Rookie quarterback Will Levis is expected to draw his second pro start when the Tennessee Titans visit the Pittsburgh Steelers on Thursday night to kick off Week 9.
But on Monday, head coach Mike Vrabel wasn’t ready to say with certainty that Levis would be the guy this week, and he wanted no part of hypothetical scenarios regarding any longer-term decision when Ryan Tannehill is cleared.
Tannehill is still recovering from a high-ankle sprain and Vrabel said a medical evaluation on Monday would give the team more information on any timeframe for the 35-year-old to return.
“Until Ryan is healthy,” Vrabel said, “I don’t think I am ready to make a determination. … We’re talking about hypotheticals. We’ll get Ryan healthy and see where things are at then.”
Levis is 1-0 after firing a “dream come true” four touchdown passes in his NFL debut on Sunday in the 28-23 win over the Atlanta Falcons. Levis completed 19 of 29 passes for 238 yards. He led the Titans to their highest scoring output of the season.
“We’ll see where Ryan (Tannehill) is. We haven’t done anything with him yet (Monday),” Vrabel said. “So, we’ll see how he is. But I think we’d probably say if Ryan can’t go, we’ll move forward with Will, and then we’ll see where Ryan is. It is a short week, but also, we’ll have to see who is available to us at every position.”
The Titans drafted Levis 33rd overall in the 2023 NFL Draft with Tannehill in the final year of his four-year, $118 million contract.
Levis became just the third quarterback ever to fire four touchdown passes in his NFL debut, joining Fran Tarkenton (1961) and Marcus Mariota (2015).
“This is a dream come true for sure,” Levis said. “I dreamed of this moment as a kid, and to get a win is incredible. But we have a few more minutes to celebrate it today, then we’re on to Pittsburgh.”
According to NFL Research, Levis’ three touchdown passes of 30-plus yards are the most in an NFL debut all-time — excluding strike-shortened seasons.
“Not a bad debut,” Titans head coach Mike Vrabel said postgame. “We hit some shots down the field. The opportunities to move the ball down the field were there, and we hit ’em.”
The Titans improved to 3-4. Thursday’s host Steelers are 4-3.