Tennessee Titans explain one key way Tim Kelly's playbook is changing offense for better

The Tennessee Titans' offense won't be letting the dust settle before going back in for another play this season, based on early player reactions to the new playbook.

"I would say I see a lot of speed is involved," second-year tight end Chig Okonkwo said. "A lot of plays where we’re trying to go really fast, take what we can before the defense can get there, trying to out-flank guys."

Offensive coordinator Tim Kelly is reengineering the Titans' attack, moving up from passing game coordinator to man in charge after a year under former OC Todd Downing. Speaking with media on Wednesday, players from Okonkwo to quarterback Ryan Tannehill to center Aaron Brewer all raved about how fresh the offense feels.

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Tannehill in particular was complimentary about the change Kelly is bringing to the unit.

"It’s a big difference," Tannehill said. "New terminology. New concepts. Huge changes. But fresh line of thinking on things."

So far the Titans are only working against air. OTAs don't start for another three weeks, so any and all workouts are options and player-led. Tannehill says the players' goal has been getting accustomed to each other and the new terminology and routes and translating that comfort into on-field rhythm.

Brewer says the main difference has been operational speed. The gameplay isn't necessarily faster, but the process of getting to the line of scrimmage between plays, getting set and snapping the ball has been expedited.

Tannehill said the goal is to attack the opposition a multitude of ways. Speed is one of them, but it's not the only wrinkle.

"We know we want to put pressure on the defense," Tannehill said. "That might be tempo. That might be personnel changes. It might be different sets in personnels than defenses are typically seeing. A big emphasis I think is just putting pressure on the defense. There’s a lot of ways you can do that."

Simply going fast will be a monumental adjustment for the returning players on the Titans offense. Only the Carolina Panthers ran fewer plays than the Titans in 2022. According to data collected by Football Outsiders, the Titans took an NFL-leading average of 33.34 seconds to snap the ball in "neutral situations," defined as plays when the score is close that don't occur in the fourth quarter or the final five minutes of the first half.

Getting faster is an achievable goal, but don't expect the Titans to suddenly morph into a team that moves as quickly as the Tennessee Vols. In Kelly's three years as the Houston Texans' offensive coordinator, the Texans ranked 14th, 15th and 23rd in the NFL in how quickly they snapped the ball in neutral situations, taking an average of 30 seconds or more per snap all three years.

But as Tannehill said, upping the tempo is only part of what Kelly's trying to do to enliven one of the NFL's stalest offenses. There are changes in protection schemes. There are changes to how quarterbacks are asked to get the ball downfield. There are changes everywhere.

As should be expected after a seven-game losing streak doomed the Titans' playoff hopes to end last season.

"Just like every offense in the NFL we’ve got different ways to attack the defense," Tannehill said. "We want to use all of them."

Nick Suss is the Titans beat writer for The Tennessean. Contact Nick at nsuss@gannett.com. Follow Nick on Twitter @nicksuss.

This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: How Tim Kelly's playbook changes Tennessee Titans offense for better