Numbers have followed Corey Davis every step of his Titans career.
Davis has forever been labeled the 5th pick of the 2017 NFL Draft. Fans like to keep track of the number of games (6) he has missed in his career. This summer Jon Robinson and the Titans turned down his 5th year option ($15.68-million).
Davis has constantly been judged by numbers, but this year, facing free agency, Davis is embracing numbers and vowing to put up big ones.
With all eyes on 2nd year man AJ Brown in the opener it was Davis who stole the show, lived up to his word and led everyone with 7 receptions for 101 yards.
Head coach Mike Vrabel gushed about Davis’s performance and competitiveness not just for the night he had, but being on the field at all after suffering a slight hamstring pull earlier in the week.
He presented Davis with the game ball after his third 100 yard game of his career. “It was just so good to get the game ball,” Davis said, “like I said it was a long road for me personally and just to have coaches and players believe in me the whole way thru, it means a lot.”
Davis gave everyone reason to believe outfighting defenders for the ball, rising over the top of them and pulling off a slick toe drag during a clutch drive in the 2nd half.
Quarterback Ryan Tannehill was grateful, “He was huge, he came up with some huge catches for us. I’m really proud of the way he went out and battled, obviously dealing with some things throughout the week, being able to go out and make some huge catches for us, contested catches.”
Vrabel was particularly impressed with the way Davis attacked the football, “I thought that was a real positive to see. He continues to improve, he’s a big target with strong hands. Ran some good routes and really went up and got the ball down there late when two defenders were there, really bailed Ryan (Tannehill) out, I think. It was great and hopefully we can get that from Corey (Davis) and continue to improve, but it was a big boost last night.”
It was also a boost for a passing game that relied heavily on AJ Brown last season. Brown was more of a complimentary piece against Denver with 5 receptions for 39 yards. Tannehill was able to scan the field and use all of his targets. One of the Titans most impressive stats of the night was that Davis, Brown, Adam Humphries and Jonnu Smith all had at least 7 targets.
“At the end of the day, the quarterback’s job is to find the guy that’s open and get him the ball, and in position to catch it and do something with it. It was good to see a lot of guys contribute” Vrabel said, “So it was good, and Ryan (Tannehill)’s able to distribute the ball, and again it wasn’t perfect but I thought to get everybody involved was positive.”
For the Titans to get where they want to go it is going to take everyone and it is going to take all of them doing numbers.
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