NASHVILLE – The Titans returned to the practice field on Thursday at Vanderbilt Health Football Clinic.
Here's a look at 10 observations from practice No. 6 of training camp:
-Elic Ayomanor has been one of the biggest stars of camp, so seeing him walk off the field with a trainer wasn't a great sight. Ayomanor injured his left shoulder, but the severity wasn't immediately known. "Elic is being evaluated on the shoulder," coach Robert Saleh said. "It feels stable, but we'll get more information later." Ayomanor was injured on a play involving safety Kevin Winston. On a Cam Ward pass in the front corner of the end zone, Winston arrived at the ball at the same time as Ayomanor and actually hauled the pass in while going out of bounds (from my vantage point, I don't think he got both feet in). During the course of the play, Winston hit Ayomanor on his right shoulder, and Ayomanor landed while bracing himself with his left hand, and the left side of body landed first. Ayomanor stayed down after the play, and eventually walked off with a member of the training staff holding his left shoulder. Winston went over to check on Ayomanor before he headed inside. Saleh made his comment at the conclusion of practice. The head coach isn't scheduled to talk to reporters again until Friday night, when the team practices at Nissan Stadium.
-The offense got on a heater in a red zone period during the latter portion of practice, and it might've been the best period for the offense so far in camp. After quarterback Cam Ward connected with Carnell Tate for a touchdown, he found tight end Daniel Bellinger for a score two plays later. Then, on the very next play, Tyjae Spears scored on a touchdown run. Ward wasn't done – he rolled out and ran the ball in for a touchdown on the very next play.
-Defensive tackle Jeffery Simmons wasn't real happy with the play of the defense in this period, and he let the defense know about it in so many words. I cannot list those words in this space. I'll just say Simmons was ticked off, and he demanded a response. The defense listened, because on the next possession the defense broke up a pass, batted down a ball at the line of scrimmage and then stuffed the run. It was a nice response.
-Receiver Chimere Dike had a nice day on Thursday, and he's gaining momentum in camp. I had Dike with a practice-high three catches, and one of them came on a touchdown pass from quarterback Mitchell Trubisky.
-I thought it was one of Ward's best days of camp. Ward completed 8-of-11 passes in the session, and I mentioned previously how he heated up in the red zone period. Ward made plays with his arm and his legs, and he looked poised – even when he was barking at linebacker Cody Barton after a play late in practice.
-A lot of folks worried about left tackle Dan Moore Jr. after he left Tuesday's practice, but Moore was back at practice on Thursday and he looked fine.
-It wasn't a great day for kicker Joey Slye, but I suspect he is still doing some experimenting early in camp. I had Slye at 4-of-7 in a special teams period, with all three of his misses drifting to the right.
-The defense made plays during the bulk of practice, the one red zone period being the unit's biggest wart on the day. I had Jacob Martin with two pressures, and Timmy Horne with another, but there were more. I had Alontae Taylor, James Williams, Kevin Winston, Derrick Canteen and Mani Powell with pass break-ups, and Jalyn Holmes, Keldric Faulk and Jordan Elliott with run stuffs, but again, there were more. I also saw the flags come out on at least three occasions for defensive pass interference.
-Behind Ward, quarterback Mitchell Trubisky went 4-of-7, with the touchdown toss to Dike. Quarterback Will Levis went 5-of-10, with a touchdown toss to receiver Mason Kinsey, who did a nifty little celebration, and another TD toss to receiver Joel Wilson. Hendon Hooker did not throw a pass in team periods.
-Running back Tyjae Spears continues to be a busy man at these practice. Spears had three more catches on Thursday, and he now has 17 in six training camp practices.
