NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Peter Skoronski looks thicker and stronger, but while he said after Tuesday’s OTA practice that he has made gains he downplayed that they are big strides.
Rather, he is completely back in form after the appendectomy after Week 1 of his rookie season that dropped his weight when he pretty much didn’t eat for a week and never got back to himself as he played out the year. Now the No. 11 pick in the 2023 draft has a new comfort level working under Bill Callahan.
“He’ll get on us,” Skoronski said. “We grind out there as you guys saw today. There is definitely an intensity to it. There is definitely a way he wants things done. So everyone is kind of adjusting to that, learning that. His results speak for themselves so I think we’re all kind of bought in on it too. …There is a rhyme and a reason to everything.”
With the perspective of a year in the league and a year at guard, he said his comfort level is night and day from 2023. He also has better surroundings with cerebral, veteran center Lloyd Cushenberry on his right and a bigger more physical tackle in LC Latham on his left.
Skoronski has been more intentional about pass protection so far this offseason, concerning his hands and posture.
“I feel like that’s something that kind of got away from me toward the end of the year,” he said. “So I’ve definitely been trying to focus in a little more on that. Having Bill here, he’s been big on that too. We spend a lot of time doing that too, especially hands.”
First impression from Boyd: Tyler Boyd broke down nicely as a target for Will Levis in drills.
Then he talked about how the Titans' receivers can be a complementary group for the second-year quarterback.
“As long as we can all feed off each other and just complement each other, I think that’s what’s going to take us to that level,” he said. “We all can play. It’s how do we complement each other, how do we do things, off of each other, how can I help (Calvin) Ridley, drag the nickel down and free him up to get open??
DeAndre Hopkins said he’s got a very good feeling about the Titans receivers that start with him, Calvin Ridley and Boyd.
“I think this is one of the best receiver groups that I’ve had the chance to play with, on paper,” he said. “Obviously I can come up here and say a bunch but we haven’t played a game yet. So we’ll see how it goes once we hit the field.”
Hopkins said he was excited too, that there was a double move included on the first day of install, the sort of intricacy that usually doesn’t arrive so quickly. He’s a fan of Ja’Marr Higgins and Tee Higgins and overall he thinks Tennessee’s passing offense will be able to replicate the Bengals' passing game success.
Just how deep the Titans are at receiver will depend on how well current No. 4 Treylon Burks performs. Hopkins was very enthusiastic about him.
Missing: Among players who were not on the field for practice were Jeffery Simmons, Harold Landry, L’Jarius Sneed, T’Vondre Sweat, Nicholas Petit-Frere and Jaelyn Duncan.
Brian Callahan said some were in the building rehabbing and he wouldn’t differentiate those from any who might be absent.
I think it's a mistake to keep everyone who's out of sight in one basket. Fans don't do a good job of giving guys the benefit of the doubt and if they incorrectly presume a guy is not in the building he suffers unfairly for it.
If guys are here, the Titans should say they are here. If guys are here and the team isn't saying so, they'd do well for themselves to get a selfy out on social media -- post a pic in the locker room or the hot tub or the parking lot or something.
In the course of further conversation, Callahan did reveal that Petite-Frere and Sweat were rehabilitating.
Additionally, Elijah Molden, Jarvis Brownlee and Kenneth Murray worked on a side field. Molden and Brownlee joined drills near the end of the session.
The absence of NPF and Duncan made room for a deep entry on the depth chart at right tackle. I leave you to the process of elimination since I’m not supposed to say, but it was not anyone who qualifies as a guard.
Punt returns: rookie Jha’Quan Jackson, Mason Kinsey, Kyle Philips, Kearis Jackson, Eric Garror and Sam Schnee fielded punts early on. I saw Jackson drop one.
NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- The NFLPA is getting out word Monday that it’s reimagining an NFL offseason that would eliminate spring OTAs, trading them for a longer training camp ramp-up to the season, partly to try to reduce injuries.
