The true sound of football could finally be heard today. The clash of pads rang across the fields, and the energy was absolutely electric. The fans were happy to see the pads come on, the reporters were happy to see it, but no one was more ecstatic than the players. Right off the bat in individual drills, the intensity had clearly risen from days past.
The highlight drill of the day was one on one matchups between the receivers and defensive backs, with both sides trading wins. The marquee matchup from that group proved to be Corey Davis and Malcolm Butler, as Butler started things off with a nice pass break up, and Corey responding with a nice catch on the next go around. Butler may have come away the winner of that drill, snagging an interception as they headed towards the sideline. Davis would get his revenge a little later in the team drills. Double teamed by Butler and Kevin Byard, Davis outleaped both to make the grab, causing the crowd to erupt in applause.
Taywan Taylor had arguably the catch of the day with a nice over the shoulder grab with Butler breathing down his neck.
Two young receivers really jumped off the page today, Deontay Burnett and Cameron Batson. Both have looked much improved from OTAs during these first few days of camp, but today was a big day for both. In the one on one drills, Batson made a great grab on the sideline, diving towards the end zone as he reeled it in. Deontay Burnett had a nice diving catch as well, and also turned what should have been an interception into a great catch. Burnett managed to rip the ball out of the defenders hands and hold onto it for the catch. Iif the improvement continues, these are definitely two players to watch during the early preseason games as potential playmakers.
From a play-calling perspective, we were able to see a little bit more of Matt LeFleur’s offense put to action with the implementation of roll out plays which were practiced early on and then utilized later in team drills. Marcus Mariota struggled hitting his mark at points, but all in all looked comfortable using his legs and identifying the open receiver when as he rolled to one side or the other. The Titans offense also used a lot of play action to open up the deep ball, and the versatility of the offense is beginning to show. Out of one formational set, there are 3 or 4 different route trees that the receivers could use, and that deceptiveness will prove useful moving forward.
Butler’s highlights didn’t stop in the 1 on 1 drill. Later in full team play, he was able to knock the ball out of the hands of Luke Stocker to force a fumble near the sideline. In a nearly identical play not long after, Tye Smith stripped Ethan Wolf. On the defensive line, rookie Matt Dickerson found himself in the backfield a couple times and stood out as a tackler for the third team defense.
A couple of high profile names did not participate in practice today. Brian Orakpo, who left practice early yesterday, did not practice today, but coach Vrabel did not seem terribly concerned about his star linebacker after practice. Pro Bowler Delanie Walker also didn’t participate today, but we’re told that it was part of his plan through training camp to keep the veteran’s body fresh. An player that could be of some concern is first round draft pick Rashaan Evans who left practice early today. When asked to elaborate on Evans, Mike Vrabel said he didn’t know any details but says it could have been heat related.
