Eyes on Defense: What I saw from Titans vs. Seahawks

NASHVILLE, Tenn. – DK Metcalf sprinted up the left side. Jarvis Brownlee couldn’t keep up and Quandre Diggs couldn’t get over. Geno Smith lofted a pass for the dynamic receiver, who scored easily.

What an ugly start for the Titans’ defense to their second joint workout with the Seahawks’ offense. 

Fortunately for the hosts, things settled down from there.

Jake Bobo vs. Roger McCreary
Jake Bobo goes over Roger McCreary in red-zone one-on-ones

“I think we played solid,” said Diggs, who played four-plus seasons with the Seahawks before signing with the Titans recently. “We came back. Obviously, we gave up some stuff, communication stuff. That’s going to get fixed. But seeing an offense like that, being able to go against them I think it will continue to get us ready and the season continues to progress.”

I’d judge Tennessee’s defense – minus starters L’Jarius Sneed, Chidobe Awuzie and Kenneth Murray – as a pretty even match with Seattle. [Unlocked]

Sneed rarely practices as the team manages his knee, Awuzie’s been out since straining his calf the first day of camp and Murray had a day off with hamstring tightness, with Otis Reese stepping into his spot. Despite his strong game in the preseason opener, Chanced Campbell plays the inside linebacker spot where Jack Gibbens is at the front of the line, and the two positions aren’t interchangeable.

Interspersed with team work was a period of pass-rush one-on-ones that started with a bang for the hosts.

Cross was a 2022 first-round pick and Tomlinson is a 2015 first-rounder who’s started 138 games.

Some other highlights from team periods:

💥 Brownlee and Key combined to pop Laviska Shenault short of the goal line after a short reception.

💥 Jake Bobo made a couple of nice plays for Seattle. The best was a one-handed TD grab on the right side of the end zone with Gabe Jeudy-Lally on the ground and Amani Hooker trying to get over to help.

💥 The second-team defense had Tre Avery, Robert Javier and Eric Garror as the corners at times with Keaton Ellis and Mike Brown. Ellis made some plays in the run game. Javier ranks as one of the three worst players on the roster in my eyes based on his camp play, but he was ahead of Tay Gowen here. Gowen could be in the same three-pack. (Anthony Kendall was also out.)

💥 Otis Reese made a great play in space on the right stepping up to tackle Kenneth Walker.

💥 Brownlee had a strong complaint, valid I think, when he drew a flag for his coverage of Bobo on a play. Jamal Adams didn’t like it and was heard from as well. On the following play, Brownlee popped Walker despite a whistle trying to kill the play as a result of a ball from the adjacent field spilling over. Later Brownlee drew an offensive pass interference call against Metcalf.

💥 Gowen drew a pass interference penalty for an early grab of a receiver’s shoulder pad.

💥 Adams, the former Seahawk, really got loud and animated, jawing with Devon Witherspoon at one point. Around the same time, the Seattle defense was riled up over an interception that was washed away by a penalty flag. I looked over to see Nick Westbrook-Ikhine carrying the flag to display it to the guys who were whooping it up. A bit later, Diggs joined Adams for more noise with Geno Smith involved.

Diggs said the friendships with his old teammates amount to a brotherhood for life.

“If you could have been in our DB room last year, that’s small talk,” Diggs said. “That’s just how we talk, I miss those guys. I love those guys. We’re going to get the DB room back like that here too, where you can talk trash, just be yourself. No need to hold nothing in, you’ve got something to say, say it.”

💥 The Titans may have been in zone, but the second big pass play for Seattle looked like Diggs and Brownlee made mistakes against Metcalf. Diggs bit on a pump fake paired with the first move of a double, heading outside. Metcalf came back and caught a pass of about 40 yards alone inside the 5 and scored.

Two plays after Will Levis gave the ball away with a poor throw late for Mason Kinsey that Witherspoon easily undercut, Campbell got it right back, collecting an underneath throw from Sam Howell to get the Titans' possession back.