NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Everyone needs a little practice in the preseason, even Titans coach Ken Whisenhunt and quarterback Jake Locker in their first visit to LP Field this season.
The Titans worked for approximately 90 minutes Saturday night as a partial tuneup for their preseason opener, Aug. 9 when they host the Green Bay Packers.
They also had a handful of fans in the stands as part of a promotion, and part of the practice included replays on the videoboards.
Whisenhunt, in his first year as Tennessee's head coach, said there are always glitches that come up unexpectedly. He took the blame for some of the mistakes himself on the call sheet.
"I blew it," Whisenhunt said. "Some little things like that I think when you're not focusing on it like you do a game and you're not going back through it, the communication's a little different. I gave the wrong play, or we had the wrong personnel. Defensively, we didn't match up right a couple times."
Credit adrenaline from being in the stadium under the lights. Whisenhunt said the key now is looking at the tape and correcting those issues.
"Hopefully when we get back in this situation, we'll be more efficient," he said.
Locker was crisp in a seven-on-seven drill completing 4 of 5 passes, each to a different receiver. He overthrew tight end Delanie Walker on his fifth.
In a team period, Locker connected on his first five attempts before getting lucky when linebacker Zach Brown dropped a pass in the end zone, a throw Locker immediately acknowledged was his mistake with Walker just behind Brown.
Whisenhunt said the issue was the throw, not the decision.
"If you're going to score touchdowns and make those plays in that area, you've got to make those throws," Whisenhunt said. "Do I want him to not turn the ball over? Absolutely, especially in the red zone. But he went through his progression, saw it and immediately came over and said, 'The play was there. I missed the throw.'"
Cornerback Jason McCourty said Brown, who's worked at inside linebacker alongside veteran Wesley Woodyard so far through camp, came to the sideline promising not to drop any more interceptions.
"He knows the importance of that one," McCourty said. "You make a turnover in there ... in the red zone, it's just demoralizing to an offense. We know we got opportunities like that, we have to hold onto it."
NOTES: Maikon Bonani and Travis Coons also got five chances apiece to kick in the most extensive work in a team setting yet. Bonani was 3 of 5 with his misses both wide left, including one badly hooked. Coons, an undrafted rookie from Washington, was 4 of 5 with a long of 49 yards. OL Chris Spencer was excused and at Canton to watch former teammate Walter Jones inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Whisenhunt said he would rejoin the team Sunday morning.
