Titans defense has 'got to be better' says Saleh
Chris Simms and Connor Rogers evaluate the Titans' preseason defensive mistakes against Seattle and whether head coach Robert Saleh was right in saying the defense "needs to be better" overall.
Video Transcript
How would you assess the work that the first team defense got in?
The, the two plays are hateful.
You know, one p- the, the pass play, I'm glad it happened because that is a fundamental issue in the defense, that if you don't get those reps, you just don't, you, you don't recognize it fast enough.
And for it to happen, half, half g- glass half full, I'm glad it happened.
Half empty, it's happened.
Stuff like that happens when you go from a match team to a vision-based team, like we are.
And, but there's, there's still elements of match in our scheme.
And, just bringing that awareness to certain, certain things that pop up.
But, like I said, I'm glad it happened 'cause it- it's an easy fix, and for the player to feel that, it's like one of those, "I get it now."
That was Robert Saleh after one of the uglier showings of the entire weekend.
Yeah.
Yeah.
It, uh- Titans play their starters.
Yep.
Seattle played their second unit.
Yep.
Seattle, it looked like the opposite.
They, they outplayed the Tennessee starters.
With explosive plays.
Yeah, totally.
Now, it's, you know, listen, Tennessee's getting used to things.
We know that.
Sure.
They're making a transition.
They are.
And on the defensive side of the ball, I mean, Robert Saleh's explaining it the right way.
I mean, the wide open touchdown pass was a bust in coverage.
Yeah.
You know, and it is.
There's, you know, it's a defense that doesn't have a lot, but it's got a lot of rules within that little stuff that they do, and they just gotta figure 'em out.
The corner's like this, he's got a single tight end and a receiver, right?
And then a guy goes in the flat, and he sees the guy go in the flat, and he's like, "Wait, I'm the outside guy, so maybe I should be out there for the most outside guy," when it's really, no, the safety's coming down.
He needs to go, and you need to drop back into your third.
He was kinda late, didn't know what to do, and it led to an uncovered guy.
Run fits, okay.
We know that that can happen at times.
It's unfortunate it happens at a preseason game, but they break a big run.
And again, those are other things that they're gonna learn.
Like, "Hey, you gotta fit it like this, you got a wrong shoulder," whatever.
There's a lot of rules within stuff like that.
So the defense, yeah, you'd like to see them dominate a little bit more, but l- this is the Super Bowl champs, it's one of the better backups in football in Drew Lock.
Sure.
And they messed up two plays.
And I don't even give a damn who you're, second or third string, you mess up plays like that, they're gonna look good and make some plays on you.
So I think that's an easy sell on the defensive side of the ball.
This is the more concerning side.
I, I watch the offense- Yep and I want all your Cam Ward thoughts.
I'm not gonna say a single thing about Cam Ward.
Yeah.
But I have to also say, just for the confidence factor, you gotta get Carnell Tate going at some point.
Uh-huh, uh-huh.
And all of the things that we were a little worried about him being a, a pick as early as top five- Yeah are, it's early.
It's really early.
Yeah.
But there's, like, little hints there of, like, yeah, it's hard being the number one in the NFL for an offense that's not humming right now.
No, they're not humming at all.
They're probably even a little bit more basic than they wanna be.
This is where Cam Ward not being able to practice in OTAs and doing any of that is probably, they're probably a little farther behind than they'd like to be.
They're keeping it fairly simple on that side of the ball.
Ward makes some nice throws where you can still see the talent, but watching that film back a little bit is, he made a few mistakes on reads.
B- Ward, I, I feel like, lost sight of the safeties a few times when I, when I watched him, where it's like, "Hey, it's two safeties.
I'm gonna play over here."
And he got the ball, and when you get the ball in the NFL, set hut, and you get it, as soon as you get it, you gotta get one more peek at the safeties- Yeah 'cause you know they change.
Yeah.
They go different places.
Hopefully freeze them at some point too.
So he kinda went like, "When I'm saying set hut, they were here," and, "Oh, they're just, they're gonna stay there."
And it all changed as he was starting to look to one side of the ball, and you go, "No, no, you don't wanna be here.
You wanna be on the other side."
And I think he missed some of that there, and it was not his best performance.
But yeah, it's two weeks in a row where you go, we've seen the starting offense, for the most part with the Tennessee Titans, and nothing has really looked sharp or efficient yet, and I think that's what, you know, would be concerning if you're a Titans fan.
Are they a team that they need to use week three?
'Cause a lot of teams don't wanna use week three.
I, I would definitely use it a little bit for our offense.
Now, defense, he can go wherever he wants there, but offensively, I think you said it right.
You wanna create a little false momentum or- Yeah just feeling good about yourself, and they got nothing to feel good about right now.
So yes, I, I, if I was the Tennessee Titans in Saleh, I'd play Cam Ward another series or two in, in preseason game number three, and game plan and help it out a little bit, right?
To- Like a fully scripted series.
Fully scripted- Yeah let's game plan a few plays so we look better maybe than we really are, but we get some confidence going on that side of the ball.
Yeah, week three's gonna be fascinating- Yeah because obviously the teams that have seen enough, they're gonna happily punt and play maybe even down their third string unit guys and beyond.
Mm-hmm.
But it feels like there's a handful of teams where it's like- They might still let them get out with some work we, we, we need the feel-good touchdown.
Yeah.
The feel-good field goal.
Yeah.
Something.
Well, did you see the, the, the video going around on Instagram last week?
It was like, it was the third quarter of, like, preseason game number three or four in like 2011 or '12, and Brady was still out there.
Yeah.
Right?
So- Three, from what I remember- Yeah growing up and watching football- Yeah preseason week three was always, you got a full half of your starters.
Yes, yes.
I mean, you were in the league.
Yes.
Like, that, and that felt like, I would imagine you guys prepared in a way that you were playing the game.
Pretty much.
Right.
It was like a real game.
You treat it like a real game.
Real game.
And then if everything went fine- Yeah halftime was over, okay.
Yeah.
Get our guys out of there.
Eat a hot dog and- Go like that hang out.
Yeah, that's what they do in the locker room.
Yeah, yeah.
Yeah, but that's how it felt.
Yeah.
It, it, it definitely was.
Even before me, it was all, it was preseason game four was the big rehearsal.
My dad would play all of preseason game four.
Then it became preseason game three, let's do that.
Let's not endanger him in week four.
But now with only three preseason games and the rules like we talked about, I would not be shocked that we see a few teams play their starter for a drive just to continue to keep him sharp for that first regular season game.
I wonder if the calendar affects that at all this year too because you have the- Yeah the late start.
Longer I, I would think, I'd be a little worried about that.
Like, wait, we're gonna play the preseason game and then we're not gonna play football for quite some time here.
Like, let's, let's get our last little bit of it here before w- you know, things get real.
I mean, that would be, if you didn't get what you wanted out of your team this weekend, and then you don't play them, that's three weeks of a bad taste in your mouth till you- Yeah play a real game most likely.
Yeah, yeah.
No, that, that- It's pretty wild that's where I would wanna manipulate the situation a little bit.
Even if Cam Ward, whoever they're playing in preseason game number three, even if they gotta play backups or third stringers, go out there, let them get the reps, make them all feel good so you can get into that first week with a positive vibe.
