Xavier Restrepo was simultaneously robbed and proven right within the Titans’ comeback attempt in his NFL debut

The NFL better have a letter in the mail to Xavier Restrepo.

Easton Freeze — Tennessee Titans Beat Writer
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The Tennessee Titans fell to the Seattle Seahawks, 30-24, in Week 12, and honestly, it went so much better for the Titans than anybody reasonably had hoped. They came into the day 12.5-point home underdogs to the mighty visiting Seahawks, and nobody was going to be shocked if things had gotten entirely out of hand in a hurry. But they didn’t, and the Titans had a fighting chance well into the fourth quarter.

A gargantuan side-plot in the world of the Titans this week was WR Xavier Restrepo making his NFL debut as a call-up from the practice squad, and he played more in this game than I expected.

He slowly saw the field more and more as the day went on, running routes on some key plays in the final frame of the game. And on one key third down, the game was essentially ended on a missed call by officials that put Restrepo in harm’s way.

Xavier Restrepo’s game-extending play was ruined by a dangerous missed penalty

Restrepo finished the day with 18 offensive snaps, 6 targets, and 2 catches for 26 yards. One of those targets that fell incomplete was an in-breaking route on third and 21 in the fourth quarter, when Restrepo was hit hard in a helmet-to-helmet collision by a crashing DB.

With 6:26 left to play, down 13 points and on the Seattle 35-yard line, here’s what happened to the rookie receiver when Ward threw the ball his way:

This appears to be a clear launch and lead with the helmet by CB Coby Bryant. If this isn’t the kind of “helmet-to-helmet” contact the league wants to police and remove from the game, I don’t know what is. This is exactly the kind of play the league will fine Bryant for and quietly apologize to the Titans organization for missing later this week, but that won’t do them much good now, will it?

It wouldn’t have been more than a five-yard gain or so if Restrepo had made the catch, but it would have set up a more manageable fourth-down attempt, which the Titans came short of completing on the following play. And had the penalty been called, it would have given the Titans a fresh set of downs with time to complete a comeback.

Was this the sole reason they lost? Of course not. But this missed call did effectively end the game. When I brought it up with Restrepo in the locker room, he had the right mindset about it. “That’s football, man,” he told me. He’s rolling with the punches.

Outside of this play, Restrepo’s debut was an overall win for the practice squad rookie looking to earn a bigger role. He looked like he belonged, and his chemistry with Ward shone through. There’s no doubt Ward felt more comfortable targeting him than others; you can see that in his stat line.

Six targets on 18 total offensive snaps is objectively funny. And the first completion was as classic as it gets for Ward and Restrepo’s brand of backyard football.

“Yeah, I mean every single day after practice we get one scramble drill in,” Restrepo explained in the locker room after the game. “So that’s just repetitions. It’s not the first we have done it.”

Here’s to hoping we get to see more of him down the stretch of this season.

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