Tennessee Titans: First-Round Pick Struggles in First Rookie Camp Workout
NASHVILLE – Mike Vrabel said it could possibly happen to any of them.
Nine draft picks, 17 undrafted players and seven others invited for tryouts took to the practice field for the first time as professionals on Friday during the Tennessee Titans ’rookie orientation. They have all been preparing for the opportunity in recent weeks and months, but probably no one is fully prepared for the physical needs they face.
However, Treylon Burks, the Titans ’first -round pick in the 2022 NFL Draft appears to be increasingly useless at job management. The wide receiver from Arkansas was apparently cut off when he walked with a trainer during the individual stage, which occurred in the first 20 minutes of the nearly 90 -minute session. After a brief stay inside the training facility, Burks returned to the field for a while but came out again staying inside for the rest of the season.
“I think it’s hard to imagine that they could recreate with a trainer how we do things,” said Vrabel, a fifth-year coach at Tennessee. “We saw that in (veterans) coming back and starting our offseason program and guys participating in a few weeks. It was different.
“I know they’re working, and they think they’re trying to form, but that’s not the case.”
The exercise took place early in the afternoon under bright skies with temperatures in the mid-80s. Not exactly the burning conditions that players will face during training camp in August, and there are five wide receivers of 37 participants (in addition to the rookies there are four players with little experience in NFL), more so than any group position. So, Burks didn’t get an excessive number of reps.
In addition, the conditions are not exactly foreign to the native Warren, Ark. playing college football at the University of Arkansas.
Everyone else has been through it, though.
Burks is scheduled to meet with the media after the session. That changed because he was like the coaching staff, and fourth-round pick Hassan Haskins, a running back from Michigan, led the podium.
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“It’s very different, from Michigan,” Haskins said. “I mean, it feels great. It’s hot, but it feels good. ”
Rookie orientation is often an eye -opening experience in many areas, including physical requirements, and always. This is not unusual for the Titans and their time with Vrabel.
Back in 2010, Derrick Morgan, Tennessee’s first round pick that year, talked about how the pre-draft process for high-profile prospects made things more difficult in the immediate aftermath.
Morgan noticed that traveling for interviews affected his exercise and diet schedule in March and April. He acquired a hamstring during conditioning drills after rookie orientation and sat first in minicamps that year. He was also injured at the start of training camp and eventually played four games as a rookie before he finished the year on the injured reserve.
The Titans need Burks to be healthy and productive. They got him a pick taken from Philadelphia (18th overall) in last month’s trade for AJ Brown with the idea that he could fill the role Brown has played in the past three games. season. Burks, who is 6-foot-2, 225 pounds, has always been compared to Brown in pre-draft scouting reports.
That made his issues on Friday more important than almost any of the other participants.
“He’s good,” quarterback Malik Willis said of Burks. “That’s with me too. So, I will cut him off. ”
The rookies have another on-field session this Saturday. Things will improve further Monday when they join veterans for on-field work as part of Phase 2 of the offseason conditioning program.
“They all have a long way to go,” Vrabel said. “We all have a long way to go. We all have a lot to improve and I think they are a good thing in this group so we can only improve some of the veterans a little bit. … All these players are there on that field (Friday), they have a lot to work on.
“… We need to get these people in here and we need to study. We need to know what to do, teach them our program. If (Burks) comes back there (Saturday), we will coach him. ”
