Tag: Will Levis

Titans elevate LB Luke Gifford, RB Jabari Small from practice squad

The Tennessee Titans have elevated LB Luke Gifford and RB Jabari Small from their practice squad ahead of a Week 3 game against the Packers.

The Tennessee Titans are about to take on the Green Bay Packers at Nissan Stadium in Nashville on Sunday and have made some small roster moves in preparation. 

The Titans are elevating linebacker Luke Gifford and running back Jabari Small from the practice squad and he is likely to suit up in the match-up. 

For Gifford, this is his third elevation of the 2024 season. After seeing time on both defense and special teams during the past two games, it is likely that the Titans will sign him to the 53-man roster after this game to continue in this role.  

By NFL rules, a player can only be elevated to the active roster three times during the season. 

Small, who is familiar with the system after spending training camp with the Titans, is likely activated as a precaution in case Tyjae Spears (ankle) can’t go on Sunday. That’s the first elevation for the former undrafted rookie free agent. 

In some news for the Packers, they elevated quarterback Sean Clifford on Saturday. While this does not mean that Jordan Love will not play, it is a potential sign that Titans fans could indeed see a Will Levis vs Malik Willis match-up on Sunday. Stay Tuned!

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Titans vs. Packers: 3 causes for concern

The Titans host the Packers at Nissan Stadium in Week 3 of the 2024 NFL season and there are three causes for concern for the Titans.

The Tennessee Titans host the Green Bay Packers at Nissan Stadium in Nashville on Sunday. The Titans have struggled to open their season, losing both outings thus far. They are improved over last season, but mistakes made by Will Levis at critical points in the game have doomed the outcomes.

The Packers, meanwhile, won their last game after opening their season with a loss, and they did it behind backup quarterback and former Tennessee Titan Malik Willis. Willis is a different quarterback than Jordan Love, but he managed to will his team to a win last week.

The Titans have their work cut out for them with the Packers, regardless of which quarterback plays. Their ground game will challenge the stoutness of the Titans run defense, and the offense has to clean up the mistakes. That said, here are three causes for concern for the Titans this week:

Photo by Justin Ford/Getty Images

Will Levis’ turnover woes

Will Levis has a turnover problem. He’s thrown three interceptions and is responsible for multiple fumbles. The issue with him isn’t necessarily the turnovers themselves, but the timing of them. His mistakes always seem to happen in critical moments when the Titans could swing the momentum in their favor. The Titans have to clean this up

Mandatory Credit: Gary A. Vasquez-USA TODAY Sports

The Josh Jacobs factor

Josh Jacobs is consistently among the top of the running back rankings in the NFL. At 5-feet-10 and 223 pounds, Jacobs is a bulldozer coming down the field and isn’t easy to stop. The only thing aiding the Titans is a nagging back injury that could slow Jacobs down, but he’s going to be a problem on Sunday.

Mandatory Credit: Mike Dinovo-Imagn Images

Turnovers

Will Levis has three interceptions, and the team has lost two fumbles. A punt has been blocked in both games, and if it happens again this week, the Titans will tie a decades-old record. In addition, the Titans have zero takeaways. If that continues, Sunday’s outcome will be the same as it was the last two weeks.

Titans’ Will Levis to change phone number after leak

Tennessee Titans quarterback Will Levis is changing his phone number after he began receiving text from fans this week following a leak.

The life of a professional athlete isn’t always easy, especially for starting quarterbacks. They are constantly in the limelight, grilled about every aspect of their lives both on and off the field, and they’re constantly subjected to social media trolls and nay-sayers looking to get under their skin.

No, most of them don’t have financial worries, but the pressure and scrutiny they face are very real.

As such, phone numbers are guarded like top-secret classified information. No one wants random fans sending messages to them, heckling them, or calling them.

Yet that’s exactly what happened to Tennessee Titans quarterback Will Levis.

https://twitter.com/jwyattsports/status/1836497684242534902

“Yeah, I guess, I think I’m actually going today to get a new phone number. I don’t know how my number got out there to the fans, but I got a lot of texts,” Levis said. “So that will be nice to shut that part of life behind me, and I haven’t opened socials in the last couple weeks, and, yeah, I just think that’s the healthiest way to go about it.

“I don’t want to, or care to see any of the things people say about me. And I’m just going to keep chugging along regardless of what they say. But it sucks that the world is the way that it is, and I’m looking forward to having some privacy.”

Levis hasn’t played well to start the 2024 season, and the Titans have lost consecutive games largely because of mistakes he made during the games. That still doesn’t warrant someone sharing his phone number and people sending him messages he has no business being subjected to.

Let’s be real, Levis is every bit as hard on himself as the fans and coaching staff are on him. He doesn’t need the added rhetoric from fans adding to it, so it’s good he’s getting a new number. Hopefully, no one shares it this time.

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Please stop texting Will Levis’s phone number to berate him, you buffoons

This is NOT OK.

Hey, you. Yeah, you, who’s somehow found Will Levis’s real phone number and called him to tell him some unkind things about his bad quarterback play for the Tennessee Titans.

Not cool.

