NASHVILLE, Tenn. – While Derrick Henry was the last line of defense on a couple plays early in the Titans’ loss at Pittsburgh, he wasn’t guilty of missed assignments that created the pressures.

“That’s not pass protection,” Henry said, speaking of a play where Luke Stocker and Dennis Kelly doubled an edge defender and Stephon Tuitt sliced in. “I was covering for Luke, because he had the lineman on the outside and I was going back out...

“I should have seen Tuitt, but I was looking at the safety. He got up on me fast because he came scot-free… That’s not my guy.

Coming in ????. pic.twitter.com/rKunxJtLBq

— Pittsburgh Steelers (@steelers) August 25, 2018

“Pass protection is keying your guys and picking them up.”

Mike Vrabel said problems up front needs to be corrected so Henry or the running back don’t wind up in those situations.

NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Marcus Mariota had a solid rookie year, a good second year and a disappointing third year.

He led an offense missing his top two targets, Delanie Walker and Rishard Matthews, to touchdowns in two of three series in the Titans’ first two preseason games.

And then he and the Titans produced a dud in Pittsburgh Saturday, lowlighted by a miss of a wide-open Corey Davis where the QB and the receiver didn’t think the same when they came across an uncovered situation.

He and Davis both took blame Saturday, per Jim Wyatt.

A day later, Mike Vrabel said it was his fault, that both players should be coached to have an automatic response in such a situation.

I know we’re quick to judge and that we always put a lot on what happened most recently.

By BLAKE BEDDINGFIELD, special contributor

NASHVILLE, Tenn. --Scouting notes from Titans preseason game No. 3, a 16-6 loss in Pittsburgh that came and went without the improvement that the team was looking for:

The starting offense was not sharp, it was unable to compete with the Steelers' defense.

The offensive line struggled to block Stephen Tuitt who hit Mariota twice.

Josh Kline was whipped on the first play of the game by Tuitt, who bull-rushed him right into the running back and the quarterback.

On the second play and the first sack, to the eye it looked like Derrick Henry missed the pickup of Tuitt, but after reviewing the play that was a miscommunication on the offensive line. The entire offensive line slide left except Dennis Kelly, who picked up the blitzing linebacker with the tight end, which left Henry one-on-one with Tuitt. In that protection, Henry is responsible for the Mike LB blitz pick-up and Kelly should have slide left to pick up Tuitt. After the play Kline immediately looked to Kelly for explanation.

NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- Something on everyone from the Titans' 16-6 loss in Pittsburgh Saturday afternoon.

3 K Austin Barnard – Punted twice for 97 yards with a new average of 41.5

4 K Ryan Succop – Didn’t have a placekick to attempt as the Titans went for 2 after their only score. Hit two kickoffs, one for 59 yards and the other for 65.

6 K Brett Kern – Punted four times for a 39.8 net with one inside the 20 and a long of 53.

7 QB Blaine Gabbert – Got into a good rhythm at times. Hitting on 16 of 24 passes for 158 yards with a touchdown. Was fortunate one ball was not intercepted. Was unfortunate that Cameron Batson stepped out of bounds before making a catch that had a chance to be an explosive TD catch-and-run. Stood in and took a hit from Tyson Alualu just after releasing a 3-yard touchdown throw to Anthony Firkser.

8 QB Marcus Mariota – Really did not look sharp. One short incomplete to an open Corey Davis forced a punt and found Mariota hand gesturing to the receiver as they started their conversation leaving the field. Finished five-of-eight for 43 passing yards with a bad pick where target Taywan Taylor simply wasn’t open. He responded by making a nice form tackle of rookie safety Terrell Edmunds. In the end, he hit nothing longer than 12 yards and a passer rating of 37.0.

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NASHVILLE, Tenn. – When we last saw Tajae Sharpe as part of the Titans’ regular season roster, he was a rookie starting wide receiver.

Given that workload, he wasn’t asked to play any special teams.

Ideally, for the Titans now in his third year, he’d be the fourth receiver at best. And the fourth wide receiver needs to play on special teams.

Sharpe isn’t the only guy adjusting to a new request.

Second-round pick Harold Landry will surely start Saturday in Pittsburgh on defense, but he may still get special-teams work.

By BLAKE BEDDINGFIELD, special contributor

NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- The most important game for the players, coaches and personnel department has arrived.

It is time for the team to focus now on players that will be healthy and prepared to play in Week 1 On Sept. 9 against the Miami Dolphins.

Positions that are set going into Week 1 of the regular season: Quarterback, running back, tight end, offensive line, cornerback, specialists.

Positions that need to be finalized this week: Receiver starters and depth, defensive line depth and rotations, inside linebacker starters, outside linebacker starters, safety depth.

Rishard Matthews will need time before he is healthy and can contribute for this team. Even if he is ready to play in the opener, he will only be able to play limited snaps. 

Corey Davis must produce right now and Taywan Taylor is going to play an increased role.

NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Titans receiver Rishard Matthews is working his way back from a torn meniscus but could be in line to come off PUP as early as next week, sources told PaulKuharsky.com.

He’s not alone in his recovery from the knee procedure as Derrick Morgan suffered a similar injury against Tampa Bay on Aug. 18.

Morgan could have a chance at being ready for the season opener in Miami on Sept. 9 but it appears to be less likely he can return in that span. Another person with knowledge of the injury said it could be a four-to-five week recovery.

Matthews’ surgery was performed in the first week of August, while Morgan's was recent. He played16 snaps on defense and one on special teams Saturday night against the Buccaneers at Nissan Stadium.

NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Chad Withrow, inventor of the “Let's Bang Hats” slogan on The Midday 180 ,recently sparked an idea when he said he’d run here to read a piece ranking the Titans by smartest to least smart.

Not eager to make (more) enemies and admitting I don’t have a full read on everyone’s intelligence, I spun the idea into something a bit different, talking to 38 guys in the locker room and asking them who the smartest guy in their positional meetings rooms is.

Some of the results were surprising, some predictable.

I had only two guidelines for the question. 1) Guys couldn’t vote for themselves. 2) When they asked if I meant football smart or book smart or street smart I told them they got to define smart for themselves.

I skipped quarterbacks. I’m thinking Marcus Mariota would have won it and a three-man position group wasn’t enough to work with.