The Titans are rotating quarterbacks during their organized team activities, but No. 1 overall pick Cam Ward will start Week 1. Ward knows it. The Titans know it. Will Levis knows it.
Levis started 21 games the past two seasons after the Titans made him a second-round pick, but he didn’t win enough of them. The Titans’ 3-14 record last season — with 12 of those games started by Levis — earned them the No. 1 overall pick and the right to select Ward.
Levis admits it “sucks,” though he is determined to make the most of whatever opportunities come his way.
“Anyone who’s every been in my situation would agree that it sucks,” Levis said in his first public comments since the Titans drafted Ward, via Terry McCormick of titaninsider.com. “I’m just trying to do the best I can to not let it affect me and just being the same dude every day in the building and being there for the guys however I can and just trying to get better every day.”
Levis, who has 21 touchdowns and 16 interceptions in his career, spent seven weeks working with private quarterbacks coach Jordan Palmer in California.
“It was a lot of just relearning my stroke, relearning my body and trying to get back to the basics of that,” Levis said. “I feel like it’s really paid off. I’ve been feeling good the last few weeks.”
Levis, who has two years remaining on his rookie deal, will go from starter to backup. He last was a backup in 2020 at Penn State before transferring to Kentucky in 2021.
“I haven’t been a backup in awhile, but I don’t plan on shifting my mindset, regardless of what the situation is,” Levis said. “I’m just going to be ready to play quarterback whenever my name is called.”
Still, Levis isn’t taking it out on Ward. He said he will help his new teammate however he can.
“He’s been great,” Levis said. “I’m here for him whenever I can be. He’s a really smart kid, and we’ve been able to talk a lot about the installs we’ve been going through and hearing his perspective and how he sees things. He’s a heck of an athlete and a heck of a quarterback. It’s been fun going out there and playing with him.”
