twice. He did, He did get better. We got better.
I guess what I'm getting down to. As we like to say, he ain't scared. And we know this that fearlessness is a tremendous attribute to an NFL quarterback. Fearlessness can lead to recklessness, though the two are sort of intertwined. So how do you, as a quarterback guru, accentuate the quarterback's fearlessness and mitigate the recklessness while still keeping him being who he really is.
Yeah, that's the trick, because you have to be able to be fearless enough to stand in that pocket and make a throw, and you have to be fearless enough to pull the ball down and run and not be worried about getting hit and standing in the pocket when people are bearing down on you. Those things are all traits that Will has that are going to serve him well in his career. And then you just have to mitigate the mistake part of it, where there is a time to cut your losses and not every play has to be this hero creation, get out of trouble, make a crazy throw, off platform, off balance. That's not really what you need to do. A lot of playing quarterback in the NFL is doing boring things, doing mundane tasks, and that's completing the football, taking a check down and holding onto the ball when you're getting sacked and just take the sack. Well, we'll live for the next plays. I've said a million times to over my careers. There's a time and a place for trying to extend to play, for playing off schedule and off structure with a little bit of recklessness, which requires and then there's a time where just sometimes the sack is the best play and.
You have to learn that.
And I think I think we are on track to learn that at this point with Will, and he understands the situational part of it versus just the purely I need to make a play part.
But you understand my question though, in terms of I'm watching it back and I'm going he's going right at sauce card.
Yeah. We felt good about our matchup too. I don't know that there's a whole lot of people that can cover Calvin Ridley right, and we felt like Calvin's Calvin's ability to run vertically with speed and to change the direction, make cuts and get out of the break. Makes him a really unique player and there's not a lot of guys that can do what Calvin does, and so we weren't afraid that that would be a hard matchup. We knew that Sauce would probably at points beyond Calvin and we weren't going to be afraid to throw it to him.
And sometimes Sauce is going to win, but as we saw, sometimes when you take those chances, you're able to win as well, and win.
Big correct like on the touchdown.
Yeah, there was some really nice There was some really nice plays. There was the one out route that we threw in that last drive as well on a third down, that pretty ball, beautiful timing, footwork, protection, throw route, I mean, the whole thing. And that's sort of what my message was today with our team is that there's a lot of that, which is all of the things that we look for, all the things on all three phases. There's really good things happening. We just have to mitigate the ones that have hurt us, and I think we'd like the result.
So have you noticed after reviewing the tape from week two that some of your younger players are making those improvements, are continuing to make some of those changes from week one to week two.
Yeah, that's the most noticeable was the two offensive lineman on the left side for US on offense was But Jc's improvement from week one to week two was pretty pretty dramatic. He did a much better job. Same with Pete. Peter was really really good on the second part of this progression. And to see those guys make those adjustments and improvements is really positive. I think, you know, defensively, we don't have a lot of young players on defense right now. You know, That's that's probably why our defense has played so well at the Stars because we have so many veteran players that have played a lot of football and they understand how to play together. And but I think that you know, even Jarvis Brownly continues to develop and play a role and play good and plays well in special teams for US. So yeah, we've got young players doing good things and contributing obviously to Andres another young player that plays a lot for us. So those are all exciting things that young players are developing. And there's there's there is a jump week to week to week for those those guys and it's not always linear, it's not just they're just constantly improving, but there's weeks where they do really nice things.
Was there any difference in how the Jets chose to block or handle to and Andre sweat.
No, they tried to run their offense the way they tried to run it. But I think they were just our guys were disruptive and you could see the difference this week. Whereas Devandre had some splash plays last week, this week he was doing a little more of the dirty work. I mean he was eating up double teams and you could see Ernest and Kenneth just ripping through gaps because there was nobody on the second level to block them. And that's the other part of his job that it's not going to be as exciting to watch on TV, but it's just as important, just as effective to eat up those double teams and let the linebackers run overall.
Did the Jets offensive line make some of those adjustments, like bigger picture, did you see that there was some difference from week one to week two?
No, not anything out of the ordinary. I mean they did a nice job. They got they were little more empty, you know, kind of five man protection got the ball out quick because I think our our defensive line puts some pressure on him early. You could see their adjustment was to let Aaron get it back there and check it out and see it and make a couple of quick throws and get the ball out of his hand because the pressure was pretty relentless to start the game on their offense. So I didn't see anything dramatically different schematically that would have changed what they did.
