Notes, Quotes
-- Even though Tennessee tailback Chris Johnson, perhaps the NFL's fastest player, has said he will pursue a temporary track career during the lockout, he has yet to compete in a meet and currently has no plans to do so.
--Offensive coordinator Chris Palmer says he has been able to watch more film of quarterback Jake Locker than he did before the draft. The Titans selected Locker with the eighth overall
Palmer told The Tennessean, "People say, 'What are you doing (during the lockout)?' Well, I've watched more film on Jake Locker after the draft than I did before the draft. I know he throws well on the run from our pre-draft evaluation, but as I'm looking at film from 2009, there were some (other) throws he made that I thought would fit in pretty good with us. I don't know if I'd have that opportunity [during a normal offseason] because we'd be working with the players."
Head coach Mike Munchak said in some ways the lockout is helping the coaching situation.
Said Munchak, "Sometimes when you have a new coach, you're talking to him and you're thinking that you're both saying the same thing. Then all of a sudden you're watching tape or something happens in practice, and you realize you're not thinking the same thing. So (the lockout) has been a good opportunity to clear that up."
--Quarterback Vince Young is still officially a member of the Tennessee Titans, but he will be released or traded when the lockout ends.
Young has been working out in Houston with Minnesota Vikings running back Adrian Peterson.
"It's been that way," Young said. "Adrian and the other guys are here to work. It's a good time out here then we lift together, eat lunch, bond and build chemistry. Keeping that football brotherhood is what it's all about."
A thumb injury that ended his 2010 season has healed, he said.
As for this year, Young said, "When the season comes, wherever I am, I am going in full throttle, head on right and ready to work. I want to lead my team to the playoffs and a championship and that's all that's on my mind, get to those areas right now."
--The Titans have essentially closed the door on the return of wide receiver Randy Moss.
However, there is interest in re-signing linebacker Stephen Tulloch even though the Titans selected two linebackers in the first four rounds of the draft.
As for Moss, who was picked up on waivers during the 2010 season after being released by the Minnesota Vikings, general manager Mike Reinfeldt said, "I honestly don't think we'll try to re-sign him. We've got some young guys we like and I think at this point in his career he will probably go elsewhere."
Coach Mike Munchak hopes wide receiver Lavelle Hawkins is ready to step up and show improvement.
"We're excited about Hawkins," Munchak said. "We think he's got a great opportunity to provide a lot of competition at that position. When you have new coaches and a new system, he'll get a nice fresh look this year. I know (offensive coordinator) Chris Palmer is pretty excited about him, so I think he may have the opportunity this year to really get on the field a little bit more."
As for Tulloch, he has led the team in tackles the last two seasons, and while his contract has expired, it is unknown whether he will be a restricted or unrestricted free agent.
"We'd very much like him back," Reinfeldt said. "We drafted him. We kind of trained him up. He fits in well. He's a good player. We'd welcome him back."
In the draft, the Titans selected Akeem Ayers in the second round and Colin McCarthy in the fourth round.
Said Reinfeldt, "I think what we tried to do at the linebacker position and in all the positions is really create as much competition as possible. Get as many good football players as you can at each spot. (But) Stephen Tulloch is a good football player and we want him back."
--Safety Michael Griffin said the team's training camp will have problems if the lockout continues and there has been no offseason program before camp starts. Mike Munchak is the Titans' first-year head coach, and there are new coordinators with Chris Palmer on offense and Jerry Gray on defense.
"The whole training camp is going to be a learning process," Griffin said. "Everybody can't be at a good tempo because the tempo is going to be affected by what we know. There's going to be a lot of mistakes being made because we're learning a new playbook, new positions, and maybe trying to get rookies in to try to get them up to speed on things.
"The college playbook is nowhere close to the NFL playbook, let alone the whole team is learning a completely new defense. So that's going to be the problem."
Griffin also noted that veterans might be forced to play more in preseason games than is normally the case, not onlt with the Titans but with other teams implementing new schemes.
"We're going to want to get our starters a lot of reps to try to learn this new defense against different teams," Griffin said. "But at the same time, you don't want to get them hurt. That's going to be the real issue because in previous training camps you try to get back-ups a lot of reps, try to get them caught up to speed with the rookies and stuff. But we're all going to be like rookies in training camp, so that's going to be the real main issue."
--It was almost a surreal scene on the Friday of draft weekend with chains finally off the gates at Baptist Sports Park and veteran players finally in for workouts. While the veterans worked out, the Titans brought in first-round pick Jake Locker to meet with the media.
About 20 players showed up, which was a good thing, because it gave players a chance to meet the new coaches and grab a playbook from them.
"We had about 20 guys here. The guys who are in town came in," guard Jake Scott, the Titans' player representative, said. "We got together and talked for a minute, introduced ourselves to the new coaching staff who we hadn't met yet and got back to work. And that's what we've wanted all along, and that's what we've finally got."
But not for long. Doors were locked again Friday evening after the appeals court issued a temporary stay that kept the lockout in place.
The previous day, the Titans had two off-duty policemen at the game along with regular security, and players who showed upon that day, including player rep Jake Scott, entered the building only to find lockers shoved in front of the entrance to the weight room.
--When Titans offensive coordinator Chris Palmer met with Jake Locker for his private workout, he gave him a task to improve his footwork. He wanted Locker to see how many jumps he could do with a rope in 30 seconds. After being in the 80s when he first tried it, Locker eventually got up over 100, and texted Palmer to tell him of his triumph.
"The first week, he texts me back and said, 'I got 80, I got 85' and I said, 'Well, your goal when you get in here is to be up over 100.' And he was over 100, and it just spoke volumes about the kind of guy he was and the type of responsibility he takes. I was very, very impressed with him from the first workout and visiting with him and doing the things that you want a quarterback to do," Palmer said, testing Locker's mettle and work ethic in the process.
--Defensive line coach Tracy Rocker, hired away from Auburn, had been linked to the Titans taking DT Nick Fairley, who eventually went to Detroit. But the Titans still wound up with one of Rocker's players, taking Zach Clayton with a seventh-round choice.
"I'm just glad to be picked up somewhere and I'm really excited to be able to work with my position coach in coach Tracy Rocker again," Clayton said. "I love coach Rocker. I can't even think of anyone better to play for and to have the opportunity to play for him again is just extremely exciting for me right now."
Copyright (C) 2011 The Sports Xchange. All Rights Reserved.
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