He’s already hearing it from his coach, Brian Callahan, and now — as Levis revealed on Wednesday — he got a lot of text messages from strangers. It’s because they somehow got his phone number, so he needs to change that now.

Boooo. That’s despicable.

“I’m looking forward to having some privacy,” he told reporters. He’s staying away from social media, too, which is smart.

Here’s that moment from Wednesday:

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NFL analyst: Titans’ Will Levis may take time to come around

Titans quarterback Will Levis is struggling mightily in 2024. One NFL analyst says it will take Levis time to fix what plagues him.

Tennessee Titans quarterback Will Levis has struggled to start 2024. He’s been sacked seven times, thrown three interceptions, and fumbled the ball over the first two games. While there seemed to be improvement in some areas from Week 1 to Week 2, Levis is still making awful mistakes at crucial times in a game.

Levis knows he has things to work on, and head coach Brian Callahan is working with him and the other coaches to correct his struggles. However, one NFL analyst says that this may take some time.

Levis has made two mind-boggling mistakes that significantly contributed to losses. The first was a wild interception that cost the Titans in Week 1. Levis’ mistake on Sunday — when he inexplicably flipped the ball backward toward a teammate while falling to the ground, resulting in a momentum-killing fumble — was arguably worse. Getting Levis to put this habit to bed will be an uphill battle for Titans coach Brian Callahan, who was visibly upset after Tennessee’s loss to the Jets. Levis said he has to “rewire his brain” to not make bad decisions in those situations. It may be an issue that takes a while to fix. — Turron Davenport

If Levis truly has to ‘rewire his brain,’ then this could definitely take some time. Habits take time to form and stick, and they take even longer to unlearn. Levis’ habits aren’t great right now, and it’s good that he’s working on things and the coaches are helping, but how much time are the Titans willing to give him before they give Mason Rudolph a shot?

NFL analyst and former Titans QB rips Brian Callahan on handling of Levis

Another week, another NFL Analyst calls out coach Brian Callahan for comments on quarterback Will Levis.

Tennessee Titans head coach Brian Callahan is still searching for that first win. Heading into Week 3, the team has shown signs. The defense has played well enough to have this team at 2-0 instead of 0-2, but the offense and special teams have let them down. 

While most of the heat has been pointed to Will Levis and his shaky decision-making, the issues on offense go much deeper. The wide receivers are invisible, and the offensive line has not been good. Callahan was hired because of his offensive prowess, so much of this falls squarely on him. 

Again this week, Callahan has been criticized for his handling of Levis. This time, former NFL quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick chimed in on X. 

“Admittedly, don’t know much about him (Callahan), but watching these three clips, especially the press conference clip, made my blood boil.

https://twitter.com/FitzMagic_14/status/1835732235636662404

Fitzpatrick is speaking from experience, and the development of Levis has not gone as expected. Whether you are a Levis fan or not, he may be on to something. Publically beating down a young quarterback will only hasten a decrease in confidence in the young signal caller. 

Maybe Callahan should get in the meeting room and realize Levis is not Joe Burrow at this stage and build a game plan that suits the situation and would limit the decision-making. A great example would be this simple: get the ball out of Levis’ hands quickly with the offensive line struggling.

This is in no way defending Levis’ decisions and plays; some of those are unacceptable. But consistently mentioning Levis and glossing over the other issues is not a great way to develop a young quarterback.

This week, Callahan and the Titans will face a young quarterback who could not make the Titans roster: Malik Willis. After being in Green Bay for a short time, he led the Green Bay Packers to a victory in his first start for injured quarterback Jordan Love and played what was possibly the best game of his young career. 

The Titans will take on the Packers Sunday at Nissan Stadium, and the two young quarterbacks will be at center stage. Callahan hopes, his young quarterback gives him the edge and his first victory as a head coach.

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Titans’ match decades old record of futility

The Tennessee Titans have matched a decades old record during the start to the 2024 campaign.

When general manager Ran Carthon set out to build the Tennessee Titans, he spent a lot of money retooling the roster and adding high-priced free agents. The spending spree sent shockwaves across the league and gave Titans fans a sense of optimism heading into the season. 

Now, after two weeks of uneven performances, the Titans are 0-2, and their offensive production is a big reason. Whether it’s quarterback Will Levis’s unforced errors and poor decisions or the new-look offensive line’s struggle, that side of the ball has not helped their defense. Special teams haven’t been much better, allowing a second blocked punt in as many weeks. 

These performances have been historically bad, as pointed out by Turron Davenport. 

https://twitter.com/TDavenport_NFL/status/1835495996870005096

Right now, the 8-8 record of that 2002 San Diego Chargers team looks out of reach. Not to mention that these signs of futility are wasting the solid defense that has been on display for two weeks. After entering the Jets game with the top-ranked unit, the Titans held the Jets and quarterback Aaron Rodgers in check for the majority of the game. 

Now, the team looks ahead to their matchup with the Green Bay Packers in what is likely to be a low-scoring affair. If the offense and special teams can play mistake-free football, the Titans may be able to give head coach Brian Callahan that first NFL win. If they don’t, it will be another long day for the team.

