Tag: Kyle Philips

Watch: Titans’ Kyle Philips rips off electric punt return

Titans WR Kyle Philips may have sealed the punt return job on Saturday night.

Tennessee Titans 2022 fifth-round pick and wide receiver Kyle Philips continues to impress in the very early stages of his NFL career.

Philips, who has been among the team’s biggest standouts in training camp, has also been getting looks as a punt returner and may have sealed the job on Saturday night against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

After two solid returns to start the game, Philips’ third was his best of the contest up until that point. The rookie flashed his shifty moves and speed on an impressive 35-yard return that really got the crowd going.

Check it out in the clip below.

Earlier this week, Titans head coach Mike Vrabel had a funny way of describing Philips’ quickness, something we saw on his return.

“He’s quick, man,” Vrabel said, per John Glennon of Sports Illustrated. “He goes rabbit hunting with a hammer. He certainly just is able to get in and out of cuts, man coverage. [Tannehill] trusts him. He’s able to change speeds and then put his foot in the ground and redirect.”

10 things to watch for in Titans-Bucs preseason Week 2 matchup

A look at 10 things to watch for with the Titans in preseason Week 2.

The Tennessee Titans will play their second preseason game of 2022 on Saturday night at Nissan Stadium in Nashville against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

Following the contest, the Titans will make their next round of cuts on Tuesday afternoon, trimming their roster down from 85 to 80. The final cutdown to 53 will be on Tuesday, Aug. 30 after the final preseason game.

The Titans and Bucs took part in joint practices with one another this week for the second straight year, which was a big step in the evaluation process.

Now, those Titans on the roster bubble will look to further help their cause in the second-to-last exhibition contest. Here’s a look at 10 things to watch for.

Titans’ Mike Vrabel has funny way of describing Kyle Philips’ quickness

Vrabel also noted that Kyle Philips has earned the trust of Ryan Tannehill.

Tennessee Titans wide receiver Kyle Philips was arguably the team’s biggest standout on offense during joint practices with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

As has been the case all training camp, the rookie was a tough cover, flashing his shifty moves and quickness during the two-day event. One of his Philips’ highlights saw the UCLA product shake former Titans and current Bucs cornerback, Logan Ryan, out of his cleats.

When asked about Philips’ quickness, head coach Mike Vrabel had a funny way of describing it, while also noting that the slot receiver has earned his quarterback’s trust.

“He’s quick, man,” Vrabel said, per John Glennon of Sports Illustrated. “He goes rabbit hunting with a hammer. He certainly just is able to get in and out of cuts, man coverage. [Tannehill] trusts him. He’s able to change speeds and then put his foot in the ground and redirect.”

Veteran wideout Robert Woods praised Philips’ ability to operate in close quarters, saying that’s the type of situation he wants to be in.

“I feel like that’s Kyle’s game,” Woods said. “He wants to have you close, work in tight spaces. He’s real shifty and quick. I think almost like the less space for Kyle, the better it is.”

Philips, who is also competing for the punt returner job, has been outstanding thus far and has more than earned a role for himself in the early going of the 2022 season. He’ll get another opportunity to show his stuff in preseason Week 2 on Saturday night.

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Watch: Kyle Philips breaks Logan Ryan’s ankles in Bucs-Titans practice

Kyle Philips faked Logan Ryan out of his cleats during Day 2 of Titans-Bucs joint practices.

Tennessee Titans wide receiver Kyle Philips continues to impress in training camp, and former Titans and current Tampa Bay Buccaneers cornerback Logan Ryan saw that first hand on Thursday.

During Tennessee’s second joint practice with Tampa Bay, Ryan was tasked with matching up against Philips during one-on-ones, and he got a taste of just how dominant the rookie receiver has been in practice.

Philips got the better of Ryan on one play. The UCLA product flashed his moves against the veteran, leading to Ryan getting faked out of his cleats in what was one of Philips’ more impressive exchanges of the summer.

That wasn’t the only highlight of Philips’ day, though. He also showed out in multiple periods of practice, as Jim Wyatt of Titans Online noted.

“Receiver Kyle Philips stole the show early in the 1-on-1s and 2-on-2s with the Buccaneers defensive backs, and he didn’t stop there,” Wyatt wrote. “Philips got open again and again and again — and in a hurry… Philips was also a big factor in the 7-on-7 and team periods, especially near the goal line.”

