NASHVILLE — Tennessee Titans quarterback Will Levis remains as confident as ever, insisting his comfort level in his second offense in as many NFL seasons is so good, he knows what he’s being asked to do.
Levis also understands the results aren’t close to what anyone on the team wants.
Not only are the Titans off to a 1-4 start, they rank 31st among the league’s 32 teams in passing yards per game, with their 135.0 just ahead of the New England Patriots’ 134.3. That’s worse than each of the past two seasons under former coach Mike Vrabel, when Tennessee was 30th for the 2022 season and 29th in 2023.
The only thing Levis would like to add? He said Wednesday he’d like to throw more deep passes, which he feels is among his strengths. His longest completion this season was a 40-yard touchdown to Calvin Ridley in a home loss to the New York Jets in the second week.
“We’re playing within the offense still, and I’m going to keep trusting what I’m seeing and making the throws and plays that I feel are appropriate,” Levis said.
First-year coach Brian Callahan also is in his first year calling plays in the NFL — he was the offensive coordinator the past five seasons for the Cincinnati Bengals, but head coach Zac Taylor handled that game-day duty — so he and Levis are just five regular-season games into finding out what works and doesn’t.
“We learn as we’re going, and we’re building as we go, and there’s things that I’m discovering and things that I like and things that we’ll do more of as we keep moving,” Callahan said. “So it’s a process. It’s not an immediate thing.”
Based on last Sunday’s numbers alone, it’s a bumpy work in progress. Levis threw for a career-worst 95 yards in a game he started and finished as the Titans lost at home, dropping their AFC South Division opener 20-17 to the Indianapolis Colts, whose defense came in as one of the NFL’s worst against the pass.
Next up for the Titans is a two-game road swing, against the Buffalo Bills (4-2) on Sunday and the Detroit Lions (4-1) a week later. They won’t have another home date until November, and their next division opportunity is a Thanksgiving weekend trip to Houston.
Levis hasn’t won a game since last Dec. 11, a 28-27 road victory against the Miami Dolphins, and his five touchdown passes this season are three fewer than he totaled in nine starts as a rookie. Levis also has an NFL-worst seven interceptions, already three more than last season.
Levis ranks 31st among starting NFL quarterbacks in passer rating at 70.7 and 30th in passing yards with 699. He missed three quarters of Tennessee’s lone win to date this season, replaced by backup Mason Rudolph early in the 31-12 victory at Miami on Sept. 30 — also the only game in which the Titans have scored more than 17 points.
Callahan has insisted that the Titans, who were among the NFL’s biggest spenders in the offseason, are committed to developing Levis, the No. 33 overall pick of the 2023 draft.
Passing requires coordination among all 11 players on offense, and the coach said the Titans’ problem right now is simple execution.
“It’s certainly something that we’ve spent a lot of time and effort on as of late, trying to make sure we continue to refine it and get our timing down so we can have more success,” Callahan said, “because we need to be better in the passing game.”