Treylon Burks working to forge his own path
January 16-22, 2023
By Terry McCormick
This piece previously ran back on December 1 on the website, Titan Insider. It is reprinted here with permission from the author, Terry McCormick, of mainstreetmediatn.com
Despite the belief that the Tennessee Titans drafted Treylon Burks to replace the traded A.J. Brown, the rookie wide receiver will have none of any comparisons to the now Philadelphia Eagles star.
“I’m Treylon; he’s A.J. I play my game, and he plays his game. That’s really all I have to say about it,” Burks said of the comparison.
Burks had a breakout game in a Thursday night win over Green Bay with seven catches for 111 yards, his first 100-yard effort in his career. He followed that with a four-catch, 70-yard performance in Sunday’s loss to Cincinnati. The highlight of that game was a 52-yard grab that helped set up a field goal.
It is that type of explosive play that not surprisingly draws the comparisons to Brown.
He said he doesn’t know Brown, who headed out the door in Tennessee on draft day as Burks was being selected by the Titans. But he has a healthy respect for his predecessor in Nashville.
“I look up to him, just from me being in college and him being who he is. I look up to him, but also it’s the NFL; you’ve just got to go play ball,” Burks said.
As for people expecting him to be like Brown was for the Titans, he says, “I just don’t listen to it,” as he forges his own path.
Of late, that path is starting to become clearer for Burks in the Titans offense. Titans head coach Mike Vrabel said Burks’ overall attitude and approach have been better of late.
“His attitude. The way that he comes to work,” Vrabel said. “We talked about the short week and Green Bay for a young receiver. When you are trying to add a couple of wrinkles in practice, it is a quick practice, things are shortened, there were some mistakes that we talked about, but I watched him work hard with Rob [Moore] in walkthrough and get those things corrected so that he felt good going into the game. He had a good game and followed it up with a good game. I just think his overall attitude. His competitiveness is good. We will just keep working.
“We are just trying to keep building each and every week. He is building some momentum right now and we just want to keep expanding his role and what he can do for us. He is doing some good things, we just have to keep expanding on that and building on it.”
As Burks builds and improves, the comparisons to Brown, whom the Titans face this Sunday, will no doubt continue, whether he wants them to or not.
Comparisons or not, Burks, who got off to a rough start with conditioning issues in camp and then suffered a turf toe injury just as he was making strides earlier this season, seems to be righting the ship. He credits that the improved learning and application on the practice field.
“I’m just coming to work every day and being level-headed and just attack the opportunities that I get,” Burks said. “Honestly, just being around these guys and seeing how they work is just wearing off on me, and it’s me being me honestly.
“Really, my confidence comes from practice. Practice makes perfect, so just keep doing it in practice.”
That has been building since training camp, says quarterback Ryan Tannehill about Burks’ play-making. It began with tests on the practice field and since Burks’ return from the toe injury, it is now translating to games.
“I did it several times there in training camp. I just had opportunities, one-on-one opportunities down the field,” Tannehill recalled. “I said, ‘Hey, I’m going to give him a shot if it is one-on-one.’ It ended up playing out one-on-one. I gave him a shot and he made a play. When guys start making plays like that for you, it gives you a lot of confidence to keep going back.”
