Another week, another big Will Levis mistake.
The Titans quarterback committed costly turnovers in each of Tennessee’s first two games en route to an 0-2 start. On Sunday, he helped dig a 10-point hole against the Green Bay Packers with an early pick 6 in their eventual 30-14 loss at Nissan Stadium.
But despite the fact that Levis is still struggling and the Titans are still winless on the season, head coach Brian Callahan hasn’t lost faith in his quarterback just yet.
“Oh yeah,” Callahan said when asked if Levis would remain their starting quarterback, via ESPN’s Turron Davenport. “We’ve also got to play better around him. I’m not going to overreact to an interception. Those things happen, guys throw picks, we just can’t give it to their team. It’s a killer. But we’ve not played a complete game in any phase at any point yet.”
With Green Bay leading 10-7 late in the first quarter, Levis’ Titans faced first-and-10 at their own 31-yard line. Levis took a shotgun snap and looked right in the flat to DeAndre Hopkins. Instead, he found Packers cornerback Jaire Alexander.
Alexander gave Hopkins a cushion off the snap and kept his eyes on the Titans quarterback. He diagnosed the play and jumped the route before Levis released the ball. He picked it off at the 35-yard line and ran untouched down the sideline into the end zone for a touchdown to extend Green Bay’s lead to 17-7.
The turnover was the sixth for Levis two games and one quarter into his NFL season. He entered Sunday having lost two fumbles and thrown three interceptions. Two of his previous giveaways played significant roles in Tennessee’s 0-2 start.
In Week 1, Levis threw a fourth-quarter pick 6 against the Chicago Bears when his Titans had a 17-6 lead.
The turnover was the difference in Chicago’s 24-17 win.
In Week 2, Levis lost an inexplicable fumble in the red zone against the New York Jets when he threw the ball backward under pressure.
Tennessee led 7-0 and was threatening a two-possession lead at the time of the Levis giveaway. The Jets rolled to a 24-17 win. The fumble left Titans head coach Brian Callahan furious.
Levis now has a league-high eight turnovers through just three games this season. That’s also the most committed by a quarterback over that timespan in the past three years.
Levis and the Titans will now turn their attention to the Miami Dolphins, who are now just 1-2 on the season and had to play their third quarterback of the year in their loss on Sunday after backup Skylar Thompson went down with an injury.
“I’m still confident,” Levis said. “Something needs to click with this team and we’re just waiting for it. We really thought that this was going to be our turning point, and it sucks that it wasn’t, but we’re going to keep working every day to try to make it happen.”
