Ryan Tannehill's 2 Long TD Passes Highlight Titans' Blue-White Scrimmage
NASHVILLE — Trying to get as much live work in as possible despite the fact that the New England Patriots cancelled joint workouts this week, the Tennessee Titans had an intrasquad scrimmage on Tuesday that was filled with plenty of energy.
There were plenty of good plays from both sides in the Blue-White scrimmage where teams were picked via a draft the night before, but the clear highlights just a few weeks out from the regular season starting were two long touchdown passes from veteran quarterback Ryan Tannehill.
Early in the scrimmage, Nick Westbrook-Ikhine made a nice catch down the left side and, after falling, got up and ran a few more yards into the end zone. Then, later in the workout, Tannehill hit DeAndre Hopkins deep on a flea flicker for a score, which also included a perfectly orchestrated touchdown celebration in the end zone with all 11 players.
It was a good workout, especially since a second week of joint practices had been planned but the Patriots cancelled after rookie Isaiah Bolden was injured in last Saturday's preseason game at Green Bay, which was cut short after he was rushed to the hospital.
The Patriots, who were supposed to fly straight to Nashville after that game, simply flew home instead. Friday night's preseason game at Nissan Stadium is still on, of course. It's the final preseason game of the year, with the regular season starting on Sept. 10 in New Orleans.
That's why this session was so important, trying to replicate game-like conditions, even against your own teammates.
"It was great. It was good to compete,'' Westbrook-Ikhine said after practice. "I feel like everybody was juiced up, kind of switching it up, mixing and matching guys offense and defense both sides of the ball. It was just a good time. It was fun to be out there.
"It reminded me of a game when you've got everybody on the same side.''
There were plenty of eyeballs on the Titans' receiving corps during the workout, because they are suddenly shorthanded after starting wideout Treylon Burks and slot receiver Kyle Phillips both went down with knee sprains in Minnesota. Burks was hurt during Wednesday's joint practice with the Vikings and Philips was injured in Saturday night's game, which the Titans won 24-16.
Burks are Phillips are expected to be out for a few weeks, so it's up to others to step up. Rookie Colton Dowell was back on the field after missing a few days, and he had a nice touchdown catch during 7-on-7 work, and Westbrook-Ikhine, who's going to need to step up in Burks' absence, had a nice score after dropping a pass earlier in the workouts.
"It was good to bounce back after a missed opportunity,'' he said. "Bouncing back, that's just the way of the game.''
So are injuries, as Titans fans well know, and stepping up is big, especially this time of year. It's about to get real, and Westbrook-Ikhine knows it.
"Yeah, I think so,'' he said when asked about feeling a sense of urgency, "but I think that's how we always are in that room. We just try to approach each day with a sense of urgency and not really feel like we have to change anything.
"(Practices have) been good and it's just all about coming out and finding something to get better at every day. ''
Hopkins, the Titans' big free agent acquisition, was running free throughout the secondary for a lot of the practice. He fills a huge void on this team — that go-to threat in the passing game on any down — and we saw a nice glimpse of that throughout Tuesday's scrimmage.
Titans coach Mike Vrabel talked about the scores, and the continued solid play from Tannehill throughout camp this summer.
"Ryan continues to have good command and as long as we can protect him and we can help him out on the back end and catch them, he's had good command and good leadership. It was a good performance,'' Vrabel said.
He was happy with the effort.
"We came to work with a great frame of mind, both players and coaches,'' Vrabel said. "There was great energy and really good work, and we tried to take care of each other. There were great plays on both sides. I thought it was very competitive back and forth and there was good energy.''
Titans running back Derrick Henry, who was on the Blue team, enjoyed getting in a more intense workout, especially since he doesn't play in the preseason games.
"It was a lot of fun and I got a lot out of it,'' Henry said. "I actually enjoyed it, getting out there and having guys flying around. I haven't had that in a while. I was happy to get some reps.
"I'll continue to work right up to the (first) game. That's always the mindset. We'll keep getting better and working on all the details. We're all excited to get out there, but you don't want to rush anything. We've just got to keep working and getting better.''
The Titans will practice again Wednesday morning then play the Patriots Friday night. Game time is 7:15 p.m. ET.
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