NASHVILLE, Tenn. – The time away and the personal trainer that many players choose after the season was not the path for Treylon Burks.
Coming out of an up-and-down rookie that showed promise along with plenty of room for growth, the 18th pick in the 2022 draft who was thrust into high expectations because the selection was part of the A.J. Brown trade has been at the Titans facility since he started his offseason training.
Last year he fell out of the first of two open practices of rookie minicamp, which is when we first saw an inhaler and started asking questions about asthma and fitness level. It took some time before Rob Moore said Burks had asthma. Then the receiver didn’t participate in minicamp and the Titans measured his training camp usage. [Unlocked]
“My biggest thing was not repeating what I did last year, coming into the offseason,” Burks said in a media conversation Tuesday. “I felt like that I’ve mastered that and can keep going getting better with a lot of the formations, and concepts of our new stuff and having fun really, that’s the main thing. Just not having that stress coming in as a rookie, like trying to prove this guy this, prove the coach this, just having fun.”
He said he’s running fast and not having any problems with breathing and it’s a big part of why he stayed in Nashville, to work in the air and heat here, referring to both vice president of sports medicine Todd Toriscelli and director of sports performance Frank Pirano.
Treylon Burks on dealing with asthma now. #Titans pic.twitter.com/3IkEFFjc3Z
— Paul Kuharsky (@PaulKuharskyNFL) May 16, 2023
The new offense we heard about recently from Ryan Tannehill, Chig Okonkwo and Aaron Brewer has Burks recalling his sophomore year at Arkansas when Kendal Briles arrived as offensive coordinator.
“Just having that tempo offense, just knowing that there are so many things in this offense that we have now that you can just go be free have fun and just win games,” Burks said.
Being at team headquarters so much allowed Burks to meet with the quarterbacks, Tim Kelly, Rob Moore, Mike Vrabel and get ahead on things.
“I’ve stayed with it, I’m at a good pace with learning it, it’s just fun,” Burks said.
It sounds as if he’s got a head start with Kelly.
He said in the offensive coordinator’s role last year as passing game coordinator he got to know him well.
“Last year, he was one of the guys who mentored me, helping me learn the offense,” Burks said. “Just him being the OC now just makes it even better because we already had that connection. When it’s something new, he’s always on top of me, making sure that I’ve got every detail that I need to know about the full concept of the play. He does a great job of explaining and making sure he gets his point across.”
While Burks said he doesn't feel it, the Titans have put as much pressure on him as on anyone on the offense by their failure to address the position.
They need him to be healthy and productive as they've got no one else remotely near as dynamic as he can be when he's at his best among the rest of their receivers.
Offseason signs are typically good regarding such things. He's one of the biggest stories we'll be watching.
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