Latest / The Jacksonville Jaguars Official Podcast Network / What to watch in AFC South Title matchup against the Titans | Jags Drive Time: Wednesday, January 4

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What to watch in AFC South Title matchup against the Titans | Jags Drive Time: Wednesday, January 4 · The Jacksonville Jaguars Official Podcast Network

0:02
Speaker 1: Welcome Jets Drive Time with John Hosier and Bryan Sex
0:08
Speaker 1: Days sextan. It starts right now, Good morning, and Welcome
0:16
Speaker 1: the Jags Drive Time on a Wednesday, and it feels
0:19
Speaker 1: like a playoff week in Jacksonville. As you pull into
0:22
Speaker 1: the stadium or come down by the stadium at any
0:24
Speaker 1: point in the next day or two, you'll see dozens
0:26
Speaker 1: of trucks, most of them with ESPN Monday Night Football,
0:30
Speaker 1: all across the parking lot that is known as jay
0:33
Speaker 1: They're here, They're getting set, We're getting set. It's a
0:36
Speaker 1: big week in Jacksonville. Welcome in presented today by our
0:40
Speaker 1: friends at the Fields Auto Group John O's you're alongside.
0:42
Speaker 1: How are you this morning? Great? Great? Getting ready for
0:46
Speaker 1: this thing? Yeah, it's um No matter where you go
0:48
Speaker 1: in the city, you see people wearing their Jaguars gear.
0:51
Speaker 1: I saw a flag up in front of a neighbor's house.
0:54
Speaker 1: The neighbor is ann avowed New York Jets fan, right,
0:57
Speaker 1: grew up in New York, longtime fan, and there's a
1:00
Speaker 1: flag in front of his house this morning. I thought, okay, Well,
1:02
Speaker 1: that to me showed everything. How people are jumping on
1:06
Speaker 1: and why not. It's it's the biggest story in Jacksonville,
1:09
Speaker 1: and it's got people energized for the fresh first time
1:11
Speaker 1: really since two thousand and seventeen. Well, it's the biggest,
1:14
Speaker 1: UH debate all, I mean a debate whether this one's
1:17
Speaker 1: bigger than that, But as we talked about Monday, it's
1:20
Speaker 1: it's the biggest game in this stadium since and I
1:25
Speaker 1: mean the biggest regular game in this in the same
1:29
Speaker 1: and it's got the energy, uh of the biggest game since.
1:35
Speaker 1: I mean it's the Bills playoff game was huge. It
1:38
Speaker 1: was incredible, energy, was cool. But I don't think that
1:42
Speaker 1: game is going to be any more energetic or mattering
1:44
Speaker 1: to the fans that are there than this. Uh. And
1:48
Speaker 1: the fun thing about it is it's against Tennessee. So
1:51
Speaker 1: let's go let's start with big things series this morning
1:53
Speaker 1: to kick it off, and we'll go with the obvious,
1:55
Speaker 1: and that is winner take all the a f C South,
1:58
Speaker 1: the guaranteed spot to a out. You've probably seen all
2:01
Speaker 1: the scenarios if the Jaguar should lose on Saturday, but
2:05
Speaker 1: the Browns beat the Steelers, the Jets beat the Dolphins,
2:08
Speaker 1: and the Bills Patriots beat the Bills. Uh, then the
2:13
Speaker 1: Jaguars could slide in. Hey, winner take all. That's the mentality,
2:16
Speaker 1: and Brandon Sheriff said yesterday that he and his teammates
2:19
Speaker 1: are ready for it. Just continue to to focus on
2:24
Speaker 1: the details. You know. Obviously the games on Saturday, so
2:26
Speaker 1: you gotta you gotta speed it up a little bit.
2:27
Speaker 1: But Doug's gonna dug into all. The coaching staff has
2:30
Speaker 1: done a great job, you know, throughout the year. You know,
2:32
Speaker 1: we had that three game stretch in twelve days, so
2:34
Speaker 1: they did a great job to take care of our
2:36
Speaker 1: bodies and uh, we got we got four or five days,
2:38
Speaker 1: so we're we're I can feel that the energy and
2:41
Speaker 1: the excitement from a bunch of guys, you know, because
2:44
Speaker 1: this is a huge game for us, and we're we're excited.
2:47
Speaker 1: You probably have heard ad nauseum that this is a
2:50
Speaker 1: young football team, and when you look at the average age,
2:52
Speaker 1: I think it's the third youngest football team in the league.
2:55
Speaker 1: And throughout the season, especially during that five games stretch
2:58
Speaker 1: when his team wasn't winning, Doug Peterson and new staff,
3:01
Speaker 1: we're coaxing this team through coaching and pushing and prodding
3:05
Speaker 1: to get them up to speed. But don doesn't need
3:09
Speaker 1: to really say much this week. At this point of
3:11
Speaker 1: the season. They've learned everything they need to learn. They
3:13
Speaker 1: know what this game is about. We understand this is
3:17
Speaker 1: a this is a huge game. We we understand Tennessee
3:19
Speaker 1: is the same way I understand this is a huge
3:20
Speaker 1: football game. And you know, so we don't have to
3:23
Speaker 1: preach that. You know that, that's the message that doesn't
3:26
Speaker 1: have to be taught. The message is just continue to
3:30
Speaker 1: to build upon what we've done for seventeen weeks and
3:33
Speaker 1: and that's improving each week. That's just you know, staying
3:36
Speaker 1: the course, trusting the process. You know. Um, my job
3:40
Speaker 1: is to make sure the guys are as fresh and
3:42
Speaker 1: healthy and all that, you know by the time we
3:44
Speaker 1: get to to Saturday this week. And and it's their
3:47
Speaker 1: job to study the game plan. So that's all part
3:50
Speaker 1: of the that's all part of the process. And uh,
3:53
Speaker 1: you know again, you don't have to you don't have
3:55
Speaker 1: to go you know, too far overboard to to let
3:59
Speaker 1: them know that this is a this is a pretty
4:01
Speaker 1: big game. And finally to round how big things here
4:03
Speaker 1: on a Wednesday morning, With all due respect to Dewey Winger,
4:07
Speaker 1: it's always about Derrick Hendry it's always Derrick Henry when
4:10
Speaker 1: you play the Titans, even when they had a j Brown,
4:13
Speaker 1: even when Tannehill was playing at a Pro Bowl level.
