Highlights, Lowlights From Titans Camp

The regular-season roster is not yet set, but the Tennessee Titans have transitioned to a regular-season approach with their daily schedule.

That means training camp and the preseason – such as it was this summer – is now complete. There were no games to watch but there still was plenty to see at practices, which were open to the media (that won’t be the case any longer either).

Based on what we have seen, here are some highlight and lowlights of the Titans’ preparation for the 2020 season:

• Highlight: Derrick Henry has spent a lot of time working on catching passes, when he was not involved with a particular period during workouts. With an NFL rushing title and a hefty contract extension to his credit, the fifth-year running back could be content to continue as a dominant two-down performer. No one is ever going to confuse him with Christian McCaffery, but if Henry can improve upon his career-high 18 receptions from last season, he will make the offense that much more dangerous – and unpredictable.

• Lowlight: Free agent linebacker Vic Beasley has been a non-factor because he was a late arrival and then failed a physical when he finally did show. With fewer than two weeks before the opener, Beasley remains on the non-football injury list and there is real uncertainty about whether he can offer anything in Week 1. The hope was that this would be a fresh start for the NFL’s 2016 sacks leader, but he has not even gotten going.

• Highlight: Outside linebacker D’Andre Walker looks ready to contribute. Walker was the one member of the 2019 draft class who did not make an impact as a rookie because he spent the entire season in injured reserve. His physical skills have been evident and will serve him well until he gets some game experience and puts some nuances of the scheme and his position into practice.

• Lowlight: Greg Joseph has not exactly put a stranglehold on his status as the Titans’ placekicker. Coaches have talked optimistically about the 26-year-old who attempted (and made) one field goal in five games (three in the regular season, two in the playoffs) late last season. But his performance in open workouts has been far from perfect. The team recently brought in a pair of veterans for workouts, which suggests managements wants to have clear sense of its options in the event a change must be made.

• Highlight: Everybody who did take part in practices made it through virtually unscathed. Last year, Walker and wide receiver/return man Cameron Batson did not make it to mid-August before they were on IR. In 2018, the Titans lost starting safety Johnathan Cyprien for the season to a knee injury sustained during the opening weekend of camp, and in 2017, Corey Davis’ rookie season got off to a rough start courtesy of a hamstring injury sustained on one of the first days of camp. Coach Mike Vrabel routinely says that nothing is more important than the health of the players, and the Titans look like they will be a relatively healthy team when the season starts.

• Lowlight: The absence of preseason games deprived undrafted rookie wide receiver Mason Kinsey of the opportunity to make a name for himself. Kinsey is the first player from Berry College, an NCAA Division III program, to sign an NFL contract, and while he faced long odds to make the roster, he is a guy who would have had the opportunity to become a fan favorite in the preseason. Everyone loves a good underdog story, and anything Kinsey did in front of fans would have attracted attention.

• Highlight: Jeffery Simmons is healthy and looking like the player many believed would have been a top five overall pick in 2019, if not for the knee injury he sustained during pre-draft training. There are plenty of anecdotes and evidence that speak to Simmons’ unique athletic ability for someone who is 6-foot-4, 305 pounds as well as his positive attitude. This time a year ago, everyone wondered what, if anything, Simmons could do for Tennessee. Now, it is seems safe to wonder just how good he can be.

• Lowlight: First-round draft pick Isaiah Wilson needed a long time to get his contract settled and he spent time the COVID-19 reserve list, which slowed his indoctrination into the scheme. Then, his name showed up on an incident report after campus police closed down a Tennessee State University party. What was supposed to be a competition between Wilson and veteran Dennis Kelly to be the starting right tackle never materialized. Kelly will be in that spot at Denver and for the foreseeable future.