Tennessee Titans head coach Mike Vrabel talked about the rotation at right guard in Week 4, and the return of left tackle Taylor Lewan.
The Tennessee Titans deployed a rotation at right guard in Week 4, and head coach Mike Vrabel explained his thinking in doing so.
The rotation consisted of rookie Nate Davis, who was making his NFL debut after being a healthy scratch the first three weeks, and Jamil Douglas, with the former getting the majority of snaps on Sunday (40 to 24).
On Monday, Vrabel talked about his decision to rotate Davis and Douglas in Week 4, which was done in order to evaluate the rookie better in his first game of 2019, according to the head coach.
#Titans' Vrabel: Guard rotation allowed team to evaluate Nate Davis in his first NFL game. Wanted to make sure it went okay. Went well. Will continue to get Nate in there.
— John Glennon (@glennonsports) September 30, 2019
There were no glaring issues for Davis, outside of his allowing a defender through on an RPO that almost led to a sack. Thankfully, Marcus Mariota was able to get rid of the football before the defender took him down.
Vrabel also gave his evaluation of how things went with Davis.
Vrabel on Nate Davis: We’re pleases where Nate’s come. We are going to continue to get him out there and get him going. He was composed. I thought he got after guys. There were times where I think he matched up well with Jarrett (Grady Jarrett). #Titans
— TURRON DAVENPORT (@TDavenport_NFL) September 30, 2019
So, will Davis get the start in Week 5 against the Buffalo Bills? Vrabel didn’t really answer that one way or the other.
#Titans' Vrabel: Follows up by saying we'll try to get Nate Davis as many reps as we can.
— John Glennon (@glennonsports) September 30, 2019
As long as his conditioning is up to par, there’s no reason to believe Davis won’t start against Buffalo. He played well in his debut and took up 62 percent of the snaps.
Regardless, once Davis takes the field on Sunday, the Titans will have their offensive line at full strength for the first time this season. That’s because Mr. Taylor Lewan is returning in Week 5, and joined the team at the facility on Monday morning.
Vrabel said Lewan made the Titans coach give him a hug when the two saw each other for the first time.
#Titans' Vrabel: Says Lewan demanded a hug when he returned today. "It was a quick hug."
— John Glennon (@glennonsports) September 30, 2019
Vrabel also went on to say that Lewan’s temporary replacement, Dennis Kelly, did a good job in the star left tackle’s absence, which he did. The Titans offensive line had a lot of issues through the first four games, but Kelly was hardly the biggest problem.
#Titans' Vrabel: Kelly did an excellent job competing during Lewan's absence.
— John Glennon (@glennonsports) September 30, 2019
On a side note, Vrabel admitted his decision to go for it on fourth down in the fourth quarter with the team leading 24-10 instead of kicking a chip shot field goal was the wrong move.
#Titans' Vrabel: Given opportunity, the proper decision on 4th down was to go up three scores.
— John Glennon (@glennonsports) September 30, 2019
It’s OK coach, we forgive you. Just please, don’t do it again, OK?