 So the Tennessee Titans will have a different look today. Well, even though they look different, they may have some different people in uniform. They have to play together as one. It's going to be extremely, extremely important to start fast in this football game. Taddeo fires deep downfield going for Brown. He caught it at the 10. Blitz coming. Got it. Complete Camelor. He lost the ball. And the Titans have recovered it. Let me go. Let me go. I got you a pick. You got me a phone recovery. We welcome you into the bet. MGM studio. It's the Mike Frapple show presented by Coca Cola. My name is Mike Keith. Short week, about 48 hours from now, the Titans will be teeing it up against the Indianapolis Colts at Nissan Stadium. So sitting in for the head coach on the short week is Titans General Manager John Robinson. And you picked a good time to hop in coming off a win. 24 to 17 over the Chicago Bears. First of all, thanks for doing this. And then jump right into what you liked from the victory over the Bears. Yeah, Mike, that was a fun game to be a part of to see, you know, the roster turnover that we had throughout the course of the week and the guys come together and go out and execute the keys really in all three phases of the game. Find scores, find points, find ways to create, you know, advantageous field position for us and come away with the win was really gratifying. I want to jump right into what we call Vrable's six pack, six key plays from the ball game. And one came early on the Bears first possession. They advance into Titans territory, decide to go for it on fourth down and the Titans set a tone. Yeah, big play for us right here. You know, a chance to get a stop. Tierra Tartt with an outstanding job of slamming in there, creating disruption. Murchison there holding up two guys, Jack Crawford crashing in, Jayon Brown coming in and then just a pile of the two tone blue coming in there to force that fourth down and get the ball back for the offense. There you see it one more time. David Montgomery, no, sir. He does not make the first down. Titans would go on to take a three to nothing lead in the first quarter. And then in the second quarter, great drive for Tennessee. 91 yards capped off by this play. Yeah, just an outstanding pitch and catch from Ryan to AJ. AJ is actually lined up in a slot on this play. He does a great job with his release to create some separation away from the corner there. Buster screen offensive line does a good job holding the pocket. AJ holding his hands late and then really dragging the defender into the end zone, stretching the ball out for the touchdown. That was really good coverage. Couldn't do it much better and yet Tana Hill and Brown combined for the 40 yard score. Huge play for us, Mike, huge play. And then the Titans defense coming through. Everybody's been saying got to get more pressure on the quarterback the Titans do this time with Jayon Brown. Yeah, they run a play action pass here and we're slanting and we're angling into the gap. Jayon's actually got man coverage responsibilities on this play. He's covering the tight end but we get some pressure with Jack Crawford coming in there. We get some pressure with Wyatt Ray. As you see there, 57 coming on the outside and Jayon recognizes that and he triggers on the play jumps through the gap and gets him on the ground. Alright, so that's one sack. Let's see another one. This from the team leader Harold Landry the third bringing the heat. Yeah, another big play here for the defense. You know, Harold does its man coverage. We're Blitz and Kenny Vecardo off the edge who takes the back the back sliding over there. He never sees Landry Landry comes across the face of Jimmy Graham gets into the pocket and is able to put foals on the ground. So Nick foals being sacked here three sacks on the day for the Titans. Finally, the Chicago Bears score with about 12 and a half minutes to go in the game to make it 17 to three. The Titans salted away with an outstanding drive and the play that sets up the touchdown Tannehill to John O'smith. Yeah, big play here for us, Mike. You know, we we kind of we tried to match protect. They blitzed. They brought a lot of extra rushers off the side where we released John who on in route a great job by the line trying to stay big over there and hold off those rushers. A great job by Tannehill sliding in the pocket giving himself just enough time to let John who clear you see it right there. John who great concentration, big catch over the middle of the field, secures the ball, gets great run after the catch. Huge play for us. That was his first catch of the game on the next play. He would catch a two yard touchdown. So on the drive. John O'smith two receptions 32 yards and a score that makes it 24 to three with the score 24 to 10. The Titans are looking to totally put it away and the defense makes another big play. Yeah, late in the fourth quarter here. I think they've got one time out. You know, we're trying to salt the game away. As you said, it's a little quick underneath pass on an early down. You see a ton of blue jerseys rallying but Jayon Brown really executing a technique there that we call hammer. When he's when you've got the ball carrier wrapped up taking that off hand punching at the ball he was able to get it out. Jeffrey Simmons turning running and falling on the football to get the ball back for the offense. It feels like if there is a loose ball and Jeffrey Simmons is anywhere in the area code he's going to recover it. I mean, he's he's around the football a lot. Mike, you know, he's a hustle. He's a chase player as we saw in another play. He's just such an impactful player. I'm really proud of of what he's developed into here in his second season. Those of you watching the Mike Vrable show presented by Coca Cola saying, wait a minute, there was one more big play. You didn't show it. Well, that's because it's the Bridgestone clutch performance play of the game. And John Robinson will talk about it next as we continue in the bet MGM studio. The Mike Vrable show presented by Coca Cola continues from the bet MGM studio. Sitting in for the head coach on the short week is General Manager John Robinson and time now for the Bridgestone clutch performance play of the game. Third quarter scores 10 to nothing. Third