Titans Training Camp Notebook: Joint practice vs Falcons hints at concerning trend, new message to the team should light a fire

The Tennessee Titans and Atlanta Falcons held their first of two joint practices on Tuesday. I was among the Nashville media who made the trip down to Flowery Branch, Georgia, to take it all in, and these are the three big picture takeaways I think you need to know:

Slow Starts Plaguing Joint Practices

That’s what Jeffery Simmons said to us after practice ended. The Titans’ star defender is tired of coming out in joint practice, of which they’ve now had two, not working at the level they expect. He wants less talk, more action. That was the message he opened his availability with, and it fits what we saw on the field.

I wasn’t in Tampa Bay last week, but that was the story in that practice as well. The Titans started slow before picking things up and competing well in team drills during the back half of the day. Unfortunately, in Atlanta, the same can’t be said for the way they rebounded. Whether it was in 1-on-1s, 7-on-7s, or 11-on-11s, the Titans offense largely struggled to move the ball, and the defense struggled to stop the Falcons. Particularly in the first hour of the day, the Falcons looked like the clear and obvious better team. Cornerback Jarvis Brownlee Jr. had this to say of the defense’s performance:

“It was alright… it was alright… it was BS.”

That’s as honest and accurate a reflection of how the day went as you’ll hear. Now, it was only one day. And it wasn’t all bad. The defense looked its best in the final period when both teams came together to run back and forth, best on best. Cam Ward started to hit a stride in the second 11-on-11 period, converting a handful of first downs in a row. Bryce Oliver probably had the Titans’ catch of the day in 7-on-7s, and Calvin Ridley looked like the steady WR1 he’s supposed to be for this team. I’m becoming increasingly radicalized on him having a trillion targets this season.

However, if the Titans don’t come out tomorrow with an answer to how today went, it will have been a disappointing and concerning week of joint practices. The pedal needs to be to the metal on Wednesday.

Urgency Is The Message

One final thought on the urgency this team needs: time is running short to get any and all acts together. It’s easy, during this stretch run of training camp, to sink into the low-stakes routine of August in the NFL, but the Titans absolutely cannot afford to do that if they want to find a win or two in September.

A quick glance at the calendar reveals just 20 days until Broncos game week. The team only has five or six full-padded practices left before then. It’s put-up or shut-up time, and this team still clearly has a lot of work to do. The front office and coaching staff are preaching that the team needs to accomplish as much as possible. At least, based on today, the level of performance at practice felt more like a team dragging on Day 7 of its long road trip than a team fighting for its football lives.

As dramatic as that could sound, that’s what the Titans largely are. They hold the first waiver claim position, and I can tell you with absolute certainty that they expect to be fairly active in that market when cutdown day arrives. Everybody on this roster has the rest of the dwindling month to prove they deserve a spot on the initial 53-man roster, and then to keep it once other options become available. This isn’t college; nobody is on scholarship. The Titans’ front office is watching every other team this preseason very, very closely.