NASHVILLE – During the course of Titans training camp, the sight of receiver Adam Humphries getting open and catching the football was a regular occurrence.
In the first two games of the season, however, it all but disappeared.
But that may be changing.
Humphries had a team-high 93 receiving yards against the Jaguars, on six catches. He was targeted nine times after being targeted just three times in the first two games combined.
Heading into Sunday's game against the Falcons, there's reason to believe the trend could continue. Humphries knows the Falcons better than anyone on the team's receiving corps.
"I came out of (Jacksonville) with more targets than I had the first two games so it's obviously good to see Marcus (Mariota) has confidence in me to run good routes and catch ball from him," Humphries said. "So we want to continue to build on that, continue to grow and hopefully we can keep improving."
Humphries, signed by the Titans in free agency after spending four seasons with the Buccaneers, had just one catch for five yards in the opener against the Browns. He had two catches for minus-one yards a week later against the Colts.
The 5-foot-11, 195-pound Humphries had a catch of 30 yards against the Jaguars. Five of his six catches went for a first down, including a pair that came on third down.
Head coach Mike Vrabel has said the long down and distance situations the Titans found themselves in during the first two weeks of the season limited Humphries and his impact in the offense.
The Titans got Humphries involved in early downs against the Jaguars, too.
"Humph ran some good routes and Marcus was able to find him," Vrabel said. "(But overall as an offense) just not enough of just the consistency that's required against a good defensive football team."
Mariota said he believes the chemistry he's had with Adam Humphries will carry over, but pointed out a lot will depend on game plans and how teams defend the Titans when asked about a continued connection.
During the offseason, Humphries traveled to Oregon to work with Mariota.
Humphries currently ranks second on the team in catches, behind tight end Delanie Walker (16). He's third on the team in receiving yards, behind Walker (158) and A.J. Brown (7-129).
"We'll have to see," Mariota said. "The game plan week-to-week, it's going change. That's the benefit of having a bunch of guys that can make plays, being able to spread the football around and allow them to do their thing."
Humphries has this going for him this week: He's had a lot of experience against the Falcons.
In eight career games vs. Atlanta, Humphries has 29 catches for 362 yards and a pair of touchdowns.
In 2018 while with the Buccaneers, he had eight catches for 148 yards in two games against Atlanta. Humphries said he plans to spread the word about what to expect.
"It helps in just talking with the receivers – I've gone up against a lot of these guys on (Atlanta's) defense and the way they scheme things I am familiar with," Humphries said. "So I feel like I can be a good voice in the receiving room to help them out with tips and some things they may do that they haven't see that I have the past four years in Tampa."
