Ryan Tannehill did not practice with the Tennessee Titans on Tuesday, and head coach Mike Vrabel has multiple backup plans in place for Sunday’s game with the Atlanta Falcons.
Those backup plans are the Nos. 2 and No. 3 quarterbacks behind Tannehill, who only recently ditched a knee scooter to alleviate bearing weight on his injured ankle.
Malik Willis and Will Levis were set to share first-team reps in Tuesday’s practice and would split the QB role on Sunday should the Titans be without Tannehill.
“We’ll see where he is at the end of the week,” Vrabel said of Tannehill. “And I would imagine if Ryan can’t play, I would anticipate both of those quarterbacks playing in the football game. But Ryan is off of the roller, or walker, or whatever he had, and we’ll see where he is at the end of the week.”
Tannehill injured his ankle on Oct. 15 in a loss to the Baltimore Ravens. The team acknowledged his current ankle injury is similar to the one he suffered early last season, when he missed two games. Tannehill re-injured the ankle later last season and was placed on injured reserve.
There is some consideration given to resting Tannehill with a short week to follow. Tennessee travels to Pittsburgh to challenge the Steelers next Thursday in the first of three consecutive road games.
But the Titans (2-4) have been held below 17 points in all four losses.
Willis is the No. 2 quarterback and presumably would start because of his experience. He played in eight games last season and was 4-of-5 passing in relief of Tannehill against the Ravens. He also was sacked four times.
The Titans drafted Will Levis 33rd overall in the 2023 NFL Draft with Tannehill, 35, in the final year of his contract.
Would it be Willis or Levis with the starters against Atlanta? Vrabel wouldn’t confirm what the QB pecking order might be if Tannehill is held out this week.
“We’ll see what the game plan looks like, and first off see where Ryan is at,” Vrabel said. “We’ll talk about what we may want to do throughout the course of the game. If Ryan can’t play, I expect both of them to play.”
–Field Level Media