ESPN NFL

Will the pass rush for the Tennessee Titans improve enough?

The Titans had just 28 sacks last season, and the lack of pass pressure was at the core of many of their problems.

Did they do enough to address it? They jumped to sign Kamerion Wimbley after he was let loose by the Raiders in a cost-cutting move. He should provide a boost, but I don’t know that he will single-handedly solve the problem. The Titans will start Wimbley and Derrick Morgan, who’s due to stay healthy and consistently produce. Dave Ball was re-signed to pitch in. Seventh-round pick Scott Solomon out of Rice will get chances to rush.

Tennessee is talking again about more pass rush from linebackers, particularly last year’s second-round pick, Akeem Ayers, the starter on the strong side. But the Titans have talked about linebackers in the pass rush on and off for years and never actually make it a reality.

Hopefully the coverage is good enough that the Titans are not afraid to send an extra rusher from the linebacking corps or secondary. Keith Millard was hired as a pass rush coach who will work with players from all three levels on technique for getting to the passer.

The Titans need Wimbley to be productive and Millard to be influential to make passers less comfortable against them.

NASHVILLE -- After 15 minutes on the phone with Keith Millard, I was ready to rush the passer.

The newest addition to Titans coach Mike Munchak’s staff won’t oversee a position but a skill set. And although Millard will spend a lot of time with defensive line coach Tracy Rocker and his group, he’ll also rove and talk nuances of getting to the quarterback with linebackers, safeties and even cornerbacks.

His initial speech will go like this:

“Before you even start, you’ve got to pick a line and you’ve got to stay on that line. And that goes for every position, no matter what you are doing. It’s from wherever you start to the quarterback and that thing can’t vary. You know the old saying the shortest distance between two spots is a straight line? That’s as true in pass rush as there is. You stay on that line, get your blocker off it. Now how you do that is where it gets interesting, where technique and fundamentals come in.”

Tennessee needs to rush the passer better than it did last season, which was its first without Jim Washburn since 1998. The former defensive line coach, now in Philadelphia, pieced together an effective four-man rush most of the time.

After Munchak hired Jerry Gray as defensive coordinator, the team concluded that getting to the quarterback at all costs wasn’t the way to go because the run defense suffered.

In Year 1 of the new regime, the team sacked the quarterback less -- managing just 28 sacks, 31st in sacks per play in the NFL -- and was still just 24th against the run.

Both the personnel and the coaching need to be better.

Enter Kamerion Wimbley, the former Oakland Raider whom the Titans pounced on when he was released. Enter Millard.

Wimbley should be a boost for the pass rush. He’s worked a lot in his career as a 3-4 outside linebacker but in Tennessee he’ll be a 4-3 end. He can rush the passer well from there, but the team could put his durability to the test if he’s on the field for too many snaps.

Millard’s a big believer in a four-man rush, as the Titans have long been. But if they can’t get to the quality quarterbacks they are scheduled to face in 2012 with just four rushers, they should be better equipped to bring more blitzers than they have been in some time after Millard coaches them up.

“I’m thrilled about Millard,” Titans outside linebacker Gerald McRath said. “For me, I’ve never had someone who took time to teach me pass rush. You can fine tune a skill, and that’s a skill that makes you more valuable to your team. I think that will be great, that you can have someone who can focus on that.”

Munchak and Gray talked about the idea early on after the new staff was assembled. It didn’t come together during the initial staff assembly and the lockout. But then Millard came free after Raheem Morris and the Tampa Bay staff were let go.

Millard played nine seasons as an NFL defensive lineman, primarily with Minnesota. He coached in Denver and Oakland before spending 2011 in Tampa Bay.

Although he’s worked mostly as a defensive line coach, he was a pass rush coach at times with the Broncos and Raiders.

Specialized coaches are increasingly popular in the NFL. Many 3-4 teams have outside linebacker coaches. Some teams have cornerback and safety coaches in their secondary, or a coach who concentrates on the nickel defensive backs.

A coach like Millard qualifies as being outside the box for the Titans. He gets fired up talking about his office, and initially makes it sound big. Then you realize he means big enough to have three or maybe four guys in there at a time to go over pass-rush nuances.

