Titans Rookie QB Will Levis Developing Chemistry with Young Receivers Despite Changing Circumstances
NASHVILLE — The Tennessee Titans' backup quarterback competition between Malik Willis and rookie Will Levis has arguably been the biggest story of training camp so far and while the circumstances have led to a lot of moving parts, Levis is working to build chemistry with his receivers, no matter who they are.
Levis has been rotating with the third-team and the second-team. That means that Levis is constantly throwing to different receivers and dropping back behind different lines. Of course, it is all the same team so there is some carryover, but it still can make it just a touch harder to stay in rhythm.
Levis isn't worried about that though. He understands mistakes are going to happen and he explained his reaction to things not always going according to plan.
"They happen," Levis explained about the mistakes. "You are never going to be perfect and you got to understand that and it's just how you're going to react to it. You're going to get up and get to the next play. That two-minute drive, you can't think about what happened on the last play or else it's just going to stall the drive even more going forward. We aim for perfection, but we know we aren't going to reach it everyday. We definitely want to make those throws and those catches, but just moving on."
Even with those mistakes though, Levis and the other Titans' quarterbacks want to do their best to stay on the same page as their receivers. Levis talked about how you can do that even if you haven't thrown to someone a ton.
"It goes back to what coach says about everyone else's reps are our reps too," Levis recalled. "Even though as quarterbacks it's a little bit different, we can't physically get the feel of throwing to that guy if we aren't throwing it. There's things like the timing of it, and how the other quarterback sees it and how it timed up with the way he threw it and how we can connect that to our timing. How our footwork marries up with theirs and the kind of ball that we want to throw should we be put in that situation. Taking advantage of the mental reps at the same time."
It's not just the players changing around him or acclimating to the speed of an NFL practice, but Levis is also going up against what is expected to be one of the best defenses in the NFL. Levis recognizes how that can be a blessing in disguise.
"We get a lot of good looks and a variety of looks which is really, really nice because we're going to have a lot of film to pull up from training camp when we get to teams that play the stuff that we play. We're going to see how we did it and I have been proud of how we operated because we've had really good reps at almost everything that we do through camp, so I feel like now it's just figuring out what we are best at and how we're going to best target what we want to do."
One of the things Levis has been best at so far in camp is finding wide receiver Reggie Roberson Jr. Roberson Jr. has been one of the young standouts from camp so far, catching multiple touchdown passes from Levis seemingly every day. The latest was a touchdown throw on an out route, according to ESPN's Turron Davenport.
"He's been playing well," Levis said about Roberson Jr. "He's been in the right spot at the right time and you got to ask for that from the receiver position and your got to demand that as a quarterback at least. Every time I've thrown to him, when we've connected, he's been exactly where I wanted him to be. That's hard to do. It's hard to be on the same page like that. Credit to him studying and knowing what he is doing."
Regardless of who he will be throwing to, Levis is ready to make his first appearance in NFL action on Saturday against the Chicago Bears. He gave his quick thoughts on the oncoming matchup.
"I'm pumped. It's crazy to think less than a week until my first NFL game. I'm just excited to go out there and compete."
Titans Training Camp Stories
- OL Steps Up: The Tennessee Titans' offensive line has caused it's fair share of concern through the early stages of training camp, but on Friday we saw the offensive line finally have some good moments. CLICK HERE
- Titans Add OL Depth: The Tennessee Titans' efforts to rebuild their offensive line are ongoing, with the biggest concern at right tackle. The latest move to help there is signing veteran offensive lineman Justin Murray. CLICK HERE
- Fulton's Strong Start: The Tennessee Titans' cornerback is going into his fourth season and despite injury issues in the past, Fulton looks to be in the best shape of his career and is making plays at training camp. CLICK HERE
