NASHVILLE — Tennessee Titans quarterback Will Levis is taking a lot of punishment on the field during his second NFL season.
A second-round pick of the 2023 draft, Levis just made his 17th NFL start and is busy learning a second offensive scheme in as many seasons due to a coaching change. His coaches are working fast to help Levis learn how to adjust for the next play.
Levis is coming off his first victory this season in a game he both started and finished, last Sunday’s 32-27 road win against the Houston Texans in an AFC South Division matchup. He also was sacked eight times, though first-year head coach Brian Callahan said he sees the young quarterback taking a different approach to playing the position.
The result is Levis being more efficient even with room for improvement.
“Less hunting of magic plays and big plays and more taking it as it comes, sort of playing each play as it presents itself, and when you get a chance to be aggressive, be aggressive,” Callahan said of what he wants to see from Levis. “When there’s a chance to make a play with your feet, make a play with your feet.”
Levis has a 109.3 passer rating over the past three games, when he was 53-of-78 for 748 yards with five touchdown passes and two interceptions. Only four other quarterbacks in the league have a better rating in that span: Derek Carr (New Orleans Saints), Lamar Jackson (Baltimore Ravens), Bo Nix (Denver Broncos) and Tua Tagovailoa (Miami Dolphins).
Levis is about become only the third quarterback in franchise history to start at least nine games in each of his first two NFL seasons, joining Marcus Mariota and Vince Young. Neither of those quarterbacks — both drafted within the first three overall picks — got second contracts with this team.
Levis said he’s getting more comfortable and feels he’s growing along with everyone else in Callahan’s offense.
“So we knew that it was going to take a little bit to kind of get into our groove and get a feel of this offensive system,” Levis said. “And it’s crazy to think how much we’ve developed, I feel, like since week one.”
Levis is 5-12 as a starter in the NFL and 2-6 under Callahan. One of those wins came against the host Miami Dolphins on Sept. 30, when he sprained the AC joint in his right shoulder in the first half and did not return as Mason Rudolph took over behind center and finished off the victory.
Levis tried to play coming off the open date that followed, and he admitted after the loss to the Indianapolis Colts in Tennessee’s AFC South opener that his shoulder limited him on a late interception. He then missed three games to heal.
Now, though, keeping Levis upright is the big focus so he can run the offense.
He was sacked at least eight times for the second time in his young career in last week’s win in Houston. That puts him among 52 quarterbacks sacked at least eight times in a game more than once since the AFL-NFL merger in 1970.
Only one quarterback has posted a better passer rating in such games than Levis’ 105.4 in his two games: Pro Football Hall of Famer Joe Montana at 120.1. The average passer rating for those other quarterbacks is 68.2.
Levis is taking an average of 4.37 sacks a game. Of the quarterbacks sacked more than Levis this season, Chicago Bears rookie Caleb Williams is going down an average of four times per game. C.J. Stroud of Houston is being sacked an average of 3.25 times a game, and Geno Smith of the Seattle Seahawks is averaging being sacked 3.36 times a game.
The Titans (3-8) are on the road Sunday to face the Washington Commanders (7-5), who ranked 11th in the NFL with 30 sacks entering this week.
Offensive coordinator Nick Holz said Thursday that Levis is improving in some areas, but Tennessee staffers are coaching him to either throw the ball away or use his athleticism. Levis has a tendency to scramble up in the pocket, with two sacks last week coming on such moves.
Holz doesn’t see Levis having been hit so much he’s becoming skittish.
“It’s an ever-growing process,” Holz said.