NASHVILLE, Tenn. – The Titans’ physicality extends everywhere on their team.

We aren’t going to find a lot of finesse at receiver.

I’ve gotten questions about Treylon Burks testing the limits with push-offs in some of the camp highlights that have hit social media.

Mike Vrabel is giving the rookie and everyone in the group a great deal of latitude when it comes to their interactions with defensive backs.

NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Among the new players on the field for the Titans in camp, defensive lineman DeMarcus Walker doesn’t rate highly in the profile department.

But he’s working at a position where there are really only two roster locks in Jeffery Simmons and Denico Autry, and the Titans regard Autry as an outside linebacker in many ways.

DeMarcus Walker knifes through teammates during a defensive line drill.

At 6-foot-4, 280-pounds, Walker isn’t going to be the nose tackle, but he could easily be the next guy at tackle or end after Simmons and Autry while the Titans sort through the rest of their young options at a position where they finished last season carrying six players on the active roster.

NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- Hi there. 

It was time for us to get together for one of our excellent, in-depth conversations about the team you love.

You bright a ton of questions and we went as in-depth as ever. Mike Herndon made a brief appearance as well.

You can rewatch it at the private Facebook page or simply head below.

By MIKE HERNDON, columnist

The Titans' defense made an enormous leap in performance last season and largely carried the team to the 12-5 record it earned while a hobbled offense took multiple steps back.

The defense jumped from 24th in points allowed in 2020 to sixth in 2021 and from 29th in defensive DVOA to 12th.

Pool photo/ Donald Page, Tennessee Titans

If you asked most followers of the team for the catalyst behind that improvement, an improved pass rush that jumped from an anemic 19 sacks in 2020 to 43 sacks in 2021 as the primary driver.

A few weeks ago, SharpFootballAnalysis.com ruffled some two-tone feathers by ranking the Titans' defensive line and linebackers as the 20th best front-7 in the NFL coming into the 2022 season.

NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Not only does Mike Vrabel not want to harp on last year, he hardly wants to reference it.

I’m not talking about harping on the 12-5 division-winning regular season of the crushing divisional-round playoff loss to the Bengals as the No. 1 seed.

Racey McMath, who had a big day Tuesday

It’s the elements of what the Titans didn’t do well or may have done very well that made me wonder: How do a coach and his staff who’ve got things they clearly need to address from the prior season heading into the next season do so without really referencing where they come from?

NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Ryan Tannehill showed off some quality play recall Monday afternoon.

Asked about rookie slot receiver Kyle Phillips, Tannehill described a Saturday rep the fifth-rounder ran versus man coverage where he lost his defender at the top and won by seven yards.

The most interesting thing about the quarterback’s recollection of the play: he was not the guy dropping back and surveying the field for it.

“I think Logan (Woodside) was taking that rep with him,” Tannehill said.

NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Starting Wednesday we will add a new voice to PaulKuharsky.com, as Mike Herndon will begin a weekly column.

Herndon has been writing excellent, unique pieces on the Titans for some time but he’s been underplayed. I’m happy to give him a bigger platform where he can have a bigger spotlight.

He’s a big fan of the team, which obviously makes him quite different from me. But he won’t be writing as a fan here – you know that doesn’t fit with what I do.

He will offer us excellent analytical and insight, and he’s got a way of spotting and seeing things the rest of us don’t and putting them in context. So we will all benefit from getting to see the team through his eyes on a regular basis.

NASHVILLE, Tenn. – On the fifth day the Titans are resting before the return to camp, put on pads and start hitting.

Let’s review some developments and observations through four ramp-up practices.

© George Walker IV / Tennessean.com / USA TODAY NETWORK

Burks: After he was out of shape for rookie camp, OTAs and minicamp, he came back thinner and fitter and he’s been quite good. Asthma is not an issue now, which tells us more, I think, about how it was conditioning. (He said as much.)  And he’s noticeably thinner, which says to me it’s more than the five or six pounds he said.