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Titans’ Will Levis most pressured QB in Week 2

Will Levis was the most pressured quarterback in Week 2, according to NextGen stats, despite being given 2.8 seconds to throw the ball.

[lawrence-related id=150751,150746,150592]Tennessee Titans quarterback Will Levis is taking a ton of heat already in 2024. People expected big things from him this year, especially under new head coach Brian Callahan, who is offensively minded as opposed to former coach Mike Vrabel’s defensive mentality.

As Levis continues to make mistakes, his line isn’t doing him very many favors despite the offseason changes. Against the New York Jets in Week 2, Levis was the NFL’s most pressured quarterback.

https://twitter.com/will_boling/status/1835660654331465990

Now, this stat is based on dropbacks alone. But the Titans also rank 17th in time-to-throw, per NextGen stats. Levis is getting 2.8 seconds to throw the ball, while Kyler Murray of the Arizona Cardinals leads the league with an average time to throw of 3.15 seconds.

That’s not a significant time difference, literally milliseconds, but Murray has completed 73.1% of his passes and has a quarterback rating of 122.9. Levis has completed 63.3% of his passes and has a 67.3 quarterback rating. Those milliseconds matter.

The other part of this that needs exploring is how close the defenders are when Levis is dropping back. Does he really need to drop back like that, or is he stepping back in situations where it might be beneficial to actually step forward? Brian Callahan, Nick Holz, Bill Callahan, and Bo Hardegree need to go over these situational things to see what adjustments need to be made.

Brian Callahan justified ripping Will Levis’ carelessness in public after another boneheaded turnover

Brian Callahan will not stop giving Will Levis tough love.

The Tennessee Titans might have themselves a Will Levis problem. And I don’t mean in the sense that he can’t run a functional offense — he might be able to … to an extent.

I mean that Levis seems to have a penchant for forcing the issue for no good reason. That leads him to make some of the silliest possible turnovers that cost the Titans dearly. During Sunday’s loss against the New York Jets, it was a red-zone fumble on a shovel pass while Levis was getting sacked. (Note to all quarterbacks: Eating the sack sometimes is OK!)

For all intents and purposes, Levis might be the funniest NFL quarterback to watch right now. Except Titans head coach Brian Callahan isn’t laughing.

One week after Callahan publicly blasted Levis for throwing a devastating, game-losing pick-six to the Chicago Bears, the coach was caught on camera asking an NSFW question to Levis after his silly shovel fumble. And when asked to clarify his thoughts about Levis’s latest foolish turnover after the game, Callahan doubled down on harshly critiquing his quarterback in public.

I’m not sure this will end the way Callahan hopes it will:

I understand Callahan’s plan. He’s trying to institute more of a “tough love” principle with a still-developing young quarterback. But let me tell you this. Levis is a human being. And human beings, especially extremely athletic ones playing in massive multi-billion dollar sports leagues, usually don’t respond well to being thrown to the wolves by the person who is supposed to be their mentor and best friend. They’re already under so much pressure to succeed. They need someone in their corner more than anything.

Maybe Levis will eventually respond to Callahan’s public criticisms with a sparkling, dominant performance. He might be tougher than I think. It can happen! But to me, Callahan is playing with fire. The more likely outcome with Levis is the quarterback continuing to unnecessarily press out of stress and a belief that he now has to prove himself even more.

Callahan may well come to regret this approach soon enough.

Titans’ Callahan on Levis fumble: ‘It was dumb’

Tennessee Titans coach Brian Callahan was highly frustrated with the decisions made by Will Levis in the 24-17 loss to the Jets.

This seems like a broken record, but once again, the Tennessee Titans lost a game they could have won. This week, the Titans fell 24-17 to the New York Jets, much the same way they lost their opener.

Not only did they waste another strong defensive outing, but they also gave up another blocked punt. Once again, Will Levis made more mistakes than the team could overcome.

Levis had another rough day, finishing with 192 passing yards, one touchdown, and one interception while losing a fumble and taking four sacks. But the heart of the matter is when and how these mistakes happen. 

“It was dumb. It was the same exact thing he did last week,”  Callahan said.

https://twitter.com/CoachspeakIndex/status/1835473635915505794

“He cost us points in the red zone,” head coach Brian Callahan said after the game, “He’s a grownup, he knows better, and I was really irritated he cost us three points in a game that we probably needed it.”

Callahan is right. A week after having his decision-making questioned, Levis attempted to shovel the ball to a running back while going to the ground, resulting in a game-changing fumble. Taking a sack would have likely led to a field goal, extending the Titans’ lead at the time. 

https://twitter.com/SamMonsonNFL/status/1835376792091177346

Callahan had no idea what Levis was thinking, and neither did Levis. 

“Ask him, he didn’t have an answer, in the moment,” Callahan stated when asked about what Levis had to say about the play. 

The Titans have shown they have a top-flight defense, but if Levis cannot improve and start making basic plays, it is going to be a long season for Tennessee. Right now, Levis appears to be safe, but one has to wonder how long Callahan sticks with the erratic young quarterback that hasn’t made a good decision in two weeks. 

Levis will have a chance to make another statement this Sunday when the Titans take on the Green Bay Packers at Nissan Stadium.