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The Tennessee Titans begin Phase 3 of OTA’s this week, which means the most “football-y” portion of spring football is upon us. They’ll get a chance to compete offense vs. defense in 7-on-7 and 11-on-11 drills, executing the playbook they’ve been learning against one another for the first time this year.
Last week Head Coach Brian Callahan and a handful of vets on the team spoke with the media about how things have been going, and they outlined the unique nature of the Titans offseason program. The coaching staff spent immense time and effort in the winter designing this bespoke program, which to their knowledge, is the first of its kind. Even though the pads won’t come on for another couple months, everything everybody on this team is doing is already being tracked. And when I say tracked, I mean tracked meticulously.
Eliminating self-inflicted mistakes is at the heart of this system. And the means through which these coaches are emphasizing that is by tracking performance every day and competing with a points system. Each player has been broken up into 8 randomized teams, with a pair of prominent team leaders captaining and co-captaining the factions.
Whether it’s drops, touchdowns, how you hustled throughout practice, or how you performed in post-practice team games, everything is being graded off the tape and tallied for the whole building to see. Team scores are posted throughout St. Thomas Sports Park.
The aim is to set the tone now in order to establish a way of life by the fall, to develop leadership on the team, and to build camaraderie as a larger group than just by position or locker neighbors. The group of vets we spoke with last week had glowing things to say about the program, which is so much more than a series of Field Day games after practice to make things a little more fun. You can read more about that here.
One Titans vet we hadn’t heard from yet this offseason is star WR Calvin Ridley. He spoke with ESPN’s Turron Davenport at his youth football camp at Lipscomb Academy on Saturday, and had nothing but glowing things to say about the new program:
Calvin Ridley from his youth football camp at Lipscomb Academy on the #Titans offseason program: We’re competing in everything we’re doing at work right now! I love it! pic.twitter.com/SrPETdFZFP
— TURRON DAVENPORT (@TDavenport_NFL) May 24, 2025
“Competing!” Is how he summed things up. “We're competing in everything we do at work right now. And I think it's great. I think it's so fun. I'm a captain on my team. I got my boys behind me. And we're, I'm telling them every day, I’m even messing up sometimes, but I tell them every day, man, we're trying to win! You know, we're trying to win, we're trying to win, we're trying to win.”
Fostering a team in the truest sense is one of the biggest aims of Callahan’s efforts here. The honest truth is that last year, the Titans were a group of too many new guys who weren’t as comfortable with one another as they feel they needed to be. And according to Ridley, this is working: “...it's only just making us closer, I swear. It's really working. Yes, that's right. We're competing in everything we do at work.”
More must-reads:
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- The 'NFL QB rushing TD leaders' quiz
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Chiefs React to Travis Kelce's Decision on Sunday
Kansas City Chiefs star Travis Kelce continues to make headlines on and off the field. Entering Sunday's Week 11 game against the Denver Broncos, Kelce has been one of the most reliable players on the Chiefs. In nine games this 2025, he has recorded 41 receptions for 540 yards and three touchdowns. He actually leads in the team in receptions and receiving yards and is second in receiving touchdowns. Off the field, the Chiefs tight end has been the subject of plenty of interest due to his relationship with pop star Taylor Swift. Not to mention, he has been growing his personal brand by diversifying his ventures — from going into acting to opening up his own restaurant with teammate Patrick Mahomes. Now, prior to their showdown with the Broncos, Kelce drew plenty of attention again with his off-field decision. The 36-year-old star arrived at Empower Field at Mile High wearing a black blazer with a subtle striped pattern, which he paired with matching pants. What stood out from his outfit were his bags, as he brought a Louis Vuitton Keepall Bandouliere and Horizon 55 that cost over $9,000 combined, per Style By Kelce. Even the Chiefs couldn't help but react to Kelce's outfit, as they shared photos of him on social media. "Find you someone who cleans up like @TKelce," the Chiefs wrote. For what it's worth, fans agreed with the Chiefs' post, taking to the comment section to share their reactions. "He cleans up Nicely," a commenter wrote. Another one said, "He Polishs up real nice!" A fan added, "There’s only one Travis Kelce." "Looking good as usual Travis! Let's go Chiefs! Let's get those Broncos," a supporter remarked. A fifth follower shared, "He always keeps it tidy." Kelce's popularity remains sky-high. That being said, it shouldn't be a surprise that anything he does is talked about.
