 Welcome to the Mike Vrable show presented by Coca-Cola. I'm Mike Keith in the BET MGM studios with head coach Mike Vrable and it is Wednesday. That's right. We're delayed by a day because of the election, so obviously good reason. But Mike Vrable, as we welcome you to the show a day later than we usually do it, what is a Wednesday like for the Titans football team? Well, I mean, it's about preparation for the for the upcoming opponent and this week it's the Bears. It's about getting the keys to the players and understanding what we have to do in each phase to win the game. And when we execute those keys and we get those coached and explained to the players and they go out and execute them, you know, we usually have success. And so that's what Wednesdays are about and then making sure that we have the game plan at first and second down as we as we work towards the end of the week. So let's go to the Mike Vrable six pack as we do the program here on this Wednesday. And we sort of have topics. We have broad topics instead of plays because we're a day later. And Mike, the question you've been asked all week is about your third down defense. So let me just put it in as simple a form as I can. Is there one specific thing the defense can do better to make third down defense improve? I mean, let me answer this, I guess, simplistically as you did and asked it. No, you know, it's not. It's about, you know, getting out there and third and long, forcing them to convert third and long. You know, that's that's where it can be. It's not third and one, third and two, where they're going to have the numbers and the percentages. But, you know, getting a call into the players, practicing it better, you know, we'll just keep coaching it better. I guess that's what we'll do. So third down defense is much like an offensive play in terms of everything has to function together to make you successful. All the pieces have to work to stop the opponent from picking up a first down. I mean, everything that we do is like that. We have to have 11 guys on every play function, understand their job, the details that go along with it, whether it's in kickoff return, punt return, punt, field goal, you know, we can't just sit out there and watch one guy, you know, when Derek runs a football, he's not just one verse 11. There's times where he's made somebody miss or he's beat somebody, but there's guys that are doing their job and making that play work. So that would be the same defensively on every down and distance. You made a trade on Monday for Desmond King, a cornerback from the Los Angeles Chargers. What does Desmond King bring to the Titans secondary? We'll see when he gets out here on the practice field, Mike, we won't have him until Saturday. So, you know, we'll see what he does on Saturday and then we'll go forward trying to find a place for him on the team. What was the part of his skill set overall that made you want to acquire Desmond King? He's played some meaningful snaps, he's tough, competitive, he's been a good blitzer, played in the kicking game and it felt like that he could come in and, you know, sometimes you need to change the scenery, come in and help us out. All pro punter Brett Kern was dinged up late in the game at Cincinnati. When will you be able to determine if you have a chance to have Kern on Sunday against the Bears? It may be later in the week and, you know, obviously, Tucker's been on our practice squad, Tucker McCann, so if Brett can't go and Tucker's been practicing not only he's kicking but also he's punting and then we'll make a decision with Brett as the week goes on. And Tucker McCann was the regular punter at one point at Missouri, was he not? Yeah, he's done it in the past and again he's got a strong leg and we're excited about what he can do, his versatility and, you know, it's always hard to have to replace a player like someone like Kern, but I think that if we had to make the switch, Tucker's been here for a while and it's possible what we're doing. Deontay Forman is a player who showed up on Sunday carrying the ball five times for 37 yards. A lot of Titans fans didn't know who he was until Sunday in Cincinnati, so who is Deontay Forman? He's a talented player, he's a third round pick by the Texans, a very successful college football player at the University of Texas, got a very good skill set, he's got good size, good vision, he's a natural runner and I know you've watched him at practices as well, but a guy that just kind of gets the ball and has a good feel for where things are and what the openings are and he earned his right to get some carries and helped us in the kicking game and came in and learned and wanted to quickly show us that he was committed to this football team. Mike, you rushed 29 times for 218 yards at Cincinnati. That's good rushing performance overall. How do you take that performance and build on it? That's just what we've always tried to do is find plays that we can use each and every week, find some carryover, maybe some game plan plays, but this will be a new challenge. This is a difficult defense to gain yards on, so we'll have to basically regroup and hopefully carry over the same level of confidence that we had running the football and build momentum through the week with the plan that we'll have when we're going into the game against the Bears. The final topic of the six pack is about the Bears. Can you give us an overview of just who you think this football team is that you're going to face on Sunday at Nissan Stadium? It's a physical football team, they've got a very good defense, they're good up there. They're big. They're two gappers. You got Mack and Quinn on the edges, two very active and middle linebackers, Trevathan, Roquon, those guys can run, they're good up the middle with Gibson and obviously Jackson. So yards have been tough to come