 on this edition of Titans, all access. Are you ready? Titans fans. The wait is over. More than 230 days have passed since your team took the field at Nissan Stadium and the boys in two tone blue are ready. Titans general manager John Robinson is ready to talk ball. State McGinnis is ready to break down the X's and O's as the giants come to town with a new head coach and new offensive coordinator. Plus the mayor of Murfreesboro, Kevin Byrd is ready for a season like no other. All that and so much more as the 20th season of Titans all access is ready to kick off right now. We welcome you to the bet MGM studio and year 20 maybe better put season 20 of Titans all access with Amy Wells. I'm Mike Keith glad that you joined us as we preview the season opener Titans and the giants at Nissan Stadium this Sunday kickoff set for 325 central time. Are you ready? Mike can you believe we've been doing this for 20 years? You haven't I have. Well yeah I mean obviously but yeah 20 years that's still a really long time. It's a really long time. Do you have giants and Titans memories? Yeah even though they don't play a lot I've actually got a bunch I think about 2002 Steve McNair the fabulous comeback in the final minute eight points in the final minute to tie the game and then the Titans win at the Meadowlands in overtime a thriller 2006 Nissan Stadium Titans down 21 nothing in the fourth quarter they come storming back to surprise the Giants 24 to 21 2010 back up in New Jersey Chris Johnson goes nuts and the Titans won a big game over the Giants then 2018 the Titans first shut out in 18 years as they beat the Giants 17 to nothing and Derek Hendry does Derek Henry things yeah just a few memories that was a yes or no question oh that was a lot oh sorry it's going to be a long year well if you ask me questions about the past yes I guess that's sure I knew what I was doing but let's talk about the future and the future is now Titans Giants coming up this Sunday but to get you ready to make sure you're completely up to speed we have taken the entire preseason and crammed it into 90 seconds we call it the preseason in 90 clever clever Derek Henry participated in individual drills and then went to conditioning period the king ramped up his work over the next four weeks Ryan Tannehill was sharp from the start of training camp and never slowed down even though he didn't appear in a preseason game Traylon Burks made plays at wide receiver Roger McCreary made plays in the secondary Jeffrey Simmons looked like an even better version of big Jeff the first preseason game in Baltimore featured a start from Malik Willis and a lot to learn for the rookie quarterback Tampa Bay came to town for two joint practices the Titans beat the Bucks in preseason game two as Willis improved in his second start Tennessee traded for national native Hugo Amati to improve depth at the nickel Arizona came to town for one joint practice and then the preseason finale first down in 10 moving right to left on your radio dial play fake Willis gonna run it 50 45 40 35 30 25 20 to the outside to the 50 to the 10 to the five that's Malik Willis for 50 the Titans said goodbye to Brett Kern as rookie Ryan Stonehouse becomes the Tennessee punter Tennessee obtained offensive lineman Dennis daily from Carolina to provide depth and versatility the rest of the cuts were made on August 30th then the practice squad was put together over the next couple of days the team got Labor Day weekend to regroup and then last Monday started practice with the opener against the Giants I like how you did that in 90 seconds well you know speedy speedy one of the challenges the Titans have this weekend as they take on the Giants is they're going against a new head coach Brian Daybaugh new defensive coordinator also in Wink Martindale but the Titans actually know both because Daybaugh has been the offensive coordinator in Buffalo and Martindale has been in Baltimore forever so the Titans have familiarity with the two so in this week's beneath the surface presented by Microsoft Dave McGuinness shows us what to expect from each coach based on what they've done with their former teams against the Tennessee Titans check this out hey guys coach Mack here with this week's beneath the surface powered by Microsoft surface beginning now we are going to look at some of the offensive and defensive schemes we are going to see from the New York Giants in this opening game here at Nissan Stadium we're going to look at the offense Brian Daybaugh head coach so we are going to look at the Giants this year what they did in some preseason and then we're also going to look at what he did in Buffalo to see some of the schemes that the Titans defense is going to have to be ready for and what we're looking at here we're looking at a three by two set they've taken Saquon Barkley to not only empty him out of the back field on a man's zone indicator they want to use him in passing situations in this play you can see that he's split out the defense now has walked out to get into his own coverage Daniel Jones chooses to go downfield on a takeoff route but the thing I want to emphasize here is Saquon Barkley from what Brian Daybaugh is going to do we're going to see a lot of different formations the Titans defense must be ready to adjust to personnel groups and then also Saquon