4:15
Speaker 1: In order to stop the Titans and guarantee a win,
4:18
Speaker 1: you had to stop big number twenty two Peters and
4:20
Speaker 1: understands that in this week eighteen of the regular season,
4:24
Speaker 1: there are no secrets between division rivals. You know what
4:26
Speaker 1: you gotta do. You know, Josh did some nice things,
4:29
Speaker 1: you know, in that last game, and I would I
4:31
Speaker 1: would anticipate that they would lean towards him and being
4:34
Speaker 1: the starter, you know in this game, and and um,
4:37
Speaker 1: you know, so that's how you prepare. But obviously you
4:39
Speaker 1: gotta be ready for both guys. And you know, um again,
4:44
Speaker 1: you're gonna have a You're gonna have a rest to
4:45
Speaker 1: Derrick Henry too, you know, and in we know what
4:48
Speaker 1: he did in the first half of our game, you know,
4:50
Speaker 1: the last time here about four weeks ago. So um,
4:53
Speaker 1: great challenge for our defense, great challenge for our football
4:55
Speaker 1: team and looking forward to it. And those are big things.
4:58
Speaker 1: On a Wednesday Morning center a Night, Jaguars and Titans
5:01
Speaker 1: for the a f C South Title on ESPN eight
5:05
Speaker 1: fifteen for the kickoff. We'll have Mike Keith, longtime voice
5:09
Speaker 1: of the Tennessee Titans and a good friend, on in
5:11
Speaker 1: the next segment to talk a little bit about it.
5:13
Speaker 1: But really, when you look at this roster, I think
5:15
Speaker 1: the Titans lead the NFL in most games lost by
5:19
Speaker 1: starters this year, whereas the Jaguars are one eighty degrees.
5:23
Speaker 1: The other end of that, they have the least the
5:24
Speaker 1: fewest games lost two starters. They have the most players
5:28
Speaker 1: on I are this whole thing is all about Derrick
5:31
Speaker 1: Henry on Sunday as far as I'm concerned. I guess
5:33
Speaker 1: you could make the cases all about Josh Dobbs. But
5:35
Speaker 1: I think if you stopped Derrick Henry, you beat the Titans. Yeah.
5:38
Speaker 1: And this is my uh this or that later in
5:41
Speaker 1: the show, so I'm not gonna say too much in it,
5:43
Speaker 1: but obviously I have stopped Derrick Henry. Uh. The remarkable
5:48
Speaker 1: thing about the Week fourteen game where the Jaguars one
5:52
Speaker 1: two is they really didn't stop Derrick Henry. I I
5:57
Speaker 1: know the defense deserves credit for slowing him down in
6:00
Speaker 1: the second half, but he had two kires on three
6:01
Speaker 1: yards or or three on two whatever was um, So
6:05
Speaker 1: they stopped Derrick Henry by changing the game so that
6:09
Speaker 1: they were up enough where the Titans really couldn't use
6:11
Speaker 1: Derrick Henry. The Titans have changed on that front a
6:14
Speaker 1: little bit. I don't I'm not sure that they can
6:17
Speaker 1: run their way back into games with Derrick Henry the
6:20
Speaker 1: way they did when this thing that they have going
6:22
Speaker 1: was really in its prime. There was a time where
6:24
Speaker 1: they could be down seventeen and they would still turn
6:27
Speaker 1: hand the ball and know that they could get back
6:29
Speaker 1: in doing that. Uh. They didn't do that against Jacksonville
6:32
Speaker 1: and Week fourteen. That was significant to me. Um, but
6:37
Speaker 1: stop him, But I think you need to stop him
6:41
Speaker 1: better than you did in that game. I don't know
6:43
Speaker 1: that you can give up a buck twenty two in
6:44
Speaker 1: the first half and expect to be ahead and have
6:49
Speaker 1: the breaks that the Jaguars got in that game. They
6:51
Speaker 1: got turnovers that helped them out of that way of
6:54
Speaker 1: playing for a little while. And then credit to him,
6:55
Speaker 1: in the second half, they they ran the table with it.