by, they're very good on third down, they're excellent in the red zone defensively and when they're able to run the football, that opens up a lot of stuff that they want to do on offense and moving foals around in the boots and in the play action. And Allen Robinson has been their kind of go-to guy and he's up for the challenge. He's excellent, very, very good athlete, he's a smooth athlete, good route runner, great body control. That's Mike Vrabel's six pack coming up later in the show, Corey Davis had a big game at Cincinnati so he is our rackly roofing tough titan but up next our Bridgestone Clutch Performance play of the game and CDs involved in that. Stay tuned for more on the Mike Vrabel show presented by Coca-Cola. Welcome back to the Bet MGM Studios for the Mike Vrabel show presented by Coca-Cola. It's time for our Bridgestone Clutch Performance play of the game. It's a really nice catch by a guy who had eight catches on the day, Corey Davis, coach. That's a great catch, it's great protection, Ryan gives him a great ball, you can see the body control there by Corey to go and get that football out in front of him and then also to drag that foot and I had a great view of it and I know they were him hauling around over there on the sidelines about whether it was a catch or not. I was very confident that this was a touchdown. You can see him get that right toe down on the ground. Not sure what my man there is looking at but obviously he gets a little help and comes up with the right call. Corey Davis with our Bridgestone Clutch Performance play of the game. His touchdown catch, Corey has 14 overall catches in the last two games including two touchdowns. Time now for Delta Deno, guess the titan. Mike Vrable has converted on his last two guessing the titan. Can you guess this titan? Yes, I think I can. I think you probably can too. I would have gotten this one and I'm worse than you are at this game. You know the answers. I'm also honest with myself to see if I would have gotten it and I would have gotten that one. Usually I miss. All right, so we'll see if we get it when we come back. The Mike Vrable show presented by Coca-Cola. The Delta Deno guessed the titan and the Rackley Roofing tough titan on deck. Stay tuned. Delta Deno wants to know can you guess that titan as the Mike Vrable show continues from the Bet MGM Studios, our program presented by Coca-Cola. And so coach, can you guess the titan for our friends at Delta Deno? I think I can. I think he was a lot cuter kid than he is an adult. I think that that is Dennis Kelly. Three out of three. You've never done that. You've never gone three out of three. Dennis Kelly, one of the really good guys on this team. One of my favorite people to talk to, period. He's got more interesting things going on and more interesting things to say. I really enjoy him. Well, you know, Purdue, you know, they've got the engineers. They put out the guys, both different than those guys you're talking to from Ohio State, but he is, he's, you know, he's our player rep, you know, I mean, he's the NFL PA rep and a very intelligent guy, great teammate, well-respected player. You know, he was offered a basketball scholarship to go to Indiana. Bobby Knight. I know, right? A little late for Bobby Knight. Speaking of guys I like to talk to, Corey Davis, and so happy to see him getting things done right now. A popular guy with his teammates, a popular guy with everybody in our organization, playing really good football since he came back from the COVID-19 reserve list. Yeah. And, you know, we're worried about his conditioning a little bit. He played a full game for us and continues to be physical and block in the run game. Also make contested catches. He's got strong hands. He's good after the catch. So, you know, it's good to have him back at full strength. He catches 128 yards in a touchdown at Cincinnati. He is our wrackly roofing, tough titan, and he joins a new one. Davis reached up and snatched it, one, two, it's a touchdown. Corey, I want to start by talking to you about the performance that you had against the Cincinnati Bengals. You had over 100 receiving yards. You had a touchdown. Obviously, not the result that the team wanted, but personally a really good day for you. What was going so well? I mean, I was just trying to go out there and do my job. And everyone, as there goes their jobs, they got to go out there and do it. And I was just trying to do my job the best I could. And we came up short and we got a lot of work to do. So we'll get back this week and get after it. But I guess there are definitely things that you feel like you can build off of? Yeah. There's a lot to build off of. I mean, it's not all doom and gloom. You know, the good team, we got to give them that credit. But we know we can play better. We know we can play a lot better. And we're going to move them forward. So it starts with the preparation and practice. We'll get after it. Are there specific things that you feel like this team can pinpoint? Specific things they can work on to create the consistency that they're used to seeing on offense? You know, offensively, we have to do a better job of, you know, finishing drives. You know, we were able to move the ball, but got solved a few times. You know, once we got down to the fringe area or the red zone, we got to do a better job of just finishing our drives and getting points on board. Is there something that you can work on in practice, some sort of tangible skill that maybe you can work to improve upon that might help this team continue drives and stay on the field a little bit longer? You know, overall, we just got to come together as an offense and make our individual efforts the best that we can. It must be encouraging to you to know that this offense has so many weapons at so many different positions. Guys that can really show up