“Not only is he going to be doing D-line, and that’s a good thing, we’re going to be sending him linebackers and safeties and things like that,” said Gray, who played nine seasons as a cover corner. “I’ll be honest and tell you I don’t know anything about blitzing. Beating a running back, I can tell you, but I’ve never felt that. So I really don’t know how it feels.

“He’ll be able to help us, more than saying ‘Hey, I’ve got a clear open spot for you to hit the quarterback.’ The best thing you can do is offer a one-on-one. Now show me how to win the one-on-one. That’s what he’s going to be doing.”

Warren Sapp, who’s widely regarded as an all-time great pass-rushing tackle, raved about Millard’s influence on him to The Tennessean after the Titans made the hire.

Gray still emphasizes the need for players to stop the run. Millard and Gray talk about earning the right to pass rush. And nothing does that more than stuffing a run play on first down to help create second- and third-and-long situations.

Millard calls himself a self-taught pass-rusher.

He’s eager to share what he knows, and says it will be a lot more about feet than hands for both blitzers and guys who make a living rushing the passer. For Millard, that second group generally falls into two styles, straight-liners (like Kyle Vanden Bosch or Jason Taylor) and basketball types (like Sapp and Derrick Burgess).

“I think doing it myself from different positions has given me a real edge at teaching the true fundamentals,” Millard said. “Being able to study blockers and find their weaknesses and how to take advantage of them. I’m really about teaching the concept of getting the blocker on your terms and how to do that. It’s not so much a repertoire with your hands as it is your footwork and trying to work a blocker’s weaknesses against him.

“Hands are really just kind of a second nature thing. When you really get down to it, it’s about feet. Getting blockers off balance and using your hands to keep them off balance. Whether you are bull-rushing, whether you are going from one edge to the other and back, it’s really got to be about balance and footwork and your approach -- getting to a point where you own that guy, you know where his weaknesses are and you just continually, constantly, work on those weaknesses. There is a lot that goes into that.”

Millard will spell out for a guy what his body has to do to counter the body trying to block him: flipping hips, making yourself small, understanding what blockers are doing with their hands. Get the guy in your way off balance and keep him off balance.

It seems uncertain just where and how Millard will fit into the regular practice schedule, but he’s certain to work with specific guys before and after practices and outside of regular meeting times.

Those office sessions will be kept small -- he'll rarely work with more than two linebackers or two defensive backs at a time.

If he’s what Munchak and Gray expect, the Titans will do a far better job of getting from Point A to the quarterback and the defense will make big gains.

Millard’s motivated me. I’m heading outside right now to see about making myself small and finding the best way to stay on my straight line.

The Titans have a five-year deal with Kamerion Wimbley, the team announced.

Wyatt said the agent for another end the Titans courted, Mark Anderson, has said Anderson will be signing elsewhere. The Jaguars are interested.

Wimbley has worked as an outside linebacker, but he will be an end for the Titans.

Tennessee gets a player who has nice pass-rushing skills who helps fill a major need. One insider told me Wimbley has "unique cornering ability."

But he’s not likely to be an every-down guy. A friend who covers the Raiders said Wimbley did his best work as a nickel end, but tends to flash and disappear.

The Raiders listed him as 6-foot-4, 255 pounds last season -- the exact same size Titans end Dave Ball was at in 2011. Ball beefed up last season to fit better with the philosophy Jerry Gray brought in as defensive coordinator. But he still ranked as the lightest defensive end on the roster. He’s a free agent now.

While the Titans would like to get bigger overall, it’s just not an option at some spots. Bigger guys with top pass-rush skills are a huge commodity, and it’s not like a bunch are available. That’s part of why Mario Williams, 6-6 and 283, got such a giant contract in Buffalo.

Wimbley joins Derrick Morgan and Malcolm Sheppard as the Titans' lone ends under contract.

Does Wimbley solve the team’s pass-rushing woes the way Williams would have or Dwight Freeney could (if he’s traded or cut)?

I don’t know that he’s going to qualify as a singular force. He had seven sacks last season, but four came in one game against San Diego.

As for the durability question for a smaller end, he has a good record for how he’s been used.

