'A Lot of Work To Be Done' For Wilson to Continue With Titans
NASHVILLE – There is still no word on Isaiah Wilson’s future with the Tennessee Titans.
That is due, in part, to the fact that the 2020 first-round draft pick has had no direct contact for months with the man who has the final say on personnel matters.
“I’m constantly monitoring the situation,” general manager Jon Robinson said Tuesday. “We have people that have been in contact with him that I’ve talked to. So, [there has been communication] kind of third party-wise. But we’ll see how that one goes.”
“That one” never got moving in the right direction last fall.
Wilson, a tackle out of the University of Georgia, has a well-publicized series of missteps that began during training camp and continued throughout the regular season.
Eventually, the Titans placed Wilson, who turned 22 last week, on the Reserve/Non-Football Illness (NFI) list, and that was the last time Robinson said the two had spoken to one another. The decision was made to help the player deal with what the team said were “personal issues,” and as of now Wilson remains on that list.
“We did a lot of work a year ago leading up to selecting him,” Robinson said. “The evaluation process. Talking to different sources. Visiting with him countless numbers of times.
“For whatever reason, the player this fall that was here in Nashville wasn’t the guy that we spent time with last year. So, I think he’s going to have to make a determination if he wants to do everything necessary to play pro football. And that’s going to be on him.”
The Titans selected Wilson 29th overall with the idea that he would be the long-term replacement for Jack Conklin at right tackle after Conklin signed with the Cleveland Browns as a free agent last March. They even talked about the possibility that he could be the starter as a rookie.
Wilson ultimately appeared in just one game during which he played three snaps on offense and one on special teams. He missed four games because he was on the COVID-19 reserve list, five because he was inactivated, one because he was suspended for a violation of team rules and the final four after he was placed on the Reserve/NFI list. There was also one contest for which he was active but did not play.
Whether he gets another chance remains to be seen.
“I know what the expectation level is here,” Robinson said. “It’s no different than [for] any other player on the football team. We have a certain standard that we want players to prepare and perform at professionally and as people. A lot of work to be done there.”
