NASHVILLE – In his new role as offensive coordinator of the Tennessee Titans, Todd Downing has no plans to try to fill Arthur Smith’s shoes.
Downing’s real challenge is keeping the offense clicking as well as possible, which is what coach Mike Vrabel and general manager Jon Robinson expect of the team’s former tight ends coach.
“I look at this job more as what Coach Vrabel and Jon Robinson asked me to do to fill it this year, not to be the Arthur Smith or to be anybody else for that matter,” Downing said Wednesday in his first availability with reporters since being promoted in January after Smith became head coach of the Atlanta Falcons.
Compared to when Smith took over as Tennessee’s offensive coordinator two years ago, Downing has the advantage of having been on OC in the NFL previously with the 2017 Oakland Raiders. He’s also familiar with an offense that ranked as one of the best in the league last season, when the Titans had per-game averages of 396.4 yards (tied for second with the Buffalo Bills) and 30.7 points (fourth).
Tennessee was second in rushing, thanks to Derrick Henry, who led the league in that stat for a second straight season and finished with 2,027 yards on the ground to become the eighth player to top 2,000 rushing yards.