The Tennessee Titans experienced a scare Wednesday when wide receiver Treylon Burks hobbled off the field after hauling in a deep throw in practice, as seen in this clip tweeted out by Leighton Glodek of StrictlyFootball. Luckily, it appears that Burks and the Titans dodged a bullet as an MRI revealed that he only suffered an LCL sprain, according to NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport.
The knee injury will cause Burks to miss time, but he won’t be forced to miss the significant amount of time he would’ve had to miss with a ligament tear. Rapoport estimates that Burks will be out for “a few weeks.” It’s unclear if that means he’ll be ready to suit up for Week 1 of the regular season or if he’ll miss the first few weeks of the campaign.
This continues a less-than-ideal start to Burks’s NFL career after missing six games with injuries as a rookie. Due to that injury history, it wouldn’t be surprising to see the Titans ease him back to the field slowly to ensure that whenever he does make his return, it will be for the long run.
If Burks is forced to miss regular-season time, newly acquired star wideout DeAndre Hopkins will only see more early targets as a result. Behind Hopkins, the Titans have a lot of young, inexperienced receivers who they need to get going. Chris Moore, who had a breakout season with the Houston Texans last year, and Nick Westbrook-Ikhine, who started 17 games for the Titans in 2022, are the most veteran receivers who likely are on the field right now with Hopkins with the first-team offense. Past those three, second-year fifth-round pick Kyle Philips is expected to take a larger role in his sophomore season.
The team’s depth at wide receiver is virtually nonexistent, so losing Burks for any amount of time is a brutal loss for the offense. Tennessee will be hoping to see Burks back on the field in time for the regular season and will be hoping to see him take the next step from an average rookie year.
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