Everything started off slowly, as the Titans and the Rams separated into their own groups after stretching. Credit the Titans for showing some Southern hospitality, as they allowed the Rams to use the near field, sparing the Rams fans who showed up from having to walk to the far field.
I first watched the Titans kickoff units, which featured a JUGGS machine instead of a live kicker again. Chris Carr, Chris Johnson and Lavelle Hawkins all returned kicks. The most notable play was a muff by Hawkins, who then picked the ball up, kind of, and began juggling it like a hot potato while trying to run, before fumbling it again. In a game situation that would have been a turnover inside the 20. Ouch! Not a good sign.
I also watched the running backs, defensive line and linebackers in short drills before the action everyone was waiting for commenced.
The Titans offense went against the Rams defense on the far field, while the Titans defense scrimmaged the Rams offense on the near field. I elected to watch the Titans defense, and was somewhat disappointed. The Rams’ passing attack looked very efficient against our defense, which looked as if they weren’t covering too tightly.
Both team (11 on 11) and 7-on-7 work ensued. Because the offense has a tremendous advantage in 7-on-7, the Rams completed an awful lot of passes, as you would expect. The problem was, they also completed far too many passes for my liking in 11-on-11 sessions.
One play in particular rankled me. A Rams tight end beat Josh Stamer down the middle for a long gain as the Titans safeties split, leaving the deep middle of the field wide open.
There were two bright spots. Vince Fuller intercepted two passes, one of which he returned down the sideline. The hitting and intensity by the defense were also a welcome sight.
The aggressiveness by the Titans’ D upset the Rams quite a bit. At first, there was some pushing and shoving after a few plays and then the teams had several fights. Seemed like all it would take to start a skirmish was a hard hit by somebody, at which point players from both teams would get involved. Stephen Tulloch put one particularly hard hit on a Ram.
I saw several helmets lost in the fracases. In a game, there would have been plenty of penalties, some ejections and some fines handed out by the league office the following Tuesday.
Things quieted down after the coaches huddled their teams up and calmed them down. Practice resumed for a little while and then ended early.
Although I wasn’t able to watch the Titans offense on the other field, I understand they did well against the Rams defense. If anyone saw that, please let us know what you thought about it.
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