and 13 bears on the move and the Titans end it with a takeaway and a scoop and score. Yeah, just a huge play here for us. For us, Mike, you know, it all starts up front. It's a screen play to the running back. You know, since the dawn of time, D. Lyman have always been told if they just let you go, it's usually a screen turn and run sideways. That that kicked in for Jeffrey outstanding effort for him to run and chase hammer that football out of their great effort by Desmond to pick it up scoop and score and just a real game changing play for us in the game against the Bears. Alright, let's talk about Desmond King. You acquired him eight days ago from the Chargers. He's not able to come into the facility until Saturday and yet he plays a ton in the wind two days ago over Chicago. Did he impress you? Yeah, I mean, it's just I mean, it's a testament to his love for football, his willingness and desire to be a part of this football team to to put the time in virtually to study the opponent to meet with coaches via zoom. You know, he's worked out with some of our players during summer workout sessions. When the guys are on break, they get together and work on their craft, whether it's Malcolm. He played with Hooker in college, a Dory. So there was a familiarity with those players there and then come to here and go through the walkthrough on Saturday and go up and line out and play and make the plays that he made for us. Hats off to him and the coaching staff for all the effort that they put in. Desmond King, a great debut with the Tennessee Titans. John Robinson making his debut on the Mike Vrables show this year. Last year, he was outstanding in the Delta dental guess the Titan segment when he filled in for the head coach. It's time now for that. Let's show John Robinson the picture. Can you guess this Titan? Well, you're going to need the break. I think he does Mike Vrables show presented by Coca Cola coming to you from the Bet MGM studio. Now we're going to take a look at the Delta dental. Can you guess the Titan? John Robinson, do you have any idea which current Titans player this picture represents? Mike Keith, I only need one guest. That would be Ryan Allen, our punter. Are you serious? You're going with one of the new guys like that? He's got the same facial features. Mike, he hadn't changed. He's still got that, you know, handsomely baby face. Well, you were good at it last year. Let's see if he's good at it right now. John Robinson, did he get the Delta dental guess the Titan? He sure did. He got it. It is Ryan Allen, the punter who punted eight times on Sunday for a 50 plus yard average. Pretty impressive debut for the former Patriot and Falcon. Yeah, much like Desmond. He showed up for the tryout on Saturday morning, put a foot on the ball a couple of times and I said, you're going to be the punter tomorrow. Get your mind right. Get with Steve. They obviously have a history with each other from their time in New England and went out and did a good job for us. Another impressive Titan on Sunday was AJ Brown. Four catches for 101 yards and the score that we saw earlier. AJ just keeps getting better, John. Yeah, he does. I mean, he's an outstanding pro. He's a young player in this league, but he prepares, he's motivated. He's got great chemistry with Ryan. He's a team player. He's strong with the ball in his hands. He gives outstanding effort as a blocker. Just a lot of positive things that AJ's doing for our football team couldn't be more proud of him. Thrilled that he is the wrackly roofing tough Titan this week, AJ Brown with our Amy Wells. Tannehill takes the snap. Looks, fires deep downfield going for Brown. He caught it at the 10, at the five. He stretched the ball. Touchdown, Titan! AJ, I want to start by talking to you about the day you had against the Chicago Bears. You had four receptions for more than 100 yards. Is that the epitome of really taking advantage of your touches and making every moment count? I'm almost set, to be honest. I left a lot of plays out there. I try to catch every ball that's thrown to me. I know that's not realistic sometimes, but that's just my mindset. The Titans were able to get back in the wing column and snap a rough streak. How helpful is that as a team to really move forward now and get out of a rut? They give us confidence. They give us confidence. You know, we still have work to do, but definitely getting that win moving forward, it builds momentum too. So I'm going to try to keep this thing going. For the offense, how much do you like seeing the defense have a big day like the one they had against the Chicago Bears? Yeah, they definitely picked us up. They played really well as an offense. We got to try to play complementary football and help those guys out. We're about halfway through the season and you genuinely look like you're having a lot of fun out on the football field. You look very comfortable and confident. What do you attribute that confidence to? There's a lot of things I've been here all year too. I'm really comfortable with the offense, the players, the coaches, and just trying to just be stress-free. Nothing to do with football. I'm blessed to be, blessed to play football, blessed to be out here. I try to count my blessings after every test. Now the first half of the season was not ideal for the Tennessee Titans. As a team, you guys encountered a ton of adversity. How is that going to help you in the second half of the season as you're making a push for the playoffs? Just going to prepare us for the second half. It's going to be some curve ball still. Throwing it at us again, no matter what it is. We've got to find a way, find a way to overcome those things as a team. So it's not going to be easy. Nobody said it would be easy, but we do what needs to be done. Everything will take care of itself. Now the Indianapolis Colts are coming into town on Thursday. How do you turn around and prepare for a game that has so many implications on a short week? It's a really, really good football team coming in, division team. You know, this is a big game for us, but just handling everything mentally, getting our playbook, watching as much as we can, staying in the building later as much as we can. We know our body is going to be sore, but we got to tackle it. We got to tackle