NASHVILLE — The offense had an up-and-down Saturday at the Tennessee Titans’ training camp.
Highlights included a deep throw for a touchdown in the pass-defense period, when Will Levis hit Tony Pollard coming out of the backfield. Lowlights for the offense came in the third-down period, when Levis had the ball slip out of his hands on a deep throw to Calvin Ridley, leading to Tre Avery’s interception.
There were also several plays in that third-down session that likely would have been sacks, had there been live tackling.
“I thought it was back and forth today. I thought there were some good things offensively in the base-down period that we did, and the defense did some good things on third down. They’re really a pain in the butt on third down,” said first-year Titans coach Brian Callahan, the former offensive coordinator for the Cincinnati Bengals.
“It was good for us to get all that work, all the blitz pickup and disguised coverages. They do a good job. It was a challenge for us offensively. We made a couple plays, and they made a couple of plays. That’s kind of how good football teams should be in practice.”
As for the would-be sacks, Callahan admitted his line is at a disadvantage without pads on, but he still saw some missed opportunities as his new offense starts to take shape in the new system he has installed.
“We’ve got to be firmer in protections. Obviously it’s harder without pads on. We’re not really anchoring on guys. But I think we’ve just got to execute better,” Callahan said. “We missed a couple of throws we could have had. Will had a touchdown on the deep throw, but it slipped out of his hands, so that one wasn’t any fun, but we had a shot.”
Levis, who took over as the starter midway through his rookie season in 2023, did show off his playmaking ability early in the base session as Pollard made a double move to get free on a wheel route and hauled in the deep pass on the run for an easy score.
“That was a really nice throw and a really nice route by Tony out of the backfield,” Callahan said.
Third-string quarterback Malik Willis had a solid day as he tries to maintain his roster spot and perhaps compete with Mason Rudolph for the No. 2 role. Willis had two nice throws to Tre’Shaun Harrison and put a nice deep ball on the hands of Bryce Oliver, but the undrafted rookie was unable to haul it in.
“I’m really pleased with Malik,” Callahan said. “I think both of those (backup) quarterbacks have really done a nice job. Malik came out and had a nice day with some aggressive throws. He’s done a nice job of knowing what to do and where to go with the football.”
Only two players on the roster missed the session at Nissan Stadium, and both have already been out for a while. Cornerback Chidobe Awuzie is out with a calf injury. Outside linebacker Harold Landry was on the sideline but not in uniform as he makes his way back from an illness.