Will Levis will get the first start of his NFL career for the Tennessee Titans on Sunday. It appears as though he does not have any interest in sharing that responsibility.
Levis, a rookie out of Penn State, was drafted with the first pick of the second round of the NFL Draft after a depressing first-day slide. He arrived to Nashville with Ryan Tannehill and Malik Willis ahead of him on the depth chart and has yet to record a single snap.
However, Tannehill is out with an injury. Willis did not look overly impressive during his limited time last season or in the preseason.
As a result, Mike Vrabel is turning to the rookie. But not only the rookie.
The sixth-year head coach said that both backup quarterbacks are going to play against the Falcons on Sunday. Will Levis will likely see the vast majority of playing time. Malik Willis is ready in case something goes wrong, and will probably get into the game in some capacity at some point.
There is also a distant possibility that Willis and Levis could split time. It seems unlikely, as the plan seems to be for the latter to take the reins until Tannehill returns, but it is not ruled out.
Will Levis very clearly does not want to split snaps with Malik Willis.
When asked about that idea on Friday afternoon, Levis was disgusted. He has a truly terrible poker face and looked abhorred by the thought of splitting time with Willis or rotating drives.
Here’s another look at his reaction, which just about says it all:
Pretty funny.
Whether it is the plan for Levis and Willis to rotate or not, Vrabel probably would have preferred if his starter’s face wasn’t so telling. Atlanta might see the clip, get the memo, and spend far less time preparing for Willis. The Tennessee Titans staff would rather the Falcons waste their time preparing for both guys.
If it is Vrabel’s plan to rotate Willis and Levis, the latter is not going to be very happy.