Hey Tennessee Titans, don't play Ryan Tannehill in final preseason game vs Patriots | Estes
Been a lot of talk about the Tennessee Titans perhaps playing starting quarterback Ryan Tannehill against the New England Patriots in Friday’s final preseason game.
Titans coach Mike Vrabel said after Wednesday’s practice – the final one of training camp – that he hadn’t made a decision yet. He left the door open, though: “It’s a possibility.”
Vrabel didn’t ask my take on the matter, but I feel compelled to offer it anyway out of a desire to watch and write about a competitive football team for the rest of 2023:
Don't do it, Mike. Don't play Tannehill.
I also wouldn’t play Derrick Henry or DeAndre Hopkins or Jeffery Simmons or anyone else that you look at these Titans and say, “Gosh, it’d be real hard for them to win without that guy.”
Without Tannehill, it’d be nearly impossible for the Titans to win. See the 2022 season for an example.
Look, I know other teams are playing starting quarterbacks this preseason. I know good arguments can be made to do that and better prepare for Week 1.
But I don’t care.
It’s not worth the risk. It’d be one thing if Tannehill was some youngster who needed the work, but he’s a 35-year-old who couldn't finish last season because he was hurt. Will Levis should be available after returning to practice Wednesday, and this preseason, a remade Titans offensive line has struggled to protect Tannehill in practices.
Vrabel has typically exercised caution with key players in preseason games, and he’s been right to do it.
While the odds are Tannehill and other star players would be OK, there is only one way in which this Titans season is basically over before it begins. That’s if Tannehill gets seriously hurt.
I see no reason to make it even remotely possible in a game that doesn't count.
This and that from Tennessee Titans training camp
1. Friday’s game does loom critical for a lot of fringe Titans looking to make a final impression before next week’s cut day. That’s especially true at wide receiver, where a close competition is nearing the finish line with no clear consensus on what to expect.
Recent injuries to Treylon Burks and Kyle Philips, while not serious, may have opened a spot or two for a long list of hopefuls. Hopkins, Chris Moore and Nick Westbrook-Ikhine appear to be in good shape.
But then who?
Mason Kinsey, Racey McMath, Reggie Roberson and rookies Colton Dowell, Kearis Jackson, Tre’Shaun Harrison and Gavin Holmes have all done enough at times this preseason to merit consideration.
Dowell and McMath have height advantages. Kinsey and Jackson have been returning punts, which could be a major factor with Philips sidelined.
Me personally? I’d try real hard to get Harrison on the practice squad and roll with Roberson, Jackson and – if there’s a third available spot – Kinsey on the roster. But ask me again after Friday night.
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2. Tuesday’s cut day is Kinsey’s 25th birthday, meaning his family will be in town. That has usually been the case for him during a stressful time of the year. A Titans preseason staple going back to 2020, Kinsey has played in three regular-season games, but he seems to have a better-than-usual shot to make the team this time.
“I feel like this camp has probably been my most consistent camp,” Kinsey said. “I’m not a guy that really flashes on film every day. I’m not a guy that’s going to make a huge play every single day. I’m just a guy that you turn on the film, and it’s like, ‘Oh man, he had three or four catches today’ or ‘He had a couple of good blocks’ or ‘He’s in the right spot at the right time.’ … If I can have a good day and then have a better day and then have a better day, then whenever we play New Orleans, I feel like I’ve given myself an opportunity to suit up.”
3. Along those lines, each day that has passed this preseason should have made the Titans happier that they were able to sign Hopkins. Nearly every day, Hopkins has done something special to confirm that he can be the difference-maker the Titans’ offense needs him to be.
“The plays I’ve seen him make over the last, whatever, 10 years are the same ones that I see him making now,” Tannehill said. “… He’s either going to make the play in tight coverage or nobody is. That’s been fun for me.”
Were it not for Burks, I’d rate Hopkins as the offense’s best player this training camp.
4. As for the defense's best player? It's a tough call, but cornerback Kristian Fulton has had that contract-year look about him. Think he's set up for a big year.
The rest of the league is sleeping on the Titans' secondary because of the pass-defense numbers in 2022. But if Fulton, Sean Murphy-Bunting, Roger McCreary, Kevin Byard and Amani Hooker are all healthy, that secondary could stack up against anyone in the league. Not sure the last time the Titans have had such a group.
5. Outside of maybe kicker, the Titans offensive line remains my biggest concern exiting training camp, but I do think it has helped the unit – and first-round rookie guard Peter Skoronski in particular – to go against the likes of Simmons and Denico Autry each day.
“They drafted him as our first-round pick for a reason,” Simmons said of Skoronski. “And he has shown that. He has gotten better. He’s gotten a lot of good work from me and Denico. Even guys like (Teair) Tart have given him a lot of work.”
6. And finally, two Titans I didn’t know who ended up standing out the most to me this camp: Safety Mike Brown and cornerback Eric Garror. The secondary has had quite a few of those guys in the second and third units, which could make for some tough decisions by Tuesday.
Reach Tennessean sports columnist Gentry Estes at gestes@tennessean.com and on Twitter @Gentry_Estes.
This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Tennessee Titans shouldn't play Ryan Tannehill in preseason