There's a lot of conversation about the big guys on this Titans defense, but Harold Landry had two sacks in this last game against the Jets, and he kind of continues to be this presence within the defense. What does he contribute just that.
I mean, there's a when you have an edge rusher that gets production on the quarterback and then you have two interior players that are difficult to handle, and then Arden has done a really nice job and his role it affects the way that the quarterback feels. I mean, we all know that when the quarterback feels pressure and they get hit, they don't like it. And Harold's done a really good job of producing on the quarter back and a lot of to one of the sacks this week, and one of them last week was really because of the unselfishness of jeff Simmons rush. You know, they're in they're in a game, and just all Jeff's jobs do is just to occupy and penetrate vertically and Harold's looping, and Harold is a great job finishing the loop and finishing on the quarterback. But a lot of that's because there's other guys working to help get them open, just like on offense, when your receivers are running arounds to clear space, just clear in space so Harold can go rush. And I think that's what makes that unit really good, is they're all really unselfish.
It feels like in watching them too. Jeffrey Simmons hit five tackles in the game. But it feels like his time is coming very quickly in terms of being able to get to the quarterback. Based on what he's been able to do.
Yeah, there's no doubt, I mean, and again part of that is because he's been asked to do some other things to help because he garners so much attention. Boy that short yardage play though you want to talk about impact play, I mean, he swims the guard and then ejects the or he swims the center and he jects the guard back into the backfield and then makes the tackle that allowed Ernest to go fit it on top of it, and the two of them hit him for a two yard loss on a third and one. I mean, those are the Those are way more impactful than a sack sometimes, you know. And that's what he does. He just he impacts the game in a lot of different levels.
Ernist Jones got his first starts that you traded for him. Nine tackles, two tackles for lost yardage. It feels like he's everything he was cracked up to be.
I mean it was. He was a four year starter and a team captain and a you know, I don't know the reasoning for what I wanted to make the move, but I'm glad they called, and I'm glad we made the move because he's We felt like he was a player that could really help our defense and help that position. We were a little bit thin after some injuries and training camp, and we had a need there and to get a player at his caliber. We knew it would eventually have an impact once she got more comfortable. And I think as he gets another week comfortable, He's gonna be another week better in the system. But man, I'm really glad we have him.
Is explosion The main thing he adds.
Yeah, He's is a physicality. He's kind of similar to like how Kenneth is in terms of heavy downhill physical still can run well, it still can cover southel on the sideline, but just the physicality is the part that you see from him a lot.
It's like an AFC North linebacker.
Sure is.
That's what the That's what they look like.
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We continue with head coach Brian Callahan.
Coach Tony Pollard had one hundred and two yards from scrimmage against the Jets. What does he continue to bring to this Titans offense?
Versatility and he's he's a really good running back. He's really good as a runner. He's got great vision and patience and then burst to pick up yards after contact. He's got some elusiveness. And then in the past game, I mean, we hit him on a twenty yard vertical down the field pass, and we hit him on the use him in the screen game and use him out of the back of the So there's he just has the ability to be like that's what I envisioned when when Tony got here, was a guy like that that could have, you know, twelve rushes and six catches and he's going to account for one hundred and something yards every week he steps out there, and it's that's very valuable. He's he's and he's a he's I love everything about how he plays football. He's he's a really really good football player.
You touched on Calvin Ridley in our last segment. What we saw yesterday four catches seventy seven yards and a touchdown. One rush for a touchdown. Is that just kind of the tip of the iceberg in terms of how you see him being able to be used in this offense.
I sure hope.
So, yeah, he's all the different ways. I mean, we move him all over the place, We put a lot on his plate mentally, does a great job handling it, both in the run game, man in the pass game. The fact that we could get that, you know, he's done a lot of those motions over the first part of the preseason. In the first regular season game, and to get him a jet sweep was really really good, worked really well, exactly how we hoped it would. But that's what I see. And then really we left some plays on the field to him too. And I think he's he's a catcher two away from having a you know, one hundred and something yard game as opposed to those you know, the sixties and seventies. I think we find another way. Two three more completions, and you know he has the one that he dropped on the third down. You call that a drop That one was, yes, yeah, that one was. I just yeah, I just wonder how you we have not heard how you grade. Yet he would he would call it a drop to I would imagine that one was that one could have been that was that was the hundred something yarder to big third down, put us down the red zone again, chance to win the game. That was a big play. And I think that there's gonna be more and more of that, and he's getting more comfortable. Will is getting more comfortable with him, and I think that, uh, this is just the beginning for what he can be. He's such a dynamic player.
