Music City Miracles
The Tennessee Titans held their first of two joint practices with the Atlanta Falcons on Tuesday. A second session will occur on Wednesday, and the two sides will conclude their collaborative week with a preseason game on Friday. The Titans struggled at Tuesday’s practice, arising concerns from various veteran leaders.
Jeffery Simmons voiced his disdain for the Titans’ slow start.
“Guys have to come out ready,” Simmons said. “If we start out slow during a game, we saw it last season, we’re down 28-0. We keep saying we’re starting slow. We started slow [joint practice] in Tampa [and now we started slow] in Atlanta. It’s time to start fast.”
Simmons wasn’t the only Titans player to make the connection. Cornerback Jarvis Brownlee Jr. used an expletive to describe Tuesday’s performance. Tight end Chig Okonkwo expressed similar concerns.
Simmons referred to last season’s 42-19 blowout defeat to the Washington Commanders in which they trailed 28-0 in the second quarter. In Week 3 versus the Green Bay Packers, they were down 20-7 at halftime. Brian Callahan has taken unique approaches this offseason to alter the mindset. Callahan’s effectiveness as a head coach remains questionable after a 3-14 debut campaign, and hopefully slow starts aren’t a staple of his leadership.
Last week, Callahan chewed out the offense for a terrible performance at practice. Cam Ward and the Titans responded the following day by enjoying a significantly better session. Ideally, you’d like to see the offense (and defense) respond in similar fashion in Wednesday’s second joint practice with the Falcons, and again in Friday’s exhibition game.
Callahan is entering the 2025 campaign on the hot seat. GM Mike Borgonzi didn’t appoint him, Ran Carthon did. Callahan got his wish with Ward at No. 1 overall, so there’s pressure to improve on a horrific 2024 campaign.
