NASHVILLE – The Titans returned to the practice field on Tuesday at Vanderbilt Health Football Clinic.
Here's a look at 10 observations from Day 5 of training camp:
-Have a day, Anthony Hill Jr. The rookie linebacker on Tuesday intercepted two passes, including a pick on the final play of practice. Hill dropped in coverage and intercepted quarterback Mitchell Trubisky on a pass across the middle midway through practice, and later he hauled in a tipped Trubisky pass to hit the daily double. "Just doing my job," Hill said with a smile after practice. "At the end of the day, you do your job and good things happen." Hill said he's getting more comfortable each day. He said he's improved his diet, cutting out the Mike and Ike candies, and he's lost roughly six to seven pounds in the process.
-It didn't take long before Jeffery Simmons and JC Latham were involved in another dust-up, although this one resulted in Simmons getting booted from practice and having to work on a side field. A day after being separated on the second play of practice, Simmons and Latham had to be separated again, this time after the fourth play of practice. And, this time, Simmons threw a few punches, which earned him an ejection. Simmons initially got tangled up with center Austin Schlottmann, but following the play Latham entered the fray and things quickly escalated. Simmons got heated, and he was ready to fight Latham. Instead, coach Robert Saleh had him go to a side field to cool off. Saleh ended up huddling the team for a chat after Elic Ayomanor and Marcus Harris got into a dust-up on the next play. "Our policy is if you throw a punch, you are ejected in the game," Saleh said. "Same thing with practice, if you throw a punch, you are out of practice, but rather than going to the locker room he went to the other fields and still got his work in. The projected reps and work that he would have got in, he got off to the side."
-Quarterback Cam Ward played mistake-free football on Tuesday, and overall had a pretty solid day. I had Ward 10-of-18 on the day while working in team drills most of the practice. The Titans spent the latter portion of the session in Move the Ball and in a Two-Minute periods, and it provided one of the biggest highlights of the day late. Ward missed a few throws, and there appeared to be some miscommunication at other times. But he connected with Wan'Dale Robison on a bullet across the middle before a home run late. More on the home run coming up in 3, 2, 1 ...
-Rookie Carnell Tate has been pretty quiet early in camp, but he changed that in a big way on Tuesday. After a drop and then what appeared to be some miscommunication with Ward, Tate exploded off the line of scrimmage and then raced past cornerback Alontae Taylor to catch a 70-yard touchdown pass. It was the biggest highlight of the day, and it was a reminder of what Tate is capable of. I had Tate with just one catch on Tuesday, but it was a big one.
-Linebacker James Williams had another interception on Tuesday, also on a Trubisky pass. Williams also had a punch out as his play-making ways continued. Williams has been a consistent performer throughout camp. I chatted with him after practice and plan to write a story on his development in the next day or so. He's earning the recognition.
-The sight of tackle Dan Moore Jr. leaving practice with a trainer early in practice wasn't a great one, even though he was walking off on his own power. Saleh acknowledged the injury after practice, but he didn't give any specifics. "We had a couple of injuries," Saleh said. "Dan Moore, a couple of guys. All the injuries, I'm not sure what they are – I don't know if they're going to be day-to-day, or just something that happened in practice. But we'll get more for you guys tomorrow."
-Receiver Bryce Oliver continues to make big plays himself. Oliver caught two deep balls on Tuesday, both from quarterback Will Levis. Oliver has been a big-play playmaker in camp so far, and he's getting himself noticed. Oliver is not only good at getting open downfield, but he does a great job making contested catches because of his physicality.
-A lot of defenders got their hands on the football on Tuesday. Joshua Williams, Keydrain Calligan, Mario Goodrich, and Nazeeh Johnson all had PBUs, with Goodrich and Johnson having two each. I wrote down the names of Jacob Martin, Femi Oladejo and Cody Barton for nice defensive stops, but there were others. Jermaine Johnson and Mohamoud Diabate had nice pressures, but again, there were others.
-I had Trubisky 12-of-19 with three interceptions on Tuesday, and Levis 4-of-8, with a pair of nice deep balls. Hendon Hooker threw two passes in a man coverage period early, but he didn't get a team period rep.
-Three receivers had three catches each: Chimere Dike, Wan'Dale Robinson and Oliver. I thought it was Dike's best day of camp, as he made some nice grabs. Tyjae Spears, Julius Chestnut, Elic Ayomanor, Kalel Mullings and Xavier Restrepo had two catches each. Ayomanor has been especially animated and feisty in these sessions, as he's really competing, but this may be a story for another day.
