NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — As the Titans opened practice for the 2024 season Wednesday the turf at Ascension St. Thomas Sports Park became a proving ground. With so many new faces around training camp this year, everyone wants to show what they can do.
Brian Callahan begins his first camp as Titans head coach with a roster that underwent an extreme makeover this spring following a 6-11 season and the firing of former coach Mike Vrabel.
“I think the team’s in a good place,” Callahan said Tuesday. “I love the way they work. I love their attitude. And so we’re going to see what we’re all about. And the best part is we get to go put pads on and go play football and show people if we’re up to the task or not.”
Day one of practice saw the intensity pick up and the tempo speed up from offseason workouts. A sign of excitement, and characteristics the Titans hope they carry with them through the remainder of training camp.
“There’s nothing like the first day,” cornerback Roger McCreary said. “You know we’re finally competing. The season’s finally here. So it’s just great to have everybody here and to finally be competing with each other because everybody’s great and we’re just trying to make each other better.”
Several players pointed to the attitude and vibes being different heading into this season with the new coaching staff. But even veterans still have to prove they belong.
“I feel like you still come in with the same jitters,” wide receiver Nick Westbrook-Ikhine said. “Speaking for myself, I think you always have a little uncertainty. You feel confident in the work you put in, but you still never know.”
For other players it’s an opportunity to find a new home in the NFL. Jamal Adams signed a free agent contract with the Titans on July 13th.
The former All-Pro safety is still working his way back from a serious leg injury that cost him nearly all of the 2022 season and hampered his play last year in Seattle. The Seahawks were hoping he’d make the switch to linebacker, but Adams wanted to remain at his original position and jumped at the chance to come to Tennessee.
“It means everything (to me),” Adams said. “That was probably the main thing (in my process), Obviously being around Dennard (Wilson), Jack, Frank Bush and those guys again is almost like home base. Those guys raised me and I’m grateful to be back (with them). For me it was just about being in shape and continuing to come back from my injury. You know, going on two years next month post-op, so it’s great to get back out here and run around again.”
With so many new faces in training camp the Titans are picked near the bottom of the AFC South this season, and they know they have a lot to prove to people around the NFL.
But they feel like there are enough pieces to turn some heads if they just stick together and keep building on what they were able to do on day one.
“It started yesterday,” star defensive tackle Jeffery Simmons said of the team’s report date. “Our job is to not focus on the guys who we lost, but on the guys who we got this year. The one thing about this league is prove and reprove. Every year you can prove who you are, but at the end of the day you’ve got to reprove it.”