6:59
Speaker 1: I gotta stop better, didn't well he had hundred yards
7:01
Speaker 1: in the first quarter. Yeah. Uh. Takeaways were also the
7:04
Speaker 1: big story of that game because the Jaguars were able
7:06
Speaker 1: to get the ball back short fields, put their offense
7:09
Speaker 1: in a position to succeed. Take possessions away from at
7:12
Speaker 1: that point was Ryan Tannehill, and take them away from
7:17
Speaker 1: Derrick Henry. At that moment, they couldn't afford to stick
7:20
Speaker 1: with the running game, and that day they did not
7:22
Speaker 1: have Treylon Burke's their exciting rookie wide receiver. So it
7:27
Speaker 1: just it was a worst case scenario for the Titans
7:29
Speaker 1: on that Sunday afternoon. It'll be interesting to see how
7:32
Speaker 1: they position that we had Josh Dobbs here in twenty
7:35
Speaker 1: nineteen after Nick Foles got hurt. Smart guy has not
7:39
Speaker 1: played a lot of football, seemed to play pretty well
7:41
Speaker 1: the other night. We'll see how much more they can
7:45
Speaker 1: give him after ten extra days to get ready for
7:48
Speaker 1: this one. But you'd figure Dobbs is going to be
7:51
Speaker 1: a caretaker, a game manager. Well, you want to make
7:54
Speaker 1: sure he is. And to me, the key for the
7:57
Speaker 1: Jaguars is stop Derrick Henry enough to make Josh Dobbs
8:02
Speaker 1: not be a game manager. And then when they're putting
8:04
Speaker 1: him in situations that they don't want to put him into,
8:08
Speaker 1: get the turnovers that you got off of Derrick Henry,
8:11
Speaker 1: which I'm not sure you're gonna do two times in
8:12
Speaker 1: a row get those turnovers off of a quarterback who
8:17
Speaker 1: you would think has not seen what you're trying to
8:19
Speaker 1: do and has not been as who has not been
8:21
Speaker 1: on this stage yet. This is a hot team surging
8:24
Speaker 1: towards the playoffs. The Titans are the exact opposite of
8:28
Speaker 1: the hot team. What I think is interesting is just
8:31
Speaker 1: go back to last January, almost a year to the day,
8:34
Speaker 1: where the Colts came in just needing to win to
8:37
Speaker 1: get into the playoffs. I think this Jacksonville team has
8:41
Speaker 1: recent memory that they can lean on. They understand that
8:45
Speaker 1: just because this team is coming down with six consecutive
8:47
Speaker 1: losses and and all their players injured and playing with
8:51
Speaker 1: a quarterback who was on someone else's practice squad, doesn't
8:54
Speaker 1: mean that they can't be shaking their heads after the
8:56
Speaker 1: game like the Colts were on this very same field
8:59
Speaker 1: a year ago. Yeah, it's uh, it's funny. Uh. It's
9:04
Speaker 1: why you love the NFL is because you truly never
9:08
Speaker 1: know and games like that can happen. So it's why
9:10
Speaker 1: you watch. If if this, if you knew this was
9:14
Speaker 1: gonna play the script, there would be no drama and
9:18
Speaker 1: no tension because if it played the script, the Jaguars
9:20
Speaker 1: beaten by twenty points because they've won, uh, four of six,
9:25
Speaker 1: they've made up three and a half games. They're the
9:27
Speaker 1: hot team. If this was a video game, you know,
9:31
Speaker 1: and you were simming it, it would be sim Jackson
9:34
Speaker 1: every time. But the Titans are really well coached, they
9:38
Speaker 1: know how they want to play, they're getting healthier, and
9:41
Speaker 1: you have an X factor of a quarterback that you
9:43
Speaker 1: would think should be advantaged Jaguars. But sometimes when a
9:48
Speaker 1: new quarterback you haven't seen and they throw a wrinkle,
9:51
Speaker 1: takes time to adjust and all of a sudden you're
9:53
Speaker 1: behind the eight ball. Uh. It's always dangerous in the
9:56
Speaker 1: NFL in these games. So, UH, you cannot sim this,
9:59
Speaker 1: so it is not a huge advantage Jaguars and the
10:02
Speaker 1: Titans have history on this team, so it is a it.
10:08
Speaker 1: It is a huge, huge moment, even beyond the postseason stuff.
10:15
Speaker 1: For the older fans who were watching. Uh, the Titans
10:18
Speaker 1: were the Oilers and they cost the Jaguars the very
10:20
Speaker 1: first game here opening Day, and then of course in
10:26
Speaker 1: the Titans were the Oilers, but they were playing in
10:29
Speaker 1: Nashville at that time and they cost the Jaguars the
10:32
Speaker 1: chance to claim the very first division title here in
10:34
Speaker 1: late December, and then we all know what happened with
10:36
Speaker 1: the a f C Championship game the next season. So
10:39
Speaker 1: there's a lot of history between these two franchises. So
10:42
Speaker 1: throw the records out at this point and play the
10:44
Speaker 1: game on Saturday night. Uh. To say the least, It's
10:47
Speaker 1: been an eventful few days in the NFL, and we
10:50
Speaker 1: had our own um moment on Monday when those of
10:54
Speaker 1: us who knew UCA win Nary were told of his
10:57
Speaker 1: passing at age of thirty six. Uncovered him. I covered
11:01
Speaker 1: him from his rookie season, and he passed on Monday.
11:04
Speaker 1: I saw a lot of former teammates commenting on social
11:09
Speaker 1: media about their time with the former fifth round pick
11:13
Speaker 1: who took over for Chris Naoli and was a stalwart
11:15
Speaker 1: in the middle of that line next to Brad Meester. Um.
