Kyle Philips impresses — plus five other takeaways from Tennessee Titans training camp Day 10

The Tennessee Titans held their 10th practice of training camp Monday at Saint Thomas Sports Park.

Here’s what stood out:

Kyle Philips with highlight reception

In a two-minute drill, fifth-round rookie Kyle Philips made an impressive leaping grab over the middle against tight coverage. The play was called back by coach Mike Vrabel for holding, but it drew some of the largest cheers of the day from onlookers.

A former standout at UCLA, Philips has earned more reps in recent practices with his play in individual and team periods.

Quarterback Ryan Tannehill’s growing faith in Philips was evident Thursday when the latter had a mental error and missed an opportunity for a touchdown. Tannehill confronted Philips after the play, but later went back to him on a similar route for a touchdown.

"He gets open, catches the ball," Vrabel said Monday of Philips. "He knows where to go. Looks like the quarterback trusts him. I think he does a good job in recognizing if it's man or zone (coverage) and how he wants to run his route and being decisive."

Offense rips nice runs, struggles in pass game early

In an early team period, undrafted rookie running back Julius Chestnut and veteran Jordan Wilkins ripped off back-to-back long runs to the left. It was significant, considering big holes have not been common in training camp.

The passing game had a rough start, though. Nick Westbrook-Ikhine had two missed opportunities in a four-play span. Cornerback Kristian Fulton first broke up a Ryan Tannehill pass to Westbrook-Ikhine, who later dropped a catchable ball on a shallow cross.

In team periods, backup Logan Woodside had a couple of misfires to Treylon Burks and a deep pass from Malik Willis to Josh Malone for a would-be touchdown sailed incomplete.

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Malik Willis strong in 2-minute drill

Willis had a strong showing in a two-minute drill near the end of practice, hitting his targets in stride with bullet passes.

The former Liberty star opened the drive with four beautiful throws, including three completions. It should’ve been four, but Philips dropped a catchable ball off a slant route.

Willis completed passes to Terry Godwin, Dez Fitzpatrick and undrafted rookie Brandon Lewis in the series. He also gave Treylon Burks a chance down the sideline against tight coverage in plus territory, but the first-round pick came down with the ball out of bounds. The drive ended in a field goal.

"I think his ability to move on to the next play, to be able to process things quickly and understand when (a play) was a mistake and being able to be coached has been great," Vrabel said of Willis' ability handling the ups and downs of playing quarterback. "As we move forward here, in some of the stuff that we're doing, to be able to handle the operation (and) making sure it's clean (is a priority).

"His ability to recover from a snap that he wasn't at his best, I think he's done a really nice job."

Notable absences

At least eight players were not on the field: defensive lineman Denico Autry, cornerbacks Roger McCreary and Elijah Molden, safety Amani Hooker, linebacker Dylan Cole, defensive back Joshua Kalu and wide receiver Cody Hollister.

Molden missed his seventh straight practice.

Other highlights

From team periods:

• Defensive back Chris Jackson smothered Treylon Burks in coverage and deflected a pass intended for the first-round pick in a two-minute drill

• Nose tackle Teair Tart recorded a tackle for loss

• Willis connected with a falling Racey McMath off a play-action pass

From 7-on-7:

• Cornerback Kristian Fulton drove on the ball, breaking up a high pass intended for Westbrook-Ikhine

• Linebacker Joe Jones broke up a pass, then on the next play was in tight coverage against tight end Geoff Swaim on a pass that fell short

• Willis made a tight window throw to tight end Briley Moore outside the numbers

• Tannehill connected on the sideline with Mason Kinsey, who made an impressive catch in tight coverage to stop the clock in a two-minute drill

Up next

Preseason game No. 1 at Baltimore on Thursday night (6:30 p.m. CT). The Titans won’t practice again until Saturday.

Ben Arthur covers the Tennessee Titans for The USA TODAY Network. Contact him at barthur@gannett.com and follow him on Twitter at @benyarthur.

This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Tennessee Titans training camp 2022: Kyle Philips impresses on day 10