You're a tough grader, I hope.
So it's just the way it is. I mean, you know, there's the teams that are really playing well make those plays, right, they make the they make the contested catch that Burke's had. They think we were just we're we're so close, We're so close to being really good, and so the only way to get better is to be critical and hopefully you make those adjustments and you make those coaching points and we're better the next time.
So from that standpoint, just to follow one further bit, if you have that level of expectation that you expect that catch to be made, do you find as time goes on that catch ends up getting.
Made absolutely okay.
There's a there's a there's always standard, there's always an expectation, and I think that most guys rise to meet those. All the great competitors I've been around always end up they want to be held to that high standard. They want they want the expectation to be they're going to make the play, and I think the more that you do that, the more it becomes part of who you are as an offense, and everyone sort of responds to those things.
So when we talk about standards on offense, it seems as though the run game is closer to the standard. What is it going to take to get the passing game on the same level.
I think the more we play, the better we're going to get. That's just natural progression of things. I think Will has done a really nice job in a lot of areas, and there's some areas that he needs to get better at, and I think he has. I think the Week one improvement to week two to me was really encouraging. You take the silly play that he made out of it, and there's a lot of really positives from the game that were better than they were the week before. And I told him before I came up here that that's all we're looking for is be better the next week. If you made a mistake the first week, don't make it again. If you had to correct something the second week, don't do in the third week. And I think that progression is really going to help him. And then as hop gets gets back to form, and I said in my press conference, I do a better job of getting him involved earlier in the game, and I think the ball gets distributed a little bit more evenly and makes it a little bit harder to defend. Overall, it's not just throwing the Calvin I think will be a lot better for it.
All Right, So there is a trend around the league though, teams running games seemed to be far ahead of their passing get through two weeks, fourteen one hundred yard rushers and only five three hundred yard passers. Do you have a theory as to why.
I don't, And I think that that's really it is really interesting in the beginning of this season compared to seasons past, And I'm sure at the end of the season it will all sort of bear out, but this early part you're just you're seeing such an emphasis on limiting explosive plays and making offenses rightfully. So making offenses drive the field and do it do it the hard way. Complete you have to go five for five and rush for forty yards to get the score touchdown every time you touch the ball, and that that's hard to sustain that kind of success series by series. And so yeah, there's there's something happening right now in the NFL that's that's different, and I can't quite put my finger on it, but there definitely is a it's a different style that's being played. Whether people are running the ball more because there's more two high shells, but they're running it better against those two high shells. And maybe there's some teams playing with the two high shells that aren't built to stop the run with a two high shell, and so there's more runs, more rushes happening more often. You have a lot more young quarterbacks playing early in the season. So there's probably a bunch of factors that a lot of people that are way smarter than me have a better idea about. But there definitely is a change in dynamic on offensive football this early part of the year.
So let's talk about Sunday's opponent in the Green Bay Packers because teams that rush. They had fifty three rushes for two hundred and sixty one yards against Indianapolis yesterday, and that's a lot. You don't really see NFL teams that committed to running the football. How hard does that make game planning on your defensive staff.
It's it's not totally. It's a little bit different for us on the other side because they have a new coordinator, but for them, like at least Matt's been there for a while, the style of offenses is. You can go back and watch some things on what they like to do and all that. But yeah, I mean you you're getting ready for a team that's gonna try to run it right at you. And our team has responded well to that for the most part through two games. And that's gonna be a tough That's gonna be a tough matchup when you just mean it's going to be an almost old school approach and that red they're gonna run it that many times, and you've got to be ready to go defend it that many times and make it so they don't want to run it that many times. You have if there's no production in the run game, you're not going to keep handing it off. You're gonna try to find other ways to gain yards, and it'll be a tough test. I mean, they did a really good job. I mean, that's an impressive outing on the ground for any team at any point, and they did a really nice job. Well, Indy's defense is not chop liver either, No, not at all. They've They've been better defenses up front in the league. And yeah, that's an impressive performance by the Packers offensively for sure.