Barkley in a lot of different spots next thing we're looking at here this is Buffalo watch what the Titans do on defense they've got various guys moving around in an amoeba type look which means they're lining up in different spots as you see the Titans moving around they are going to look like they're bringing four or five people and then all of a sudden they're going to back out bring three people dropped into a cover eight with a spider dropper in the middle confuses the quarterback throws behind the receiver results in a turnover Titans defense is going to have to do a good job of disguising coverage presnap and then post snap working into some sort of defense that the quarterback is not going to be able to expect this year Daniel Jones is going to have to decipher all of this at the line of scrimmage in Nissan State now let's look at the defense the defense we're looking at is Baltimore's defense Don Wink Martindale long time defensive coordinator in this league is very well known for his multiple blitzes you can see this is an overload look with an overload to the Titans right side you've got some wide alignments up front here you can see what the Titans have done they've done a very nice job look at the nice cylinder protection that they have given and then Ryan Tannehill has got to get the ball out of his hands very quickly this is a nice use of the tight end here the tight ends this year will probably be a big part of any attacks that the Titans are going to do on offense this year especially against this defense that we're going to see at Nissan State all right this next play again you can see the defense moving around this is a this is a closed formation here by the offense what they're going to try to do they're going to initially evolve into a stack release look over here on the right side to be able to counteract the man-to-man defenses now they're trying to decide what the coverage is nice little stack release clear shot clear vision of the quarterback these are just some of instances that you will see this week against Brian Dables offense and weak martin dales defense fabulous job coach mack you've got us ready for sunday we've got a lot more to get you ready for the season opener kevin byrd is our Nissan insider he's going to talk titans giants but up next it's the general manager john robinson talking ball presented by duncan next on titans all access we welcome you back to titans all access it's time for talking ball presented by duncan and here he is the general manager john robinson thank you so much for joining us again this year always great mic all right so we've moved to a different location here at ascension st tomas sports park and it just gives us a chance to point out this is all new the older building which has been here for over 20 years has been completely redone things modern and really workable here at ascension st tomas sports park john what's your favorite part of the new concept to the buildings yeah first off thanks to miss amy and and her family for providing us with with these resources for our football team and the organization to be able to work and flow in a manner that that's most productive you know i think for me it's probably the personnel department we were upstairs for so many years in the old now refurbished building now we're downstairs right around the corner the draft rooms right around from the coaches just from an accessibility standpoint flow of information being able to talk with coach ravell and his staff throughout the course of the day that makes it really really functional yeah really a special place for everybody to work now at ascension st tomas sports park so we're calling this talk in ball segment new in 2022 let's talk about some of the new titans including wide receiver robert woods you made the trade for him in march get him from the rams how do you like what you're seeing from number two so far he's doing a great job you know he's came in and and and got with the guys and and got up to speed with our all fans he was coaching guys up in the spring you know just about some of the routes and stuff that that he's ran over his career you should be able to get that one step transition that you're gonna get him panicking just a really really good addition to our football team you drafted trailing bergs and kyle phillips to play wide receiver how do you hope these two rookies can fit in in 2022 well i think both of those guys have have came in and at various stages uh their time been here have been productive trailing has been a little bit more recently has you know his upward tick but both have made plays in practice both have made plays in the pre-season games we're going to lean on both heavily this fall bergs in the end zone touchdown two new tight ends you drafted chigacoco from maryland you signed austin hooper the two-time pro bowler from cleveland how have these two players come in and change the tight end core well i think you know last year jeff swain did a great job for us it was good to have him back but you know with both chig and hoop both of those guys got up to speed really quickly with the offense hoop's been a trusted target for for ryan dating back to the ota portion you know chig as a rookie has came in and he's picked up our offense well you can see his speed he made a couple great catches at