Story By: Brady Trapnell
When the Titans left the field after the last practice before their first preseason game this Saturday, they looked like a team eager to play.
And Thursday morning featured another physical practice with energy and excitement. Head Coach Mike Mularkey was pleased with the approach.
“It was a tough practice, I don’t know how excited they were about the game Saturday night,” said Mularkey after practice. “It was a pretty tough practice, I’m not sure, I think some of them thought we may have been doing some other activity today and had a little bit of a letdown when it wasn’t. It ended up being a really good practice, very focused, got a lot of work done.”
The defense started practice off strong. Safety Kevin Byard shot through the line and stopped running back Derrick Henry for a loss. Linebackers Derrick Morgan and Brian Orakpo, along with the defensive line, put pressure on the offense early on in team drills.
Coach Mularkey raved about one of the pieces of his defensive line after practice.
“He’s on a mission. He’s absolutely on a mission, he has been the whole offseason,” Mularkey said about nose tackle Antwaun Woods performance in camp. “He’s tagged along with Jurrell Casey, every time I saw one, the other was close by in the weight room.
“The whole offseason he’s been trying to watch somebody that does it right and has been successful for doing that. He comes out here, he works. I’ve pointed him out in offensive meetings, the way he plays. He’s definitely on a mission for a reason.”
Linebacker Avery Williamson has taken a similar approach throughout training camp, but with working on pass coverage skills.
“I think Avery has gotten better, I really do, in a lot of ways,” said Mularkey. “I think a lot of it has to do with his ability to help him cover better. He’s faster, he’s quicker, you can tell that this guy has done something over the top to get ready for the season in the offseason in what he’s done off the field when nobody’s watching.”
The Titans will take the field Saturday night in New York with more eyes watching them in years past. But this preseason, the goal is the same: stay focused and get better.
“It’s going to be energy and effort,” said Orakpo on game one of the preseason. “That’s all we are going to be preaching, and that’s all we are looking for really once we come on the field. Everyone flying to the ball and communicating and really having a lot of effort.”
Another focus for Mularkey this weekend will be team discipline, limiting penalties.
“The less the better, for sure. I just want to see if they’re going to compete. It’s not a game-plan game,” said Mularkey. “We’re going to run our plays we’ve been running here for two weeks. They’re going to have a guy lined up that’s different than they’ve been blocking for two weeks. Can they execute at a high level consistently without making mistakes.”
The Titans will take the field at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey at 6:30 p.m. Titans Radio’s coverage begins at 5:30 p.m. CT with the award-winning “Titans Countdown” on your local affiliate station.
