As if the game wasn’t stressful enough, Tennessee Titans fans had to hold their breath on several occasions in the Week 14 game against the Miami Dolphins because of rookie quarterback Will Levis.
Not only did Levis take multiple big hits when running the football, he also got folded while trying to make a tackle following his pick-six. Thankfully, Levis emerged unscathed.
Nobody can question Levis’ dedication to making plays and helping his team win, but he also has to do a better job of protecting himself, something head coach Mike Vrabel touched on after Monday’s game.
Vrabel hilariously stated that the team would go from showing Levis clips of signal-callers “sliding and using the rules to their advantage,” to “examples of quarterbacks not sliding and getting the [expletive] knocked out of them.”
When asked about his need to slide more and protect himself, Levis called it “a point of emphasis.”
“It’s been a point of emphasis, going back to last week,” Levis said, per Jim Wyatt. “I obviously needed to take the coaching points a little better. I just need to make sure that I know that I am not putting my body in harm’s way.
“My best ability is my availability, and I have to know that.”
As far as Vrabel’s new approach, Levis confirmed that the Titans head coach is following up with what he said on Tuesday.
“When we were going through the film yesterday, (Vrabel) popped in and said the cut-up this week will probably look a lot different than it did last week.”
Doing a better job of protecting himself is just one of the kinks Levis has to work out moving forward, but at least he has that competitive fire, which is much easier to harness in a player than it is to instill.
