Titans injury report: L’Jarius Sneed, Ernest Jones do not practice

The Tennessee Titans released their first injury report for Week 7 and multiple starters sidelined with injury.

The Tennessee Titans returned to the practice field to start preparing for their Week 7 match-up against the Buffalo Bills and it provided an opportunity to see where several of the team’s injured players are at.

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Prior to the start of practice, head coach Brian Callahan already noted that DT Keondre Coburn (knee) and RB Tyjae Spears (hamstring) would not be taking part in any type of activity and did not seem optimistic about their availability. 

Joining Coburn and Spears on the sideline were WR DeAndre Hopkins (NIR/rest), CG L’Jarius Sneed (quad), and LB Ernest Jones (illness). WR Treylon Burks (knee), QB Will Levis (shoulder), LB Kenneth Murray (NIR/rest), and DT Jeffery Simmons (NIR/rest) were limited.

LB Cedric Gray was a full participant as he entered his second week of practice after having his return from injured reserve window opened. 

The Titans’ Wednesday injury report can be found below:

Did not participate: RB Tyjae Spears (hamstring), Keondre Coburn (knee), CB L’Jarius Sneed (quad), LB Ernest Jones (illness), and WR DeAndre Hopkins (NIR/rest)

Limited participant: WR Treylon Burks (knee), QB Will Levis (shoulder), LB Kenneth Murray (NIR/rest), DT Jeffery Simmons (NIR/rest)

Full participant: LB Cedric Gray (shoulder)

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NFL analyst furious Titans’ Will Levis was rewarded for ‘mediocrity’

NFL analyst Stephen A. Smith blasts Tennessee Titans QB Will Levis over his poor performance on the field and his commercials off the field.

There is no doubt that the Tennessee Titans offense has struggled throughout the 2024 season. Between uneven offensive line play and quarterback Will Levis going backward in his development, the frustrations continue to build each week.

While the coaching staff and players all continue to stand in lockstep behind their young, embattled quarterback, the media has not been so kind. Outspoken analyst Stephen A. Smith is the latest to speak out and he has a valid point.

“How the hell did he get these commercials? See, that’s the problem with America,” Smith said, “we got to stop rewarding mediocrity… How you gonna get a mayonnaise commercial and you playing like that? I mean come on.”

Originally a second-round selection, Levis never seized control of his opportunity to lead the Titans. He leads the NFL in both interceptions and highlight-worthy bonehead plays, as well as mayonnaise commercials. Plus, he sits at the helm of an offense that has grown stale and stagnant in recent weeks.

The Titans cannot win with such a conservative approach if Levis is still making poor decisions and worse throws. At this point, there are no signs of improvement and Titans’ fans are losing faith.

For Levis, he can always fall back on acting if his quarterback career continues to falter; those commercials were his best performances of the season.

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It’s clear: Will Levis is not the answer at quarterback for the Titans

It’s clear: Will Levis is not the guy for the Titans.

It’s clear, Titans fans: Will Levis is not the answer at the quarterback position in Nashville.

Sure, Levis has technically only had four complete games this season, but what we’ve seen so far will be hard, if not impossible, to return from.

The Titans are sitting at 1-4, and Levis is at or near the bottom of the league in almost every passing category. Last year, it was easy to give Levis the benefit of the doubt. The Titans had a terrible offensive line and an uninspiring group of pass-catchers.

That’s exactly why the Titans spent more money in free agency than any other team this offseason. Calvin Ridley, Tyler Boyd, Tony Pollard, and Lloyd Cushenberry were brought in to alleviate some of these issues. How has Levis responded to the improved talent? The QB has played even worse.

Is Will Levis holding the Titans back?

Much of the discourse around Levis in 2023 was that the poor roster was holding him back. Could it be the exact opposite in 2024?

Looking at the Titans’ offense, this is not a roster that should have one of the league’s most anemic offenses. The Titans are 21st in points per game, 31st in passing yards per game, and 22nd in passing touchdowns per game.

Levis averages just 5.6 yards per attempt, putting him behind QBs like Skylar Thompson, Spencer Rattler, Daniel Jones, Andy Dalton, and Drake Maye. The QB is 30th in passing yards with just 699 through four complete games.

Putting up numbers like this with the weapons at Levis’ disposal is inexcusable. DeAndre Hopkins is a future Hall of Famer, who is barely making an impact. In the past, Calvin Ridley has been a 1,000-yard WR who didn’t record a single catch in Week 6.

Finally, Levis’s major problem has been turnovers. Levis leads the league with seven interceptions, even as the quarterback has played two fewer complete games than some passers.

Every game, there’s a head-scratching turnover by the QB. This hasn’t gotten better as the season goes on. It cannot be blamed on the offensive line either, considering Levis wasn’t sacked a single time on Sunday.

