NASHVILLE - It isn't taking Corey Levin long to embrace at least some of what's important to the Music City these days.
"I want to make sure I'm back at the hotel in time to watch the Predators," the former University of Tennessee at Chattanooga football star said about the city's NHL team after his first day of rookie camp as an offensive lineman for the Tennessee Titans. "I was a big Thrashers fan growing up in Atlanta before they moved. Now I'm excited about the Preds."
It also hasn't taken the sixth-round draft choice long to understand how important it is to guard your high-tech playbook.
"You need to make really sure you know the rules around here," the 6-foot-4, 307-pound Levin said as he stood inside the Titans' posh locker room at their training complex late Friday afternoon. "The loss of an iPad is a $12,000 fine. Right now it's in my book bag, and that bag is on my back unless I'm practicing."
Levin will practice again today with the team's other drafted rookies, rookie free agents and otherwise invited campers, which adds up to 53 players total. He'll begin to work out with the veterans on Monday and begin teamwide workouts the following week.
"I'm in my hotel until June 23rd," the 22-year-old Levin said. "Everyone's amped up right now. It's a lot of fun."
Titans coach Mike Mularkey thought his rookies were too amped up at the start of Friday morning's workout. Not that he expected anything different.
"It was a good day, a fun day," said Mularkey, who's beginning his second full season as Tennessee's head coach after guiding the Titans to a 9-7 record a year ago, which left them one win shy of the playoffs.
"There was lots of energy with this group today - most of it nervous energy. A lot of guys looked better in the afternoon (practice)."
Asked specifically about Levin, Mularkey said, "I'll have to watch more tape."
But he also noted that not everything he and his staff will be evaluating concerning Levin and others will be found on those practice tapes.
"It's not just about practice," the coach said. "It's everything. We're watching everything they do. What they say. How they listen. Where they sit."
At least for one day, second-year Titans offensive lineman Tyler Marz, who spent last season on the team's practice squad, felt Levin was sitting pretty.
"He seems like a hard worker," Marz said. "Everybody's a little nervous that first day. I was last year. This is your big shot to make an impression on the coaches."
As for what advice he's giving Levin, Marz echoed the words of several Titans at last weekend's caravan stop in Chattanooga.
"Really focus on the playbook," he said.
There has been more than the playbook to focus on thus far, though Levin is determined to stay on top of his homework. Thursday afternoon found him snowed under with paperwork and undergoing the league-mandated physical. Thursday night's dinner included spaghetti and meatballs and some other Italian food that Levin sheepishly admitted "I couldn't pronounce."
After eight hours of sleep, his first official day of rookie camp began Friday.
"I was expecting them to throw a lot at us the first day, and they did," Levin said. "I was pretty tired. Everyone's going hard. But you weren't going to be the one guy who wasn't. I'm here to get to work."
This certainly echoes what Titans general manager Jon Robinson said of Levin when he was drafted on April 29, Robinson noting: "Corey played just down the road in Chattanooga. We went and worked him out privately. (He's) another tough, competitive lineman who will compete here."
This is also the mindset Mularkey insists on instilling in his players. Of his goals for this weekend's camp, he said, "I want to see who can grasp what we're putting in, see if they can play fast."
He also plans for the rookies to have some quality time with the veterans away from Saint Thomas Sports Park this coming week, noting, "The quicker (the rookies) are accepted (by the veterans), the quicker we'll see their performance elevated."
His first day's work done, Levin planned a couple of quick phone calls to his father Grant and fiancee, Anna Miller, before grabbing some dinner and heading back to his hotel room to watch the Preds in the opening game of their best-of-seven Western Conference finals series against the Anaheim Ducks.
But before he left, someone asked him if Friday had brought that singular moment when he realized his lifelong pro football dream had become a reality.
"I think that 'aha' moment is still to come," Levin smiled. "But I'm finally inside an NFL locker room."
Contact Mark Wiedmer at mwiedmer@timesfreepress.com.