Treylon Burks misinformation has reached another wild level
If you're unfamiliar with the misinformation that has been swirling through the media regarding Treylon Burks in Tennessee Titans training camp, you're probably lucky. You also probably don't live on social media like the rest of us. But if you're still needing and hoping to catch up on what you've missed and the stories that […]
If you're unfamiliar with the misinformation that has been swirling through the media regarding Treylon Burks in Tennessee Titans training camp, you're probably lucky.
You also probably don't live on social media like the rest of us.
But if you're still needing and hoping to catch up on what you've missed and the stories that have been swirling, I've got you covered.
I wrote an article on Monday night setting the record straight about a wildly inaccurate report that came out of Titans camp regarding rookie WR Treylon Burks.
A fantasy sports website, NBC Sports EDGE, had taken a tweet way out of context, and blasted the narrative that Burks had been "not practicing with the first team" and "didn't know where to line up."
Unfortunately it doesn't stop there.
As the media cycle has begun to grab hold of the lazy report, the rumors about Burks have reached new heights. Recently being featured on NFL.com, of all places.
Dan Hanzus, an around the NFL writer for NFL.com released his updated NFL power rankings on Tuesday. Here's what he had to say regarding the Titans:
16. Tennessee Titans
"The Titans used a first-round pick on wide receiver Treylon Burks, but don't pencil him in for a huge role in the offense to start the season. Burks had conditioning issues this spring, and reports out of training camp have not been kind — the Arkansas product has made mental and physical mistakes playing mostly with the second- and third-team offenses. Burks isn't the first rookie to be swimming in it during his first training camp, but you get the feeling Tennessee expected an instant impact on draft day. The news is more encouraging on free-agent signing Robert Woods following the reconstructive knee surgery that prematurely ended his final season with the Rams. According to Peter King, the 30-year-old wideout "looks like totally back to normal."
I mean, what are we doing here?
It was bad enough when fantasy sites like NBC Sports Edge were taking and running with this information, but to have this published to the league's official website?
Even reputable reporters like Field Yates of ESPN are running shows with graphic like this:

Yates asserted on his show that Robert Woods' fantasy value may be higher than most people think, mainly citing Burks "not practicing with the first team" as a reason to think Woods will get a larger target share.
All of this over one little Mike Herndon tweet that was taken completely out of context.
I don't really know how many times reporters who have actually attended Titans practices need to say this, but Burks is fine.
No, he's better than fine.
He has stuck out as being a difference maker for the Titans offense, and the trust he has built with Ryan Tannehill is apparent to anybody that has watched them interact on a daily basis.
I would have no problem being critical of Burks if he had shown up to training camp behind in his conditioning or if it seemed like he wasn't making much of an impact on the field.
The facts just are what they are.
He's in shape, he's making plays, he's working with all three Titans quarterbacks, and he will be a major contributor to the Titans offense in week one.
Having this story reach national headlines is a shameful oversight, but the disrespect towards the Titans is nothing new.
Let the national media heads talks. They'll learn soon enough.
Image via Andrew Nelles / Tennessean.com-USA TODAY NETWORK