Tag: Shane Bowen

Titans’ Shane Bowen says pass rush from OLBs is improving

The Titans have gotten just 1.5 sacks from their outside linebackers this season.

One of the biggest disappointments for the Tennessee Titans this season has been the lack of sacks from their outside linebackers.

Of course, sacks don’t always tell the whole story, but you’d at least like to see some. Instead, the Titans have gotten just 1.5 sacks combined from Jadeveon Clowney (zero), Vic Beasley (zero) and Harold Landry (1.5).

In all, the Titans have seven sacks in six games, tied for the second-fewest in the league.

While things seem to be getting worse and not better — the Titans notched zero sacks in Week 7 for the first time since Week 1 — outside linebackers coach Shane Bowen apparently sees the glass as half-full.

He sees improvement but notes that the Titans need more consistency from the position and must do a better job of winning one-on-one matchups.

The Week 8 contest against the Cincinnati Bengals would seem like a perfect bounce-back spot. The Bengals are tied for the most sacks given up (28) this season and are dealing with multiple injuries up front.

Right tackle Bobby Hart (knee) has already been ruled out, and center Trey Hopkins (concussion) and left tackle Jonah Williams (neck) did not practice on Wednesday — and even when those players have been healthy, the protection for Joe Burrow has not been good.

If Clowney, Beasley and Landry don’t have a field day in Week 8, there will be even more cause for concern than there is now.

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Titans OLB coach Shane Bowen gives update on Vic Beasley

Tennessee Titans outside linebacker Vic Beasley remains on the NFI list.

After reporting to training camp late and being placed on the Non-Football Injury (NFI) list after failing his physical, Tennessee Titans outside linebacker Vic Beasley has yet to participate in practice.

The last news we heard about him came on Friday when Beasley was spotted on a side field during the team’s first full-squad practice.

After Monday’s practice, which was the first padded session of this year’s Titans training camp, outside linebackers coach Shane Bowen gave somewhat of an update on Beasley, per Erik Bacharach of the Tennessean.

“He’s working every day, trying to get himself ready,” Bowen said. “He’s been engaged, seeing him starting to get a little bit more comfortable. But there’s a learning process like everyone else.”

Beasley is quickly running out of time to get acclimated. The Titans have 13 more padded practices before the start of the season, and the more time he misses the more likely he won’t have a significant role from the jump. That wasn’t what the Titans had in mind when they signed him to help improve their pass-rush.

The outside linebacker position, which was one of the biggest areas of need going into the offseason, has been a mess for Tennessee thus far.

Not only are the Titans missing Beasley, they’ve also been without Kamalei Correa, who has yet to participate in any of the team’s full-squad practices. There has been no update on his status as of yet.

It’s scary to think how much the Titans could be depending on the former No. 8 overall pick given his shaky start in Nashville.

Hopefully Correa’s absence doesn’t extend to the start of the season and at least one of the younger guys, like D’Andre Walker or Derick Roberson, can step up and lessen the team’s dependence on Beasley.

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Titans OLB coach Shane Bowen to be Mike Vrabel’s right-hand man

Mike Vrabel gave us some insight into the pecking order of the Titans’ defensive coaching staff.

As we continue to await official confirmation on who will be calling the plays for the Tennessee Titans’ defense in 2020, head coach Mike Vrabel gave some insight into the pecking order of his defensive coaching staff.

During a Zoom call with the media last week, Vrabel revealed that outside linebackers coach Shane Bowen will be his right-hand man when his attention isn’t on the defense.

Of course, this doesn’t confirm that Vrabel will actually be calling the plays, but it does show that Bowen is going to be taking on a larger role than just coaching the outside linebackers.

At the very least, Vrabel is expected to have a bigger hand in how the defense is run, as the Titans decided not to name a defensive coordinator after Dean Pees retired following the 2019 campaign.

The Titans added Jim Haslett to their coaching staff this offseason. A former head coach, Haslett is someone who Vrabel can lean on as well for not only defense, but for overall decision-making over the course of a game.

If Vrabel isn’t the one calling the plays, the Titans could use a committee approach similar to the one New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick has used in the past.

There will undoubtedly be some concerns about Vrabel calling plays and still being able to run the rest of the team, as he’s made some questionable decisions during his tenure when he didn’t have added responsibility.

However, it appears Vrabel has set himself up with a good support system of coaches with experience that he trusts, which should help make things run more smoothly if he’s the one holding the play sheet in 2020.

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