The Titans open the '17 season hosting the Raiders at Nissan Stadium, and despite being a "team on the rise" according to many national NFL outlets, Exec VP & GM JON ROBINSON will not change his approach or style during his second season on the job. Robinson, who made his bones climbing through the Patriots scouting department before becoming Buccaneers Dir of Player Personnel, admitted that when he and coach MIKE MULARKEY took over almost two years ago, "there was a lot of work to be done." Robinson: "There was some roster turnover that needed to happen, there was a mindset that we wanted to indoctrinate here. Slowly and methodically we started going about that. We did some good things last year, and now we've tried to retool the roster again. We’ve got a really good locker room that takes things one day at a time. Just come in and try to be better than you were the day before."
FOOTBALL IS IN THE AIR: Friday is a polish day. We make sure we have our emergency list from a personnel standpoint. We'll go over the practice squad in case someone gets hurt so we can be prepared to make a potential roster move. We’ll have a lighter practice and a team meeting that will lead to a little shorter day than typical. We’re in here quite a bit during the week and that afternoon is really our one time to get away. So Friday evening, we go reintroduce ourselves to our families. Saturday is a lot of early meetings then a practice around 11:00am, which winds down around noon. If we're on the road, sometimes I’ll travel a day before the team leaves and try to get to a college game. But this weekend I do have a lot of family and friends coming into town, so Saturday afternoon I’ll be home visiting with them and watching college ball at the house.
GAME DAY: On Sunday, I’ll get to the stadium about three hours ahead of kickoff. I’ll visit with coach Mularkey and see if there’s anything last minute that’s come up. I’ll also talk to our trainer TODD TORISCELLI about any injuries and guys who are dinged up. Then I’m on the field for pregame with our Owner AMY ADAMS STRUNK and her family and friends. I’ll watch both the Titans and Raiders warm up and visit with friends from the opponent. I know Raiders GM REGGIE MCKENZIE well. Then it’s up to the press box. I’ll take in the game with Dir of Player Personnel RYAN COWDEN, VP/Football Administration VIN MARINO, Dir of Pro Scouting BRIAN GARDNER and Dir of College Scouting JON SALGE. We’re just watching what unfolds, taking notes of good plays, bad plays -- anything that we see from a game management standpoint. I’m not a lucky sock wearer and I don’t roll one sleeve up and keep one down or anything like that. It is what it is. We just try to prepare as best as we can and go execute.
OPEN DOOR POLICY: The thing that surprised me when I became a GM was the amount of knocks on my door from all parts of the organization. Everyone asks for two minutes, but it’s normally more like 10. But I was fortunate enough to work with Bucs GM JASON LICHT when I was in Tampa and got to witness all the stuff he had to endure on a daily basis. It really prepared me and I’ve thanked him several times for that exposure. It showed me how to deal with the day-to-day stuff that may not have been on your to-do list when you closed up shop the night before.
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