 We welcome you to the Mike Vrables show presented by Coca-Cola I'm Mike Keith and this is Coach Dave McGinnis from Titans Radio and you're probably saying where's Mike Vrables it is the Mike Vrables show well he and the team have already headed back to Nashville it's Tuesday they got to get ready for Jacksonville so we're going to take you through this show and we're glad to do it because coming off a 16 to 14 win here in Denver you're always happy to be 1-0 even though it was hard to get it. No no no wins are too hard to come in this league never be mad about a win never Cardinal rule in the national football league never be mad about a win. Give me your overview of how this one went and why it was significant to win it. I thought the Titans outplayed them in this in this ball game they left they left 10 certain points out there on the field and if they if they convert those 10 points it's a whole different feel what they did do Mike they showed some real mental toughness they continued with the mental toughness and the resiliency this team showed at the end of last year we're talking about carry over that carried over big time tonight. The number of fans here right now at Empower Field at Mile High the same number of fans that were here for the ball game 35 years you've spent in the national football league how strange is it to play at a place like this with no fans. It's just so strange it really is and especially this is one of the best outdoor venues in the national football league this place is usually just bringing the house down here it was really strange but it was so good to get a game in my phone is just blown up with text people people enjoyed it people like national football league football and winning and winning. Let's take a look at the sixth pack and in honor of coach Vrable we want to start with complimentary football play number one comes early in the second quarter Titans down seven to nothing he's an all-pro he used to punt for the Broncos it's Brett Kern a 66 yard punt to get things started. Cannot overemphasize what a weapon he is this guy is a valuable tool for this football team he really is because what he does he makes field position for your defense thus if your defense plays well it gets field position for your offense they were doing some nice things tonight they were using a slot punt with a running gunner playing from the slot and he had to directional punt where the running gunner from the slot was hit it perfect every time. Every single time the second play comes shortly after that great punt it's two of your best players on defense Kevin Byard with his first ever career forced fumble and it's big Jeff himself coming up with the recovery. That was that was so big I mean first of all Byard was so aware to punch that ball out but Jeffery Simmons coming from the inside out to get over there and cover that ball what he run 18 miles an hour you know on the on the GoPro or whatever that is all night I thought his ball game was really really good because he was making plays not only straight ahead but the big man was covering ground left and right very impressive. We're gonna let you talk about him a little further in our next segment not to spoiler alert give it away but we'll discuss Jeffery Simmons some more third big play of the night the touchdown that followed to tie the game Ryan Tannehill to Michael Pruitt what a catch. It was a great catch he did about a 360 to get that you get that ball and you know what Tannehill has got such confidence in his receivers he puts it within their catch radius they'll make the catch for him it was a it was a pretty much an acrobatic catch because he was covered. Then the Titans get a goal line stand and one of the better tackles came on third down you watch this pop on Gordon. Oh absolutely Gordon's tired of playing the Titans on the goal line he really is I mean he's he's had a little rough luck against us on the goal line but a goal the goal line stand I mean that was huge because they Denver had gotten the momentum back a little bit then and to stop them down there like they did really big. Play number five came early in the fourth quarter after the Titans dominated the third quarter early in the final period the Titans get a touchdown pass on fourth down. Yeah and I love the call I mean the call was great they jammed all the all the big men in there they jammed them in there they had 22 people right up on the line of scrimmage and then you know Jonu wide open in the corner of the end zone nice call. Jonu Smith four catchers 36 yards in the ball game playing well again the Titans those see the Broncos come back take the lead 14-13 and then after two big defensive stops Tennessee goes on a 12 play 83 yard drive Ryan Tannehill's 17th career game winning drive and they call on the legend himself Steven Gaskowski who had not had a very good night but he put it through the uprights to win. Full disclosure Mike Keith you said when that drive started you looked at me and you went coach Mike it's gonna come down to a field goal and he's gonna make it guess what happened came down to a field goal he made it. Well you're really proud of this guy because to be 0-3 for the first time in his career and miss an extra point a guy who said after the game embarrassed and and that's what kind of a pro he is but he made it and hopefully he can take that and build on it tough on him coming off the surgery and not having had much time with the team. No and and really you could tell that he really didn't quite have his swing down because he missed one left one right got one blocked up the middle but he made the one at the end Titans win let's move on to next week. Let's move on to next week let's do that coming up later in the show we're gonna talk with one of the toughest Titans Amy Wells has a chat with him but up next it's our Bridgestone clutch performance of the game as we continue on the Mike Vrable show from Denver with Coach Mack presented by Coca Cola. We welcome you back to Denver and the Mike Vrable show presented by Coca Cola Mike Keith along with Dave McGinnis Coach Mack sitting in for Coach Vrable as the team on a short week getting ready for Jacksonville we'll talk about that more later in the show but time now for the Bridgestone clutch performance of the game and we selected big Jeff himself Jeffrey Simmons made several huge plays in the ballgame was a disruptor but let's talk about the goal line stand it's fourth