Titans-Vikings observations in heated practice: Teair Tart tossed and DeAndre Hopkins’ ‘punt’

EAGAN, Minn. — Tensions started to flare at the Tennessee Titans’ joint practice with the Minnesota Vikings Thursday, as they so often do at sessions like these.

The Titans and Vikings made it through Wednesday’s practice with virtually no animosity in either direction. But when they reconvened at the Vikings’ facility Thursday, tempers rose a little higher. Titans defensive tackle Teair Tart was thrown out of practice after throwing a punch at Vikings lineman Garrett Bradbury.

Titans receiver DeAndre Hopkins riled up the Vikings and their fans after catching a touchdown in a red zone drill and promptly punting the ball into the stands. And the Vikings returned the favor after a player intercepted a pass on one of the final reps of the day and swiftly threw the ball at the Titans’ sideline, drawing a roar from the crowd and from the Titans’ players.

The incident with Tart came on the second rep of 11-on-11 drills in the red zone. Titans defensive tackle Jeffery Simmons said he didn’t get a clear angle of what happened and wasn’t able to talk to Tart after the play, but described the moment by using one of coach Mike Vrabel’s favorite lines, calling it “dumb (expletive) that can hurt the team.”

These moments of passion weren’t lost on Vrabel, either.

“It’s just trying to be a professional,” he said. “We’re trying to approach these practices like games obviously. We want them to be as aggressive and physical and violent as we can and then you’ve got to line back up and play it again. You can’t talk. You can’t point at somebody. You can’t stand over an opponent. And you certainly can’t throw a punch.”

The dust-ups make for good narrative fodder, but there was plenty of football played, too. Here are The Tennessean’s observations from Thursday’s joint practice.

Tennessee Titans practice observations: Aug. 17

• Thursday’s practice was structured to mainly work on situational football. After a few periods of individual work, the Titans and Vikings came together for some offense vs. defense periods, starting with a red zone 1-on-1 passing drill. That was followed by some red zone 7-on-7 and red zone 11-on-11, which was then followed by third down drills and finally an end-of-the-game hurry-up drill. The Titans’ defense thrived at first, holding the Vikings to a 14-for-39 passing performance in the 1-on-1 and 7-on-7 drills. Things got a little bit more even in the 11-on-11 periods, with the Vikings completing 5-of-10 passes in the red zone and converting 5 of the 12 third down tries. But unlike Wednesday, when the Titans intercepted Vikings quarterbacks on both of their hurry-up drives, the Vikings responded with touchdowns from their first- and second-team offenses in the hurry-up phase.
• Offensively, Titans quarterbacks were efficient when they had time to throw. Veteran Ryan Tannehill was 18-for-27 passing with six touchdowns between 7-on-7 and 11-on-11 periods. Backups Malik Willis and Will Levis combined to go 11-for-20 with two touchdowns and an interception, but Levis went inside from practice early and wasn’t able to participate in the final periods, per Vrabel. All three of the Titans’ quarterbacks faced heavy pass rush throughout the day, with six reps that resulted in called sacks or quarterback scrambles.
• Some of the big winners of the day came from the Titans’ secondary. Safety Amani Hooker broke up three passes, two in 1-on-1 drills in the end zone and another in the third down session. Fellow safety Mike Brown broke up two passes in 7-on-7. And cornerback Kristian Fulton made the highlight of the day, leaping up to snag a one-handed interception off of Vikings quarterback Kirk Cousins in the back of the end zone. Fulton said after practice that he hopes video of the interception goes viral and that it was the best catch he can ever remember making.
• Tannehill looked poised and in control in the Titans’ hurry-up period. The offense had one minute to cover 45 yards for a touchdown in a simulated situation where the team was trailing by six points. He needed only six plays to lead the Titans in for a touchdown, completing five passes to five players and benefiting from one defensive pass interference penalty. The score came when Tannehill was forced out of the pocket and had to roll to his right to buy time, eventually finding a window to squeeze a pass through to tight end Chig Okonkwo for the touchdown.
• Willis wasn’t as successful on his hurry-up drive. He connected with receiver Chris Moore for what would’ve been a 40-yard gain on the first play, but the rep was whistled dead and didn’t count. He completed his next three reps, but operations fell apart after that as Willis snapped the ball before all of his receivers were set, incurring a 10-second runoff to leave only three seconds left on the clock. He had to heave his final throw into the end zone, where it was intercepted.
• Thursday wasn’t quite as windy as it was Wednesday, but winds still swirled at about 10 mph throughout the afternoon. This allowed Titans second-year punter Ryan Stonehouse to put on a clinic, launching multiple kicks that traveled as many as 80 yards through the air. Stonehouse’s most impressive punt traveled from where he was standing around his own 5-yard line and bounced out of bounds inside the Vikings’ 10.
• As expected, wide receiver Treylon Burks was absent from Thursday’s practice after injuring his left leg Wednesday. With Burks out, Nick Westbrook-Ikhine and Moore absorbed more first-team reps. Other players who were not at practice included: running backs Hassan Haskins and Jonathan Ward, wide receiver Colton Dowell, offensive lineman John Ojukwu, linebackers Monty Rice and Luke Gifford, and defensive linemen Naquan Jones and Kyle Peko.

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Nick Suss is the Titans beat writer for The Tennessean. Contact Nick at nsuss@gannett.com. Follow Nick on Twitter @nicksuss.