whenever their number is called. Yeah, we do have a lot of weapons. We understand that, you know, one week it might be, you know, me getting a lot of targets and the next week it might be AJ or, you know, Derek. We understand we got a lot of weapons. You know, everyone wants to ball, which is a good thing. Everyone wants to win. We got some weapons. We've got to take advantage of what we got and, you know, take it one game at a time. Now, it's still early in the season. There's clearly no reason for this team to panic. What do you do to help this team stay focused when you're going through a little bit of a rough patch? You know, whether you're winning or losing, you know, in the previous game, you've got to fit behind you and work towards that next move. These weeks are short, you know, in the league. We've got to have a short memory. You've got to go out there and prepare like you lost. And, you know, get out there and get the best out of yourself and the best out of the team. We've seen this team face adversity, rally, and then overcome it. Can you channel some of that energy maybe into facing some of your upcoming opponents? Yeah, 100%. I mean, you know, I always say we're not front hunters. You know, we've got to do is face adversity. We've seen hard times and, you know, there's no panic. We're going to go out there and we're going to end our business. Corey Davis, thank you so much for being our rackly roofing tough Titan. Guys, stick around because when the Mike Vrable show comes back, there are going to be puppies and kittens. That's right. Puppies and kittens. Stick around. You see what you're made of when you go through something tough. Steady rainfall. And yeah, it's been a tough year. But Tennesseans are built for this. Passed down through generations. We look for it. We like it that way. Football is back, baby. Tennessee tough. You may have noticed the cardboard cutouts of dogs and cats in the stands at Nissan Stadium for the October 18th game with Houston and the game the following week with Pittsburgh. That was an idea of a great Titans team partner, Mars Pet Care. Let's get these animals adopted, they said. And let's not just do it in Nashville. Let's do it in Houston. Well, it was a rousing success to say that they knocked it out of the park. Well, that would be an understatement. Every year we do this adoption event and we decided to go virtual to make things safe, of course. And we wanted to do it as much as we could and make the biggest impact possible. Titans and Mars Pet Care teamed up to make 200 cutouts of adoptable pets from shelters in both Houston and Nashville and put them in the stands. So we looked at the calendar to see when there were games. Houston is actually, as well as Nashville, both better cities for pet-certified cities. So we thought it'd be a great place to start. It was amazing to see four-legged friends in the stadium. Just seeing those dogs and cats, people just loved that idea. As far as I know, we're the first ones to do this in partnership with the Titans. So we've just gotten such an amazing response. Amy Adams struck. She has been such a huge supporter. Titans are known. So that platform, having our local team really advocate for animal adoption and providing homes for homeless pets, it's amazing. We actually had like 325 pets adopted. And I think the Titans made a huge contribution. We have such a great relationship with the Titans and Mars Pet Care. It's so great that they're in our own backyard. They sponsor adoption fees, raise awareness. They have such an amazing platform. Companionship is one of the biggest things that we're hearing that people are missing. And so giving people the option to adopt a pet and partnering with the Titans to get the word out was just a really great opportunity. That's a good story. And we've got some good ways for the Titans to win this game against the Bears on Sunday. Mike Vrable returns with his keys to victory. Next. As we come back to the Bet MGM Studios, the Mike Vrable show presented by Coca-Cola. Time for the coach's Nissan keys to success. Number one has been a Titans Hallmark when they've been victorious this season. Mike, something you've done well overall. And that's when the turnover battle. We got to go, we got to go find these turnovers on defense. We got to find a way to punch the football out, tip the football, catch it, intercept it or knock it out of somebody's hand. That has to be paramount. We got to take care of football and offense. This is an excellent defense. And again, that's the recipe for us, Mike, is to turn the football over, control it and now just improve this third down defense, get off the field on third down. And for your offense, one of the big challenges is scoring touchdowns in the red zone. Chicago is awfully good at stopping it. And we've been pretty good, you know, I mean by the numbers we've been pretty good. Unfortunately, we weren't exactly where we needed to be the other day. And they're excellent and they're excellent. So it'll be a strength of theirs versus what we think is a strength of ours. And finally, be great in the coverage units because of Cordero Patterson. Yep, your buddy from UT, right? And talented fast player, big player, fearless. Does a lot of things for him. And again, if he gets going, you know, he's a big fast guy that doesn't doesn't mind hitting it downhill on these kickoff returns. Let's get it cranked up and get to six and two this weekend, Mike. Yeah, I think it's about time, Michael. Yes, sir. Reminds you of the game with Chicago kicks off at 1202 Central Time on Sunday. We're on the air with Titans Countdown at 11. And we look forward to having you join us on Titans Radio 104-5 the zone here in Nashville. For head coach Mike Vrable, I'm Mike Keith from the Bet MGM Studios. The Mike Vrable show presented by Coca-Cola. Thanks for joining us.