A day after a shoulder injury abruptly ended his Monday night, Will Levis was sore and still the starting quarterback of the Tennessee Titans.
Head coach Brian Callahan made that much clear on Tuesday.
“Will is our starting quarterback,” Callahan said, “and I said it last night and I’ll reiterate it again that when he’s healthy, he’s starting. Hopefully he’s healthy for Indy and we’re ready to roll.”
Levis was set to undergo an MRI on Tuesday, but Callahan had no update in that regard.
Following their first win of the season on Monday against the Miami Dolphins, the Titans are headed for their bye week before returning in Week 6 against the Indianapolis Colts, as Callahan alluded to. It seems at this point far too early to prognosticate Levis’ status for the AFC South matchup.
However, Callahan reiterated that Mason Rudolph played the remainder of the game after relieving Levis because the latter was injured, and not because he felt better with Rudolph at QB.
“He was hurt and he was having trouble throwing,” Callahan said. “He had pain when he was throwing and so there was no reason to put him in the game, if it’s an injury to your throwing shoulder. There was no doubt in my mind that that was the right thing to do for him.”
The first-year head coach, who got his first career win Monday, said he conveyed the same message to Levis and there have been no minced words and should be no confusion.
“He shouldn’t feel any type of way about it. He was sore this morning and all those things,” Callahan said. “It’s your traditional injury of a quarterback, and Mason went in and played well, and Will will be back starting when he’s ready to go.”
In his shortened outing against the Fins, Levis was 3 of 4 for 25 yards with one interception. Despite playing less than a full quarter, Levis has now had at least one giveaway in all four games this year.
He leads the NFL with nine turnovers, with his six interceptions and three fumbles lost tied with the Colts’ Anthony Richardson and the Philadelphia Eagles’ Jalen Hurts for the most in the league, respectively.
Levis, blessed with tremendous arm strength and ability, has a high ceiling, but his turnovers, many of them of the head-scratching and back-breaking variety, have killed the Titans. Rudolph threw for just 85 yards over three-plus quarters, but he didn’t turn the ball over and the argument can be made he possesses a higher floor than Levis.
The Titans’ Monday victory also saw them unlock their running game with a season-best 244 yards on the ground. Callahan even noted that the Titans’ offensive line is better suited run-blocking than pass-blocking at the moment, which isn’t surprising when considering Levis has been sacked 15 times (tied for third-most in NFL). That could prove to lighten the pressure on Levis and better the Titans offensive overall.
Though information is still pending, Levis’ shoulder injury doesn’t seem to be too serious.
Callahan, on the other hand, is serious about seeing if Levis can be his franchise QB. Thus, he’s committed to the second-season signal-caller through the ups and downs.
“There does take some development — guys make some young-player mistakes, you see it all across the league right now — and we’re going to find out everything about Will that we can,” he said. “He’s going to continue to grow and get better and play better. He needs to play better for us, and at the end of the day, I believe that he will. That’s where I’m at with that whole thing. There’s no controversy, there’s no second-guessing — that’s what’s happening. So, that’s probably about as clear as I can state it.”
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