So philosophically, do you go into this week with the thought, Okay, we're going to prepare for Jordan Love? Is that how you Is that how you think about it? Or do you even think about it?
You have to be ready for it, absolutely, I know, we'll we'll watch, We'll watch all that. Jordan's been turned into a really nice quarterback in the league, and that's had really finished this season really well last year and had a good opening game. And I do believe that if he's got a chance to play, he'll try to be out there for his team. We have to be ready for that prospect, and then you just get you react to whatever the outcome is for the Sunday's active roster. So we'll prepare for it. We'll be ready for it. But you Elsea got to prepare for the league.
My leak did a nice job, did a great job. He really had for him. Not surprisingly, he went in and played well and had a tremendous amount of composure. Do they change I mean, I know they ran a lot, they didn't throw as much. He's new to the offense. But philosophically, do they change much if they change quarterbacks?
I think they let they put the ball in Jordan's hands more often than Jordan's true. I mean he's going to take He's earned the right to have that. I mean, he's done a nice job. So yeah, it changes a little bit. But you know, Malik's Malik's a capable and talented player. And I liked a lot of things about what Malie did for us in the preseason. It turns out this opportunity was the right one for him. He's had a chance to go play and that was that was what we were hoping for. And I'm happy that he that he's played well. And the thing that he did a great job of is he didn't he didn't lose them the game. He didn't make any mistakes that would have cost him the game. He managed just how I'm sure they asked him to, and he did a really nice job with what was asked of him, and everybody else around him played really well. And that's how you that's how you handle that situation and go win a football game. And that, you know, tip of the cap to the Packers and mattla Floor and his staff. They did a great job of getting ready and being committed to a particular way of playing a game, and they did a great job.
You mentioned that there's some new stuff within the defense. What sticks out to you about that side of the wall for the Packers just.
It's just you don't know what the scheme is fully yet. You know, they only had two games. It's a coordinator, it's been in college for a while, has a long NFL background, but it is coming from college experience, and so what does it look like?
What is he?
Who is he? You know, what what family has he come from? What what does he believe in? And has that changed over time? And so it's just it's just a small sample size for us. They got talented players on defense there, it's it's been there they've been a really good football team over the last handful of years, and that that's the challenge is find then find them. Who do they want to be in defense schematically and what do we have to do to counter that? And where do we find those? You know, there's not a lot of tape to go look at.
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Well, we wrap up here. You've mentioned a lot that you have to be able to ride the highs and the lows of a football season. You can't get too high, you can't get too low. You've got to keep an even keel yep. How do you model that for your team in the way that you coach, in the way that you prepare.
I just try to be as consistent as I can with the message after a game, with how I carry myself in the building and with how I interact with the players, that it doesn't change because we've lost, or it doesn't change because we've won. That when they walk in the building every Monday and every Wednesday and Thursday and Friday, they know exactly what I'm going to be like. And I think that that's important and I worked, I work hard to make it that way. It's it's it's it's it's intentional, and it's not always easy because you do there is emotions involved in all these things, and so but you just you have to really fight against riding the up and down emotions of what what an NFL season can feel like, and right now doesn't feel really good. Being oz too is not where we thought we would be, not what we're capable of being. We're capably much better. But I think that there's an importance to the for the players to know when they walk in, they know what the tone is going to be how it's going to look. And we can be critical both in wins and losses, and but consistently critical. So it's not like we just pretend like everything's great when we win and we're terrible when we lose. There's just here's what we have to do better, here's why, here's where we could have lost the game if we won. We haven't won yet, we will, and then here's where, here's where we did. This is what did contribute to us losing this game. And we can't have these things happen. And I think you take a very matter of fact approach to the good and the bad. Your critical work critical is worthy, and and you're you praise what praise is worthy. And there's that's every week in the NFL, and you just have to keep finding ways to try to be on the winning side of It's a lot easier to do it that way.
Brian Callahan, thanks so much for the time. You got it for Brian Callahan and A B.
Wells. I'm Mike Keith and this is the ot P