Barring the turnaround of a lifetime, it’s clear that Levis is not the answer at QB. The choice now is does the team keep trotting Levis out and hope to land a top pick in the 2025 NFL draft? Or does the team turn to Mason Rudolph and try to salvage a season with a ton of money invested?

 

Titans’ Lloyd Cushenberry on Will Levis: ‘We have to be better around him’

Tennessee Titans QB Will Levis has struggled, but he still has the confidence of the veterans to right the ship.

The fallout from the Tennessee Titans’ 20-17 loss to the Indianapolis Colts continued, as the team fell to 1-4 on the 2024 season, and the offense continued to struggle after the bye week. 

The passing game was almost non-existent, with QB Will Levis again struggling against the Colts. He completed 16 of 27 passes for only 95 yards with one touchdown and one interception in the game and seemed out of sync. After the game, he said his shoulder was still not at 100 percent, and he could not make every throw, and it showed. 

Even with this performance, head coach Brian Callahan stands behind his young signal caller and intends for Levis to be under center moving forward. 

Levis also seems to have support within the locker room moving forward. After the game, veteran center Lloyd Cushenberry said, “We still believe in Will Levis.” And, “We have to be better around him.”

Those two lines have been a constant theme around the locker room, almost mirroring Callahan’s comments perfectly, no matter which player or coach repeats them. Which begs the question, what is the problem with the offense?

Levis seems to be regressing in 2024, and its offensive approach is extremely conservative, especially coming off the bye. One thing is certain: The offense must improve moving forward, or it will be a long season in Nashville.

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Will Levis says lack of arm strength led to interception

Titans quarterback Will Levis discussed his interception after the loss to the Colts on Sunday, saying he’d like to have that throw back.

[lawrence-related id=152027,152014,151929]Tennessee Titans quarterback Will Levis has thrown at least one interception in every single game in 2024. His decision-making has been questionable at best, and he tends to force throws he shouldn’t even be attempting. A prime example of that happened against the Indianapolis Colts on Sunday when Levis lofted a throw in the direction of wide receiver Calvin Ridley.

Not only was the ball underthrown, which allowed Jamie Blackmon to intercept it in the first place, but Ridley was in double coverage and likely wouldn’t have been able to make the grab anyway. Levis was asked if he wanted that throwback after the game on Sunday.

“Yeah, I think I could give myself some more depth away,” Levis said. “Peter came up and told me he got a little push, but I can’t let that be the reason for the pick. But that was one of the throws today where I felt the lack of arm strength or whatever. When I feel like a healthier day, I’m throwing a better ball on more of a line, so it’s frustrating. We were able to get the ball back and make an opportunity after that, we didn’t make it work, but yes, that’s a throw I’d like to have back for sure.”

A healthier day? Levis has been practicing all week and all indications were that he was 100% healthy and ready to go. Clearly this is not the case. And while Levis can blame his arm strength for that interception, it’s really not the cause.

Levis needs to make better decisions. Period. And if he’s not 100% healthy, then he needs to let Mason Rudolph run the offense and watch what a veteran does with Brian Callahan’s scheme.

Titans-Colts Week 6: Offense, defense and special teams snap counts

The Tennessee Titans lost their Week 6 game against the Indianapolis Colts. Here are the snap counts on offense, defense and special teams.

The Tennessee Titans couldn’t hang onto a fourth quarter lead, falling to the Indianapolis Colts, 20-17, on Sunday afternoon at Nissan Stadium.

The game fit a familiar Titans blueprint with the defense playing dominant football, while the offense, outside of the ground game, continued to struggle. There was also the patented Will Levis interception that was entirely avoidable.

In defeat, the Titans fall to 1-4 on the season and third place in the AFC South.

Now let’s take a closer look at the snap counts that contributed to the Titans’ Week 6 loss.

Offensive snaps: 58
Defensive snaps: 70
Special teams snaps: 26

The Titans continued their top-heavy, non-rotational approach against the Colts. 10 of their 11 offensive starters saw 40-plus offensive snaps or 69-plus percent of the snap share.

Defensively, things were no different as all 11 starters saw a minimum of 53 snaps or 76 percent of the snap share. Four players took 100 percent of the snaps, two others took 99 percent of the snaps, and one took 93 percent of the snaps.

This is a non-sustainable approach.

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Calvin Ridley went off on a NSFW rant about his insignificant role in the Titans’ offense

Calvin Ridley is fed up with Brian Callahan and Will Levis.

Call it a hunch, but I’m fairly certain the 1-4 Tennessee Titans have more pressing concerns than a lack of volume for their struggling, supposed No. 1 receiver. Then again, maybe it’s a not-so-small sign that encapsulates everything wrong with head coach Brian Callahan and Will Levis’ operation.

I personally wouldn’t blame Calvin Ridley for being frustrated.

