By Ron Wynn
NASHVILLE, TN — The most heavily anticipated Tennessee Titans season in many years gets underway Friday night in Atlanta. Coming off an 11-5 year that saw the Titans win the AFC South only to suffer a hugely disappointing home playoff loss to the Baltimore Ravens, the team is the consensus pick among the national sports media to at minimum repeat as division title winners and have at least one more home playoff game. While no one has uttered the words “Super Bowl or bust,” the addition of heralded wide receiver Julio Jones to what was one of the AFC’s most potent offensive units in 2020 has greatly increased expectations for the Titans.
But there are also major questions that must be addressed if the Titans are going to do what their supporters hope. For one, it’s not totally clear how healthy Jones, who missed much of the 2020 season and had career lows in receptions and yardage, will be beginning the year. Thus far he hasn’t been seen much in practice, and it’s unclear how much he’ll play in the preseason. Of course, it’s far more important that he be ready when the games count, and that will be the main focus. The same question lingers regarding offensive tackle Taylor Lewan, the most important member in the line that has to open holes for Derrick Henry and provide protection for QB Ryan Tannehill, also hasn’t been practicing much and is coming off an injury as well. An even more glaring problem so far though has been difficulty with the center/QB exchange. It’s been so bad that head coach Mike Vrabel expressed his anger about it publicly, and two new centers were signed last week to join holdover starter Ben Jones. Obviously, that has to be straightened out for there to be any offensive consistency.
Questions also remain with both the defense and special teams. New high draft choice cornerback Caleb Farley and new free agent acquisition linebacker Bud Dupree are both expected to be major contributors to a defense that was woeful much of last season. There’s also a lot to be determined about a kicking game that’s been erratic at best the past two seasons and currently is depending on untried kicker Tucker McCann.
So there will be a number of things under the proverbial microscope when the preseason begins Friday night.