CFP rankings: SEC in great shape after third reveal
The third College Football Playoff rankings of the 2025 season were released on Tuesday night with Ohio State, Indiana, Texas A M, Georgia and Texas Tech making up the top five. The Bulldogs and Red Raiders each move up one spot with Alabama falling down to 10th after a 23-21 loss to Oklahoma on Saturday. Ole Miss, Oregon, Oklahoma, Notre Dame and Alabama round out the top 10. The Big Ten and SEC continue their dominance by claiming eight of the top-10 spots, but the SEC looks to be in the best position of any league with five teams in the top 10, even with Alabama's second loss of the season. Alabama clings to playoff spot as SEC's outlook only grows stronger Here is a look at what the 12-team bracket would look like as of Tuesday: The biggest takeaway from this week's rankings is the position the SEC finds itself in. Texas A M, Georgia and Ole Miss appear to be in excellent shape, while Oklahoma and Alabama still find themselves in the projected field. Texas was the biggest loser, falling seven spots to No. 17 after its loss to Georgia. Even for Alabama, which suffered its second loss on Saturday, it could still find itself in the SEC Championship game depending on how everything plays out over the final two weeks, which could only strengthen its case even more. Miami remains the highest-ranked ACC team at No. 13, ahead of No. 16 Georgia Tech and No. 19 Virginia. With the five highest-ranked conference champions guaranteed to make the 12-team field, Miami would inherit the 11-seed as things currently stand. Following South Florida's loss to Navy, Tulane moves up to No. 24 and the 12th-seed as the highest-ranked Group of Five team. No. 11 BYU would be the first team out following the third reveal. There are two ranked matchups this weekend as No. 8 Oklahoma hosts No. 22 Missouri and No. 15 USC takes on No. 7 Oregon. With only two weeks of regular-season play remaining, time is running out to add quality wins to resumes, something each of these two games will certainly do. Assuming there are no more hiccups, the SEC has a realistic shot at getting five teams in the field. Week 12 presented an opportunity for other teams to move up, but after Texas A M completed its remarkable comeback over South Carolina and with Alabama remaining in the top 10, that does not bode well for the rest of the field.
Former Heisman winner has bold take on James Franklin, Virginia Tech
It makes sense for the Virginia Tech Hokies to be excited about the addition of James Franklin as their new head coach. Franklin was fired by Penn State for failing to live up to the championship expectations in Happy Valley. For a program looking to get back on its feet and reestablish itself in this new era of college football, though, Franklin is a home run hire. Virginia Tech now has a bona fide head coach who can win games and recruit at a high level. Let's not talk about winning "the big one" for now. Right now, the Hokies just need to get back into that conversation, and Franklin is great for them in that regard. Getting into the conversation is one thing. Staying there is another, and it's worth noting that one college football commentator, former Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback Robert Griffin III, thinks this will be the move that helps put VT back in that stratosphere. “Virginia Tech will become an ACC contender year in and year out with James Franklin as Head Coach,” Griffin said on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter. James Franklin will need time to turn things around at Virginia Tech It's one thing to be excited about this move for the Hokies because it is a big-time hire for them. To say that they'll be a contender "year in and year out" is a bit of a premature statement at this moment, though. Franklin can absolutely get them there, but it's going to take time for him to rebuild this program. The Hokies have pledged to put $229M into the athletics budget over the next four years, and you can bet a ton of that is going to go to Franklin so that he can hire good coaches and attract players with big-time NIL deals on the recruiting trail and in the transfer portal. The Hokies haven't had a 10-win season since 2016, though, so even in this era when quick turnarounds are possible, giving Franklin a year or two of cushion would be smart. His getting VT to the top of the ACC every season is an idea that also flies in the face of the reputation that he earned at Penn State. Sure, the ACC is in no way as stacked as the Big Ten, but Clemson, Florida State and Miami are huge brands with a ton of money and momentum behind them that won't be going anywhere. Though Franklin did get PSU into the inaugural 12-team College Football Playoff last season, it's worth remembering that he was 4-21 against AP top-10 opponents at Penn State and 1-18 against top-10 opponents from within the Big Ten. That's a .160 winning percentage against AP top-10 teams, and that's not going to get magically better just because he's coaching in the ACC now. If he's going to get Virginia Tech back into the college football limelight, it's going to be much harder than just showing up when "Enter Sandman" starts playing. He's certainly talented enough of a coach and recruiter to do it, but let's pump the brakes and let him get settled into his new office before we start talking about Virginia Tech once again being a top program.
Reason for Khalil Shakir's two-day absence from Buffalo Bills practice revealed
Khalil Shakir popped up on the Buffalo Bills’ injury report leading into a Week 12 matchup and the likely reason for his non-participation was revealed on Tuesday evening. Shakir was listed as a DNP on both Monday and Tuesday, which led to questions regarding his absence. But on Tuesday, Shakir’s wife, Sayler, posted a photo to Instagram of the couple’s newborn baby girl, Sunny Haven, which quelled any uncertainty regarding his status. “11/17/25, Sunny Haven Shakir, you are oh so loved already,” posted Sayler to her IG account. The Bills wide receiver is at least the second Bills player this season to welcome a newborn into the world this season, joining long snapper Reid Ferguson, who celebrated the birth of his third child in September. Shakir has been a star for the Bills’ passing game this season, leading the team with 46 receptions and 454 yards receiving through Buffalo’s first 10 games of the season. His productive 2025 campaign comes on the heels of signing a lucrative contract extension this offseason, which will keep him with the Bills through the 2029 season. The Bills return to the practice field on Wednesday, their final day of preparation before they take on the Texans on Thursday in Houston. — Sign up for OnSI’s Free Buffalo Bills Newsletter —
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