practice this week we're going to lean on that position because it's such an advantage to you know to a football team when they can have tight ends and and kind of create mismatches when possible two new starting offensive lineman nicolas petit freer at the right tackle spot he comes from ohio state you drafted him in the third round and then erin brewer wins the left guard job what has brewer done so well in his three years to establish himself now as a starter yeah i mean brews worked hard every single year he's he's played for us he's always kind of been six or seventh guy he started games for us in a pinch when we had somebody that couldn't go he's played two positions you know he's kind of took the reins this year at that position at the left guard spot and he's improved he's really worked hard with the fundamentals and the details of the offensive line position we know we're looking for him to have a good year a couple of newcomers in the secondary roger mccrary cornerback from alburn nashville native ugo amadi who you obtained from philadelphia those guys add to a really talented group of young players in the secondary what's your hope for the titans defensive backs this year yeah i mean that group really has come together we've got you know christian folton played a lot for us last year and rogers come in as a rookie and really he's done great in match coverage he's been you know on point with the calls and zone coverage where he's supposed to fit the landmarks you know ugo got in here late but he's kind of played that role before you know he kind of fit right in and went along with it you know we're going to need both of those guys to gel with those guys play the call go out don't let your guy catch the ball and tackle a guy who's got it john thanks for the time always enjoy my talking ball with john robinson presented by duncan let's stay with the secondary theme when we come back kevin byers is our nissan insider he's going to talk about the season opener with the giants next on titan's all access he's an all-pro and he's an old hand now with the tennessee titans which is hard to believe number 31 kevin byer welcome to titan's all access and thank you for being our nissan insider on the first show of the year thanks for having me mike before we talk about the giants can we talk about mtsu retiring your number and them telling you last month about that has that all sunk in yet a little bit uh i think it'll really sink in when i go back to obviously floyd stadium on uh september 30 against utsa stand out there on the field with my family and kind of go through all those moments it'll really sink in but uh still to this day it's just kind of unbelievable a little bit but to get your jersey retired it's something that's special obviously something that's going to live on long after i'm gone you've only been with the titans since 2016 but it feels like a lifetime ago doesn't it i had guys in the locker room when i was a rookie that was year six year seven i was like man it's gonna fly by it's gonna fly by and you know as a rookie you're not really paying attention like yeah yeah this rookie year is pretty long right now but uh going into year seven man it feel like it's just flew by obviously seeing the change over in the locker room how did you feel like preseason and training camp went for kevin bierd i think every year it's a progression for me uh with this year being in a legit leadership role in my room being the oldest guy in the room not only working on myself in my game but also working with the young guys these young guys want to be great they have a lot of big things they want to accomplish in the standard is very high so not only am i just you know focusing on myself but focusing on the group the whole team as a whole to make sure that we're all you know clicking on all cylinders you know every time we're on the field does this have a chance to be a great defense i absolutely think so um just the guys that we have in our locker room starting from the front seven all the way to the back end we understand the magnitude of the talent that we have on our team and on our defense we all have super ball aspirations so we have to take everything it's day by day and just try to win the silver ball who's the guy in the secondary that's going to jump out at us this year and maybe i don't want to say surprise but take a step i definitely think of monty hooker is going to take a big step this year he obviously was a full-time starter had a really great year uh but i'm expecting big things for him and christian fullton as well christian fullton took a step last year but i think for him i've talked to him multiple times his offseason saying i think you have to be the expected fuss on defense he's the oldest guy in the cornerback room only in year three so he has to make sure that you're setting the tempo every single day and leading those guys the right way does it feel good that they're sort of building the secondary around you yeah it feels weird it feels weird uh but i just think it's just you know one of those things where you know i've made plays in in this game but the way they're building it we have some guys that can really play some man coverage we have guys can play zone but i think for me it helps me be able to be a freelancer out there i can play free i can