May 10, 2013; Nashville, TN, USA; Tennessee Titans rookie Dontel Watkins (5) during rookie minicamp at Baptist Sports Park. Mandatory Credit: Jim Brown-USA TODAY Sports
Here’s a look at the Tennessee Titans off season schedule that has been released so far.
OTA Workouts: May 29-31, June 3-4, June 6, June 10-11, June 13-14
Mandatory Minicamp: June 18-20
When negotiating the new CBA, the players were able to tone down the off season programming a good deal. The length of the OTA’s was cut from 14 weeks to 9 weeks, and their is no contact allowed in the mandatory minicamps. The programming for the 9 weeks also has an outline of phases.
Phase I – Strength and conditioning. This phase is for the first two weeks of the programming and only strength and conditioning coaches are allowed to engage with the players. No helmets and no footballs, although quarterbacks can throw to receivers.
Phase II – Three weeks. This is where the football side of things gets slowly integrated into the team activities. The regular and position coaches are now allowed to interact with the players and the focus is on individual player drills. The team can conduct drills as a whole, but the offense and the defense can’t play against each other yet.
Phase III – The final four weeks of the program, the team may conduct up to 10 OTAs during this time period. Contact is still not permitted, but team drills are allowed where the offense and defense line up against each other. This is where the teams will be installing the base offensive and defensive plays they will enter the season with.
This round of June workouts is huge for the Titans. They have a lot of new faces whether they be veterans or rookies, and are trying to install a new offense as well as defensive looks. I’m not exactly sure why the players would want to limit their ability to perform or learn a system when the season rolls around. I understand the need to keep the physical part of the off season in check, but the interaction with coordinators and coaches being limited does surprise me a bit.
Either way, the Titans need to absorb as much of the new system as possible and hopeful begin to gel with one another during this time period. That way they can hit the ground running when training camp opens in late July.
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