NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Jon Robinson has watched what’s unfolded with other sports amid the coronavirus pandemic. He saw Nashville SC’s game in MLS’s return-to-play tournament postponed because of positive COVID-19 tests, and put them on what seems like an inevitable path toward cancellation.

He knows what that means for the Titans.

“I think this whole thing is pretty scary, you never know how it’s going to affect different people,” he said Tuesday night. “You don’t know what it’s going to be like. I assume when we come back, we’re probably going to have some guys that test positive and we’ll have to deal with that, I am sure every team will. Every league is going through that right now.

As for whether anyone working for the Titans has tested positive at this point, he said he could not disclose such information and joked he didn’t want to get arrested by HIPAA.

He’s been working on some of the logistics at team headquarters and awaiting further information for the league about roster size and preseason operations.

I asked him about the idea of isolating a quarterback to assure the Titans would have one in a worse-case scenario, but he broadened the topic.

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NASHVILLE, Tenn. – What’s Jon Robinson’s current picture of Jadeveon Clowney’s health?

“What I’ve seen on Twitter, him rushing off the edge and hitting that bag,” he said Tuesday night in a Periscope/ Facebook Live conversation with this site to benefit Safe Haven Family Shelter. “Anytime you are dealing with whatever the contract is going to command, you want to make sure that the player is healthy, that you are able to allow your doctors to see him, to look at it, to make sure everything is going to be good.”

Great weekend in #Houston working some stab club with great shoulder rotation/reduction & acceleration to finish with Jadevon Clowney. #passrush #de #edge #ball #pro #proball #football #nfl #texas #clowney #2020 pic.twitter.com/jxurYi9pnU

— Feet Hips Hands LLC (@FeetHipsHands) June 30, 2020

The Titans still cannot bring Clowney to Nashville for a physical that would put them in position to evaluate his recovery from offseason core surgery and allow them to move forward with an attempt to sign the linebacker who played some of his best football while Mike Vrabel coached him in Houston.

Once Nashville hit a certain phase of reopening, NFL rules allowed the Titans to bring their draft picks to town for off-site physicals by their doctors. After those, the Titans were comfortable beginning to complete contracts for some – they have agreed to terms with fifth-round defensive lineman Larrell Murchison, seventh-round quarterback Cole McDonald and seventh-round defensive back Chris Jackson.

But the same rules did not apply to Clowney or other free agents. [Unlocked.]

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NASHVILLE, Tenn. – For at least a year, I’ve tried to get Jon Robinson to join the available members of my All 22 group for libations and food for an off-the-record get-together.

He laughed and gave me a hard time at the request as I expected. I tried to lure him by saying my guys (we haven’t had a female member yet) would make donations in his name to the charity I know is near and dear to his family, JDRF.

That didn’t work.

But about a month ago I caught him in a tremendous mood and he proposed we do it as a fundraiser keyed around a Pedal Tavern ride, not for his charity, but for something that is important to me.

Alas, the pandemic did away with the excellent Pedal Taven idea.

But Tuesday, Robinson will join me for a Periscope/ Facebook Live broadcast prior to a small, spaced patio gathering of available members of the All-22 that will also be Zoomed to members unable to attend.

We are asking that you make whatever donation you can to Safe Haven, a Nashville charity that works to keep homeless families together while they find their bearings.

Surprising teamwork to benefit @SafeHavenTN. #Titans. pic.twitter.com/qVjVSOLszG

— Paul Kuharsky (@PaulKuharskyNFL) July 6, 2020

They’ve sent up a direct link for us and you can go directly to them here – where you can see more about what Safe Haven does and make a donation. No amount is too small!  

[Unlocked]

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NASHVILLE, Tenn. – The NFL preseason is being scrunched, with the first and the fourth week erased from the schedule, per reports from ESPN and PFT.

The intention is for every team to play once at home and once on the road while the league sorts through the coronavirus pandemic.

That means the Titans trip to Washington for a game on Aug. 15 would be off as would be the Bears' visit to Music City on Sept. 3. The Titans are scheduled to be home against the Giants in the second week of the preseason and at the Buccaneers in the third week.

A later report from NFL Media said the NFLPA has not signed off and some leadership would like for there to be no preseason games, a set up it's hard to imagine the league falling in line with.

The rationale for eliminating the first game is largely that, after teams had no time on the field throughout the offseason, it will take them longer to get up to speed and into full football condition after starting camp, which for most teams including Tennessee will begin on July 29. [Unlocked.]

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NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Among the slew of unknowns pertaining to NFL training camps, still slated to open in late July, is whether there will be any potential for media access.

I’m holding out hope that reporters will be allowed to observe practices from a distance so that we can share details and develop storylines, even as our conversations with Mike Vrabel and his players would still very likely take place via Zoom.

But I don’t expect we will get a vantage point for camp practices. If we do, I worry it could be from a public broadcast feed from quite a distance.

While there is certainly a long list of issues facing the Titans and their NFL brethren as they sort through the complications of running their operations amid COVID-19, I’m going to shock you and say media access should not immediately be placed at the bottom of the NFL's list.

Careful and thorough consideration of this issue is not unimportant here.

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NASHVILLE, Tenn. – In the days since the Titans wrapped their remote offseason work, we'll examine some issues that didn’t get a great deal of resolution given no time on the field…

Will Isaiah Wilson be ready for opening day?

A first-round pick needs to be in the opening day lineup. But an off-season squashed by COVID-19 paired with a somewhat unrefined right tackle combined with a capable veteran on the roster could create a situation where Wilson isn’t in the Titans lineup in Denver on Sept. 14.

(Photo courtesy Georgia athletics.)

If the season starts on schedule but the preseason is reduced to two preseason games as has been widely speculated, it's possible we could see Dennis Kelly at the start of the season.

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NASHVILLE, Tenn. – It’s about football, of course.

Like all NFL franchises, the Titans are broken into football and non-football.

When Burke Nihill became team president and CEO in May, he said the business side of the operation needs to know that “football is the singular priority.”

That sounds obvious, but people who are really good at their jobs on the non-football jobs, and some who aren’t, can lose focus on that mission.

Under Amy Adams Strunk the Titans' football side is faring pretty well, coming off an appearance in the AFC Championship Game.

But for the entire operation to be successful, it needs effective marketing, presentation, legal work and all sorts of behind the scenes work.

Strunk continues to catch her team up with more modern franchises.

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NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- Greetings all. I'm happy to visit with you and talk about some of the things on your mind.

Barring news in the coming week, I'll probably do a Periscope/Facebook Live and a podcast, but otherwise lay low and clear my head during a furlough from The Midday 180.

I'm planning on taking the boy and some friends to a waterfall, to get him some swings and keep him working on throwing strikes, maybe take him fishing if I can figure out what I am doing while I also try to unplug from the news.

I would love to hear more about how you think teams will manage positive test results on key players? Will the numbers be different on the practice squad possibly?

— Kelly Bean (@Lefromagegirl) June 19, 2020

The NFL is considering expanding practice squads to as many as 16.

That will certainly help, but I don’t think loading up with inexperienced players is a sufficient solution. I think there needs to be a COVID-19 reserve list that functions separately of NFI and PUP – lists that are in play as players report -- and IR.

And I think there needs to be an option for cap relief. It’s not as if there are a load of quality veterans out there. But if the coronavirus puts a team in position to want to go sign Logan Ryan or Everson Griffen, it seems fair to me that it be easier for it to do so if they have lost someone at the corresponding position where a player has exposed a position group to the virus.

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