Well, one things for sure; the offense wasn’t as focused as the defense during Monday night’s opening scrimmage at Nissan Stadium. The Tennessee Titans entertained a few fans while simultaneously critiquing both sides of the ball. If there was a winner, it was clearly the defense, as they made play after play, forcing turnover after turnover. At the end of the night, the scoreboard read 24-12, blue (defense).

The offense couldn’t really find it’s groove all night long. Marcus Mariota threw an interception. Matt Cassel lost a fumble and fell victim to a poor play by receiver Dorial Green-Beckham, who let a catch be jarred from his arms by Jason McCourty and then picked off by David Bass. The offense had too many penalties, especially in the red zone. Holding calls, false starts, just sloppy play all around on that side of the ball. Keep in mind, this was not a “live” scrimmage (no tackling). This can always effect offensive rhythm, one reason; you can’t run through tackles.

Last year’s Heisman Trophy winner, rookie running back Derrick Henry, was the offensive bright spot and spark plug, scoring a couple of touchdowns. Fans cheered frequently when Henry touched the ball and capped off large gains. He had great runs in the red zone while showing excellent vision between the creases. “He’s a stud,’’ Titans linebacker Brian Orakpo was quoted as saying of Henry. He displayed the same bruising running style and nifty moves as he did while at Alabama. Second year running back David Cobb, from Minnesota, also ran well and found the end zone once. The two backs made the offense look respectable.

Titans stand-out wide receiver Kendall Wright sat this first scrimmage out. Tennessee will host it’s first preseason game versus the San Diego Chargers this Saturday night at Nissan Stadium. Perhaps, things will go according to plan.