Will Levis made some rare plays from a quarterback in the Titans’ upset win over the Dolphins on Monday night, throwing his body around to fight for extra yardage on scrambles.
The most notable instance of Levis fighting through tackles came in the middle of the second quarter when he stepped out of a sack, running five yards downfield before dropping his shoulder to try and run through Jalen Ramsey. Levis wasn’t able to pick up the first down on the third-and-10 run, but after Bradley Chubb tried to take him down, the Dolphins edge rusher spiked his helmet to the ground. Chubb was assessed a 15-yard penalty for the play, giving the Titans a first down that led to their first touchdown of the game.
While Levis’ run gave a spark to the Titans’ offense, Tennessee coach Mike Vrabel preached some caution about the quarterback’s willingness to be a bit more physical when running. Speaking to reporters Tuesday, Vrabel said he’ll have to go back to the drawing board to teach his rookie quarterback how to protect himself in a funny way.
“I don’t know,” Vrabel said when asked how to get Levis to be careful when running the ball. “I think we’re still trying to work on that. We showed him examples of quarterbacks sliding and using the rules to their advantage. I guess we’ll have to show him video of quarterbacks not sliding and getting the s— beat out of them. We’re gonna try it the other way this week.”
Still, Vrabel couldn’t help but be appreciative of Levis’ competitive desire, saying he likes the quarterback’s “level of competitiveness” even if he’s being a bit more reckless than he wishes.
Levis completed 23 of 38 passes for 327 yards, a touchdown and an interception on Monday. More importantly, he helped the Titans come back from a 14-point deficit in the final minutes, leading Tennesse to two touchdown drives to give it a 28-27 win.
Following what ended up being the Titans’ game-winning touchdown with 1:49 left, Levis was notably pumped, sharing an intense embrace with Vrabel and other Tennessee coaches as he got back to the sideline.
Vrabel was impressed by the rookie quarterback’s poise in the moments after Monday’s win but also expressed a similar concern over his downfield runs.
“When it’s not open, you’re not going to stand there and wait it out with Chubb and [Christian] Wilkins and everybody else coming in. I think he did a nice job in knowing when to escape. Certainly, he’ll have to use great decisions going forward on some of those collisions down the field.”
But Levis impressed his teammates with his rushing ability on Monday, too.
“I saw a dawg out here today,” DeAndre Hopkins told NFL Network. “That kid is going to be great. I’m always in his ear, trying to help him. I know he’s still got a lot in his tank. .… [I’m] still [going to] be on him when we get back. But Will showed heart. I love competing and playing with him.”
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