If the Tennessee Titans are going to reach their full potential in 2023, they’re going to need quarterback Ryan Tannehill and wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins to get on the same page, and as quickly as possible.
Thankfully, the second the two of them were allowed on the practice field together, they immediately got to work on developing their on-field chemistry.
Hopkins instantly showed up and caught several passes during seven-on-seven and team drills, including being thrown three of Tannehill’s first five passes of training camp.
The Titans quarterback recently discussed the importance of going through the meticulous process of getting comfortable with his new star receiver.
“Trust is a big part of playing the quarterback position, whether it’s a guy like [Hopkins] or anybody else,” he said, per John Glennon of Nashville Post.
“You have to play with trust in order to make plays. The more trust you have, ultimately the more plays you make, so we’ve got to start developing that trust.”
“We’ve already been talking through a lot of the concepts, how I see things, and how we expect the routes to be run,” Tannehill added. “So it’s going to be a growing process. We’re going to have put a lot of work in, a lot of time in. But excited to start that process.”
Tannehill then went on to say the following when discussing the importance of allowing DHop to be the creative playmaker he naturally is, while also walking the fine line of staying within the framework of the offense.
“You have a veteran guy who’s able to get himself open in different situations,” Tannehill said. “So it’s just building that trust on knowing when [it’s], ‘alright he does have the freedom to create on his own,’ and then when [it’s] ‘alright, I’m expecting you in this window in this timing,’ right?
“It’s a balance of being able to use his play-making ability and spatial awareness and all those types of things, but then also how does it fit within the picture as a whole? We’re going to be working through that throughout all training camp, but no doubt I’m excited to have his playmaking ability as part of our offense.”
Tannehill later added, “you can’t hit everything on the field. You’re not going to get a rep with everything, every coverage, every look. So being able to talk through those things in the meeting room after practice, before practice, and then just spending time together, getting to know each other [is important].”
The All-Pro wideout also shared similar sentiments when asked to elaborate on the importance of keeping in constant communication with Tannehill in order to ensure that they’re always on the same page.
“I played with a lot of quarterbacks, and that’s one thing that I’ve realized that helps — extra communication, doing the little things that you don’t see on the practice field and going over things in the film room, trying to be perfect,” Hopkins said during his introductory press conference.
“All quarterbacks are different, but at the same time, they’re very similar. So, just trying to find certain things that they like and being on the same page with them.”
Tannehill ended by marveling at Hopkins’ rare ability to attack the ball, regardless of how he’s covered.
Despite his early-season suspension in 2022, Hopkins still finished with the second-highest contested catch rate of his career (52.4 percent).
“You’ve seen it over the years — it doesn’t look like he’s open, but he’s able to come down with the football, time and time again,” Tannehill said. “Just being able to build that trust here through the training camp, see where I can put the ball, where he can go get it and where he likes it, that type of thing. I’m excited to go to work and keep building on what we started today.”
These next few weeks of work will be critical toward ensuring that Tannehill and Hopkins put themselves in a position to succeed in 2023, which should subsequently lead to plenty of team success.