and one and it really looks like Denver has a good call Drew Lock who can run looks like he's gonna run and then he throws the Utah pass the shuffle pass to Jake Butt who runs into big Jeff big Jeff is really a nice call down there I mean I like I like the call it had a lot of deceptive to it but for Jeffrey Simmons to be able to play it that's a hot that's a tough play for a defensive lineman because most of the times they're trying to get down there on all fours and root hog and just knock people back he was able to stay alive he recognized the play made a huge huge tackle his awareness this year we talked earlier about his confidence and his comfortability that's going on with him right now he's so confident now and what's going on in there we're starting to see the Jeffrey Simmons that we all vetted coming out of Mississippi State Jeffrey Simmons was in the knee brace this time last year was coming off a knee surgery a year and a half ago so I just wonder with that knee brace gone the play that he made on but recovering the fumble being able to pursue and run to the ball could he made those plays last season no he didn't have his lateral mobility last year and he admitted that he was never comfortable in the brace and when you watched him play at Mississippi State Mike that was the thing was so unusual about him he not only had the big power strength of the knotback he was a guy that could make plays laterally and that's really important when you can get your big guys running you can snuff out a lot of plays the fumble recovery was a great instance of that and also his ability to change direction and be aware in the short box in there in the in the center guard tackle box that was so so big he would never made those plays last year he didn't have that lower body flexibility last year with that brace I like so much about Jeffrey Simmons game but one of the things that he has is he's a hustler and a lot of big dudes like like him are not hustlers but he is always running to the ball trying to make a play he wants to tackle the dude with the football well and if you're going to have a good defense or an elite defense in this league you've got to run to the football constantly I mean it's got to be everybody to the ball for all snaps that you're out there because there are so many plays in in a national football league that it takes a little extra effort to keep it from getting away from you we saw that great examples of that from Jeffrey Simmons that were really game-changing plays he is a tough titan no doubt but the wrackly roofing tough titan this week is Taylor Lawan he's coming up with Amy Wells later in this edition of the Mike Vrable show but up next coach Vrable had to get in his delta dental pick his delta dental guest the titan he taped one with us right after a practice because he said I know I can't be on the show but I love the delta dental feature so I've got to make a guess how did he do you'll see coming up on the Mike Vrable show presented by Coca-Cola we had a chance to go 2-0 Titans beat the Broncos last night here in Denver 16 to 14 welcome back to the Mike Vrable show presented by Coca-Cola Dave McGinnis would you call Mike Vrable a competitive person absolutely yes he is he wants to win at everything which is why when we told him hey we know you're not going to be on this week's show he said I gotta do delta dental oh it's great I gotta get it I gotta guess the titan again he came in after a practice to take his shot see how coach Vrable did all right coach so all summer long people have been asking me how will Mike Vrable do on the delta dental guest the titan in 2020 your season last year went great your numbers in this feature on your show not quite as good and you were ready to take a shot at it ready to go here you want to be wonderful this all off season I am ready to get off to a great start with delta dental it's my favorite segment so let's see what we have all right so here we go here's the shot of the player from delta dental can you guess this titan I mean that looks like a boy with thighs like that that looks like a defensive lineman uh I'm gonna say now stop and think about you don't have to go fast you've got a second this is a larger child that's true big legs but analyze the face here take your time so you're basically telling me it's not a defensive lineman that's a good redirect I appreciate that could be it's a large person so it's an offensive lineman it is Roger Saffold is that your final guess no it's not no no I just was saying it could be Roger Saffold it could be Roger Saffold but who is it Mike Vrable it is Michael Pruitt Michael Pruitt let's reveal who is this titan from delta dental you had the position he looks like him it looks like john who can you not see it no no there's a glare there was a glare on this thing so we have to fix this for the rest of the season this from the guy who never makes an excuse never there are no excuses come on Mike you wouldn't be acting this way if I was sitting right next to you so stop all that because you would just grab me exactly I'd probably shake that blazer that you normally have on with the pocket square well one of the reasons that we wanted to do this you love to talk about johnny smith because you love his work ethic you love what he brings to the football team and as we've watched him preparing for the start of this season we've seen the same great things out of johnny well he's got such a great attitude he comes to work every day with a willingness to improve he is engaged he is locked in he's a great teammate and he continues to get better and I and I can appreciate that because it's not like he's arrived if we had some success or johnny caught a few passes and he's always trying to work he's trying to get better and he's trying to build that relationship with the quarterback and also you know help us out in a run game and get those plays started on the edge and one of the all-time great guys too love them to death coach thank you for taking time with us when we get together next week hopefully you get to one for two on the delta dental one for two or one and one right you always get me confused with that he starts 0 for one you know what that makes me very sad but I I promise you Mike Vrable would take 0 for one on delta dental and want to know with this game we all will and thanks to our friends at delta dental for being part of the show and thanks for Rackley Roofing for sponsoring