On Monty Rice and a surprising competition in Tennessee Titans' training camp | Estes
During Tennessee Titans training camp, Tennessean sports columnist Gentry Estes is keeping a regular journal of tidbits, thoughts and insights from practices:
For inside linebacker Monty Rice, the Titans’ upcoming preseason games — beginning with Saturday’s against the Bears in Chicago Bears — “will be critical.”
That's according to Titans coach Mike Vrabel.
And it’s not something you’d hear about a player who has locked up a starting role. Rice, evidently, is still in the process of trying to earn one with the Titans.
On a defense with few question marks in the projected starting 11, the inside linebacker spot beside Azeez Al-Shaair stands out. Rice is competing with Jack Gibbens, and perhaps Chance Campbell and others, for the spot.
On the surface, that has been a bit surprising.
When the Titans let David Long Jr. and Zach Cunningham walk in the offseason, one assumed it meant they were comfortable with Rice — a former third-round pick who was once a Butkus Award finalist at Georgia — stepping into a greater role in 2023.
You could see why, too. Rice has started 10 NFL games, and he has been productive. He has totaled more than 100 tackles for the Titans despite suffering a serious injury late in his rookie season in 2021 (it was his Achilles, according to defensive coordinator Shane Bowen). He was sidelined last preseason but finished strong in 2022, posting at least eight tackles in four of the Titans’ final five games.
“Whenever my number has been called,” Rice told me last week, “I've went out there and made plays. I think they know that. The team knows that. I'm just going to continue to get better. That's all I can do. And that’s going to lead to more production.”
Vrabel has praised Rice for being “a very good special teams player” and for finishing last season “playing with some speed.”
And yet . . .
“We just want to make sure that there's competition at each spot,” Vrabel said. “Monty's doing that, and these preseason games will be critical for him, being able to understand everything that we’re asking him to do.”
Gibbens, undrafted out of Minnesota, was a nice underdog story this time last year for the Titans. (Remember "Dr. Gibby"?) But he didn’t make the roster out of training camp and ended up making his way back through the practice squad before debuting in Week 14.
Like Rice, Gibbens played a lot at the end of last season with injuries rampant through the defense and the team. And thus far in this training camp, Gibbens seemingly has been out there for as many, if not more, quality reps than Rice.
In other words, if you’re looking for competitions to watch in preseason games, this is near the top of the list.
Extra points from Tennessee Titans training camp
1. I’d call this a polite understatement from a polite guy: Safety Kevin Byard said Monday of his Titans defense, “We’ve been winning the majority of the days out here.”
No doubt.
Matter of fact, I struggle to think of any practice in this training camp in which the Titans’ offense has gotten the better of things. The offense has had moments, but the Titans’ defense has been running the show. That only continued Monday, all the way through a hurry-up period at the end of practice in which none of the Titans’ three offensive units was able to drive and score points.
Wasn’t so much the pass rush this time as it was the Titans’ pass coverage. Few receivers were open, as evidenced by quarterbacks Ryan Tannehill and Malik Willis each scrambling and throwing passes away on first down to start those hurry-up drives.
Training camp observations: Trust what Kevin Byard says about defense
From last week: It's time to worry about the Tennessee Titans' offensive line | Estes
2. OK, if you’re a reporter attending an NFL news conference and you hear the head coach start with, “I told the team and everybody involved here in the organization . . . " without having any idea what bomb he's about to drop to finish that sentence, it'll make your heart skip a beat. No haunted house is that scary, trust me.
Thankfully, Vrabel on Monday was just letting us know that defensive line coach Terrell Williams would act as head coach for Saturday’s preseason game. Thankfully, too, this opportunity was by choice, Vrabel said, and not because of anything being wrong with Vrabel or anyone else.
Logistically, I’d still expect Vrabel to be heavily involved in Sunday’s game. But this was a wonderful and creative idea by Vrabel for Williams to get the opportunity as a head coach in a game setting. That'll include media obligations afterward. I’d look for more NFL coaches and teams to do this sort of thing in the preseason.
3. After releasing Jamarco Jones last week, the Titans on Saturday announced the signing of free agent offensive lineman Justin Murray. Rather than stepping in at right tackle (where Jones primarily had been practicing with Nick Petit-Frere having been suspended), Murray was actually at right guard during Monday’s practice.
Murray said his goal is to “be ready for anything." He has played mostly on the right side of the offensive line during his career and said he feels more comfortable on the right side, be it guard or tackle.
As for right tackle, it would appear that Chris Hubbard has a healthy lead at this point. Andrew Rupcich, a second-year player out of NAIA Culver-Stockton, could be next in line.
4. We talked about inside linebackers, but the most important position battle still undecided for the Titans may be at kicker, where Caleb Shudak and undrafted rookie Trey Wolff each have performed well. Monday was Shudak’s turn, and he went 9-for-9 during a field-goal drill, including one of at least 50 years. Shudak, however, missed two long field goals to close those hurry-up drives at the end of practice, the second clanging off an upright.
This still looks like a very close call to me, with little to separate the two kickers. The preseason games will offer some clues. At kicker. And elsewhere, too.
Reach Tennessean sports columnist Gentry Estes at gestes@tennessean.com and on Twitter @Gentry_Estes.
This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: On Monty Rice and Tennessee Titans football inside linebacker competition
