NASHVILLE, Tenn. — St. Thomas Sports Park underwent some updates to the facility during the time OTAs ended and today, when the Tennessee Titans reported back for this year’s training camp.
A renovated training room, a state-of-the-art weight room and even a shaded media pavilion for pampered, entitled bloggers like yours truly; the place has it all. So, when offered the opportunity to tour the new digs, we (the unwashed media masses) accepted.
And, while I was screwing around and telling stale jokes about how many reps I could do in the new weight room, Adam Schefter broke a tiny bit of news…
Titans just signed DT Jurrell Casey to a 4-year, $60.4M extension, including $40M Gtd; had 2 years left on his deal. pic.twitter.com/BsiWph8PYU
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) July 28, 2017
This mother-bleeping Adam Schefter, y’all.
The man is a master of the Dark Arts. I thought it was a rodent problem in the air vents at the facility but this guy Schefter is luring the local dopes out into the hallway while he repels from the ceiling, snaps a photo of Jurrell Casey signing a $60+ million extension, tweets it and cackles maniacally. The man is a monster.
Schefty dunking on us aside, the Casey extension is somewhat unprecedented in that the former third-round draft pick out of USC still had two years remaining on his current deal. He now becomes a Titan through the 2022 season.
“It’s a unique case,” Titans coach Mike Mularkey said on the deal. “A lot of things played into what happened. There’s a lot of on and off
Nashville, TN – July 28, 2017 – St. Thomas Sports Park – Titans coach Mike Mularkey addresses the media (Photo by Buck Reising ESPN Nashville)
the field things that warranted it.”
The 27-year-old Casey is coming off a season in which he made his second Pro Bowl. He notched five sacks and 51 tackles in 2016. For his career, Casey has 467 career tackles, 33 career sacks and 106 quarterback pressures. In 2015, Casey and Brian Orakpo led the team in sacks with seven apiece.
It’s an exciting and unexpected development for fans and a good message for the team to show the same level of commitment to a player who bought in at Ground Zero. No doubt his teammates (Lewan, perhaps) looked favorably at the Titans rewarding Casey’s efforts.
IN other news, there were a few items of note that came out of the opening press conferences before training camp practices officially kick off tomorrow…
Corey Davis Remains Unsigned
The Titans fifth-overall pick in this year’s NFL Draft, wide receiver Corey Davis of Western Michigan remains unsigned to the presence of “offset language” in his contract.
Mularkey said that Davis was not yet present at the facility but that the the team is “talking to him.”
Remember that, until Davis’s representation and the team find common ground, the fifth-overall pick in this year’s NFL Draft may not be present when the team reports today, following in the footsteps of reigning defensive rookie of the year Joey Bosa. Davis and Bosa are represented by the same agency.
Mariota Has Been “Cleared To Go”
Seven months after being lost to a season-ending leg break, Marcus Mariota will return to practice; there will be restrictions, however.
“We’re not going to send him out there and ‘have at it,'” Mularkey said Friday. “He’s still going to have some limited reps, not as much as he had in the offseason camps, but it’s not going to be like he’s been healthy the whole time. We’re going to watch him.”
Mularkey went on to say the team does not plan on this being “an extensive hold-back” for Mariota, but he would prefer to ease him into full action because they have the time to be cautious.
Sebastian Tretola Released
After suffering what was described as a minor gunshot wound to the leg in a late-night incident last weekend in Arkansas, the Titans released second-year guard Sebastian Tretola.
“First of all, he couldn’t practice with the injury that he had,” Titans coach Mike Mularkey said, “and second, he made some poor decisions. It wasn’t strictly the two offseason incidents that made that decision.”
The 2016 sixth-round pick out of Arkansas was also involved in a fight outside the bar Tin Roof in Nashville that resulted in an ongoing civil lawsuit and police investigation.
Information from TitansOnline.Com contributed to this report.
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