Tennessee Titans quarterback Ryan Tannehill is focused on making every repetition in training camp count. With his top two targets from last year gone, the veteran quarterback must quickly develop chemistry with several new faces.
In the receiving corps., the list includes veteran wideout Robert Woods, who was acquired from the Los Angeles Rams, and rookie receivers Treylon Burks and Kyle Philips.
This week was the first time in training camp that Philips received an extended look with ones, where he worked out of the slot.
It was an excellent opportunity to get on the same page with Tannehill, but the young receiver was confused about his assignment on a particular play during Thursday’s session.
Tannehill was reportedly not pleased with the mistake and let Philips know about it. However, the pair would run the same route combo later in practice and corrected the issue.
After practice, the 23-year-old showed a lot of maturity by holding himself accountable for the missed assignment.
“On that one play, I had a mental error,” Philips said, according to AtoZ Sports Nashville. “The ball was supposed to go to me, so I really let the team down. It was third down in the red zone; that’s a huge play for the team, so I let the whole team down. Ryan [Tannehill] talked to me, and we corrected it. We’ll come back to it, execute it, and score a touchdown.”
Despite the issue, Tannehill and Philips appear to be developing a solid chemistry, as evidenced by this back shoulder throw the signal-caller connected with Philips on.
Kyle Chemistry 👨🏽🔬@ryantannehill1 🔜 @kylephilips17 pic.twitter.com/NfPud3sR8Z
— Tennessee Titans (@Titans) August 4, 2022
Philips has impressed in the early stages of training camp. Veteran safety Kevin Byard praised the UCLA product for his work ethic coming into camp and precise route-running, an area in which Philips takes a lot of pride.
“It’s the main thing as a receiver, being able to create separation,” Philips said in his post-draft media call. “It’s something that I’ve been working on since I was in about eighth grade. It takes a lot of film study just watching guys, how they run routes, and learning from them and adding to your toolkit.”
Despite being taken in the fifth round (No. 163 overall), Philips comes into the Titans organization with a chance to carve out an impactful role this season due to the uncertainty at the wide receiver position.
As he continues to learn this offense and Tannehill in training camp and in the preseason, which is less than a week away, there will be ups and downs, but the future looks very bright for Philips in Nashville.
