NASHVILLE – Nate Davis passed his first test on Sunday.
Now, the Titans rookie offensive lineman will find out what's next.
"It was fun to be out there with the guys, and just to get my feet wet," Davis said after Sunday's win over the Falcons. "Whatever coaches want me to do, I'm going to do what is asked. But overall, it was just great to be back out there on the field – it had been too long."
A third-round pick by the Titans in the 2019 NFL Draft, Davis was inactive the first three games of the regular season.
But he came off the bench and played 40 snaps in the team's 24-10 win over the Falcons while playing in a rotation at right guard with Jamil Douglas, who played 24 snaps. Douglas started the first three games of the season, and he started Sunday's game as well.
Titans coach Mike Vrabel sounded pleased with how Davis played in his NFL debut.
"Just very composed," Vrabel said. "We used him in the silent cadence, and him controlling the tap to Ben (Jones). I thought he got to the second level, I thought he finished, I thought he got on guys even if it wasn't always the right guy, sometimes it's not. There were times where he was matched up with (Grady) Jarrett and stepped out there, punched him. I thought he recovered well."
On Monday, Vrabel said team could continue to rotate the players at right guard on Sunday vs the Buffalo Bills, when left tackle Taylor Lewan will return to the field as well.
There's another lineman who could return to the mix at some point as well, but that remains "To be determined."
Kevin Pamphile, inactive the first four contests, worked on a side field during a practice last Friday. Pamphile was scheduled to be the team's right guard prior to a knee injury flaring up leading up to Week One.
For now, Douglas and Davis are the ones in the conversation at right guard.
"We're really pleased on where Nate's come, but when it's your first game and you play (40) snaps, you just want to make sure that it's going OK, and that's why we rotated," Vrabel said. "Both those guys played well, and I would say that we're going to continue to try to get Nate in there, and get him some work, and get him going.
"We're going to try to get (Nate) as many reps as we possibly can, and keep moving forward, and try to get the best combination that best helps the football team."
The 6-foot-3, 316-pound Davis said he felt good on Sunday.
Leading up to the contest, he acknowledged he still needs to work on his conditioning, which should continue to improve.
But he's now out of the gate, and that's a good first step.
"I know there's still a lot I have to work on," Davis said. "I thought it went OK. … Obviously I'm just trying to get back to myself. But I am feeling good, and I'll do whatever the team asks me to do.
"We'll watch the tape and see what I need to correct. I'm hard on myself in the first place. I'm already thinking about the plays I'm going to need to fix. But regardless of how I did, we got the win and that's the biggest thing. We're back to 2-2 and now we have to keep it going."
