Titans Live: Byard, Defense Continue to Impress, This Time Against Vikings

The Tennessee Titans' defense has been impressive all summer, and that continued during joint workouts with the Minnesota Vikings on Wednesday. Titans safety Kevin Byard said they are playing well at all three levels.

EAGAN, Minn. — All summer long, the Tennessee Titans defense has lived by the simple mantra of being great every day, and then getting better.

They've dominated their own offense quite a bit in workouts, and they did the same thing on Wednesday during a joint practice with the Minnesota Vikings. We've thought from the beginning that this unit could be good, but let's redirect a bit.

They could be really, really good.

They won far more than they lost on Wednesday, and were especially dominant in the final two-minute drill, where they intercepted passes on the second play of each Minnesota drive.

"They made some plays and you don't really know off the eye test, especially with the linemen, but we stuffed the run and it seems like we got a couple of sacks and those two picks at the end, so I thought it was a great day overall for the defense,'' Titans safety Kevin Byard said.

"It's important. We're on the road, playing against a different team in a different locker room. So it was important to bring the energy, and I thought we did that. That's the challenge for us as a defense, to be consistent and dominate every day. To go against the Vikings and not really game plan but still have a good showing, that feels good, too.''

The highlight was the final drill, where each team got two shots in a two-minute situation. The Vikings' first-team offense went against the Titans' ones, and the twos went against the twos. 

In Minnesota's first possession, starting quarterback Kirk Cousins was intercepted by Titans cornerback Roger McCreary on the second play of the first drive, snaring a wobbly ball in the wind. 

"It felt like that ball kind of just died as it hit the wind," Vikings coach Kevin O'Connell said. Vikings second-team quarterback Nick Mullens had a ball tipped at the line of scrimmage and picked off by Rashad Weaver.

"Weaver's got two picks in training camp now, that's more than me,'' Byard said. "And Roger's had two interceptions in two-minute drills, because he did the same thing against Kyle Phillips in the rain the other day.''

What Byard likes is that the Titans are doing good things at all three levels. You expect greatness from the Jeffery Simmons-led defensive line, but the linebackers and defensive backs are making a lot of plays, too. 

"We've talked about that all training camp,'' Byard said about being a cohesive unit. "Obviously, our defensive line up front, they can dominate, our linebackers can plays and on the the back end we're being aggressive. Marrying all three together is going to be big for us as we head into the season.''

It was a good two hours of work against someone else. Training camp can get long and arduous, so a change of pace — and opponents — was a good thing.

"This facility is incredible and the weather has been good, outside of the wind,'' Byard said. "It's great to be out here.''

There was a little chippiness between the two teams, mostly between young guys in special teams drills. It was nothing big, but we might see more of that during Thursday's final workout. The two teams play in a preseason game on Saturday night. 

"Special teams, that's always competitive because those are guys trying to make a team, and make a name for themselves,'' Byard said. "I remember my rookie year, I think I had the most special teams snaps and — not to brag or anything — I think I had 10 special teams tackles, the most on the team. It's important, and we've got some good guys out there. You do what you do to help the team.''

Byard said he also enjoyed watching the Tennessee cornerbacks get in a lot of work against Vikings wide receiver Justin Jefferson, considered by many to be the best in the business. The former LSU star has 4,825 yards of receptions in just his first three seasons.

"(Justin) is one of the best, if not the best, receiver in the league so whenever Kristian Fuller or Sean Murphy-Bunting or Roger can go up against a competitor like him, it gives you confidence,'' Byard said. "You know if you can go stop him then you can stop anybody. It's very key to go up against top guys like this.

"That's what's great about practices with other teams, because you kind of bring some extra juice a little bit against somebody else. The intensity wraps up, and I'm sure we'll see some fireworks (Thursday). Guys get a little tired, and they get after it a little bit more.'' 

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