In six seasons primarily as a linebacker with Cleveland and Oakland, he has missed just one game. He had 11 sacks as a rookie linebacker with Cleveland in 2006, and has 42.5 in his career.

The Titans have done well in the past with smallish, speedy defensive ends. But that was a different scheme, and the position coach who set those ends up for success, Jim Washburn, left as the staff broke up in 2011. Washburn is now in Philadelphia.

Defensive line coach Tracy Rocker and pass-rush coach Keith Millard will be charged with getting sack and pass-pressure production from Wimbley.

Reading the coverage …

Andrew Brandt of the National Football Post looks at the mechanics of the franchise tag.

Houston Texans

Stocks soared for receivers and linemen coming out of the combine according to John McClain of the Houston Chronicle.

Indianapolis Colts

Nate Dunlevy of Colts Authority took offense to this Michael Weinreb piece at Grantland questioning Indiana’s affection for Peyton Manning. So Dunlevy seeks to set the record straight.

Jim Irsay rectified his complaint about Manning failing to keep things in-house while talking to the media to discuss elements of the issue with the quarterback.

Jacksonville Jaguars

LSU’s Morris Claiborne and Alabama’s Dre Kirkpatrick are top corners who could be of interest to the Jaguars in the draft, writes Tania Ganguli.

Tennessee Titans

Keith Millard is another member of the Titans' staff whose résumé includes a highly credentialed playing career, says David Boclair of The City Paper.

Reading the coverage …

Houston Texans

Former Texans linebacker Morlon Greenwood has taken up boxing, says Daniel Gotera of KHOU.

Indianapolis Colts

Dave Rappoccio puts Peyton Manning’s face into the logo of every NFL team. Some are very amusing. Hat tip to Aaron Schatz.

Jacksonville Jaguars

In this Vito Stellino piece about Mike Mularkey’s first month, the coach addresses the biggest Blaine Gabbert issue: “Of Gabbert’s habit of sometimes ducking in the face of the pass rush, Mularkey said, ‘I don’t want to get into the things that took place last year, but [I think] there were things in his head even before the ball was snapped. He knew there may be a chance the rush could get to him for a variety of reasons. I don’t want to step on any toes, but I’ve got to get that out of his head.’”

With several Jaguars watching, a once-paralyzed Jacksonville boy played flag football, writes Tania Ganguli of the Florida Times-Union.

Tennessee Titans

Warren Sapp thinks the Titans made a great hire in pass-rushing coach Keith Millard, writes Jim Wyatt.

A quick zip around the division to catch up on some things that have happened while I had a few days off.

The trio of coaches charged with shaping Blaine Gabbert in Jacksonville is in place: coach Mike Mularkey, offensive coordinator Bob Bratkowski and quarterback coach Greg Olsen. Olsen comes to the Jaguars from the Buccaneers where he worked with Josh Freeman, who regressed badly last season. Everyone’s got a clean slate now, and these coaches will be judged largely on what they are able to make of Gabbert in his second season.

The Colts' list of candidates to be the new head coach is not going to excite the general population. There seems to be a lot of buzz about Jim Tressel, and it appears he’s met with the team twice, but we don’t know who else has and it may be a mistake to label him the front-runner. It’s funny: When the team brought him aboard as a meager replay consultant, we tried to find a connection and label him as a Bill Polian guy, a Chris Polian guy or a Jim Caldwell guy. Whether he’s the next coach or not, it turns out he was a Jim Irsay guy.

Dave McGinnis has been a valuable member of the Titans' coaching staff for years. He’s left to re-join Jeff Fisher in St. Louis. While Mike Munchak will miss McGinnis as a sounding board, the addition of Keith Millard as a pass-rushing coach looks like a smart one. The Titans have not traditionally rushed the passer well from beyond the defensive line. The league is specializing, and having a coach who goes beyond positions to teach a set of skills is a fresh approach in Tennessee.

Texans center Chris Myers, Texans defensive lineman Antonio Smith and Jaguars special-teamer Montell Owens were added to the AFC Pro Bowl roster. Wade Phillips was named assistant coach of the year by the Pro Football Writers of America and Pro Football Weekly. Congrats to all.