By John Glennon | The Tennessean
They'd much prefer to be playing in the postseason, but as the Titans cleaned out their lockers earlier this week, they could at least look forward to what should be a far more productive offseason than last year.
In 2011, the NFL lockout wound up cancelling all OTAs and mini-camps, which meant the Titans didn't start interacting with their new coaching staff until training camp began in late July.
So a full complement of offseason practices should be especially beneficial for a team like Tennessee:
Coordinators will be able to implement more plays than they could in a limited time last year; assistant coaches will do more teaching; young players will have more opportunity to grasp systems; and even veterans like quarterback Matt Hasselbeck will get chemistry-building time they were deprived of in 2011.
"The one thing you always crave is just more time," said Hasselbeck, who spent 10 years in Seattle before signing with the Titans just before training camp. "You get a good amount of time with the receivers (during the season), but the other guys like running backs, fullbacks, tight ends -- just being out there and running routes without defenders is helpful.
"You want to get to the point where you don't have to look at the receiver until the very last second. The great passing combinations have that kind of stuff, that kind of chemistry. That's really built in the summer."
Titans Coach Mike Munchak said he's most eager to see the impact a full offseason will have on the team's linemen. The offensive line excelled in pass protection this season but took part of the blame for a poor rushing attack, while the defensive line finished second-to-last in sacks.
"When people always ask me who the lockout hurt the most, to me it was the linemen, especially when you have offensive linemen that together play very well," Munchak said. "I think when all of the sudden they are not together anymore and they are not working out together and are not doing plays together in April, May, and June, it makes a big difference and I think that affected us as a group. Even with the defensive line, it's the same way."
The struggles of the running game in 2011 couldn't all be pinned on the offensive line, of course, as Chris Johnson didn't show the kind of consistent explosiveness he'd displayed in past years.
But the coming offseason could again provide a boost here, considering that Johnson missed both the 2011 offseason and all of training camp -- the latter due to a contract holdout.
"We all need to get on the same page and execute as an offense," Johnson said. "So whatever situation we have here during the offseason, I'm going to be here to work with my teammates."
Said Munchak: "That is what we hope happens when we start working, that (Johnson) is here ... Obviously it's going to help having everyone here. To what degree there's no way of measuring. But I think it's a teammate thing -- you get closer as a team, and when teams are making changes you want everyone here."
Titans cornerback Cortland Finnegan isn't sure at this point if he'll be with the team next season. But if he signs a new deal here, he thinks a full offseason should boost the effectiveness of defensive coordinator Jerry Gray's system.
"I think it would be huge, for guys to come in and really know the scheme and we'll be able to do a lot more," Finnegan said. "I think we were limited in what we could do just because some guys were learning it on the run."
Defensive tackle Karl Klug won't argue that point, not after jumping into his rookie training camp without the usual kind of preparation. He and his fellow rookies made a big splash in 2011, but he's looking forward to the boost of a full offseason.
"I would think continuity would be the biggest thing, just getting to know each other a little more," Klug said. "We were thrown into a new team right away at the start of camp.
"The offseason is when you get to do stuff outside of football with guys and work out with them, too. We didn't get to do that last year, and that's a big thing."
Reach John Glennon at 615-259-8262 or jglennon@tennessean.com.