Titans-Buccaneers Day 2: Observations on Offense

Running back Dontrell Hilliard and rookie wide receiver Kyle Philips continue to forge a presence in the passing game.

NASHVILLE – The Tennessee Titans wrapped up a couple days of intense practices against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Thursday at St. Thomas Sports Park.

I spent the day watching the Titans’ offense, while co-worker David Boclair observed the defense.

Here are some quick thoughts on how things looked offensively for the Titans against the Bucs:

• Quarterback Ryan Tannehill continues to string good days together with the first-team offense. Tannehill was especially sharp early in red-zone, seven-on-seven drills, when he threw three touchdown passes in seven reps. Tannehill twice connected with running back Dontrell Hilliard for scores, and he hit Treylon Burks with a touchdown pass as well.

There were two setbacks for Tannehill. During one team red-zone drill, he tried to hit Nick Westbrook-Ikhine near the goal line. The problem was that Westbrook-Ikhine was headed toward the back of the end zone, and as a result, the pass should have been intercepted by safety Nolan Turner.

The other disappointment came during a two-minute drill, with the Titans needing a touchdown. Tannehill was “sacked” on the first play, and the drive eventually came to an end with Tannehill making a bad decision – throwing a short crossing route to Westbrook-Ikhine as the final seconds ticked off the clock.

• Speaking of Hilliard, he has regularly made plays during camp, most often as a pass-catcher but sometimes as a running back as well. I would think Hilliard’s success is one of the reasons the Titans parted ways so early with running back Jordan Wilkins, who was competing for that third-down back role.

Hilliard first made an impression last year after signing in October. As one of the replacements for Derrick Henry, Hilliard ran 56 times for 350 yards and two touchdowns, adding 19 receptions for 87 yards.

“Dontrell was a player that came in … did everything he could for us, has learned quickly to find a role,” Titans coach Mike Vrabel said. “(He) was a runner for us when we needed him to be and has really done a nice job in that third-down role. He’s trying to be involved as a personal protector on the punt team. That’s something he really wants to earn, take pride in. So that’s great to see.”

• Rookie wide receiver Kyle Philips continues to show his shiftiness and ability to get open in tight spaces. He put on a clinic during one-on-one drills in the red zone, catching multiple touchdown passes. One of Philips’ best moves came against former Titans defensive back Logan Ryan, as Philips’ sharp cut to the outside of the end zone left Ryan slipping to the turf.

“I feel like that’s Kyle’s game,” wide receiver Robert Woods said. “He wants to have you close, work in tight spaces. He’s real shifty and quick. I think it’s almost like the less space for Kyle, the better it is.”

• The first-team offense was pretty solid during both practices against the Buccaneers. There were some flaws – some penalties on Wednesday, and a failure on the aforementioned two-minute drill on Thursday. But considering the number of new players in the offense – specifically at tight end and wide receiver – things appear to be progressing at a pretty good rate.

“Yeah, there’s still a lot of details we got to tighten up -- I made some mistakes today,” tight end Austin Hooper said. “I got to be better in areas. But there are a lot of new faces, lot of new details for us, so we just got to get in the playbook and get an understanding -- learn how to play around each other and in the system.”

• The good news for Titans fans was that Burks was on the field as practice got underway. He’d departed early from Wednesday’s practice with an apparent leg injury.

Burks participated in some – but not all – of the individual receiver drills Thursday.

He made an immediate splash against the Bucs during a seven-on-seven, red-zone drill. Burks, the Titans’ first-round draft pick last April, used his 6-2, 225-pound frame to battle through defensive pass interference, still managing to catch a touchdown pass from Tannehill. Burks did not appear to participate in any of the full team drills, though he remained on the sideline for the entirety of practice. It was likely just a case of the Titans being cautious.

• Rookie quarterback Malik Willis started off his day with a crisp play-action completion over the middle to Dez Fitzpatrick, making the kind of quick throw the Titans want to see. But Willis had his share of struggles for a second consecutive day.

On his first rep in seven-on-seven, red-zone drills, Willis stared down Fitzpatrick at the goal line, throwing a pass that was intercepted by Sean Murphy-Bunting. On the next play, Willis threw behind Burks near the back of the end zone, leading to a tipped ball that fell to the ground.

And during a very quick three-play, two-minute drill, Willis was sacked once, scrambled on the next play and then was sacked again.

Vrabel said he wasn’t sure which quarterback would start Saturday’s game, but regardless, expect Willis to continue to get more repetitions than Logan Woodside during practices.

“I just think we have to continue to develop Malik in the system,” Vrabel said. “We’ve had conversations with Logan about his opportunity to compete. But I also feel like we have to see how quickly we can bring Malik along.”

• Titans right guards Nate Davis and Jamarco Jones did not practice Thursday, leaving Jordan Roos to get a lot of snaps at the position for the second straight day. Fullback Tory Carter left practice early. Center Ben Jones got injured late (it looked like his left leg) after getting tangled up at the line of scrimmage. He left the lineup, but remained on the practice field.