Tennessee Titans quarterback Will Levis remains confident in himself through all of the ups and the downs.
The 25-year-old Levis has shown the potential to be a franchise quarterback during his first two seasons in the league. He recently went through a four-game stretch where he posted seven touchdowns against just two interceptions while leading the Titans to a 32-27 win over the Houston Texans in Week 12, capped off by the game-winning 70-yard touchdown pass in the fourth quarter.
However, he’s also faced lows, such as his recent outing in a loss to the Cincinnati Bengals. In a competitive game that was tied at 14-all at one point, Levis committed four turnovers — three interceptions, one fumble lost — before he was benched in the third quarter.
Levis’ starting status is in question entering Week 16 with the Titans appearing to lean towards Mason Rudolph as the starter against the Indianapolis Colts. However, Levis remains confident and optimistic as he closes out his second season.
“It’s been a tough go of things with some ups and downs,” says Levis in a one-on-one interview on behalf of his partnership with Optimum Nutrition. “The biggest thing at the end of the day is just to remind yourself who you are, how you got to this point, the times you were able to overcome and you were able to show off the things that you know you’re capable of. It gives you the confidence going forward to do that again and keep peaking and keep improving.”
Through 20 starts, Levis holds a 5-15 record with 20 touchdowns against 16 interceptions for an 81.9 passer rating. While the stats aren’t impressive, he has shown glimpses of being a franchise quarterback and has the prototypical size (6-foot-4, 230 pounds) to go along with solid athletic ability and a rocket arm.
However, the turnovers have been an issue, with the recent loss against the Bengals highlighting that. Levis ranks fourth in the NFL in interceptions and four of them have been returned for touchdowns — which leads the league. Additionally, he has eight fumbles.
In Levis’ defense, he is playing for a rebuilding team that went through a major coaching staff change in the offseason. In other words, he’s playing for his second coaching staff led by Brian Callahan after Mike Vrabel was let go in the offseason.
Levis On His Relationship with Brian Callahan
Levis says his relationship with Callahan is “great” and that it continues to grow throughout the season. He also says he’s learned a lot from the offensive-minded coach. However, he does mention that it’s been an adjustment learning a new offense and says he wants to continue to grow as a leader.
With that being said, he sees it as a positive with what he’s been through early in his NFL career.
“The most difficult part has been trying to learn a new offense and trying to go out there and put all the pieces together and understand things,” says Levis. “I’ve been able to be put in some really good situations where I’ve been able to learn some things, sometimes the easy way, sometimes the hard way. At the end of the day, I feel like this has been the biggest growth year of my life as a player and a person. I wouldn’t have been that way if it wasn’t for those lower moments.”
Levis mentions “maintaining the mission together” when speaking of his relationship and goals with the Titans and Callahan.
“Brian’s been great, my relationship with him has developed a lot throughout this year,” says Levis. “As we’ve learned each other as players and as people with our time together, it’s only gotten better. Even though it’s been tough with the results on the field, we know what we’re working towards and everything that we’re doing are the right things to put us in the best position going forward. That’s been the best thing with him, it’s just maintaining that mission, maintaining that focus. We’re on this mission together and we’re doing our best to move forward every single day.”
The second-year quarterback also expresses gratitude towards his former coach, Vrabel, while saying the difference between him and Callahan is that the latter is more focused on offense. He also says that he “responds really well” to both of them.
“I have love for both head coaches,” says Levis when asked what it’s like playing for both of them. “Vrabel, being the coach during my rookie year has had a great impact on me and I truly feel like the time I spent with him made me a better person, better player. Callahan has been great too. The biggest difference would be that Callahan is an offensive-minded head coach and he’s more active in those offensive meetings than Vrabel was. I just flat-out spend more time with Callahan than I did Vrabel in that way.”
While it remains to be seen whether or not Levis will start any of the team’s remaining three games, he says his objectives before the end of the season is “maintaining the mission” and trying to continue to make the team better.
”Just maintaining the mission and making sure that everything I’m doing on a daily basis is adding to the bricks that we’re building on the foundation of what we have going here,” says Levis. It’s new, this is our first year in it. We knew we wanted to be a better team than we were, but we know that we’re doing the right things to get us going in the right direction. All I have to do is take a one day at a time mentality, and I’m not looking at any long-term goals for the end of this year, other than to do everything I can every day to get us ready for next year.”
