For all of the offseason chatter of the Tennessee Titans switching gears to becoming an offensive-minded team in 2024, it's been a slow start through two weeks of the new campaign. Starting quarterback Will Levis has struggled with game-changing turnovers, the passing attack ranks 27th at 137.0 air-yards per outing, and they've scored just 17 points in consecutive contests.
Perhaps the timid start was always the expected outcome, given Levis' inexperience. Head coach Brian Callahan is also a first-time play caller, and the struggling offensive line is the youngest unit in the league, one that sports a new position coach in Bill Callahan, a new scheme, a rookie left tackle, sophomore left guard, and four new overall starters.
One player Levis and the offense have clearly missed is DeAndre Hopkins. The five-time Pro Bowl wideout produced more than 1,000 receiving yards for the Titans last season. In Levis' first start, Hopkins recorded four receptions for 128 yards and three touchdowns. Together, they combined for another 100-yard performance in a dramatic come-from-behind Monday Night Football win over the Miami Dolphins.
That chemistry was expected to carry over to this season. The familiarity between Levis and Hopkins was to be crucial considering Levis was mastering a new offense that featured free-agent signings Calvin Ridley and Tyler Boyd at receiver. That expectation was unfortunately derailed when Hopkins suffered a multi-week knee injury in a late July practice.
The Titans didn't place Hopkins on IR, but his overall involvement has been extremely limited throughout Tennessee's 0-2 start. He played just 17 snaps in the Week 1 defeat to the Chicago Bears, recording one catch for eight yards. Hopkins' snap count nearly doubled in the Week 2 defeat to the New York Jets, earning 29 snaps, but managing just one reception via two targets for a nine-yard gain.
Offensive coordinator Nick Holz met with the media on Thursday before practice. Asked about Hopkins, Holz indicated his star wideout could be further unleashed against the Green Bay Packers in Week 3.
"Last weekend, we doubled Hopkins' snap count," Holz said. "Now that he's been out there for a few weeks, we think it'll come together."
Titans OC Nick Holz on ramping up DeAndre Hopkins:
— AtoZ Sports Nashville (@AtoZSports) September 19, 2024
“We’re a progression-based offense… I would say in Chicago, we didn’t know how much he was going to be able to go… last week we doubled his snap count… now that he’s been out there a couple weeks… we think it’ll come…
It was encouraging to witness Hopkins' snap-count double in Week 2, but he still played just 44% of Tennessee's total offensive snaps. For context, he never played less than 57% of snaps in any single outing throughout 2023, according to Football Guys, and his season-long involvement was 72.19% of all offensive plays. Hopkins could make a major impact versus the Packers if he's available for his more regular workload.