After practice, head coach Mike Vrabel had a funny way of describing Philips’ quickness, saying the rookie “goes rabbit hunting with a hammer.”

Other than a quiet preseason Week 1, Philips has remained one of the biggest standouts of the entire offseason. He should have at least some kind of role early on when the 2022 season begins.

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Every NFL team’s most impressive player in training camp

These NFL players have been standouts during training camp.

The unofficial start to the NFL season kicked off with training camp last month, where all 32 teams returned to action in preparation for the 2022 season.

It’s been an eventful few weeks, filled with competitive position battles, brutal injuries and noteworthy performances.

Whether it’s rookies making an immediate impact or veterans dominating, training camp has brought out some standout performances around the league. While it’s important to temper expectations at this point of the year, it’s hard to ignore the impact some players have had this summer.

Our NFL Wire editors identified the most impressive player from each of the 32 NFL teams during training camp.

How Titans WR Kyle Philips earned the nickname ‘The Professor’

Titans WR Kyle Philips has earned the nickname “The Professor” from wide receivers coach Rob Moore.

Tennessee Titans 2022 fifth-round pick and wide receiver Kyle Philips has been turning heads all camp long and has been the biggest standout among the team’s rookies.

Not only has Philips proven to be a tough cover according to one unnamed Titan, but he’s also gaining the trust of quarterback Ryan Tannehill, who looks for him often in practice.

While Philips’ play on the practice field has been impressive, his knowledge of the game has also caught the attention of wide receivers coach Rob Moore, who calls the rookie “The Professor” because he’s “a bit of a know-it-all.”

“He’s a bit of a know-it-all; that’s why I call him ‘The Professor,’ because there’s nothing he doesn’t know,” Moore explained. “His passion for the game kind of shows up a lot, just when you talk to him about it. He really does have a good mind for the game and he’s a guy that you can make adjustments in a quick moment and he can adjust to it. I think from that standpoint, he’s done a great job of kind of grasping what we’re asking him to do.”

“It definitely makes me feel good but it also puts a little bit of a target on my back,” Philips said of the nickname. “Sometimes [coach Moore will] throw some trick questions out there to try and catch me, and when he does he doesn’t let me live it down. So, it goes both ways.”

Another thing that has impressed Moore about Philips is his ability to create separation.

“The kid’s just been pretty consistent at creating separation. That’s what every quarterback likes, is separation,” Moore said. “And given an opportunity, he’s made some plays. I think the thing that you love about him is that he does love football and he’s always trying to find ways to get better.”

Sometimes college film can lie, but not in the case of Philips. Moore says he sees a lot of the good things the rookie did at UCLA on the practice field now, including the things that make a wide receiver elite.

“The quickness, his route imagination, his ability to be able to shape the routes with stems and sets, and all those things that make the elite players who they are,” Moore explained.

Philips, who is also a candidate for punt return duties, has made a very strong case that he deserves at least a fairly significant role out of the gate in 2022.

And, while he was quiet in his preseason debut on Thursday, the rookie will have more opportunities to cement his role in the practices and preseason games in the weeks ahead.

One thing that is for certain, though: Philips is a lock to make this roster.

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Biggest takeaways from Day 11 of Titans training camp

Titans WR Kyle Philips had another strong day of practice on Saturday.

The Tennessee Titans returned to the practice field on Saturday for their 11th practice of training camp, and the first since their preseason-opening loss to the Baltimore Ravens on Thursday night.

Things are about to pick up this week, as the Titans will trim their roster down from 90 to 85 on Tuesday. After that, Tennessee will have a pair of joint practices with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers before the pair meets on Saturday night in preseason Week 2.

The Titans got both good and bad news on the injury front, as cornerback Elijah Molden returned to practice, but there were also a handful of notable Titans who did not take part in the session.

Ahead of practice, the Titans announced the signings of cornerback Deante Burton and tight end David Wells, both of whom made their practice debuts on Saturday.

Here’s a look at the rest of the takeaways from Saturday’s session.

Unnamed Titan admits issues with covering WR Kyle Philips in practice

An unnamed member of the Titans admitted the defense is having problems covering Kyle Philips.

