Titans coach did not hold back with his Will Levis assessment

Tennessee Titans quarterback Will Levis (8) exits the field after the Titans lost in overtime to the Indianapolis Colts at Nissan Stadium in Nashville, Tenn., Sunday, Dec. 3, 2023. Photo credit: Denny Simmons / The Tennessean / USA TODAY NETWORK

Tennessee Titans head coach Brian Callahan did not exactly offer much encouraging feedback on quarterback Will Levis’ Week 1 performance.

Callahan was critical of Levis’ performance in the second half of Sunday’s loss to the Chicago Bears, a game that saw the Titans blow a 17-0 lead. The collapse was capped off by Levis’ horrendous decision to try to flip the ball to a receiver while being sacked instead of just going down, which instead resulted in a go-ahead pick six for Chicago.

On Monday, Callahan said he was “surprised by some things” Levis did in the loss and was sharply critical of the quarterback’s carelessness with the ball. The coach added that Levis had even been reminded at the end of the third quarter that minimizing errors was the most important factor given the ineffectiveness of the Chicago offense.

Brian Callahan: Hard lessons to learn for Will Levis. Don't know if you've made the progress or not until you play in a game. I was surprised by some things. Tough pill to swallow.

It;'s knowing how to protect the ball. Conversation we'd had on the sideline at the end of third…

— Paul Kuharsky (@PaulKuharskyNFL) September 9, 2024

That is not exactly an encouraging assessment of one’s quarterback. The good news for Levis is that it is only Week 1 and it is a lesson learned, but Callahan certainly seemed to believe that his quarterback was further along.

One NFL analyst had an even harsher assessment of Levis’ decision-making during the Titans’ fourth quarter defeat.