Will Levis has staked a claim to the Titans starting quarterback job and the team would like to keep him in that role, but Levis’ playing style opens the door to injuries that could necessitate a change of plans.
Levis took several big hits while running the ball in Monday night’s win over the Dolphins and he’s shown a preference for trying to run through would-be tacklers rather than sliding to avoid the kind of contact that could knock him out of the game. At a Tuesday press conference, Titans head coach Mike Vrabel said he appreciates Levis’ “level of competitiveness” but made it clear that he’d like to see the quarterback do a little more to protect himself.
Vrabel suggested the team might be shifting their messaging style to see if that elicits a different response.
“We’re still trying to work on that,” Vrabel said. “We showed him examples of quarterbacks sliding and using the rules to his advantage. I guess we’ll have to show him video of quarterbacks not sliding and getting the shit knocked out of them. We’re gonna try it the other way this week.”
Levis has only made seven NFL starts and this is unlikely to be the last part of his game he needs to refine as he moves forward with his NFL career. It’s a good place to start working on making sure that career is a long one, though, and we’ll see if the new approach pays off when the Titans face the Texans in Week 15.