the tough Titan of the Week AB Wells is standing by with that guy number 77 Tatl Awan after a break on the Mike Vrable show presented by Coca-Cola this year we have a new series that we are calling the tough Titan and there is no better person to start off than the ultimate tough Titan taylor lawan taylor it is so good to see your face it's good to have you here yeah it does feel a little uncomfortable with us being in different rooms but I'm glad to be here glad to be noticed as a tough Titan although I feel like there's a couple others that do deserve the bed as well one of the things that you have been known for is your toughness on the field have you always been this tough or was there a time that you were maybe a little timid well I'll tell you what when I was in third grade I was a corner when I played Pop Warner for the Scottsdale Shockers and the next year I was a quarterback and I actually quit because I didn't want to get tackled the year after that I played hockey I was trying out for a Pee Wee team and that was like the first year they allowed checking I got checked one time some behemoth nine-year-old checked me when the play was over the whistle blew from that moment I was done with hockey forever so I don't know if I'm any tougher I'm definitely better at faking it nowadays I do enjoy it makes it easy to be tough when you have a guy Roger Saffold you're playing right next to well you've also been a Tennessee Titan for a while what is different about this year maybe with current circumstances excluded what's different about Taylor LaWan you know I think it's hard for me to think about what's different without the circumstances of this year right with COVID it gave me a huge opportunity to spend more time with my family spend time with what's really important is that's you know getting to see my my oldest now and bringing my new daughter into this world and becoming a true girl dad it's been it's been unbelievable so the toughness factor does kind of go out the window with them but for me I've taken a step forward in the leadership category I've said before it was about how do I start the way I finished last year and how do we start as an offense the way we finished last year what maybe tangible ways have you been working on that leadership role within the locker room throughout training camp in the beginning of the season yeah I think the biggest thing is just keeping the important thing the important thing there's a time for me to be able to goof around have a good time with the boys but when I get on the field it's trying to keep my craft sharp and making sure I have the tools when I go into the season to be successful we use the term leading from the front quite a bit and I try to do that literally and figuratively if you're well conditioned you're able to work through those hard practices especially in Tennessee in August it's very hot it's very humid and it's tough to get through so for me just kind of trying to push through and helping other guys with their techniques the best leadership I can do is just being the best left tackle I can be and continuing where I left off from last year so that's been the goal from day one I have my own individual goals also but the biggest thing is this team and getting a win starting your seventh season with the team you've seen some lows and you've seen some highs how are you helping this team manage the expectations of a team that's coming off of a trip to the AFC championship game I think the first thing is you have to stop thinking about going to the AFC championship game last year right every year is a new year and you know variable brought up a good point you don't want to be like the stock market you're up one day you're down the other you want to be consistent and make sure you're growing each and every single day and just getting a little bit better so good to see you guys there's so much more coming up on the Mike Vrable show stick around the Tennessee Titans are one and oh as we bring you this edition of the Mike Vrable show presented by Coca-Cola coach Dave McGinnis has got our Nissan keys to beating Jacksonville Sunday's opponent at Nissan Stadium let's talk about rhythm to begin with the Titans cannot let Jags quarterback Garner Minshew get going you can't go to sleep on Garner Minshew he's already proven that he's a gamer we saw what he did against Indianapolis you can't go to sleep on this guy this football team at Jacksonville they believe in their quarterback he can make plays we have got to be able to contain him when he makes the broken play and the off-schedule play that's when he's really dangerous and don't underestimate his arm 19 of 20 passing against Indianapolis and the one pass he missed was a drop well that's pretty good that's very good absolutely all right you know who's very good against Jacksonville normally Derek Henry his homebound team Titans need that again that's key number two well they need that big they need that big time from Derek Henry and you and you saw what happened when we played Denver they kept feeding the ball to have a good run game in the National Football League Mike you've got to be patient with it because every run is not going to break big what Henry have his longest run was 13 yards against Denver still he goes over 100 and he helped control the ball game we're going to need that and more against Jacksonville final key these games between the Titans and the Jags are always physical you got to maintain your poise you always talk about coaching if anything gets into a scuffle walk away you've got to be able to walk away you've got to keep your composure you can play to the echo of the whistle and you can play very physical but don't do anything after the whistle that hurts your football team we got away with one in Denver we cannot let that happen and these games against Jacksonville they're a tad bit chippy anyway to say the least and it's for first place in the afc south this time one and o Jacksonville one and o Tennessee Sunday at Nissan Stadium kickoff is set for noon we'll have it for you on Titans radio beginning at 11 a.m with Titans countdown thanks for doing this this is great because we're one and oh no we're one and oh that's right oh and one i wouldn't even be standing he would have just left i might have just left for Dave McGannis filling in for Mike Vrable i'm Mike Keith thanks for joining us for the Mike Vrable show from Denver presented by Coca-Cola