Tennessee Titans: Stock up, stock down for rookies
Stock Down
A.J. Brown
I hesitate to put A.J. Brown’s stock down since he just returned to practice, but his participation was limited on Sunday, so we’ll have to see a good, full practice without any issues before giving his stock a boost.
Brown has yet to complete a full practice during camp, as he slipped during a drill on the first day and was forced to leave early. The good news is he got some work on a side field with fellow wideout Corey Davis on Day 12, which is the most work we’ve seen him do since Day 1.
If Brown hopes to stave-off a potential challenge from receiver Tajae Sharpe and Taywan Taylor for the No. 3 receiver spot behind Davis and Adam Humphries, he has to stay healthy and continue making it through practices on a daily basis.
Once he can do that, Brown no doubt has the talent necessary to secure his spot, which is an important one with the Titans seemingly using more three-receiver sets this season.
Nate Davis
Forget Carmen Sandiego, where in the world is Tennessee Titans right guard, Nate Davis?
The Charlotte product has not been seen on a practice field since August 1st when he left early for what Turron Davenport of ESPN thought might have been some form of a heat-related issue. It appears Davis was dealing with something at least a bit more serious than that.
Nate Davis went inside with a trainer during the final team period. He took a knee on the sideline. It's burning up out here so it was probably just dehydration or heat exhaustion. #Titans
— TURRON DAVENPORT (@TDavenport_NFL) August 1, 2019
Davis didn’t take part in the team’s first preseason game last Thursday, and now his absence has opened the door for guard Jamil Douglas to get first-team reps on the right side, effectively putting his name in the battle that involved just Davis and Kevin Pamphile at first.
As is the case with all rookies, missed time at practice and in preseason games can be crucial between a guy becoming a starter for Week 1, or coming off the bench.
We have no idea what happened to Davis, and while we understand head coach Mike Vrabel doesn’t like to talk about injuries, we’re hard-pressed to find anyone in the media at least asking the question.
Alex Barnes
Things have not gone well for running back Alex Barnes since he entered training camp with a ton of momentum from a strong showing during the spring.
Since then, Barnes has been consistently outplayed by fellow back Jeremy McNichols in practice, and the Kansas State product was the fourth back off the bench in the preseason opener behind Dion Lewis, McNichols, and Dalyn Dawkins.
In that game, Barnes had the worst showing, as he fumbled once (it was recovered) and totaled just 14 yards on 10 carries. That’s compared to McNichols’ eight carries for 44 yards and Dawkins’ 10 carries for 35 yards.
Another potential bad sign for Barnes is the fact that the Titans added running back Akeem Hunt on Saturday. That doesn’t mean Barnes is done, but it certainly isn’t a good sign for the UDFA.