How Tennessee Titans coaches feel about QBs Malik Willis, Joshua Dobbs before Cowboys game

A lot of quarterbacks have started games in the NFL this season. Sixty-two, to be exact, which is tied for the most in any season since 2007.

Just 12 teams have started the same quarterback in all 15 games this season, and just six of them have winning records.

Teams across the NFL have experimented, or been forced to experiment, with what they have at quarterback all season. Which makes what the Tennessee Titans are doing all the more intriguing.

Rookie Malik Willis is expected to make his fourth start when the Titans (7-8) host the Dallas Cowboys (11-4) in Nissan Stadium on Thursday (7:15 p.m., NewsChannel 5, Amazon Prime Video). Willis hasn't flashed much in his three starts. He's completing 51% of his passes and averaging 4.8 yards per attempt. He hasn't thrown a touchdown but has three interceptions. The Titans have gone three- or four-and-out 15 times in Willis' three starts.

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With regular starter Ryan Tannehill still recovering from the ankle injury that's had him in and out of the lineup since October, these games are Willis' chance to show what he can do and the Titans' chance to evaluate Willis as a long-term option if the franchise moves on from Tannehill.

"I think he’s gotten better," Titans coach Mike Vrabel said. "He’s gotten better. He’s done some things that were positive and there are things that we’re continuing to try to work on and correct. Work on progression and speeding up things and communication and all the things that go with playing quarterback."

When asked if he feels he's making progress, Willis said he's more focused on whether he's making the best of his opportunities. He wants to get better at converting more "on schedule" plays instead of relying on the improvisational moments that can crop up because of his speed and arm talent. And he's trying to do more behind the scenes, including giving his first pregame speech before the Texans loss to try to get his teammates properly motivated.

"Regardless of age, I’m a man, they’re all men and we’re in here working together," Willis said. "This is a team. Nobody can go out there and win the game by theirself."

Offensive coordinator Todd Downing said he's trying to strike a balance between calling plays that highlight Willis' talents and not "jerking the wheel" by calling plays the other 10 players on the offense aren't accustomed to. But that balance hasn't worked. The Titans' 16 points per game, 285 yards per game and 13.7 first downs per game in Willis' three starts would rank second-worst, third-worst and worst in the NFL respectively.

Behind Willis, the Titans' next option is journeyman Joshua Dobbs, who the Titans signed off the Detroit Lions' practice squad on Dec. 21. Vrabel and Downing have been complimentary of Dobbs' grasp of the playbook and Downing said he'd be confident in using Dobbs if necessary this week, albeit with a pared down scheme.

"I think as long as you can identify what he’s comfortable with by the end of the week, that’ll determine the volume," Downing said. "That’s a process we go through, whether that person is starting or whether it was Malik in a backup role to Ryan. I always try to identify ‘OK, well, if he goes in the game, what is he comfortable with?’ and make those notes on my call sheet and there we go."

Dobbs, who played college football at Tennessee, spent most of this season with the Cleveland Browns and head coach Kevin Stefanski. Downing worked with Stefanski in Minnesota in 2018, so he said he's been able to lean on that connection to help teach Dobbs quicker.

Willis has also been helping with Dobbs' transition. The two trained together in the offseason and Willis said he's doing whatever he can to help Dobbs "get up to speed" with the Titans' playbook and lingo.

If the Titans turn to Dobbs, it won't be the first time an NFL team rolled with a quarterback they signed fewer than 10 days ago this season. It wouldn't even be the quickest turnaround for a quarterback coming off the bench on Thursday Night Football this month. The Los Angeles Rams claimed Baker Mayfield on Dec. 6 and he led a game-winning comeback on Dec. 8.

But Mayfield started six games with the Carolina Panthers this fall before getting to Los Angeles. Dobbs only has five NFL appearances and no starts. He doesn't have the same level of in-game experience, so the transition wouldn't be as obvious as Mayfield's.

Still, if anyone could do it, Downing thinks Dobbs would be a prime candidate.

"You can see that he’s an aeronautical engineer," Downing said. "He is very, very bright. He’s working really hard to try to pick everything up."

Nick Suss is the Titans beat writer for The Tennessean. Contact Nick at nsuss@gannett.com. Follow Nick on Twitter @nicksuss.

This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: How Tennessee Titans coaches feel about QBs Malik Willis, Joshua Dobbs