11:18
Speaker 1: He's the second member of that group to pass, because
11:21
Speaker 1: a few years ago Vinni Manawai passed away. And I
11:25
Speaker 1: just good player, good teammate, good interview in the locker room,
11:30
Speaker 1: a good person and a valuable member of some good
11:33
Speaker 1: teams in Jacksonville. Yeah, I don't know that I covered
11:36
Speaker 1: huch In in his best years, meaning oh, seven through
11:42
Speaker 1: ten when this team was really going. I missed. I
11:45
Speaker 1: got back in twoth asand eleven. Uh, So I don't
11:49
Speaker 1: know that that was really at that time? Is how
11:52
Speaker 1: fans remember? I guess what I'm getting at, But I
11:55
Speaker 1: remember hucha Is off of those teams early. I got
11:59
Speaker 1: to know Scobie pretty well because Scobie was very easy
12:02
Speaker 1: to get to know. Uh. But it was a team
12:05
Speaker 1: at the time that was sort of breaking up a
12:09
Speaker 1: little bit. It it it had its run from O
12:12
Speaker 1: four through two thousand ten under Jack and there was
12:15
Speaker 1: a core there. Uh, but Fred was gone and a
12:19
Speaker 1: lot of guys who I think fans really associate with
12:23
Speaker 1: that time, uh, Henderson, Stroud, et cetera. They were gone. Uh.
12:28
Speaker 1: I got to know ch A a a little bit, and
12:30
Speaker 1: he was always a guy who was warm, uh who
12:34
Speaker 1: when you talk to him off the record, UH didn't Yeah,
12:39
Speaker 1: it was easy to talk to and didn't act like
12:42
Speaker 1: he was separate from the fans. I guess. And I
12:46
Speaker 1: mentioned that because he had been very active on social
12:49
Speaker 1: media with the fans for two or three four years,
12:52
Speaker 1: and I really since the time he left. So I know,
12:54
Speaker 1: fans have a great uh affection for uch and I
12:58
Speaker 1: think that was real. I think when a guy stayed
13:00
Speaker 1: in touch like that, it's a real thing. So uh well,
13:03
Speaker 1: apparently he became a good paste, good guy, a good businessman.
13:06
Speaker 1: I had a pre correspondence with him in the spring.
13:08
Speaker 1: We were gonna do a story this next offseason about
13:10
Speaker 1: his tattoo artist shop and where he was headed with that.
13:15
Speaker 1: So our condolences to his family. When we come back
13:19
Speaker 1: on Jack's Drive Time, Mike Keith from the Titans Radio
13:22
Speaker 1: Network will join us. Saturday Night's game between the Jaguars
13:25
Speaker 1: and the Titans is presented by Johnson and Johnson Vision,
13:30
Speaker 1: the makers of accu the ACU you brand contact lenses.
13:34
Speaker 1: They're providing healthy site for life and they're proudly based
13:37
Speaker 1: in Jacksonville. Visit j J vision dot com again. Saturday
13:41
Speaker 1: Night's game presented by Johnson and Johnson Vision, the makers
13:45
Speaker 1: of acuve You. And we're back with Mike Keith right
13:47
Speaker 1: after this, and welcome back Bryan Sexton, John Owes, you're
13:55
Speaker 1: with you here on Jack's Drive Time on a Wednesday morning,
13:58
Speaker 1: presented by our friends at Publis Publis, where as you know,
14:02
Speaker 1: shopping is a pleasure. Man. We bring onto the phone
14:05
Speaker 1: lines now a long time friend in a long time
14:08
Speaker 1: Titans observer, the voice of the Titans, my Keith. Hello, Michael,
14:12
Speaker 1: how are you this morning? Good morning, Nice to have
14:15
Speaker 1: you things good? Did you have a good holiday? I did.
14:18
Speaker 1: I hope you did as well? Yeah, certainly did. Hey
14:21
Speaker 1: give us a sense of where the Titans are mentally
14:23
Speaker 1: right now? Uh? You know, with the quarterback issue, having
14:27
Speaker 1: to play with so many guys along the offensive front.
14:31
Speaker 1: Are they stealed up for this effort on on Saturday night?
14:35
Speaker 1: Are they having to work through some things understanding that
14:37
Speaker 1: their team has been so injured this year? You know
14:40
Speaker 1: what's funny there there are two things that really jump
14:43
Speaker 1: out to me about this club. But so I'm going
14:45
Speaker 1: to watch him practice last Monday, and they're getting ready
14:49
Speaker 1: to play a Thursday night game. It was Tuesday, actually,
14:53
Speaker 1: they're getting ready to play a Thursday night game with Dallas.
14:56
Speaker 1: And there there there's a lot of energy, there's a
15:00
Speaker 1: lot of excitement, and you're saying, Wow, they've just lost
15:04
Speaker 1: to Houston and this didn't go well and they've lost
15:08
Speaker 1: five in a row, and how in the world are
15:11
Speaker 1: they gonna sort of get back up to play Thursday
15:13
Speaker 1: night against Dallas, knowing that for them the game doesn't
15:17
Speaker 1: really have a lot of meeting and knowing that they're
15:20
Speaker 1: going to be without a lot of their main guys,
15:23
Speaker 1: and what jumps out when you look at the roster
15:27
Speaker 1: is they've played a lot of people this year that
15:30
Speaker 1: were on their practice squad or somebody else's practice squad,
15:34
Speaker 1: and so these guys are excited to get the opportunity.
15:37
Speaker 1: And then they went out Thursday night against Dallas and
15:41
Speaker 1: gave a really nice effort in a in a pretty
15:45
Speaker 1: tough situation. And then the second part of it is
15:48
Speaker 1: Joshua Dobbs really gave them a lift offensively and defensively
15:54
Speaker 1: as well. And so I think it's kind of funny
15:58
Speaker 1: to have been in the circle stance they've been in.
