It's going to be about moments.
Entering his first training camp as Tennessee Titans coach, Robert Saleh has a specific plan for how he wants to handle training camp battles and competitions. First- and second-team players will take an equal share of the reps, with third-team players taking half that amount. But Saleh has no intention of solidifying roles until deep into camp.
"There are going to be some guys on rotation where some days they’re with the 1's and some days they’re with the 2's and the next day they’re with the 3's, just to figure out who’s who, who belongs where and who’s earned what spot," Saleh told reporters on July 28, one day before the start of training camp. "There’s going to be competition from every spot and every position
group. I mean, you guys are going to see guys who you know aren’t going to be the starter still take first-team reps just so we can decide if that person’s capable of being an NFL player. There’s going to be a whole lot of moving parts to make sure we’re evaluating to select the best 53 players we can."
As Saleh puts it, he and the coaches are looking for "moments" where a player outplays his placement or where a player can't hack it with a certain line. If a player consistently wins reps with the third team, it'll be the coaches' duty to test him with the second team, or even the first team. That doesn't mean the player has leapfrogged someone ahead of him on the depth chart, but it means he's worth exploring as an option.
This process doesn't apply, Saleh said, to quarterback reps. Cam Ward is the starter, and he'll take the first-team reps as such. That said, Saleh mentioned an open competition between Will Levis and Mitchell Trubisky for the backup job. Titans general manager Mike Borgonzi expanded on this by saying it's too soon to determine whether the team plans to carry two or three quarterbacks on the active roster, but the final consideration will be keeping the 53 best players regardless of position.
For Saleh, those bottom-of-roster spots are going to be won with special teams. He said the top differentiator in a battle for a roster spot, as he sees it, will be value on a coverage or return unit, and that anyone fighting for a place on the team should find a home in special teams coordinator John Fassel's office to camp out.
Notable competitions for the Titans this training camp should include the battles at center, right guard, swing tackle, defensive end, linebacker, cornerback and safety.
Nick Suss is the Titans beat writer for The Tennessean. Contact Nick at nsuss@gannett.com. Follow Nick on X @nicksuss. Subscribe to the Talkin’ Titans newsletter for updates sent directly to your inbox.
This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: How Robert Saleh's Titans will determine winners, losers in training camp