Tennessee Titans 2022 fifth-round pick and wide receiver Kyle Philips has been one of the team’s biggest standouts of training camp thus far, and especially among the rookies.

Philips entered the NFL with a fair amount of hype despite being a late-round pick, as he was seen as a promising slot receiver prospect who was already fairly polished as a route-runner.

And the Titans are seeing that first hand in practice, as one unnamed member of the team admitted to ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler that the defense hasn’t been able to figure out how to cover Philips in practice yet.

Someone with the Titans told me this about Kyle Phillips, a fifth-round receiver out of UCLA: “We haven’t quite figured out a way to cover him yet.” Phillips is very quick out of the slot and is earning some first-team looks with his play. Tennessee wants him to be a little quicker with his decision-making, but that will come.

As if we needed another reason to be excited about the UCLA product.

The rookie has not only been impressing with his individual play in camp, he also seems to be developing a really good chemistry with quarterback Ryan Tannehill, who is trusting Philips early on.

It hasn’t been all sunshine and rainbows for Philips, who has had his miscues with Tannehill in practice. However, the rookie has shown great maturity in taking accountability for his mistakes.

“On that one play, I had a mental error,” Philips said, according to AtoZ Sports Nashville. “The ball was supposed to go to me, so I really let the team down. It was third down in the red zone; that’s a huge play for the team, so I let the whole team down. Ryan [Tannehill] talked to me, and we corrected it. We’ll come back to it, execute it, and score a touchdown.”

Philips is well on his way to earning a significant role with the Titans in his first season, but first he’ll have to show out in live-game action during the preseason, which begins on Thursday night.

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7 Titans creating positive buzz at training camp

A look at seven Titans who have created positive buzz in training camp so far.

Training camp for the 2022 Tennessee Titans is well underway and there’s been plenty of positive buzz going around during the first week-plus of practices.

After dealing with multiple injury-riddled and/or ineffective rookie draft classes the past two years, it’s been nice to see practically the entire class making their presence felt in some capacity.

The rookies aren’t the only ones who have stood out early in camp, though. Tennessee also has plenty of veteran players who are preparing for the upcoming season by practicing at a high level on a daily basis.

With the Titans approaching their third week of training camp, we’re going to highlight players who have been garnering a lot of positive publicity as of late thanks to their performances on the practice field.

With all that said, let’s take a closer look at seven players who have stood out the most since since training camp began.

Delanie Walker: Kyle Philips will be Titans’ breakout player in 2022

Former Titans TE Delanie Walker is high on Kyle Philips ahead of his rookie season.

Tennessee Titans rookie wide receiver Kyle Philips has impressed his teammates and the coaching staff through the first week-plus of training camp.

During the week, the UCLA product was given looks with the first team, getting meaningful reps with quarterback Ryan Tannehill. The transition wasn’t perfect, though, as Philips missed an assignment, leading to some frustration from the veteran quarterback on Thursday.

However, the young receiver showed maturity by holding himself accountable for the miscue and corrected it later in the session.

It’s safe to say that the 23-year-old wideout is progressing much faster than the coaching staff thought when they selected him in the fifth round of this year’s draft.

Aside from current staff and players, Philips has caught the attention of former Titans tight end Delanie Walker, who tweeted, “[Kyle Philips] will be our breakout player hands down” in response to this clip of a great back-shoulder connection between Philips and Tannehill in practice.

Needless to say, Philips came into camp with an enormous opportunity to carve out a role for himself with the uncertain situation at wide receiver.

He’s getting reps with the ones now, but that wasn’t always the plan, according to head coach Mike Vrabel.

“Yeah, I wouldn’t say [that was the plan],” Vrabel said of Philips getting first-team reps at this point, via John Glennon of Sports Illustrated. “The plan is to come out here and define a role for yourself to help develop a team. There were some things that he did well today and some mistakes that he made.”

As for what he’s done well, Vrabel was quick to respond.

“He’s a player that gets open. I think he’s an instinctive player that can play inside. All those guys (slot receivers) have to have some level of instinctiveness,” he added.

With a strong training camp and showing in the preseason, Philips could be the starting slot receiver come Week 1 against the New York Giants. At the very least, he’s doing enough to be involved in the offense in 2022.

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