16:01
Speaker 1: These are a lot of guys who feel like, now, hey,
16:04
Speaker 1: you've got something to play for this week, You've got
16:06
Speaker 1: an opportunity. You feel like you have a quarterback who
16:10
Speaker 1: can sort of take care of the business of running
16:14
Speaker 1: the offense. And so as I watched him practice yesterday,
16:17
Speaker 1: I again saw the same thing they are. They are
16:20
Speaker 1: not the lifeless team that looks like they're They've got
16:24
Speaker 1: the surfboards on the car and and the cars already
16:27
Speaker 1: running for the off season. We'll see if it carries
16:29
Speaker 1: over means anything, but it's it's very surprising when you
16:33
Speaker 1: consider where they are, having lost six in a row,
16:38
Speaker 1: and what they look like when they work and how
16:41
Speaker 1: they played last Thursday night. It does not look like
16:44
Speaker 1: a team that is given up. Derrick Henry's obviously always
16:48
Speaker 1: the topic when a team plays the Titans. Um, he
16:52
Speaker 1: looked find me in the first half of their UH
16:57
Speaker 1: in Week fourteen. But you've seen this guy put his
17:00
Speaker 1: whole career, see him playing. Now, where is he in
17:03
Speaker 1: terms of explosiveness, in terms of the kind of running
17:05
Speaker 1: back he is? John, He's still the same guy. Um.
17:09
Speaker 1: And I think that's been the most impressive thing about
17:12
Speaker 1: his return this year. And it was really sort of
17:16
Speaker 1: a fortunate thing for where where the injury happened last
17:19
Speaker 1: year's when he came back for the playoffs, he was
17:22
Speaker 1: healed and so he got to spend the off season
17:26
Speaker 1: not rehabbing but getting in shape doing what Derrick Henry does.
17:30
Speaker 1: And he's come back and been Derrick Henry again. UM.
17:34
Speaker 1: I think what's gonna be nice for for him is
17:38
Speaker 1: that he's had the week off to sort of let
17:40
Speaker 1: whatever bumps and bruises that you normally have this time
17:43
Speaker 1: of year healed, and so that's a good thing for
17:46
Speaker 1: the Titans. The key with him and that game was
17:49
Speaker 1: the primary example, is they can't get in a situation
17:54
Speaker 1: where he can't play in the second half meeting. He's
17:58
Speaker 1: not a third down back. We all know the at
18:00
Speaker 1: if you get the lead on the Titans and you
18:03
Speaker 1: put them in a difficult spot in the second half,
18:06
Speaker 1: he is essentially not a factor. And so can they
18:10
Speaker 1: get in a game where they can keep using him
18:13
Speaker 1: all four quarters? And that's that's gonna be one of
18:17
Speaker 1: the keys in all of this because John, if you can,
18:21
Speaker 1: he's still got the pop to do what he does.
18:24
Speaker 1: And that's that's one of the biggest keys for Saturday
18:27
Speaker 1: Night for the Titans be able to use Derrick Henry
18:30
Speaker 1: for all four quarters. You know, Mike, I know we
18:33
Speaker 1: talk a lot about quinnin Williams is being one of
18:35
Speaker 1: the best defensive tackles in football for the New York Jets,
18:38
Speaker 1: and he's certainly great, But when I watch your guy,
18:40
Speaker 1: Jeffrey Simmons. I watched him walk back guard after guard
18:46
Speaker 1: after guard. In looking at the tape of the Titans
18:49
Speaker 1: playing this season, how much has it hampered the defensive
18:52
Speaker 1: line to have him struggling with that ankle injury and
18:56
Speaker 1: what's his status for Saturday night. It's a remarkable old
19:00
Speaker 1: that he has played the second half of the season
19:03
Speaker 1: the way he has with that ankle. He missed UH
19:07
Speaker 1: the game on November thirteen, and that was because they
19:11
Speaker 1: wanted to try to have him ready. They were in
19:14
Speaker 1: one of the two eleven days stretches where they had
19:18
Speaker 1: three games, so they sat him there and obviously then
19:21
Speaker 1: they sat him Thursday night could get him ready. Uh.
19:25
Speaker 1: I don't know how close he is to a hundred
19:27
Speaker 1: percent Brian, but he has played remarkably well considering the
19:32
Speaker 1: injury that he has had for over two weeks, and
19:35
Speaker 1: and when he's good, I don't know that outside of
19:38
Speaker 1: Aaron Donald, there's anybody better he is. He is physically
19:43
Speaker 1: so dominant um and is able to do so many
19:48
Speaker 1: different things. You know, if he were if he were
19:50
Speaker 1: a baseball player, you'd call him a five tool player
19:53
Speaker 1: because he can essentially do everything that you need a
19:56
Speaker 1: defensive lineman to do and most importantly to Brian it
20:00
Speaker 1: is he plays about eight to eighty five to ninety
20:03
Speaker 1: of the snaps, which is remarkable for a big man.
20:08
Speaker 1: Every team deals with injuries over the course of the season,
20:11
Speaker 1: every team. Um, and then there's the Titans. Have you
20:17
Speaker 1: this year in last? Have you in all your years? There?
20:20
Speaker 1: And and for folks who don't know, Mike's been with
20:22
Speaker 1: the Titans since they showed up in Tennessee as the Oilers,
20:27
Speaker 1: have you ever seen it like this? No? No, that
20:30
Speaker 1: mean it's it's been crazy. The Titans have used a
20:33
Speaker 1: hundred and seventy seven players in the last two years
20:37
Speaker 1: in games and it's just been, um, it's been crazy town,
20:43
Speaker 1: you know. And and there have been all these fire
20:45
Speaker 1: drills at different times. I mean, they went three straight
20:49
Speaker 1: weeks the day before games making seven roster moves to
20:53
Speaker 1: get to the game, and you know, they've begun it.
