When the Titans drafted Will Levis in the second round this April, the thought was that the rookie would compete with Malik Willis for the backup quarterback job over the course of the preseason.
That competition never really got going, however. Levis hurt his thigh and missed the final two weeks of the preseason, which meant Willis got extended chances to run the offense. On Friday night against the Patriots, Ryan Tannehill played three snaps before turning things over to Willis and the second-year player went 15-of-20 for 211 yards, two touchdowns, and two interceptions.
Willis showed off his running ability with 91 yards the week before and head coach Mike Vrabel had a lot of positive things to say about the quarterback in his post-game press conference on Friday.
“Love the way that he competed, loved it,” Vrabel said. “Got to eliminate the mistakes. I think that the one there to Josh [Whyle], I thought that the protection kind of dictated that throw, that miss. And then the other one, you just have to make a better decision. But love what he was able to do after that. Just competed and finished and kept his eyes downfield. Just got to take care of the football.”
In his press conferences, Willis said it was “cool” to get so much playing time this summer and to have the chance to show he can bounce back from mistakes.
“More than anything, you just want to try to be perfect,” Willis said. “I was trying to be perfect, and you can’t be perfect. It’s not a perfect game. And you understand the people on defense get paid too, and it’s going to be about who continues to keep going after the mistakes and who fights for the longest and the hardest.”
If all goes well for the Titans, Willis won’t be playing any time soon but the team likely feels more comfortable turning to him based on what they’ve seen the last couple of weeks.
