My Two Cents: Mission Accomplished For Titans During 2 Days With Vikings

Tennessee Titans coach Mike Vrabel was happy with all they got done the past two days during joint workouts with the Minnesota Vikings. They saw a lot of new things, and got a lot on film to improve on.

EAGAN, Minn. — The daily grind — or let's be honest, monotony — of NFL training camp is a lot to go through. So this idea of having joint practices with another team is awesome, and it seems like everyone enjoys it.

Instead of banging heads, even carefully, with their own teammates for weeks at a time, the Tennessee Titans got a plane to Minnesota and spent the past two days practicing with the Vikings at their fabulous new facility.

They got a lot done ahead of Saturday night's preseason game with the Vikings, and it was certainly well worth doing. 

''Yeah, I think we did (accomplish everything we wanted),'' Titans coach Mike Vrabel said. "We got good third-down work, good red zone work, good situational work. I really like the pace in which they practiced and moved. We got a lot of reps in.'' 

The defenses on both sides kind of won each day, but the Titans were better offensively on Thursday. Vrabel was happy with all that they got done.

"Today I thought there was a good energy level. We came out and celebrated the plays that we had in the red zone offensively, which is important,'' Vrabel said. "It's tough to score in this league and we did a good job in the red zone.

"There was good execution and we didn't dwell on negative plays. If they had a good play, we got back up and played again. And we were better on third down, which was encouraging.''

Tennessee struggled to run the ball on Wednesday and had some issues early on Thursday, too. But it got better later, much like everything else.

"We had a few (runs) that were productive later on the red zone, but it certainly was tough sledding,'' Vrabel said. "But it was good work. You're seeing different fronts and you're seeing some different things and some different pressures, run pressures and pressure from the edge, whatever it may be. We'll see these different things throughout the season, so it was good work.''

The quarterbacks were better, too, throwing on a second-straight windy day. It wasn't as bad on Thursday than it was on a blustery Wednesday, but it still took some effort to get the ball through wind. 

They also learned a lot from Wednesday's film, and got the ball downfield at a better pace. Starter Ryan Tannehill and second-year quarerback Malik Willis both looked good, as did rookie Will Levis, who had to leave for the locker room late in practice.

''I thought the ball came out quicker today, and I thought they were better today than they were yesterday. ''

The players like the joint practices, too. They'll be the first to admit they'd rather hit an opponent than their own teammates over and over every day in training camp.

"You definitely (feel a little extra juice),'' Titans cornerback Kristian Fulton said. "I think joint practices are phenomenal. The competition is there, the energy is there, and you don't always get that in the preseason.'' 

The Titans will have joint practices again next week, working out with the New England Patriots on Tuesday and Wednesday in Nashville before Friday night's final preseason game at Nissan Stadium on Aug. 25.

Related stories on Titans-Vikings practice

• VRABEL ON BURKS: Tennessee Titans coach Mike Vrabel called the diagnosis on Treylon Burks' knee a ''best-case scenario'' and he said the LCL injury is not a long-term issue to worry about. There's no timeline for his return, he said. CLICK HERE
•  LEVIS LEAVES PRACTICE EARLY: The Tennessee Titans dealt with more potential injury news on Thursday as rookie quarterback Will Levis exits practice early. His status is unknown for Saturday night's preseason game with the Minnesota Vikings. CLICK HERE
• BURKS GOES DOWN IN WEDNESDAY'S PRACTICE: Tennessee wide receiver Treylon Burks went down with a knee injury during practice, and teammates Ryan Tannehill and Kevin Byard talked about their fallen teammate. CLICK HERE
• RECEIVERS WHO NEED TO STEP UP: With Treylon Burks out for a while, there are several other wide. receivers that need to step up in his absence. CLICK HERE