20:58
Speaker 1: For us as broadcasters, it's been a little like calling
21:01
Speaker 1: a preseason game every week of the year because it's like,
21:04
Speaker 1: who is this guy again? Now? You know? Yeah, we
21:08
Speaker 1: made the joke that that if you'd have told me
21:10
Speaker 1: before the season, if you'd asked me who Andrew Adams was.
21:15
Speaker 1: I'd have thought he was one of the guys who
21:16
Speaker 1: originally signed the constitution more than a guy who would
21:20
Speaker 1: start twelve games at safety for US. I didn't know
21:22
Speaker 1: who he was, and you know, they bring him in
21:25
Speaker 1: off a practice squad because they have to get somebody. Um.
21:29
Speaker 1: But they've done you know, they've done a pretty good job.
21:31
Speaker 1: I think what you've seen the second half of the year, though,
21:33
Speaker 1: is some of that has shown up and and that's
21:37
Speaker 1: been the difficulty in it. It's not everything, but it
21:42
Speaker 1: has shown up in a in a very difficult way.
21:45
Speaker 1: The Titans have a patchwork offensive line that's no secret, um,
21:49
Speaker 1: But there are some guys coming back. You know, having
21:52
Speaker 1: Traylan Burke's back is a big factor in the passing game.
21:55
Speaker 1: And you know, we'll see if some of these guys
21:57
Speaker 1: can make a difference on defense, because I do think
22:00
Speaker 1: several of them will have a chance to be back
22:02
Speaker 1: for Saturday Night seventies seven players. You had the number
22:05
Speaker 1: one seed last year and you're fighting for the playoffs
22:08
Speaker 1: on the final Sunday of the regular season. Someone's done
22:10
Speaker 1: something right up there. Mike, Thanks so much for your time,
22:13
Speaker 1: as as always, thanks for having me on Gay look
22:16
Speaker 1: forward to it, Michael, all right, we'll take a break,
22:18
Speaker 1: come back with this or that on Jack's Drive Time
22:21
Speaker 1: Presenter on a Wednesday morning by our friends at the
22:23
Speaker 1: Fields Auto Group. On a Friends Advice Star, Credit Union
22:34
Speaker 1: reminds you that they are proud sponsors of Game Day
22:38
Speaker 1: Radio by Start Credit Union, Do good, Bank Better, Welcome
22:42
Speaker 1: back Drive Time on a Wednesday morning, Brian and John,
22:46
Speaker 1: will you be with you here on the Thursday morning
22:49
Speaker 1: as well? Even though today is Wednesday and Thursday tomorrow
22:53
Speaker 1: is Friday. That's what happens when you play a Saturday night.
22:56
Speaker 1: Things get adjusted, and this team has learned to adjust.
23:00
Speaker 1: Brings us to this or that or that this or
23:06
Speaker 1: that And it's brought to you by Price dot Com,
23:07
Speaker 1: the easiest way to save money with comparison shopping, cash
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Speaker 1: Com today. John, you hinted that you had something good
23:18
Speaker 1: in this or that earlier. Well, I've got it this
23:20
Speaker 1: or that. I don't know how good it is, but uh,
23:23
Speaker 1: who's the most important player for the Titans this weekend?
23:25
Speaker 1: Is it Derrick Henry or Joshua Dobbs? And it's sort of.
23:31
Speaker 1: The answer is it's it's it's an intertwined question because
23:37
Speaker 1: I believe you have to stop Derrick Henry to make
23:40
Speaker 1: Josh Dobbs matter. But assuming that you can hold Derrick
23:46
Speaker 1: Henry to eight yards ish, then I think Josh Dobbs
23:51
Speaker 1: is the important factor because if he plays a clean game,
23:58
Speaker 1: if he's not rattled, if the Jaguars can't make him
24:01
Speaker 1: look like a guy who is playing in his first
24:04
Speaker 1: game or in his second game, in the biggest game
24:07
Speaker 1: of his career, if you don't have that flustered quarterback
24:11
Speaker 1: look which we've all seen, then I think the Titans
24:14
Speaker 1: have a real chance at the end of the game.
24:16
Speaker 1: Uh So they must make Josh Dobbs look like a
24:21
Speaker 1: guy who hasn't played a lot of NFL football, and
24:23
Speaker 1: you do that by stopping Derrick Henry. Right. So that's
24:26
Speaker 1: why I'm saying it's it's a tough question, because if
24:28
Speaker 1: you don't stop Derrick Henry, well, then Josh Hobbs can
24:31
Speaker 1: just hand off all game. The other side didn't matter.
24:33
Speaker 1: The other side of that is is that you know
24:36
Speaker 1: the Daggons are gonna stack the box. I mean, they're
24:38
Speaker 1: gonna be ready for Henry. So at some point Joshua
24:42
Speaker 1: Dobbs has to make a couple of throws. He's got
24:45
Speaker 1: to find his tight end. He's got to find Treylon
24:47
Speaker 1: Burke's woods good down in distant situations. Young quarterbacks can
24:53
Speaker 1: do that. If you get Derrick Henry, if you stop
24:56
Speaker 1: him first second down and get in just third and eight,
24:59
Speaker 1: then you can start doing things that make josh Dobbs
25:02
Speaker 1: look like fans think he ought to look uh. If
25:05
Speaker 1: he's thrown on third and one, it's harder to do that,
25:08
Speaker 1: all right. So I went with the obvious, and that
25:10
Speaker 1: was Saturday night or Sunday night. I was on a
25:12
Speaker 1: couple of radio shows yesterday and everyone wanted to talk
25:15
Speaker 1: about this where the Jaguars getting screwed by being put
25:18
Speaker 1: on Saturday night versus Sunday night. I don't think so.