Sunday’s loss to the Indianapolis Colts saw Ridley catch zero passes on eight targets. On the season, the veteran has just nine catches for 141 yards on 19 targets. For whatever reason, the Titans have just not been able to get him involved.

And as Ridley’s NSFW rant after the Indy defeat showed, he’s so fed up.

(Warning: NSFW language in the video below.)

When we boil it down, Ridley is a professional who isn’t contributing much to one of the NFL’s worst teams. This is a perfectly acceptable reaction. From that perspective, I’m a little surprised he didn’t rant earlier.

Will Levis’ ridiculous Spider-Man celly became his latest instant meme

Will Levis was so pumped.

Will Levis is becoming known more for his meme moments on the field than his play this NFL season. But just as he was taking a step toward changing that, with a nine-yard touchdown pass in Sunday’s game against the Indianapolis Colts, the second-year quarterback couldn’t help himself.

He made himself into another meme.

Levis celebrated the touchdown with what appears to be a Spider-Man web-shooter celebration that can only be described as ridiculous.

https://twitter.com/JordanDajani/status/1845517577289675042

The celebration is the latest in a line of things Levis has gone viral for, though this one at least followed something positive for the Tennessee Titans — unlike Levis’ Week 1 surrender cobra after an interception or when his coach chewed him out the following week for a pointless shovel pass turnover.

The internet was thrilled to get another Levis meme Sunday.

https://twitter.com/MySportsUpdate/status/1845523809996087299

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https://twitter.com/BengalYouTube/status/1845521189248156077

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Titans’ final injury report for Week 6: Jamal Adams out against Colts

The Tennessee Titans released their final injury report for their Week 6 match-up against the Colts and appear healthy coming off their bye.

The Tennessee Titans will return to the field against the Indianapolis Colts on Sunday afternoon at Nissan Stadium

Coming off their bye, the Titans are remarkably healthy. Although they will be without two defenders this week. S Jamal Adams (hip) and DT Keondre Coburn (knee) are the players with an injury designation. 

LB Cedric Gray, whose practice window opened early in the week, was not activated to the active roster and is also out after a full week of practice. 

DT Jeffery Simmons (elbow) and QB Will Levis (shoulder) practiced again and have no injury designation.

Full injury reports for both the Titans and Colts can be found below.

Tennessee Titans

Out: S Jamal Adams (hip), DT Keondre Coburn (knee), Cedric Gray (shoulder)

Doubtful: N/A

Questionable: N/A

Indianapolis Colts

Out: RB Jonathan Taylor (ankle)

Doubtful: N/A

Questionable: WR Josh Downs (toe), CB Kenny Moore II (shoulder, hip), WR Michael Pittman (back), QB Anthony Richardson (oblique), OT Braden Smith (knee, ankle)

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Titans vs. Colts: 3 reasons for optimism in Week 6

The Tennessee Titans take on the Indianapolis Colts this Sunday in Week 6 and here are three reasons for optimism.

The Tennessee Titans are preparing to face the Indianapolis Colts on Sunday at Nissan Stadium in Nashville. The Titans (1-3) are coming off their bye after notching their first victory to close out Week 4 against the Miami Dolphins.

The Colts (2-3) struggled against the Jacksonville Jaguars in Week 5 and are injured at many skill positions.

There is a lot on the line for both teams and this should be an interesting and important AFC South battle. Here are three reasons for optimism heading into this match-up.

Steve Roberts-Imagn Images

Overall health

The Titans are rested and getting healthier every day. Coming off the bye, the Titans have almost their entire roster ready to go. Quarterback Will Levis is trending upwards with his shoulder injury and defensive tackle Jeffery Simmons appears ready to go after missing their Week 4 victory with an elbow issue. The Colts are battered and have injury questions at multiple skill positions. This should give the Titans an advantage on game day.

Justin Ford/Getty Images

Calvin Ridley

After self-scouting during the bye, multiple coaches on the staff mentioned the importance of getting Calvin Ridley more involved on offense. He has been silent over the past two games and the team needs his dynamic receiving ability to help open the running game. Ridley should have a favorable match-up this week, with fellow receiver DeAndre Hopkins starting to settle back into the top of the room after missing most of training camp with a knee issue. If the Titans can get Ridley involved, which sounds like the focus, the offense can get going and be hard to stop.

Steve Roberts-Imagn Images

Defense keeps rolling

The Titans’ defense has been tremendous in 2024 and are poised to continue building upon their impressive start. With the Colts limping on offense and possibly down multiple starters at all levels, the unit should be ready to impose its will. Quarterback Joe Flacco will make it difficult on them, but the possible loss of running back Jonathan Taylor, wide receiver Josh Downs, and leading receiver Michael Pittman Jr. will make it harder to get the offense going. The Titans’ defense is strong enough to give any team fits, especially one missing top playmakers. This game should give them a solid advantage.

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