Tennessee Titans 2022 first-round pick and wide receiver Treylon Burks has been very good in training camp, but that has yet to translate to production in the preseason.
After two exhibition games, Burks has just one catch for four yards on four targets, and he has a single carry for four yards — not exactly the start the Titans were hoping for.
But context is important in the case of Burks, who has been open on several occasions this preseason, only to be missed by his quarterback — and that isn’t lost on head coach Mike Vrabel.
“The thing that I’m always trying to say in regard to receivers is they can’t control when they get the ball,” Vrabel said, per Ben Arthur of the Tennessean. “All they can control is that they get open and that we can review the film and say, ‘Hey, this is where we’d like the ball to go.’ I don’t want to tell quarterbacks, ‘Hey, throw it to this guy.’ That’s not the direction we really want to head.”
Despite his lack of production, Vrabel still saw positives in the rookie’s performance on Saturday night.
“But I was really encouraged by some of the things, especially without the football trying to block,” Vrabel continued. “There were times that he was open, whether that be for a catch and run, and there were some other times that we’d like to see a better route. Just continue to progress and work on the conditioning in the game and all the things that are required of receivers.”
The positive words from Vrabel are good to see after he called Burks “inconsistent” following preseason Week 1.
With touches having been hard to come by for Burks, the Titans need to do a better job of manufacturing some for him if they don’t come naturally in preseason Week 3.