25:21
Speaker 1: I don't think it matters there in prime time. They've
25:24
Speaker 1: got a game. If they've been put at one o'clock
25:26
Speaker 1: on Sunday, people I think would rightfully feel that they
25:29
Speaker 1: had been slided. But getting the Saturday night, this team
25:32
Speaker 1: has figured out how to get ready in short weeks before.
25:36
Speaker 1: Doug Peterson certainly knows how to get this done for
25:39
Speaker 1: everything that's on the line. To me, it doesn't matter
25:41
Speaker 1: whether it's Saturday night or Sunday night. And of course,
25:44
Speaker 1: if you win and you got a playoff game, you
25:46
Speaker 1: now have a full week, or if they get a
25:48
Speaker 1: Sunday game an extra day. I think I would rather
25:51
Speaker 1: have the short week here against an opponent that, you know,
25:54
Speaker 1: one that's beat up, and then more time to get
25:56
Speaker 1: ready next week. I certainly think they got the reason
26:02
Speaker 1: they're on Saturday is because the league didn't want to
26:05
Speaker 1: put Jacksonville in Tennessee on Sunday night. I certainly think
26:10
Speaker 1: there's an element of that. So did they get jobbed
26:13
Speaker 1: a little bit? Probably? My other side of that is, look,
26:17
Speaker 1: you've got a playoff game against a beat up team
26:20
Speaker 1: with a young quarterback you're hot, go in the game
26:24
Speaker 1: if they if they played it the next day, go
26:26
Speaker 1: in the game. So um. I also think it's important
26:29
Speaker 1: to remember the Jaguars, with Trevor Lawrence and Doug Peterson,
26:36
Speaker 1: the way this team plays, they can earn their way
26:39
Speaker 1: out of this lack of respect thing. When Sunday be
26:44
Speaker 1: good next year, and you can, I mean, I'm sorry,
26:47
Speaker 1: when Saturday be good next year, you'll start having primetime games.
26:52
Speaker 1: You can start being that small market team that's cool
26:56
Speaker 1: that people want to see on TV. That can happen
26:58
Speaker 1: very quickly because this kid their rock star. Well, Green
27:01
Speaker 1: Bay is a small market team that they've won over time,
27:05
Speaker 1: and so people don't see them as thing anymore. They
27:08
Speaker 1: had quarterbacks that came along that won championships. That's as
27:11
Speaker 1: you just said, what this kid can do for Jacksonville,
27:15
Speaker 1: so that someday you never say that's Jacksonville is one
27:18
Speaker 1: of the smallest markets in the league. Of course they're
27:20
Speaker 1: going to be on Saturday night. It's just oh it's
27:22
Speaker 1: the Jaguars. Oh yeah, they go on Sunday night. Two things.
27:26
Speaker 1: I got to Indian two thousand one. As people know,
27:30
Speaker 1: Uh at the time, they had played a couple of
27:33
Speaker 1: Monday night games. Uh, because Monday Night was the only
27:36
Speaker 1: big deal back then. Uh, they played a couple in
27:39
Speaker 1: Peyton's first couple of years, but before I think they
27:43
Speaker 1: had had one Monday night game in like fourteen years there. Uh,
27:47
Speaker 1: So they were ignored well within two years of me
27:50
Speaker 1: being there. And it wasn't because John Osier was there.
27:52
Speaker 1: Is because Peyton was there there on Monday all the time.
27:55
Speaker 1: They're hosting Sunday night games. The whole thing. Buckle up,
27:57
Speaker 1: it's coming. Also, one final thought inference to the league.
28:02
Speaker 1: We're very excited about Jacksonville and it's a great story.
28:05
Speaker 1: It's an eight and eight team playing a seven and
28:06
Speaker 1: nine team. I think if this game was a twelve
28:08
Speaker 1: and four team playing eleven five team with the playoffs
28:11
Speaker 1: on the line, I think it would be different. So
28:14
Speaker 1: there's still some earning to do to get into that
28:19
Speaker 1: stratosphere of Yeah, they're gonna be prime time all the time.
28:22
Speaker 1: And of course it starts on Saturday night with a
28:24
Speaker 1: win over the Titans and a chance to get into
28:26
Speaker 1: the playoffs. All right, we'll take a break. When we
28:28
Speaker 1: come back. We'll wrap up the Wednesday morning show, preview
28:31
Speaker 1: Thursday and the rest of the week here on Jags
28:34
Speaker 1: Drive Time, presented by the Fields Auto Group. Well, for
28:40
Speaker 1: nine years, dream Finders Homes has been proud to call
28:43
Speaker 1: themselves the official home builder of the Jacksonville Jaguars because
28:47
Speaker 1: at dream finders homes dot Com for all the available inventory,
28:51
Speaker 1: dream finders Homes says, go jackson right very well on this,
29:00
Speaker 1: oh haven't it? And then it goes to the South
29:02
Speaker 1: row go y'all, come on, come on, we don't relax.
29:06
Speaker 1: We don't relax. Yeah vo yeah bo yeah, Pope, let's go.
29:16
Speaker 1: Let's go. Phone game over any night, man I hunted Moe.
29:21
Speaker 1: It is about to be the best environment we've ever
29:24
Speaker 1: played in. Hey, and you know what makes it even
29:28
Speaker 1: there's more. We'll make this as more the sweet we're
29:34
Speaker 1: at home. Jaguar's strong safety Ray Shawn Jenkins miked up
29:40
Speaker 1: last week at Energy Stadium in Houston. That'll be up
29:43
Speaker 1: on the web later, It'll be on Jack's Wired, be
29:46
Speaker 1: all over social media. Uh. It's cool to see how
29:49
Speaker 1: excited the players are for what's coming on Saturday night.
