The Tennessee Titans need all of the reinforcements on the offensive side of the ball they can possibly get and it looks like they will get some leading up to Week 5 in the form of wide receiver Kyle Philips.
Philips was place on injured reserve at the beginning of the season and will have sat out the amount of games required following the completion of Week 4. Titans head coach Mike Vrabel says he anticipates Philips returning to the practice field.
Vrabel said the Philips was "progressing well," but one thing to keep in mind is a return to practice doesn't necessarily mean a return to the games. NFL rules allow teams to open a practice window for 21-days when a player is ready to come off of injured reserve.
The team has the opportunity to have the player in practice for three weeks before officially bringing them off injured reserve, or in some cases, choosing to leave the player on injured reserve and not burn one of the limited IR-return spots.
With Vrabel saying that Philips is progressing well, that is at least a good sign for his chances to be activated immediately. The Titans will need the depth even more after Treylon Burks was ruled out for Week 4 and Vrabel mentioned he may miss "a week or so" at Friday's practice.
Philips will need to find some consistency in availability whenever he does return. Philips famously looked incredible in the first game of his career, catching six passes for 66 yards and having a long punt return against the New York Giants in Week 1 of 2022.
Unfortunately, since that moment, Philips has had only two catches and played in three games. Philips was injured on a punt return in the second week of the preseason against Minnesota.
Philips' ability to get open quickly and operate out of the slot is something the Titans could desperately use, in theory. The Titans would certainly want to put that theory to test sooner rather than later.
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