Titans-Seahawks joint practice takeaways: Alontae Taylor flips the script as Cam Ward and offense finish strong
Taylor delivered a pick-six, Ward commanded a late touchdown drive and the right side of the Tennessee Titans’ offensive line controlled the point of attack against the Super Bowl champion Seattle Seahawks.
The Tennessee Titans wrapped up their first home joint practice Friday at Vanderbilt Health Football Center against the Seattle Seahawks, hosting the Super Bowl champions on a hot day in Nashville.
Going into the session, the conversation between Easton Freeze and me centered on three aspects of the Titans worth monitoring against a strong, well-rounded Seahawks team: Cam Ward, the starting cornerbacks in Alontae Taylor and Cor’Dale Flott, and the offensive line against Seattle’s defensive front.
All three units had their moments. Easton has Cam Ward and an OL development, and I’ll take you through the cornerbacks (with a big assist from Nick Suss at the Tennessean).
Another quick note: Hard Knocks and NFL Films cameras were impossible to miss today once you remembered the Seahawks are the team being documented this season. I’m curious to see how the cameras show this practice from a different perspective.
Injury notes for both Titans and Seahawks
Stanley: Carnell Tate returned to practice Friday after missing Wednesday with lower half stiffness, per Titans head coach Robert Saleh. Keldric Faulk did not practice after dealing with a shoulder situation. Saleh said Falk is day-to-day with the shoulder. Mason Kinsey was also absent after getting banged up at Wednesday’s practice. We also didn’t see running backs Kalel Mullings nor Nick Singleton, who have now missed over a week, each.
The Titans placed cornerback Nazeeh Johnson on injured reserve. Johnson also has a six-game suspension tied to a performance-enhancing drug test violation after going through fertility treatments to try to conceive a child. We will continue to dig into that situation.
On the Seahawks side, two receiver injuries stood out. Jake Bobo went down early with what appeared to be a non-contact lower body injury, holding his knee after making a contested catch, and was carted off the field. The contested part of the play didn’t seem to cause the injury, but it did not look great.
Late in practice, second-year receiver Montorie Foster Jr. out of Michigan State went down after making a sideline catch against the Titans’ second-team defense. It was odd to see him go down from across the field, and at one point it looked like the Seahawks training staff was treating a cramp. He was down for longer than a typical cramp, though trainers helped him to his feet under his own power by the end of practice. A cramp would be valid on a hot day like Friday, especially for players who have spent most of the summer in Seattle’s cooler climate.
The Titans run game is rolling, especially on the right side
Freeze: Now, what to make of a strong rushing day in a non-live practice setting is always up for interpretation. Training camp run plays without tackling are difficult to evaluate with full confidence. But this was a day for the Titans running backs pretty much across the board to score. They were getting big chunks when they wanted them and scoring at will in the red zone.
Mullings and Singleton are both still sidelined, but Tony Pollard and Tyjae Spears as the one-two punch looked healthy and productive. Kudos to the Tennessee offensive line, especially the right side, now that rookie Fernando Carmona is in there as the presumed starter at right guard. A run-right trend might be emerging in Tennessee because Carmona and right tackle JC Latham, if nothing else, are going to be successful run blockers. They have a nastiness, a heft, and a violence at the point of attack when they are roadgrading. Their pass protection situation is one to monitor, and that’s where those two might be more vulnerable than the left side of the line. But the Titans could lean heavily on running right this season because holes were being established consistently, and the right side in particular was dominant against the Seahawks’ front.
For what it’s worth, getting the better of a Super Bowl champion’s defensive line at the point of attack is a meaningful data point, even in a practice setting. The next step is seeing what the run game looks like with, fingers crossed, a healthy Pollard and healthy Spears once live tackling drills begin.
Titans CB Alontae Taylor is one of the biggest talking points of the day
Stanley: Shout out to Nick Suss from the Tennessean, who had a big eye on the Titans defense Friday. Taylor may have been the story of the day after recording a big-time pass breakup followed by a pick-six.
A few minutes later, Taylor came away with a pick-six that drew a big reaction from the Titans sideline. Per Suss, Seahawks star receiver Jackson Smith-Njigba finished with just four catches on the entire day. That is a strong bounce-back performance for Taylor, who along with the rest of the Titans secondary had some struggles over the past week dating back to the joint practices in San Francisco against the 49ers.
I was able to catch part of the defensive reps during the second half of practice. Flott did get beat on a running back wheel route from George Holani for a touchdown in team drills. But overall, the Seahawks offense was not doing what we thought they might be able to do against this Titans secondary. Saleh was complimentary of how the secondary has bounced back since those San Francisco sessions.
Cam Ward’s timing is visibly improving under OC Brian Daboll
Freeze: I’ll have a post up at AtoZSports later documenting every single Cam Ward passing attempt from the day, but here’s what stood out most: you can tell that Daboll is working on Ward’s timing in a way that feels like he’s reinventing it from the ground up. Working within the rhythm of a given play and getting the timing down exactly is something Ward needed to improve on in Year 2, and you can see that starting to come together, especially in the quick game.
The go-to for Daboll when things stall out seems to be shifting into hurry-up, running quick game concepts, getting Ward in rhythm, and getting the ball out fast. That means run-solution passing plays to Wan’Dale Robinson (who is going to catch a ton of passes), to Pollard, to Spears, and to the tight ends on quick out routes. Tight end Gunnar Helm, with his big frame and strong hands, looks like a prime candidate for a healthy volume of 3- and 4-yard completions on out routes that fit within the timing of the play.
It all lines up with what Daboll has telegraphed throughout his entire coordinating career. He runs a “take what I give you” style of offense more than a “take what the defense gives you” approach. He draws up plays that are quick, that maybe aren’t the biggest gainers in the world, that have a low ceiling on any individual snap, but they are going to get 3, 4, 5, 6 yards a pop because the offense is working within the timing. Trust what I give you, it’s going to be there, and it’s going to fit what the defense is doing. That’s where Daboll’s impact as an offensive coordinator is felt the most.
Ward did well in that department on Friday. You can feel his timing improving, and if that trajectory continues into the regular season, the Titans offense could look meaningfully different than it did a year ago.
Cam Ward 2-minute drill touchdown caps strong Titans offense day in joint practice against Seahawks
Stanley: A Ward 2-minute drill touchdown drive highlighted a strong day for the young Tennessee QB.
Ward connected with Helm on a timing route underneath the Seahawks defense. Helm extended his hands and secured the catch cleanly. From there, Ward went deep to wide receiver Elic Ayomanor, who beat Seahawks cornerback Josh Jobe on the outside. Jobe had to commit pass interference to break up what would have been a spectacular touchdown grab. The DPI knocked the ball away from Ayomanor, but the penalty moved the ball up inside the 5-yard line on what would have been a spot foul.
With under 20 seconds left, Ward scrambled to the sideline and the refs ruled him down at the 1-yard line, keeping the clock running (felt like a coaches wanted this situation type of ruling). The Titans offense had to reset with no stoppage. The clock hit six seconds. Then four. Ward and the offense snapped the ball, he dropped back, scanned the field, and found tight end Daniel Bellinger for the touchdown.
The operation and execution on that final sequence deserve attention. Getting lined up, getting the snap off, and delivering a clean throw with no penalties to cap the drive showed real growth from the second-year quarterback. That kind of situational command is exactly what the Titans need to see from Ward heading into the regular season.
The Titans and Seahawks will cap NFL preseason week 2 on Sunday night in Nissan Stadium before flipping the page to welcome the Chicago Bears to Nashville for the same song and dance next week.
