Will Levis is earning rave reviews. But oddly, not from Mike Vrabel. Why? | Estes
As a lot of Tennessee Titans fans – and much of the league, too – are going gaga over quarterback Will Levis’ introduction to the NFL, it’s becoming more noticeable who isn’t:
Mike Vrabel.
No one expects the gruff Titans coach to be doing backflips or anything. It’s just that Vrabel’s public takes on Levis have been lukewarm to a point that's getting difficult to ignore.
Here was Vrabel after Levis’ four-touchdown debut against the Atlanta Falcons: “Not a bad debut." Vrabel then went on to talk more about receivers, noting “Will got some good help.”
After Thursday night’s loss at the Pittsburgh Steelers, Vrabel said Levis did “fairly well” and that “there were some things that will have to be better.”
“We lost,” Vrabel said, “so I’m not going to sit there and glorify that. ... But there were some good throws, some good protections.” Then on Friday, Vrabel told reporters that while there were good plays, “there were some decisions that we can’t make.”
See what I mean? Kinda "meh," right?
I’m not inside Vrabel’s head, and I don’t want to put words in his mouth. But after being around coaches for a couple of decades, I'll tell you how I took these comments – and why Titans fans should relax and not read into them negatively:
This is actually a positive. Vrabel is already holding Levis to the standard of a true No. 1 quarterback in the NFL. No kid gloves. No pats on the head. I'd take that as a sign of respect from any coach. They all fear a highly talented rookie – or college freshman – getting an overinflated ego too soon and ceasing to work as hard to improve. From what I can gather about Levis' work ethic, I don’t think that’ll be a problem.
Previously: To feel good about Will Levis' Tennessee Titans future, ask Kentucky football | Estes
Vrabel has never waxed poetically about Levis. The nicest thing the coach ever said at a press conference about Levis was the night the Titans drafted the QB. Since then, it has been pulling teeth to get a specific comment from Vrabel on Levis that didn’t veer into another player or some vague, general topic. Vrabel, as coaches go, tends to be highly sensitive to instances where he detects that the media is trying to hype up something or someone. And he’ll go out of his way not to feed that hype. Levis, to me, has been one of those instances.
I also believe Vrabel has a lot of esteem and appreciation for Ryan Tannehill, and this is going to be a delicate situation with Levis once Tannehill is healthy again. No one wants a quarterback controversy, especially a team that’s already 3-5 and perilously close to an irrelevant finish in 2023.
And finally, Vrabel is correct. There is room for Levis to improve. The Titans did lose to the Steelers, and Levis did throw an interception at the end.
A few additional takeaways from Titans-Steelers:
1. Here’s what the Steelers’ T.J. Watt said about Levis after the game: “He showed some toughness tonight. He took some hits, was able to deliver some good passes under pressure, and we were able to just continue to kind of keep him under duress and be able to have him throw that pick at the end. That was huge.”
2. Watt wasn’t wrong. They did keep Levis under duress. An ailing Titans offensive line was predictably overmatched in pass protection most of the game. The nicest thing you can say about left tackle Andre Dillard after Alex Highsmith’s two-sack game was that it went a little better for Dillard than the game against Myles Garrett. Otherwise, that matchup, too, went about how you’d have expected.
3. On their first possession, the Titans twice snapped it to Derrick Henry in the Wildcat and called what looked like it was supposed to be a pass by DeAndre Hopkins. A-plus for creativity, but would you rather have Hopkins throwing a pass in the red zone or trying to catch one?
These are the gimmicky things that an offense tends to script when it knows it'll have to overcome a serious disadvantage. In this case, it was pass protection. The fact that Levis still was able to play the way he did made this Steelers game, to me, more impressive than his Falcons game.
4. But when Levis did have time – a huge if this season, I know – he was lethal. That’s a trademark of a legitimate NFL quarterback. If you’re unable to pressure him, he can pick you apart.
Levis completed seven passes of at least 20 yards, and the truly encouraging part for the Titans was that those passes were to six different teammates: Burks, Hopkins, Henry, Chris Moore, Kyle Philips (2) and Nick Westbrook-Ikhine.
5. The Titans gained at least one first down on seven of their nine possessions and ended six drives on the Steelers’ side of the 50. That’s why the game’s optics felt so good for the Titans’ offense – it did continually have success – and also why it was so disappointing to only score 16 points. A 1-for-4 evening in the red zone showed that not all of the issues have been solved with Levis.
6. Jeffery Simmons is going to catch criticism when the defense struggles. That's because of his exorbitant salary and his being the unit's highest-ranking leader with Kevin Byard gone. But upon rewatch of the game, I thought Simmons was good, especially against the run. Simmons was active. He finished with seven tackles. That’s a lot for his position.
Yes, the Titans’ pass rush must be better, but I wouldn’t put that on Simmons as much as …
7. Harold Landry played 60% of the game’s defensive snaps and finished with zero solo tackles and a single QB hurry. Landry does have four sacks this season, but he hasn’t had more than two QB hurries in any game. That's just not enough production from the team's third-highest-paid player.
Estes: If Tennessee Titans can't play better defense, it won't matter what Will Levis can do
8. A pre-existing thumb injury knocked cornerback Sean Murphy-Bunting out on the Steelers’ opening drive, and that was a major setback for the Titans. His replacement, Tre Avery, was beaten by Diontae Johnson for a critical 32-yard pass on third-and-6, extending the Steelers’ game-winning drive in the fourth quarter. Johnson led the Steelers with seven catches for 90 yards.
Nothing against Avery or Eric Garror, but why is it that each season the Titans always end up having to use younger undrafted free agents for critical roles at cornerback? A meaningful upgrade in veteran depth in the secondary should be on the shopping list this offseason with all the salary cap space the Titans are due to have.
9. You know who didn’t do much for the Steelers against the Titans, though? George Pickens. He caught two passes on five targets for a total of minus-1 receiving yards. Those who were piling on Titans cornerback Kristian Fulton about a month ago should take note. In recent weeks, Fulton has quietly turned around his season.
10. And finally, Tyjae Spears played 44 offensive snaps (59%) to Derrick Henry’s 36 (49%). I’ve never put much importance on those percentages each week, honestly, but it gets people so riled up that I thought I’d mention it.
Enjoy your weekend, everyone.
Reach Tennessean sports columnist Gentry Estes at gestes@tennessean.com and on the X platform (formerly known as Twitter) @Gentry_Estes.
This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Titans' Will Levis is earning rave reviews. But not from Mike Vrabel
