The Tennessee Titans (2-1) and Minnesota Vikings (3-0) face off in a preseason game Thursday night at LP Field.
Three things to watch:
The Vikings' first drive. The Packers, the Saints and the Falcons all put together long drives that produced touchdowns to open their games against the Titans. Ken Whisenhunt has said that trend isn’t the concern, playing better is the concern. But he can be certain that the trend talk will be amplified if Minnesota scores a touchdown on its opening drive of the game. "I just think we’ve got to come out and do whatever we’ve been doing in practice," outside linebacker Kamerion Wimbley said. "Whatever we need to do to make that happen, we need to get it done fast. Time is running out, the first game is right around the corner."Maikon Bonani and Travis Coons get their final chance to seize the kicker job. One of them is expected to be cut Friday or Saturday. But both could be if the Titans decide to move on to a veteran after looking at three on Wednesday. Bonani needs to show accuracy with his big leg and produce touchbacks. Coons needs to show more leg, putting kickoffs higher and deeper.
The entire body of work will be the deciding factor in battles for roster spots. But there is little differentiating receivers Michael Preston, Derek Hagan, Brian Robiskie and Marc Mariani. If one of them has a big productive night, he could pull away as the fourth guy. One other player I will watch closely who will be trying to convince the Titans to keep a 10th guy in the secondary: Khalid Wooten.
