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NASHVILLE, Tenn. – The Titans' 53-man roster is set, at least for now.
On Sunday, the team will face the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the regular season opener.
Titans coach Ken Whisenhunt met with reporters on Monday to discuss the game, and more.
A look at the six biggest topics ….
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Earning the job**
The Titans currently have five tight ends on the roster – Delanie Walker, Antony Fasano, Craig Stevens, Phillip Supernaw, and Chase Coffman.
It's more than the NFL average, but Whisenhunt said they kept the five-pack because they were anything but average. On the flip side, the Titans kept just four receivers.
"The reason that we kept them is because they deserved to be on the football team. So we felt like we picked our best 53, our best players,'' he said. "Our goal is to make our team better and we felt like, I guess in a nut shell, what we feel like Chase (Coffman) and Dexter (McCluster) and Delanie (Walker) can give us is a potential slot receiver, if we needed them that would help compensate for the numbers at wide receiver.
"We felt like they earned the right to be on the football team and we felt like because they did that, because we felt like we could use Delanie in the slot, we could certainly use Chase in the slot, and Dexter at times, that would compensate for not having that fifth receiver."
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Facing Jameis**
During the pre-draft process, the Titans spent a lot of time evaluation quarterback Jameis Winston, who was taken first overall by the Buccaneers.
Winston paid a pre-draft visit to Tennessee, and team officials attended his pro day. On Sunday, the Titans will try and expose some of his flaws.
"Well, he's a good football player,'' Whisenhunt said of Winston. "We put a lot of work into he and Marcus (Mariota), and I have a lot of respect for Jameis Winston and what he's done. He's performed at a high level. He's performed at clutch times with Florida State in big games. I've seen him do some of those things on the football field at the pro level. I'm under no illusion that this guy will not be a good NFL quarterback."
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New back**
The Titans traded for Browns running back Terrance West on Sunday, and placed David Cobb on short-term Injured Reserve.
West led the Browns in rushing last season, and he'll join running backs Bishop Sankey, Antonio Andrews and McCluster in the backfield, in addition to fullback Jalston Fowler.
"We liked him coming out last year. We brought him in for a visit. He was one of the players that we felt like we had a pretty good feel for, that we thought was a good match,'' Whisenhunt said of West. "We had an opportunity to get him and we felt like he could help our team be better."
Whisenhunt acknowledged it might take West some time to understand the terminology in a new offensive system, however.
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Keeping Cobb**
A fifth-round pick out of Minnesota, Cobb won't be able to practice until Week 6, and he won't be eligible to return to action until Week 8.
The Titans could've placed Cobb on season-ending IR, but chose not to because Whisenhunt said he thinks the running back will be able to help at some point during the season.
"He's shown us enough in the limited time that we've had him that he looks like he's going to be pretty good,'' Whisenhunt said of Cobb. "With this injury, one of the biggest risks that you face is trying to get him back too early, and then you don't want to actually go with 52 for an extended period of time. The reason that that rule is in place is for this kind of scenario.''
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Different feel**
The Titans kicked off training camp at the end of July, and August was a grind during training camp.
After four preseason games, it's finally game week. Whisenhunt said there's a different feeling in the building.
"I think we're all excited,'' he said. "I mean you get excited to play a preseason game, but it's not the same as a regular season game. We're finally to the season. We've got our roster. We were able to go out on the field today and work on some things. It was good energy. It's exciting. There's no substitute for this and we get an opportunity to see if we've gotten better. To show that we can get better, and that's really what we want.''
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Managing expectations**
Prior to his first season with the Titans, Whisenhunt spoke with great confidence about his new football team.
But after winning last year's season opener at Kansas City, the Titans lost 14 of 15 games to finish 2-14.
Whisenhunt was asked Monday about his comments prior to last season. He took the opportunity to spin ahead.
"What do you expect me to say last year in our first year when I'm here, that we were going to have a tough season, that it was going to be hard?,'' Whisenhunt said. "We didn't go the way we wanted it to go last year, I've made that very clear. We're excited about this season and we're committed to showing our fans that we're a better football team. We're working hard to do that, and hopefully that will start in Tampa."
