NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Denico Autry sounded pissed at the Colts. Kendall Lamm was effervescent. Morgan Cox is already thinking about his precision with Brett Kern.
The Titans introduced three of their new additions Thursday just as Bud Dupree was arriving in Nashville.
We may speak to Dupree, Janoris Jenkins and Jayon Brown Friday.
The highlights from what I took in during the Zoom press chats:
Autry leaves Indianapolis ready to face the Colts twice a year after it sounds like they didn’t make much of an effort to retain him despite having a lot of cap space.
“That makes it real personal,” he said. “They know what they had. It is what it is.”
He said he can play with his hand in the dirt or standing up and he’s confident he can play the run real well.
“Getting to the quarterback, that’s something that I really want to work on,” said Autry, who had 20 sacks in three seasons with the Colts. “I’ve gotten there. But I want to be able to get there went I want to, so that’s something that I am really working on.”
He played for Terrell Williams with the Raiders before he joined the Colts. He classified Williams as a “good guy” and said he’s “excited to be back around him.”
Lamm has been blocking for a very good running back in Nick Chubb in Cleveland and said he’s thrilled to be moving on to block for a potential all-time great in Derrick Henry. He remembered warming up when he played for the Texans, standing next to linebacker Benardrick McKinney and watching Henry, who was the same size.
He loves establishing drives and demoralizing defenses but said he’s not all run-blocker. Training camp work against J.J. Watt, Jadeveon Clowney, Myles Garrett and Oliver Vernon taught him plenty about pass protection too, as did a playoff game against T.J. Watt.
“I always looked at pass rushing and pass blocking as we’re doing a dance,” he said. “I am literally trying to be as smooth as possible and dictate to you what I want you to do, and that’s what they try to do to us as well. It’s something I take a lot of pride in. We are bigger men on that field but I love showing people that we are as athletic and we love showing people we can go against some of the best athletes on the team.”
He’s such an Appalachian State loyalist that he pulled up a school sweatshirt to show off a school T-shirt.
Morgan Cox talked to Craig Aukerman on his drive early in the day from his hometown of Memphis to Nashville. After 11 years in Baltimore, he’s coming to Nashville in the middle of the state between his hometown and his alma mater, UT.
Morgan Cox: I've been invested in the #Titans for many years. Remembers the year in Memphis, went to games when he was in high school. "This was an easy yes for me."
— Paul Kuharsky (@PaulKuharskyNFL) March 18, 2021
He knows Brett Kern pretty well from crossing paths over the years and working together at the Pro Bowl and said they will put in the work for punts as well as field goals, with small adjustments to be made for a kicker once he arrives.
“Once we start working together, we’ll start fine-tuning some of those things,” he said. "Then whatever happens in the kicker situation – I’m brand new here so that’s well above my pay grade. My focus is to throw the ball where Brett puts it down super easy and in good timing so the kicker can kick his best ball…
“We want (the kicker) to be at his best. For the nine years that I was with Justin Tucker, my job was to elevate him to his best game and I feel like we did that.”
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