The Titans are back in preseason action tonight as they host the Buccaneers at Nissan Stadium following a couple joint practices during the week. As always, the primary objective is to get out of the game with no major injuries, but here are a few other storylines to keep an eye on during the game. The preseason debut of Corey Davis Corey Davis seems to be on track to take the field in a preseason game for the first time tonight. We don’t know how long Davis and the other starters will play, but even seeing him work with Marcus Mariota for a drive or two would be a very positive step. The Titans need their 2017 first round pick to play like the star they drafted him to be this year. With Rishard Matthews’ status still up in the air and Eric Decker dropping balls in New England, the Titans are putting a lot of eggs in the Corey Davis basket. The good news is that Davis has looked like one of the best players on the field during training camp. He still has moments of inconsistency, but he’s also making a ton of plays and has turned in some truly unbelievable catches while working against a very good group of cornerbacks. The Titans offense targets him frequently in the passing game in practices and I would expect that to be the case tonight as well. Davis turning in a strong performance and helping the first team offense click like it did in Green Bay would be a great first step for the second year wide receiver. Taylor Lewan vs Jason Pierre-Paul During the Titans-Bucs joint practices this week, Pierre-Paul got the best of Lewan in a couple reps, including one that the Bucs’ Twitter account put out from a one-on-one pass rush drill. Pierre-Paul then scoffed at Paul Kuharsky when he asked him about competing against Lewan, acting like he dominated the Titans left tackle. JPP is one of the best pass rushers in the NFL so there is no shame in getting beat by him on a couple reps, but knowing Lewan’s personality I wouldn’t be surprised to see 77 come out with an extra large chip on his shoulder when he lines up against Pierre-Paul tonight. This should be a fun battle to watch. Wide receiver rotation We know that Corey Davis will likely get the start at one wide receiver position, but I’ll be interested to see who is taking the first team reps opposite him. That had been Taywan Taylor’s role for the majority of the offseason, but Tajae Sharpe has reportedly gotten some reps there this week as well. I would still expect to see Taylor open the first drive with the starters, but it’s possible that Sharpe gets a reward for a strong week of practices. In the slot, I would still expect to see Nick Williams working as the top option inside with Michael Campanaro continuing to deal with whatever injury is holding him out of practice, but it will be interesting to see if Deontay Burnett gets any run earlier in the game. Burnett continues to make plays in practice and looked pretty good with limited opportunities in Green Bay, but he’ll need to show more to truly get in the mix for a 53-man roster spot. The other guy I want to see more of is Devin Ross. He’s another undrafted receiver that has shown some promise in camp and had a nice catch and run on a WR screen against the Packers. I think he’s most likely competing for a practice squad spot rather than a 53-man roster spot right now, but he’s been good in camp. Will last week’s stars shine again? The way to earn a role — or a roster spot — during training camp and preseason is to bring it every time out. It’s not enough to just flash once and then coast. Coaches want to see consistency and for bottom of the roster players, they want to see if they can do it against better competition. That will likely be the test for the stars of the Titans first preseason game. Players like Harold Landry, Sharif Finch, Corey Levin, LeShaun Sims, and Jayon Brown will be looking to stack another strong performance as they make a case for a bigger role. Landry, Sims, and Brown are all going to make this roster, but could earn more playing time. The stakes are higher for guys like Levin and Finch who are fighting for roster spots. Adoree’ Jackson Jackson has been one of the stars of training camp and he may have had his biggest day during Thursday’s practice against the Bucs. He recorded three interceptions during that practice, including this pass in the endzone that he tipped to himself and then celebrated with a casual flip. The @AdoreeKnows flip you’ve heard about all day. But that you haven’t seen until, now. #Titans pic.twitter.com/eCnTNgvh1A — Justin Beasley (@JBeasleyWSMV) August 16, 2018 The flip is cool, but the coverage here is fantastic as he mirrors DeSean Jackson’s route and makes it look easy. I get that his first preseason game wasn’t great. He gave up a couple catches and missed a tackle during the Packers opening drive, but I really think Jackson is going to have a Byard-esque breakout campaign this year. We saw him start coming on late last season and he’s picked up where he left off this year. Keep an eye on 25 tonight.