Drake London Loomed Large: Defensive Review of Titans in Georgia

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FLOWERY BRANCH, Ga. – Vegas has the Falcons over-under at 7.5 and they’ve got the play-makers and the schedule to get there.
 
The Titans made them look better than that on Tuesday at a joint practice, where Cam Ward was not particularly accurate and the defense got hit by some unfamiliar runs and gave up a lot of plays to Drake London, particularly in the middle of the field.

Tennessee Titans linebacker Oluwafemi Oladejo (7) runs drills with Atlanta Falcons guard Joshua Gray (67) during an NFL joint football practice on Tuesday, Aug. 12, 2025, in Flowery Branch, Ga. (AP Photo/Brynn Anderson)
Femi Oladejo works against the Falcons/ ASSOCIATED PRESS

Chig Okonkwo said he was concerned by a slow start that was a repeat of how the Titans got going in a practice against the Buccaneers in Tampa Bay last week. 
 
Said Jarvis Brownlee, who came to rate things as “bullshit:” "We’ve got to be more productive, bring more energy.”
 
The Titans have a lot to review and consider as they prepare for a second session here Wednesday.

I watched mostly the defense, as Ward went six-for-10 in seven-on-seven, throwing a pick in that period and another in team on a tip thrown into tight coverage. Word was Elic Ayomanor has a tentative morning.
 
The second-team defense had no break at quarterback with veteran Kirk Cousins taking over for Michel Penix with the twos.
 
Moments on defense.
 
In one-on-one passing, Penix and Cousins found their man on 14 of 23 attempts with two drops, one breakup by Jermari Harris on a ball for DJ Chark and a flag against Harris on a ball for Kyle Pitts.  

In seven-on-seven, after a Penix throw away, Cody Barton quickly announced his presense, as the linebacker ripped a a sidearm throw from Penix over the middle to Ray-Ray McCloud free but McCloud quickly recovered it himself. 
 
London’s dominant day began with a comeback catch on Brownlee and then a catch inside Barton in the middle. Most of London’s work was in the middle of the field, often with Barton pulled outside to cover Bijan Robinson and others slow to collapse on the big receiver in space. On some of those Femi Oladejo stayed with his rush too long, failing to recognize the situation when he might have dropped to help or stoped and had a chance to bat a pass.
 
“I wasn’t sticking him,” Brownlee said. “If I was sticking him, there wasn;’t no space. I play the boundary. If he come on the boundary, I’m going to stick him. If hre goes on the other side, that’s on him. 
 
“I went against him (a little), we got some good work. He caught a good ball on me, across the middle, a slant. (Not the one mentioned.) I kind of jumped, a slant. He’s a good player. It was great work.”
 
Penix completed his seven-on-seven reps with a lovely floated ball up the right side to Robinson over the mismatched Cedric Gray for an easy long TD.
 
From there it was team periods mixed with some special teams.
 
Team period one:
 
London caught a ball after a free release in the middle in a soft spot between Brownlee and Amani Hooker.
 
Penix had good time and threw to Casey Washington up the left side with no corner around and Hooker in pursuit.
 
On an inside run, I missed the back, newcomer Blake Lynch delivered a nice hit.
 
Jihad Ward and Mike Brown combined on another nice run stop of Jashaun Corbin.

 Team period two:
 
Jeffery Simmons got in the backfield against Penix and disrupted a play, forcing an incompletion.
 
Penix threw one over London, who was with Brownlee, but the timing was off and London didn’t turn to find the ball.
 
Deep right completion to McCloud that beat Darrell Baker, Hooker couldn’t get over in time to help.
 
Three Titans rallied to the ball to shut down a check-down by Cousins to the left side to back Nathan Carter.
 
Team period three:
 
Started with a play-action where Penix hit London in between several defenders in the middle.
 
Two plays later, London started form the left side, quick throw to the long strider, another easy catch with room.
 
Run to the left, Simmons delivered a casual, powerful shoulder to stop the back in his tracks.
 
Sebastian Joseph-Day got in the backfield and blew up a run play.
 
Running backs always finish runs, which can sometimes make it hard to tell if a guy has been stopped or slowed All three of these periods also featured what looked to be good runs by Atlanta.
 
“There were a lot of different runs that I never saw,” said Simmons, who did make several big stops. They were doing things today that we probably didn’t see before. That’s the reason why we watch tape.”
 
The Titans will surely see new stuff in Denver in Week 1 and have to be able to react on the fly.
 
Team period four, move the ball:
 
Neither Penix nor Cousins drove the Falcons to points or particularly close. 
 
Robinson was featured heavily with Penix but the QB ultimately stepped up and ran into Barton to end his series and Cousin’s ended with a high throw in the middle that Chris Blair could not reach.
 
Full team, all eyes:
 
Practice concluded with a couple of series of ones versus ones on one field, and you’d call it all defensive wins. 
 
The Falcons had one good completion before winding up in third-and-a-mile and failing to convert.
 
Ward threw for Ayomanor and the ball got tipped high by AJ Terrell and p[picked by Jessie Bates.
 
Atlanta’s Lenny Krieg tried a 52-yard field goal and hit it low, missing miserably wide left.

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Darrell Baker also didn't have a good day, and the Titans are really counting on him.

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