The Tennessee Titans seem confident that their young wide receivers will quickly make an impact this year.
Injuries limited Corey Davis in his rookie year last season and Tajae Sharpe missed his second consecutive season after re-injuring his right foot . Taywan Taylor Sonny Jurgensen Jersey , the third-round pick a year ago, had his production fall off after a promising start. Rishard Matthews is the lone true veteran going into his seventh NFL season.
So far, the Titans have added only a pair of veteran receivers that have a combined 59 NFL catches: Michael Campanaro and Nick Williams.
"After your rookie year, you've just got to go," first-year Titans coach Mike Vrabel said. "We're counting on Corey, we're counting on Taywan, we're counting on Tajae and all of the guys."
A vote of confidence or simply expectations, Davis said it doesn't matter to the receivers.
"We're going to come out here, and we're going to do our job to the best of our ability," Davis said. "Rishard's a competitor, Tajae, Taywan http://www.washingtonredskinsteamonline.com/brian-quick-jersey , we're all going to come out here and compete day in and day out."
Titans controlling owner Amy Adams Strunk fired coach Mike Mularkey despite the franchise winning its first playoff game in 14 years. Tennessee replaced him with Vrabel , who hired Matt LaFleur from the Los Angeles Rams as his offensive coordinator. The primary reason for the moves were to get more out of quarterback Marcus Mariota and the Titans' offense, which ranked 23rd in the NFL averaging only 224.4 yards passing per game.
Eric Decker, who led the receivers with 54 catches last season, wasn't brought back. Of the returnees, Matthews has been the team's top receiver since signing as a free agent in 2016. Sharpe has the most production of the other receivers after starting 10 of 16 games as a rookie with 41 catches for 522 yards.
"We're all starting with clean slates," Sharpe said. "The new coaching staff, they weren't with us last year, so we all just have to prove ourselves. We just want to come back out here and compete and get one percent better every day and just keep working."
The Titans' biggest hope for offensive improvement rests on Davis developing into the No. 1 receiver he was drafted to be. The 6-foot-3, 209-pound Davis struggled with injuries as a rookie with offseason ankle surgery limiting him until the final week of the team's offseason program, then he hurt a hamstring a week into training camp. That sidelined him for five games , and Davis finished with 34 catches for 375 yards starting nine of 11 games.
He showed flashes of potential but didn't catch his first touchdown pass until the postseason. That was a one-handed grab for his first TD in the Titans' divisional loss at New England Ryan Kerrigan Jersey , and he added his second in the fourth quarter of the rout.
"It's a lot of injuries, up and down, but this year's going to be different," Davis said. "Just got to stay healthy and go out and ball."
Fully healthy, Davis, Matthews, Sharpe and Taylor spent time working out with Mariota in March. Even while learning a new offense, Davis said he believes he's ready to take advantage of a full offseason and be Tennessee's No. 1 receiver. The game has slowed down for Davis, and now he's busy building his timing with the quarterback he calls Ocho.
Mariota said the second year for any player in the NFL is almost like a sigh of relief.
"You understand the situation, you understand what's expected of you," Mariota said. "Everything's not brand new, so I mean I can't speak for him. But I think as you get older and as you continue to build up your years Chidobe Awuzie Jersey , the surroundings, the organization, everything just feels a little more comfortable."
CHICAGO r12; Jon Lester may be having the best season of his career and the timing couldnr17;t have been better for the Chicago Cubs.
While the starting rotation has experienced its share of issues and the Cubs have struggled to find consistency, Lester has been more than steady. Lester takes a 10-2 mark into his 17th start of the season Sunday when the Cubs attempt to finish off a three-game sweep of the Minnesta Twins at Wrigley Field.
Lester has won six straight starts and allowed four runs in his five starts in June, which bodes well for a team that won its third straight game after Saturdayr17;s 14-9 back-and-forth victory over the Twins.
Lester threw 119 pitches r12; a sign that at age 34 he has plenty of good work left in him r12; two starts back. He had thrown 106 pitches in six innings when manager Joe Maddon elected to keep Lester on the mound.
r0;At that point, whatr17;s 15 or 20 more pitches,r1; Lester told reporters, according to the Chicago Tribune.
Said Maddon: r0;Jon gave what we needed.r1;
Lester has provided consistency while fellow starters Kyle Hendricks, Jose Quintana and Tyler Chatwood have struggled and Yu Darvish has battled injury. Lester will attempt to keep rolling Sunday against the Twins, against whom he is 3-4 with a 3.66 ERA in 12 career starts.
The Twins continued to struggle Saturday and lost for the seventh time in their last nine games. For the second straight day, Minnesota blew leads as the Cubs rallied from behind twice before scoring five runs in the seventh inning to snap a 9-9 tie.
Minnesotar17;s bullpen allowed 10 runs and for the second straight day the Twins were unable to match the Cubsr17; offense, which pounded out 20 hits on a day when the temperatures were in the 90s and the heat index registered 107 degrees.
The Twins lost left fielder Eddie Rosario http://www.indianapoliscoltsteamonline.com/margus-hunt-jersey , catcher Bobby Wilson and outfielder Max Kepler during the game to heat illness. Cubsr17; center fielder Albert Almora, Jr. also left with cramping because of the conditions.
r0;When the conditions are like that, you do the best you can to prepare them with nutrition and hydration and all those things, but it overtook three of our guys today,r1; Twins manager Paul Molitor told reporters. r0;So it was just tough.r1;
Twins right-hander Lance Lynn will take the mound against a team he is familiar with from his days with the St. Louis Cardinals. Lynn enters Sundayr17;s start with a 5-6 record and a 4.81 ERA. He allowed five runs (four earned) and struck out eight in his last start against the Chicago White Sox.
Lynn is 6-6 with a 4.06 ERA in 19 games (18 starts) against the Cubs.
Lynn will try to bounce back from an outing in which he had a lead but couldnr17;t pitch out of trouble in his final inning.
r0;Itr17;s frustrating, especially with the way things had been going all night. I had eight strikeouts in five and your17;ve got 8-9 up, bases are loaded, even though itr17;s been kind of a funky inning, you want to have that chance,r1; Lynn told the teamr17;s official website. r0;But with the way things had unfolded that inning, you get it. Wer17;re trying to win the game.r1; Cincinnati Bengals Elite Jerseys
