A hot and hazy July 29 practice, the Tennessee Titans’ first of their 2026 training camp, is in the books.
Here are my Day 1 thoughts and takeaways:
How’s this for an omen?
After stretching and individual drills, the Titans came together for the first team drills of the season. Then the tight end, Daniel Bellinger, jumped early. False start.
OK. To the line again.
Another false start. (guard Jackson Slater, I think.)
That's not good, obviously. But two things happened afterward that told you a lot about the leadership of this Titans team. The first was the sound of a defensive lineman immediately requesting that the offense wake the (expletive) up after those penalties.
And I’ll bet you can guess which defensive lineman:
"It’s up to us as leaders to push each other as teammates,"
Jeffery Simmons said later.
Second thing: After practice, quarterback Cam Ward took responsibility for those false starts, saying it was a result of his “not communicating everything to them." Whether that was the case or not, doesn't matter. It was good that from the young quarterback.
“I can’t start practice like that,” Ward said.
Some good, some bad from offense
Not a ton of highlights from what was designed to be an acclimation day of practice. I’ll give mixed reviews to Ward, though he was better than Will Levis, who had a tough practice and threw an interception in the end zone to safety Sanoussi Kane.
The highlight was a jump-ball touchdown to Carnell Tate that said more about the rookie receiver than the QB, since Tate jumped over Kevin Winston Jr., and Marcus Harris to snag it. There were several nice catches by Tate, who looks a lot more polished out there than a rookie should at this stage.
That Tate guy is gonna be awfully good, I think. No Calvin Ridley on Day 1 (illness). Otherwise, they spread the ball around to a deep, rotating group of pass-catchers. That'll likely continue. Lot of options in that receiving room.
Hendon Hooker is still here
The day before the start of camp, Saleh discussed the QBs at press conference. He mentioned three of his team’s four quarterbacks, saying Levis and Trubisky are competing for the No. 2 spot behind Ward.
But Saleh failed to mention Vols legend Hendon Hooker.
Yes, Hooker is still on the Titans, though the tea leaves for his opportunity here haven’t been all that encouraging. You barely noticed Hooker during summer workouts. The Titans were splitting reps in team drills between the top three QBs, but the fourth guy – Hooker – was often left out entirely. (Note: If the Titans are genuinely about to trade Levis, why opt to give Levis all these reps at Hooker’s expense? That didn’t make much sense to me, but I digress …)
With Trubisky sidelined on Day 1 with a minor issue, Hooker moved into that third spot, and – hey, guess what? – he did some good things. On a day with a lot of dinks and dunks, Hooker was bolder about making an impression, trying and completing some nice throws down the field.
It wasn’t all perfect, though. He missed a wide-open Mason Kinsey in the end zone.
Today’s name to know
For a Titans team that very much needs quality depth at cornerback, Micah Robinson could be one to watch. Robinson was signed off Green Bay’s practice squad during the 2025 season. The drawback is that he’s only 5-foot-11, but I liked what I saw from Robinson out there during summer practices and that carried into the first training camp practice.
Extra Points
- By the looks of it, this new Titans staff is all-in with Marcus Harris as their slot cornerback this season. It has been trending that way for some time. While Harris was only a sixth-round draft pick in 2025, he could be a prominent part of this season’s secondary.
- Right tackle JC Latham wasn’t practicing because of an issue with his pectoral muscle, but he was at practice. We spotted him doing conditioning on the side. To my untrained eye, it didn’t look like a player who is going to be out that long.
- If you are betting on the O-Line this season, roll with Austin Schlottmann at center. The bigger question is at right guard (note Slater’s presence above on the day’s first snap).
- And finally, as a media member, one of the best parts of covering Titans training camp is coming back into an air conditioned building afterward with your stomach rumbling and being reminded that the team prepares lunch for us. On Day 1, we were treated to some (seed-oil-free) tacos and pasta. They tasted like football season.
Reach Tennessean sports columnist Gentry Estes at gestes@tennessean.com and hang out with him on Bluesky @gentryestes.bsky.social
This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: A sleepy start for Titans offense (and other Day 1 training-camp observations) | Estes