29:53
Speaker 1: And my understanding and probably everyone's, Uh, this building is
29:56
Speaker 1: going to be near capacity, if not completely full, and
30:00
Speaker 1: dominated by teal black and gold. It won't be like
30:03
Speaker 1: it was for the Dallas game. As my grandfather used
30:06
Speaker 1: to say, that we stuff like a tick and uh
30:10
Speaker 1: uh you know, a final thought on Ray Sean Jenkins
30:13
Speaker 1: and again what we talked about such a young roster.
30:16
Speaker 1: There's two guys on this roster who are over ten
30:19
Speaker 1: years experience, Corey Peters and Marvin Jones Jr. Beyond that,
30:22
Speaker 1: it's like six of year guys and you're talking about
30:24
Speaker 1: free agents Ray Sean Foyer, Uh, Evan Ingram, these guys
30:31
Speaker 1: who U Sheriff who started off the show, seven or
30:35
Speaker 1: eight guys who who mad or who came in as
30:38
Speaker 1: free agents. And I know we talked about this point
30:40
Speaker 1: in the show before. How many years have we sat
30:43
Speaker 1: here in December and being like, well the free agent
30:45
Speaker 1: class here we have there you go, so what a
30:51
Speaker 1: uh you know, tribute to the people who put this
30:54
Speaker 1: thing together and and to these guys for coming in
30:58
Speaker 1: being healthy. You know, I talked about the Titans being healthy.
31:01
Speaker 1: Sometimes free agents come in and you haven't scouted them
31:04
Speaker 1: that well, and all of a sudden they're breaking down
31:06
Speaker 1: the end of the year. You know, knock on from
31:09
Speaker 1: Eco whatever this is. But you're talking about a lot
31:12
Speaker 1: of guys who have been in the legal while Ingram,
31:14
Speaker 1: Kurt Jones all available going into you know, pretty good
31:18
Speaker 1: job putting together guys and not only are hyped in March,
31:22
Speaker 1: but are available in December. But if you look to
31:24
Speaker 1: the last two years, both free agency in the draft,
31:27
Speaker 1: what the general manager and his staff have given to
31:31
Speaker 1: Doug Peterson to put on the field, and then coax through.
31:33
Speaker 1: It's been a good partners doesn't always happen, It's worked
31:36
Speaker 1: well a lot of times. These guys sit at press
31:37
Speaker 1: conferences in March and then by January you're thinking why
31:41
Speaker 1: did you sign him? So anyway, I don't mean to
31:42
Speaker 1: go off on the tangent, but I think that's a
31:45
Speaker 1: key to me on why this team is here. All right,
31:47
Speaker 1: So tomorrow morning we'll have he will he won't, he
31:49
Speaker 1: might will have a preview of Saturday nights game. Anything
31:53
Speaker 1: interesting in Ozon podcast this week should have Evan Ingram
31:57
Speaker 1: who is it is a repeat guest, but it uh
32:01
Speaker 1: such a different story than when I talked to him
32:03
Speaker 1: in March. I'm anxious talked to him about just you
32:07
Speaker 1: know this journey, if you will, because that's what it
32:09
Speaker 1: is at this point. Uh. Great guy and very interested
32:15
Speaker 1: to hear how he views this whole path they've been.
32:19
Speaker 1: And he was the guy the last time the Jaguars
32:21
Speaker 1: faced the Titan. So it makes a lot of sense,
32:23
Speaker 1: all right. Uh. And it goes without saying both John
32:26
Speaker 1: and I and the entire Jaguars organization, and I'm sure
32:29
Speaker 1: you would say the same thing as a Jaguars fan,
32:32
Speaker 1: as a football fan, UH, send our thoughts and our
32:35
Speaker 1: prayers to the the folks in Cincinnati who are with
32:39
Speaker 1: Damar Hamilton's, to the Bills organization for what happened on
32:43
Speaker 1: Monday evening, and wish him a healthy, speedy recovery. He's
32:47
Speaker 1: been inspiring John to see how people have donated more
32:51
Speaker 1: than five million dollars to the young Man's UH Community Foundation,
32:56
Speaker 1: to see how people have reached out wanting to be
32:58
Speaker 1: a part of helping this guy get back on his feet. Yes,
33:01
Speaker 1: social media doesn't always UH cast our society in the
33:06
Speaker 1: best light, but it it has enabled in this situation
33:12
Speaker 1: people to reach out and show the spirited people that
33:15
Speaker 1: I think was always there. UH. And the NFL is
33:18
Speaker 1: a community, the fans feel connected to this and UH
33:22
Speaker 1: certainly UH an unbelievable story and how they've reached out
33:27
Speaker 1: shouldn't trump the fact they were still waiting to hear.
33:30
Speaker 1: Health here in recovery is paramount and let's hope for
33:33
Speaker 1: the best. And I believe I said Tomar Hamilton's it's
33:35
Speaker 1: DeMar Hamlin. As you well know. I knew that too. Uh.
33:38
Speaker 1: DeMar Hamlin the great story on the Athletic website about
33:42
Speaker 1: him and his impact in the Pittsburgh community. If you'd
33:44
Speaker 1: like to learn more, Jaguars, the City of Jacksonville, and
33:48
Speaker 1: Jaguars fans send our condolences and our thoughts and our
33:51
Speaker 1: prayers and hope that he recovers fully and will take
33:54
Speaker 1: this as the end of our show and be with
33:56
Speaker 1: you tomorrow here on Jags Drive Time. Think that there