Titans Camp Takeaways: QB Competition, Funny Moments

Observations from a week of Tennessee Titans mandatory minicamp.

Tennessee Titans quarterback Will Levis fields questions during mandatory mini-camp at Ascension Saint Thomas Sports Park in Nashville, Tenn., Tuesday, June 4, 2024. / Denny Simmons / The Tennessean / USA

NASHVILLE — Tennessee Titans players, coaches, and staff gathered at Ascension Saint Thomas Sports Park for a three-day mandatory minicamp that concluded with Thursday's practice.

Each session was open to the media, and AllTitans.Com was fortunate to be one of the outlets granted access.

As the Tennessee Titans eagerly gear up for the forthcoming season, it's important to note that their performance in shorts and shells may not be a true reflection. However, the simulated football action does offer some intriguing insights. Let's delve deeper.

Quarterback Room

Quarterback Will Levis and the offense performed significantly better on Thursday than they did on Tuesday and Wednesday in the 7v7 drills against Dennard Wilson's defense.

The defense swarmed to the ball with vigor without tackling anyone and several times got credited for sacks during the first two practices.

Levis stood out among the trio of quarterbacks. His throws were lightning-fast, and he effortlessly completed the majority of his passes on Thursday, a stark contrast to the previous days when his timing seemed amiss.

Offensively, we bounced back from not a great day yesterday in seven-on-seven in the red zone," Titans coach Brian Callahan said. "Defense kind of kicked our teeth in, and then today they came out with some good energy and our first set of seven-on-seven was much better. So, good to see that."

Malik Willis and Mason Rudolph will compete for the backup quarterback role. The open sessions showed that Rudolph took a firm lead.

"We were both up front with both those guys telling them that's how it's going to work," Callahan said. "So they'll split reps pretty evenly. They'll get a chance to play quite a bit in the preseason. That's usually where it separates is the game action when you really get an evaluation, but happy with where both of those guys are at. Just like any competition, there's going to be ups and downs. There'll be days when you guys come out and one looks better than the other, and the evaluation is a totality of all their time in the offseason and training camp and the preseason games."

Getting back in the groove

Defensive tackle Jeffrey Simmons was seen on the practice field for the first time during OTAs and minicamp. Simmons was in uniform but did not take part in drills.

The only players not on the field at all were Nicholas Petit-Frere, Colton Dowell, and T'Vondre Sweat.

Callahan told reporters that every Titan reported to camp, even if some would not be full participants in practice.

L'Jarius Sneed, Chidobe Awuzie, Calvin Ridley, Kenneth Murray, Kearis Jackson, and cornerback Anthony Kendall were partial participants as they went through walkthroughs but not the drills.

Funny Moment

Rookie offensive lineman JC Latham injected some humor into the press conference by playfully asking if Callahan would consider using him on the tackle screen to get him the ball in the open space.

"You want to give everything away now? Thanks, JC" Callahan quipped.

Latham later joked that the Titans hadn't practiced the play but said he'd be ready for the call. If the Titans used Latham in such a play, it would be intriguing to watch the athletic big man move.

Situations

During the last 30 minutes of Thursday's session, the team practiced situational walkthroughs, including running two consecutive plays in the two-minute offense. The Titans focused on specific points of emphasis that arise during a game or season. Callahan dedicated the last 30 minutes of Thursday's session to practicing situational walkthroughs, such as running two consecutive plays in the two-minute offense. The Titans worked on specific points of emphasis during a game or season.

"That's sort of the last thing that we hit is the situational work where you're working against all the different things that come up in those spots," Callahan said. "As I told the team this morning, you win the games in the NFL in the margins, and those are game losing, game winning plays that they have to be able to make and be able to be prepared for the situation, aware of the situation. You've got to execute in the moment. So that's what that was today."

The Titans have three more OTA sessions that are voluntary next week with one session on Tuesday being open to the media.

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