After a dominant, highest-graded performance against the Seahawks, the Titans rookie linebacker must now swap flashes of brilliance for play-to-play consistency to steal a starting defensive role.
Tennessee Titans linebacker Anthony Hill Jr. had a great outing against the Seattle Seahawks on Sunday.
He recorded seven total tackles and had one of the three takeaways the defense forced. He intercepted Seahawks quarterback Jalen Milroe on a crossing pattern that he read like a book.
Hill is starting to blossom right before our very eyes and was the highest-graded rookie from preseason Week 2.
The assistant coaches had media availability after Tuesday's practice. We got to hear from offensive coordinator Brian Daboll, defensive coordinator Gus Bradley and special teams coordinator John Fassel.
Bradley has worked closely with Hill this offseason. He was asked at the recent press conference about Hill and how he knows a young player like that is ready for more responsibility.
Bradley noted that Hill has been impressive this offseason, but now the challenge for him is to play with more consistency.
"You're right," Bradley said. "There is no doubt. You've seen him make plays. Some big plays in practice or in the games like you've seen. So now the big challenge for him is just the consistency. You know, I think everybody loves Anthony, but that trust of every play, play in and play out, you know, as far as making the calls, getting things set up, the checks, things like that from where he was to where he is now? Much better. But I think that's the aspect now. It's just more consistency."
Hill had a breakout game against the Seahawks, but he was less active in the previous game against the San Francisco 49ers.
Hill only recorded two total tackles in that game and wasn't in the game for very long.
If he wants to have a chance of overtaking Cody Barton for the Mike linebacker role, he'll need to have more performances like Sunday.
Hill has one more chance to prove he's the right man for the job on Saturday against the Chicago Bears.
The Bears were a couple of plays away from making the NFC Championship Game last season.
If Hill can have a similar performance this weekend to how he played on Sunday night, it could make things interesting for Barton.
The Titans and Bears last played each other in the 2024 season opener in Chicago. This time, the Bears have to go to Nissan Stadium to face the Titans in the final preseason game.
Kickoff is set for 5 p.m. CT on NFL Network.
