By Jeff Howe, Lauren Merola and Joe Rexrode
Tennessee Titans quarterback Will Levis will be inactive with a shoulder injury for the team’s matchup against the Buffalo Bills on Sunday, according to a league source. Backup quarterback Mason Rudolph will start, per the source.
Levis injured his right throwing shoulder diving for a first down on the Titans’ second drive of the game against the Miami Dolphins on Sept. 30. Rudolph then stepped in to lead Tennessee to its first victory of the season.
The Titans relied heavily on their ground game to grind out the 31-12 win, with running backs Tyjae Spears and Tony Pollard scoring the team’s two touchdowns. Kicker Nick Folk hit five field goals — tying a career high — with three from 51 yards or longer.
Rudolph, a 2018 third-round draft pick, finished the contest 9-of-17 passing for 85 yards. He has not played in a game since.
GO DEEPER
Titans run over Dolphins to snag first win of season
Levis, Tennessee’s second-round pick in 2023, has had a down year thus far. In five games, he has thrown for 699 yards and five touchdowns against seven interceptions.
The Titans (1-4) play the Bills (4-2) at 1 p.m. ET on Sunday.
Levis’ shoulder situation is strange
Levis was full go all of last week, played in a loss to the Indianapolis Colts — poorly, again — and then talked after the game about how his late interception on a deep throw may have been affected by the shoulder not being at full strength. Then he got a surprising “questionable” designation Friday.
This would suggest some kind of setback this week — or this is Tennessee taking the opportunity to give a timeout to a young quarterback who seems to have lost his confidence on the field. Either way, this should not be seen as a permanent move to Rudolph.
Titans coach Brian Callahan has been adamant that Levis is QB1, and it makes little sense to get incrementally better on offense for a backup quarterback who isn’t going to be the long-term answer anyway. — Joe Rexrode, Tennessee sports writer
Required reading
(Photo: Johnnie Izquierdo / Getty Images)
