Blake Beddingfield was a Titans' scout for 19 years, through the 2017 draft. He was the team's director of college scouting for his final six years. He's brought to us by Party Fowl, where you should be eating hot chicken and drinking boozy slushes in The Gulch, the Boro or Donelson.
By BLAKE BEDDINGFIELD, special contributor
Write comment (2 Comments)NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- Marcus Mariota shouldn’t be limited. Jack Conklin should be back.
Yes, the Titans are without Delanie Walker, but they’ve had two games to come to terms with his loss and he’s not coming back. No, Rishard Matthews isn’t really looped into the offense and was away Wednesday for personal reasons. Backup quarterback could be an issue. On defense. Kamalei Correa is expecting to return and Kendrick Lewis will probably be available.
Vrabel: I don't anticipate having to limit Mariota going forward. #Titans
— Paul Kuharsky (@PaulKuharskyNFL) September 26, 2018
Still, Sunday at Nissan Stadium against the Philadelphia Eagles, we should see the most complete version of the Titans we’ve seen yet. To contend with and beat the reigning Super Bowl champions, the home team will need that and more.
NASHVILLE, Tenn. – The highest-profile guys in the Titans’ locker room said they are perfectly fine with Rishard Matthews making a personal decision, asking for his release and leaving the team.
This shocked me, that not one guy in a room with plenty of good leadership dared to say, “It’s disappointing that he chose to leave us at this time” or “We were all about the 53 guys on the roster and now it’s 52” or “While we hope he finds what he’s looking for, we don’t love being left.”
None of that would have been hugely controversial.
Here’s a script: “He is not one of the boys. He’s not here. I think the transaction speaks for itself.”
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NASHVILLE, Tenn. – All of what I know about the Rishard Matthews’ situation in one place:
This is not the first time he’s asked to be traded or released. Apparently, he’s been a problem child the Titans have had to deal with for some time, and they’ve done a good job keeping that behind the scenes.
NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Rishard Matthews has left the Titans and his future is uncertain.
A productive receiver for the franchise over the last two seasons, he missed the offseason with an Achilles issue and then suffered a torn meniscus early in training camp that slowed his comeback.
He’s been largely invisible in the team’s first three games with three catches for 11 yards. In August, he signed a contract extension that added on the 2019 season.
Three weeks ago. https://t.co/pWBe9vEsWE
— Paul Kuharsky (@PaulKuharskyNFL) September 27, 2018
[Unlocked]
Write comment (6 Comments)NASHVILLE, Tenn. – For a long time,Dean Pees’ Wednesday morning ritual with the Ravens was the same.
Before he presented the game plan to the Ravens’ entire defense, he ran through it with a small group of key players. Ray Lewis, Terrell Suggs, Haloti Ngata and Ed Reed had a chance to react to it and Pees might tinker based on their feedback.
Initially, the defensive coordinator planned to do the same thing with the Titans.
And so, in the early weeks of the season, I asked several players including Wesley Woodyard, Kevin Byard and Logan Ryan if they were part of such a meetings.
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NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Marcus Mariota’s performance off the bench in Jacksonville was better on a second viewing.
He dropped back to pass 18 times and hit on 12 for 100 yards. Nothing giant there.
But each of his first three series ended because of a third-down drop: Rishard Matthews, then Tajae Sharpe, then Corey Davis. Mariota also threw one away out of trouble. So five of the six incomplete passes were not accuracy issues.
His delivery was mostly on time and while the lingering elbow/hand/fingers/grip issues mean he couldn’t make certain throws, he was good with the ones he could make. The 17-yard pass interference call against A.J. Bouye was on a ball the gang in the press box calculated traveled 34 yards in the air.
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Blake Beddingfield was a Titans' scout for 19 years, through the 2017 draft. He was the team's director of college scouting for his final six years. He writes weekly previews and reviews of Titans' games for PaulKuharsky.com and he's brough to you by Party Fowl.
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By BLAKE BEDDINGFIELD, special contributor
NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- The Titans won because of a circumstance that was out of their control and that was Marcus Mariota coming in the game in relief of a concussed Blaine Gabbert.
The Jaguars looked surprised to see Mariota enter the game and then acted as if they had never seen him play before, never adjusting to Mariota’s ability to run the ball.
He was very effective passing the ball, getting the ball out of his hands quickly. The Jaguars continued to play off coverage when Titans were in third-and-short. They allowed the easy throws to convert.
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