NASHVILLE, Tenn. – The deep strike connection that’s supposed to come as part of the four-year, $90 million contract with $50 million guaranteed the Titans gave Calvin Ridley was absent in Wednesday’s joint practice with the Seahawks.
Following the preseason debut of Will Levis with Ridley, when short catch-and-run for a 22-yard gain was the highlight, the quarterback looked twice for Ridley deep against Seattle.
Both times Ridley looked uncertain and the ball fell to the ground a bit beyond him and Riq Woolen, who covered him well for the better part of 2.5 hours.
“Not that good today, could be a little better, man,” Ridley said. “Just finishing the route, just I could be better.
Asked specifically about the two failed deep shots… [Unlocked]
“I got past the guy but I’m like, I don’t know, my energy man," he said. "It wasn’t there a little bit. I just wasn’t finishing, running hard enough. Then the ball would come out and I was like, ‘Damn, it’s out there.’ I’ve just got to run full speed all the time. …”
“We’ve got this. I’ve just got to run and get there. It’s literally right there. A little bit more strain, that’s really it.
We’re 25 days away from the season opener in Chicago, so the Levis-Ridley connection, which was an issue previously, still has time to build and it’s early to be overly concerned.
Still hearing the receiver with the seventh-biggest total contract and the 15th-biggest guarantee in the NFL need to remind himself to “run full speed all the time” is a bit disconcerting. Doing so it a full-time expectation at practice.
“I’ve got to watch the first one, I’ve got an idea of what might have happened, but I can’t speak on it, Levis said. “The next one I’ve just got to put it on him – new route, new concept, something that we’re just now sort of trying out. We’re right there. I know we are and I know we’re going to make those throws when the season comes.
“Just got to keep working them, got to keep trusting him, he’s got to keep trusting me.”
The Titans also failed to connect on their third deep ball attempt, when Treylon Burks pulled up as he ran up the right sideline, then tried to resume his route and pulled up a second time with a severe limp. That was near the end of practice and he went straight into the building with trainers, later to return to record a radio interview.
#Titans WRs vs. #Seahawks CBs. pic.twitter.com/xmVnEtEqX8
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As he headed back inside, he echoed Brian Callahan: “Not a hamstring just a cramp,” he said.
Burks was pretty good overall, largely against 2023 first-rounder Devon Witherspoon, a nice development while Ridley struggled with more than the deep balls, fighting a ball on an in-cut during seven-on-seven and dropping it with Tyrice Knight trailing him.
In place of long throws, the Titans got big plays from Jha’Quan Jackson, who took short passes for long TDs in both seven-on-seven and team drills working with the second team and Mason Rudolph.
On the first, he popped to the middle from the left, collected the pass at full speed and outraced the defense to the left side and down the sideline.
The second was a little longer-developing. On the first play from scrimmage in a series, he caught the ball about eight or 10 yards from the line and probably accelerated better for a 75-yard TD.
“It’s just going back to our training,” he said. “If you go back to our indi(vidual) drills, coach Tyke (Tolbert) always has us going down the line, catching the ball going full speed and running through the catch instead of slowing down.”
Doing that helps him break arm tackles.
Jackson is in a fight for a roster spot with other slot types Kyle Philips, Mason Kinsey and Kearis Jackson behind Tyler Boyd. Stacking a quality day on top of his 26-yard punt return against the 49ers has him in a great spot right now.
“Two catch and runs cutting across versus man, beating the post safety across the field, that’s special,” Levis said. “It’s really cool to see.”
The Titans ran roughly 76 offensive plays and only took those three shots.
It left me thinking about Brian Callahan talking about explosive plays when he first arrived, but recently, he has been leaning heavily on completion percentage, which means safer plays.
“A lot of it has to do with down and distance,” he said. “We got in some spots kind of second and longsome areas where some of those play-action explosives don’t make as much of a difference, they’re playing shell defenses and they’re not letting anything behind them. So it’s a little bit down-and-distance predicated, but yeah, there are some times I’d like to get a few more called in practice.
“We’re trying to get some runs off … Some of the play-calling is a little bit strategic when we’re trying to get looks at certain things with certain guys. That's not to say we won’t have explosive plays and play-action shots when we get going. But I’d say it’s twofold: Didn’t get many of them called and trying to get more evaluation up front in the run game.”
Callahan said that deep connection is never a linear process. Some days are great and other days they have to go look at why they missed and come back trying to fix it.
Ridley said he’s not at all concerned about his deep sync with Levis.
“We’ve got it down,” he said. “We’ve just got to run. We’ve just got to run. We’ve got it down. I promise we’ve got it down.”