focus on you know get my eyes on the quarterback trying to make those interceptions like i always do so uh hopefully they continue to keep building after me honestly the giant's the opponent new head coach new coordinators the whole thing how hard is it to get ready for a team like the giants in an opener when you really don't know exactly what they're gonna do it's always tough because you really don't know what the other team's gonna do uh but that's what i've been doing watching a lot of stuff that josh island did and was successful against us on watching those things making sure we're staying on top of those things but i've been watching a lot of just personnel i mean they have a lot of guys that can go out there and make plays with the ball and obviously you know starting with 26 say quan barkley is the guy who we have to stop yeah say quan barkley he's a big back and an excellent runner but he's really a good pass catcher yeah i mean a guy like him you have to treat him like a receiver you know a lot of times when you have teams but they put these backs out there and empty formations and you know corners just out here really not cover them that much but a guy like him you have to cover like a receiver he has great hands what do you tell the young guys who haven't done this before you know i just tell those guys man study as much as you can but when you get out to game day play loose relax don't be too tensed obviously you know for some of these guys as rookie is going to be a first time in nfl stadium playing it's going to be loud it's going to be intense but you know i expect the guy like roger to come out there be calm and relaxed he's playing it all about me he's played it all but he's been in these live stadiums so i'm going to spend the guard there just play cool don't get too high don't get too low just go out there and try to have fun kevin byrd thank you so much for being with us on titan's all access that's our Nissan insider kevin byrd we're back with more of the program right after this welcome back to titan's all access it's been a tough week around ascension saint thomas sports park because in the last few days the tennessee titans have cut down to 53 players and those decisions are always difficult even though a lot of different elements always factor in it's hard and that leads us to our hues and colman decision of the week which is the decision to part ways with long-time ponder brett kerran move on to rookie ryan stonehouse mike why was that a good decision i'll focus on one part that really sticks out now and that's just stonehouse's talent this guy has a leg like frankly few players that i have ever seen punt the football in the national football league this guy is an enormous talent he has a fabulous upside we've seen five plus second hang times consistently along with remarkable distance i think in the end there were a lot of things that went into it but it's stonehouse's potential that is why the titans chose to make the move and that is our hues and colman decision of the week and we've got more to come on titan's all access don't we we have a lot more to come getting you ready for sunday's game at nissan stadium it's your game ticket we got it next time to get you ready for sunday's season opener titans and giants at nissan stadium new segment on titan's all access this is your game ticket right here you'll get all the information you need so as we roll it we remind you that kickoff is set for 325 you can watch this weekend's game on fox television certainly we hope you'll listen to it on titan's radio now each home game is going to have a theme this season something for fans to really rally around now speaking of rally our friends at kroger are giving away rally towels at the gate and because it's the start of the new season there are two themes for this week's game theme number one it's kickoff baby that's right the 2022 nfl season is here and that's definitely something we all need to celebrate and theme number two now this one's really special especially because the game is on september 11th and the titans are hosting the new york giants there will be a 9 11 tribute featuring members of nypd fdny metro national police department and national fire department as the 12th titan first responders and frontline workers will also be in attendance and of course you can't talk about a game in music city without talking about the music the titans have partnered with memphis's own three six mafia for this year's intro video the group will perform at halftime and you definitely don't want to miss that and finally if you were at nissan stadium for the game against the jaguars last year you may remember a really remarkable rendition of the national anthem sung by dacori johnson that's the fourth grader from kentucky he is back to perform the star spangled banner once again and you just can't miss that no you cannot miss it that is your game ticket for sunday will remind you again about the special kickoff time i think i've done it five times in the three 25 three 25 central time it is a late start at nissan stadium amy wells ret brian dave mcginnis and me on titans radio our coverage begins with titans countdown at two central we hope you'll join us for amy wells i'm mike keith thanks for being with us for titans all access and we'll see you next time