3 Titans who must step up following Treylon Burks practice injury
The Tennessee Titans might be forced to kick off the 2023 regular season without second-year wide receiver Treylon Burks in uniform. Burks went down with a left leg injury injury during joint practices with the Minnesota Vikings on Wednesday and was later diagnosed with an LCL sprain in his left knee. A timeline for Burks' […]
The Tennessee Titans might be forced to kick off the 2023 regular season without second-year wide receiver Treylon Burks in uniform.
Burks went down with a left leg injury injury during joint practices with the Minnesota Vikings on Wednesday and was later diagnosed with an LCL sprain in his left knee.
A timeline for Burks' return is not yet known, but athletes typically return to the playing field from LCL sprains between two and six weeks after the injury. Hopefully Burks will be on the lower end of that range as the Titans can ill afford to lose offensive weapons this fall.
With Burks out and potentially missing some regular season action, three Titans players come to mind as needing to step up.
Tight end Chig Okonkwo, wide receiver Kyle Philips, and rookie running back Tyjae Spears are all going to get a good amount of targets this season. Beyond Burks and DeAndre Hopkins, those are Ryan Tannehill's main weapons.
Okonkwo is an explosive athlete that can make things happen after the catch and outrun most linebackers. Philips commands a lot of attention in the slot and clears out defenders with his route-running technique. Then there's Spears, who is more than just a quick rushing counter for Derrick Henry. I think we'll see a lot of Spears this season, especially being used as a pass catcher. Get him the ball in space and good things will happen.
Those three guys were already going to be incorporated into Tennessee's offensive plan. But if Burks isn't out there, they'll all need to take things to the next level.
The Titans offense doesn't work with only one reliable pass catcher. In order to create running room for Henry out of the backfield and sell play-action, defenses needs to respect the other skill players on offense. That's why the addition of DeAndre Hopkins was so big for Tennessee – Hopkins is good enough to draw defenders and give Burks more opportunities to win deep against man coverage. He makes everyone around him better and makes the passing game exponentially more explosive.
Now the goal is for someone like Okonkwo or Spears to be the explosive weapon Treylon Burks was or for someone like Philips to take attention away from Hopkins.
Luckily, the Titans won't have to replace Burks for very long. There is optimism that he could be back within the first few weeks of the regular season. That being said, every game matters and the Titans have the most difficult part of their schedule right out of the gate.
They will need to be at their best from the jump and that starts with Okonkwo, Philips, and Spears really stepping up.
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Relieving news for the Titans.
