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Malik Willis says Ravens loss doesn’t paint full picture of progress with Tennessee Titans

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Malik Willis doesn’t believe his performance in London paints a complete picture.

He remains one of the Tennessee Titans’ three options at quarterback as the team prepares for Sunday’s game against the Atlanta Falcons (noon, CBS). Regular starter Ryan Tannehill is limited by an ankle injury, and if he can’t go, the Titans have said they’ll turn to both Willis and rookie Will Levis. Whereas Levis has never taken an NFL snap, Willis has experience that could be working in — or against — his favor.

Willis led two drives in the Titans’ loss to the Baltimore Ravens on Oct. 15, completing 4 of 5 passes for 74 yards and rushing three times for 17 yards, but also taking four sacks in crucial, late-game moments.

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“I played two drives,” he said. “It’s an opportunity. I’m grateful for that. But it’s not much of a showing, truly.”

NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport reported Wednesday morning that the Titans are preparing to use rookie Will Levis as their “primary” quarterback against the Atlanta Falcons. Titans coach Mike Vrabel said Tuesday he anticipates both Levis and Willis playing if Tannehill can’t push through his ankle injury. Vrabel expanded his point Wednesday to add that Willis and Levis could alternate every possession or two if the game plan dictates it.

Willis described his first drive as “regular football,” an opportunity to play on-schedule and in-rhythm, and his second drive as a two-minute drill where the only objective was to score points to trim a deficit. He and the offense technically achieved that with a field goal, but they came up short of scoring a touchdown despite having a first down on the Ravens’ 1-yard line.

The main talk of the offseason for Willis was development. He struggled in three starts as a rookie, so much so that he was benched for the final two games in favor of journeyman Joshua Dobbs. Against the Ravens, Willis didn’t show much development in his first prolonged exposure of Year 2, but he maintains that was circumstantial.

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“I don’t think you can compare those,” he said. “I played a few whole games last year. You can’t really compare that to two series.”

A source told The Tennessean that Levis took most of the first-team reps in practices last week. Tannehill did not return to practice Tuesday or Wednesday.

Willis said the only thing the coaches have told him about a potential role Sunday is to be ready to go and prepare as if he’s the starter.

“I don’t know what it’s going to look like, either,” he said. “We’ll see together.”

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Nick Suss is the Titans beat writer for The Tennessean. Contact Nick at nsuss@gannett.com. Follow Nick on X, the platform formerly called Twitter, @nickusss.



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