<doc-sep>So the Titans fell to 0-2 on the preseason, but I am still encouraged by what I have seen so far. The Titans first team offense looked good again tonight. They got a touchdown on their second drive that featured a couple of nice catch and runs from Dion Lewis before Taywan Taylor took a screen pass 47 yards to the house. Taylor was the start of the game catching 4 passes for 95 yards and 2 touchdowns. Marcus Mariota finished the night 4 of 7 for 80 yards and the aforementioned touchdown pass. The first team defense, who were without Malcolm Butler and Wesley Woodyard, played a couple of series. They looked good against Bucs’ starter Ryan Fitzpatrick. Jayon Brown and Harold Landry stood out the most from that unit. Brown was flying all over the field making plays. Landry forced 2 holding calls- the second one took a touchdown off the board. One note: Keep in mind that Jameis Winston did all of his work against the Titans back-ups. Other things that I noticed: Dalyn Dawkins runs angry. I doubt he makes this team, but he is fun to watch. Blaine Gabbert looks really good sometimes....sometimes not so much. Luke Falk is not an NFL quarterback. Nick Williams and Sharif Finch have played their way on to this roster. Williams threw the key block on Taylor’s TD. Finch was bringing pressure off the edge all night long.<doc-sep>It’s Week 2 of the preseason! The Buccaneers are in Nashville for their matchup against the Tennessee Titans and Bucs Nation’s Evan Winter is live at Nissan Stadium for coverage and postgame reactions from the locker room. Below you can find frequent updates from all media members covering the game.<doc-sep>The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are on a preseason roll, topping the Tennessee Titans 30-14 after a week of joint practices. The offense was on full display, particularly under the leadership of quarterback Jameis Winston with significant help from the Bucs’ deep wide receiver corps. Not everything went Tampa Bay’s way, though. Ronald Jones II continues to struggle in the backfield and penalties took some points off the board. Here are the five takeaways from the Bucs’ victory against Tennessee: Jameis is still the franchise QB Though Jameis Winston will miss the first three games of the season on suspension, there is little doubt he will return as the starting quarterback after his performance against the Titans. Winston was nothing short of dominant, dropping bombs like this 54-yarder to DeSean Jackson: That Winston to DeSean connection is lookin' niiiiiice. 54 yard bomb!#GoBucs | #TBvsTEN pic.twitter.com/PvnBuT6rjK — Tampa Bay Buccaneers (@Buccaneers) August 19, 2018 Winston added two touchdowns to his 13-of-18, 226-yard stat line. Ryan Fitzpatrick was not nearly as impressive, completing just five of his 13 passes for 46 yards and no touchdowns. While the Bucs have to hope Fitzpatrick’s regular season performance exceeds that, they are no doubt anxious to see Winston return in Week 4.<doc-sep>
The preseason rolls right along for the Tennessee Titans, who welcome the Tampa Bay Buccaneers for the second preseason game of the 2018 slate for both teams on Saturday night at Nissan Stadium. The Buccaneers arrived earlier in the week to take part in two joint practices with the Titans Wednesday and Thursday at St. Thomas Sports Park. Both teams got in good work during the two days of joint practice. The Buccaneers wide receivers got the better of the Titans cornerbacks on Wednesday. The Titans cornerbacks rebounded well on Thursday to have a much better showing. 2017 No. 18 overall pick Adoree' Jackson had arguably the best practice of anyone so far on defense during training camp when he had two interceptions. He celebrated after each one with a backflip. The preseason is here for the Tennessee Titans. Stay in the loop on your Titans; take five seconds to Sign up for our FREE Titans newsletter now! The Titans fell to the Packers 31-17 in their preseason opener in Week 1. A couple of headlines from that game included an opening drive touchdown by quarterback Marcus Mariota and the offense, 2018 second-round pick Harold Landry with a strip sack, linebacker Jayon Brown with an interception and cornerback LeShaun Sims with a couple of big plays to thwart off a Packers touchdown just before halftime. The Buccaneers opened their preseason with 26-24 victory over the Dolphins in Week 1. Saturday night will mark the first game ever for new head coach Mike Vrabel and his staff at Nissan Stadium. It also marks the first time the Titans will wear their new uniforms at home. The Titans will wear navy jerseys with white pants on Saturday vs. the Buccaneers. Teams: Tampa Bay Buccaneers (Preseason record: 1-0) at Tennessee Titans (0-1) Location: Nissan Stadium, Nashville Date: August 18, 2018 Time: 7 PM CST TV: Titans TV Network Nashville/Flagship: WKRN Channel 2 (ABC) Bowling Green: WNKY Channel 40 (NBC 40.1/CBS 40.2) Chattanooga, Tenn: WRCB Channel 3 (NBC) Evansville, Ind: WTVW Channel 7 (CW)/WEHT Channel 25 (ABC) Honolulu, Hawaii: KHON Channel 2 (FOX) Huntsville, Ala: WZDX Channel 54 (FOX) Jackson, Tenn: WJKT Channel 16 (FOX) Johnson City, Tenn: WJHL Channel 11 (CBS) Knoxville, Tenn: WATE Channel 6 (ABC) Memphis, Tenn: WLMT Channel 30 (CW) Online: NFL Game Pass Radio: Titans Radio Network-104.5 the Zone in Nashville Head coach Mike Vrabel did not give any indication how long the starters will play against the Buccaneers. Saturday night's game is expected to be the preseason debut of 2018 No. 5 overall pick Corey Davis. Davis had a good week of practice. Pro Bowl tight end Delanie Walker suffered an apparent toe injury in Thursday's joint practice. No word on when he will return to practice. A couple of storylines for Saturday night include what undrafted free agent receiver or receivers stand out. That would include Deontay Burnett, Devin Ross, Jordan Veasy and Cameron Batson. Secondly, can undrafted free agent linebacker Shariff Finch continue his good play. Finch had a sack in the preseason opener vs. the Packers. Finally, can undrafted free agent Akrum Wadley do enough to get him in consideration for the third running back spot vs. David Fluellen.