this thing mentally and try to prepare as quickly as we can. Wait, so you think it's more important to prepare mentally than it is to prepare physically and rest your body? Most definitely. That was a hard-fought game right there. A lot of guys are beat up, bruised up mentally. That's what it's going to come down to. That's the only thing. That's what it is in the league anyway. This game is really mental. It's probably like 80% mental, 20% physical. AJ, thank you so much for being our Rackley Roofing Tough Titan. And you know, there's no one more tough than our nation's military. So when we come back, we're going to take a look at the relationship between the Tennessee Titans and the men and women serving our country up at Fort Campbell. Stick around. The Titans went over Chicago, featured Tennessee's Salute to Service Weekend. And of course, when you think about Salute to Service, you think about the Titans relationship with the men and women of the 101st Airborne in Fort Campbell, Kentucky. John, that relationship has spanned 20-plus years. And I know how much it means to the people in uniform in Fort Campbell and their families, but I also know what it means to you and the rest of the Titans organization. Yeah, absolutely. What those folks do for our country and the proximity that we're blessed to have to get to know them, whether it was General Papas when he was in command there, him and his wife, Beth, Scott Brower, Jeff Thompson, who's there now. I've got relationships with all of those. They're great people who love the Titans, who support our football team, but who love our country and defending it. And we share that same love and support that they have for our country. And we try to support them and they support us. It's just a really great relationship. It's a great friendship we have with everybody up there. The Tennessee Titans try to be the best team in the NFL, but one thing's for sure, the men and women of the 101st Airborne are the best team in the country at what they do. When the going gets tough, that is the team that gets called on to go in and get it done. Here's what Air Assault is all about from the 101st. The 101st is arguably the most well-known unit in military history. This patch especially, one of the most famous unit insignias in military history. Of course, because of our World War II history and Band of Brothers, both the book and the miniseries, but even in Vietnam and War on Terror and Desert Storm, we have a lot of exploits. In 1974, we became an Air Assault Division. That's when we changed from Air Mobile to 101st Airborne Division, Air Assault. So the 101st is the only Air Assault Division in the U.S. Army and actually in the whole wide world. So every soldier that comes to Fort Campbell and even soldiers that are off post will come to the Saab Laski Air Assault School to get Air Assault training. Air Assault School is known as the 10 toughest days in the Army. It may not be physically the toughest 10 days, but it is arguably probably one of the mentally hard courses that the school has to offer. So to graduate Air Assault School, you have to complete all three phases. We start out with an obstacle course, two-mile run. There's a gear layout that all soldiers will have to accomplish to move on into the next three phases. The very ending event is a 12-mile foot march that soldiers have to complete with three hours or less, wearing about 45 pounds worth of gear. I think there is a sense of pride among soldiers, especially when you go back to your unit and you have those fresh wings pinned on your chest. You're looked at from your other soldiers a lot differently. There's more responsibility. They know that you have gone through the same course that they have endured all the same endeavors that they have. So there's a bond that you have between anybody who is Air Assault-qualified, even not necessarily just in the division, but even Army-wide. There's that sense of pride knowing that, you know, brother-in-arms, sister-in-arms, that we're both Air Assault-qualified. Air Assault! Thank you to the men and women of the 101st Airborne in Fort Campbell for all that they do, and especially to their families. When we come back, John Robinson lays them out. The Nissan Keys to Success Thursday night against the Colts. Stay with us. The final segment of the Mike Grapple Show presented by Coca-Cola from the Bed MGM Studio. Mike Keith, John Robinson sitting in for the head coach on a short week. Time for the Nissan Keys to Success. I think we've got to start with building on third down defense, right, John? Yeah, I think that's going to be important for us, Mike, to build off that success we had in the Chicago game, getting off the field on third down, pressuring the passer, getting the ball back to the offense. We've got to continue that trend and hopefully be even better this week. Key number two is what the Titans did in the first half two days ago against Chicago. Controlling the clock by controlling the ball on the ground, you took control of that game on Sunday. Wanted to do the same thing Thursday night. Yeah, getting off to a fast start, getting the ground game going. You know, as we all know, once you get the ground game established, it sets up the pass. It gets a rhythm going for the offense and it allows you to keep the football, allows you to control the clock and keep the ball out of the other team's hands. Final key, John, got to be something in regards to special teams, right? That's it. You know, they've got a pretty good return back there in Heinz and we were able to average over 16 yards on the returns against the Bears. We've got to continue that trend. We've got to limit the yards that they make in their return game so that we put ourselves, our offense in a more advantageous position. Exciting opportunity for the Titans on Thursday night, John. Looking forward to seeing our fans out there. John, thank you so much for sitting in for the head coach tonight. Always happy to do it. Mike, great to see you. All right, for John Robinson, I'm Mike Keith reminding you that the Tennessee Titans play the Indianapolis Colts Thursday night. We're on the air at six o'clock on Titans Radio 104-5 the zone with Titans countdown. It's a big win in the AFC South. Thanks for watching. We'll see you next time.