Will Levis: I Won't 'Beat Myself Up' over Struggles During Practice at Titans OTAs

Tennessee Titans rookie quarterback Will Levis took a positive approach after struggling Wednesday during OTAs.

According to ESPN's Turron Davenport, Levis fumbled a snap and had accuracy and decision-making issues, prompting the second-round pick to say: "I know I have more opportunities tomorrow and the next day, so I'm not going to beat myself up. High standards is the name of the game. It's not to beat yourself up. It's to motivate you to go out there and perform to the best of your ability."

Levis was widely projected as a first-round pick in the 2023 NFL draft after playing collegiately at Kentucky and Penn State, but he dropped outside the first round, and Tennessee traded up to No. 33 overall to take him.

Tennessee entered the draft as a candidate to select a quarterback in the first round after veteran Ryan Tannehill missed five games because of injury last season and finished with just 2,536 passing yards, 13 touchdowns and six interceptions in 12 contests.

The Titans lost their final seven games of the season, finishing 7-10 and missing the playoffs for the first time since 2018.

When Tennessee came up to pick at No. 11 overall, Alabama quarterback Bryce Young, Ohio State quarterback C.J. Stroud and Florida quarterback Anthony Richardson were already off the board, so the Titans took Northwestern offensive lineman Peter Skoronski.

The Titans had been scheduled to pick 41st overall in the second round, but when Levis was still available, they moved up eight spots in a trade with the Arizona Cardinals to nab him.

That decision was perhaps an indictment of quarterback Malik Willis, who the Titans took in the third round of last year's draft out of Liberty.

The 6'4", 229-pound Levis is a supremely talented signal-caller with a strong arm and plenty of athleticism, but consistency has long been an issue for him, dating back to his college days.

After failing to win the starting job at Penn State, Levis transferred to Kentucky and started two years for the Wildcats.

In 2021, he completed 66.0 percent of his passes for 2,826 yards, 24 touchdowns and 13 interceptions while also rushing for 376 yards and nine scores.

He took a step back in many respects last season, completing 65.4 percent of his passes for 2,406 yards, 19 touchdowns and 10 picks. He also ended up rushing for negative yardage because of the number of sacks he took.

A lack of top-level talent around him may have played into Levis' issues in 2022, but such excuses won't hold up at the NFL level.

Tennessee's aggressiveness in trading up to get him in the second round suggests it views Levis as its potential quarterback of the future, but if Wednesday's practice is any indication, there may be some growing pains along the way.