Snap judgments: Drawing conclusions about the Titans based on playing time vs. Bills

Corey Davis does more than just what shows up on the stat sheet.

That’s what the Tennessee Titans coaches say, and their actions back up the assertion. Davis played 54 snaps in Sunday’s 14-7 loss to Buffalo, the fifth time in as many games this season the fifth overall pick in 2017 led his team’s wide receivers in playing time. He finished with just two receptions for 28 yards.

For the season, Davis is second among Titans wide receiver with 13 catches. His 201 receiving yards are second to rookie A.J. Brown and he has just one touchdown reception.

Given that he gets more opportunities than anyone else, it is surprising that those numbers aren’t bigger. But it has been that way throughout the season, beginning with the opener in Cleveland when he did not catch a pass.

“Corey has done a lot of good things that go unnoticed,” offensive coordinator Arthur Smith said last week prior to the Buffalo game.” “A lot of plays … he may have been the primary read [but] the coverage took us somewhere else. He’s been very consistent. Always a great teammate. He’s improved in a lot of areas.”

A game-by-game rundown of Corey Davis’ snap counts through the first five weeks of the 2019 season:

Week	Opponent	Snaps	Percent of total
1	at Cleveland	43	73 percent
2	vs. Indianapolis	49	83 percent
3	at Jacksonville	58	73 percent
4	at Atlanta	54	87 percent
5	vs. Buffalo	54	87 percent

At this time a year ago, Davis had twice as many receptions (26) and 161 more receiving yards than he does now. Coincidentally, in one of those first five games of 2018 he set a career-high with 161 receiving yards.

Among all third-year players in the NFL this season, he does not even crack the top 20 in receptions or the top 15 in receiving yards. But apparently those numbers don’t tell the whole story.

“That is one guy – if you talk about snap count – there’s a reason Corey is out there all the time,” Smith said. “You trust him. You trust him in the pass game and you trust him in the run game.”

• More Gilbert: Outside linebacker Reggie Gilbert logged 48 snaps with the defense for the second consecutive week. This time, though, the defense was the field for just 65 as opposed to 80 at Atlanta, so Gilbert played 74 percent of the total snaps, nearly as many as Harold Landry (54). A shoulder injury that sidelined Sharif Finch early in the contest created Gilbert’s opportunity in this one.

It certainly was not general manager Jon Robinson’s most high-profile roster move, but the trade with Green Bay for Gilbert following the end of the preseason (Tennessee gave up a conditional 2020 seventh-round pick) has become one of the more important ones.

• Rookie reps: There can be no doubt that when it comes to the overall safety depth chart Amani Hooker, a 2019 draft pick (fourth round), has surpassed Dane Cruikshank, a 2018 draft pick (fifth round). Hooker played 13 snaps with the defense against the Bills and has become a valuable part of packages that require extra defensive backs.

Cruickshank did not get on the field with the defense but remains a special teams stalwart. He logged 17 snaps on kicks and punts by either team. Only three Titans saw more action with special teams – led by Hooker, who had a team-high 20 snaps.

• Case closed: As expected, the right guard rotation of Jamil Douglas, the starter in the first four games, and rookie Nate Davis did not last long. Davis played all 62 snaps along with the rest of the starting five. That unit, which included left tackle Taylor Lewan for the first time, did not perform as hoped but coaches will be much more willing to deal with Davis’ growing pains than they were Douglas’ mistakes.

• Additional blocker: Speaking of the offensive line, Dennis Kelly got just two snaps with the offense in his first game of 2019 as a reserve (he started the first four games at left tackle while Lewan was suspended) – both were as an extra tight end. Anthony Firkser, an actual tight end, played just one snap with the offense. Firkser is not known as a blocking tight end but it can’t bode well that an offensive lineman got more work at that spot than he did.