It would be a stretch to say Tennessee quarterback Will Levis played up to expectations in Sunday’s opener. Now he goes against Aaron Rodgers.

-- Photo By Erin Hooley | Ap

About the only thing that will be remembered from Brian Callahan’s debut as the head coach of the Tennessee Titans will be the ugly interception from Will Levis that basically threw the game away.

It was already third down, so be it a sack or an incompletion, the Titans were going to punt and turn the game back over to their defense, hoping to hang on to a 17-16 lead.

But Levis’ underhanded, end-over-end throw that the Bears’ Tyrique Stevenson picked off and basically walked 43 yards with to the end zone is a haunting reminder that the Titans’ second-year quarterback is still very much a work in progress.

Now, will Levis learn from such a blunder and move forward as a player and a quarterback trying to master a new offense and become the Titans leader?

Callahan already knows this, but Sunday’s painful reminder needs to be used as a teaching tool for Levis that successful quarterback play in the NFL doesn’t always come from 300-yard passing days but from knowing when to resist the urge to risk a game-changing play in a totally unnecessary situation.

That play was reminiscent of past Titans failures with young quarterbacks – Vince Young, Jake Locker or Malik Willis – over nearly a two-decade span.

But Levis, who takes a cerebral approach to his study of film and the playbook, should be beyond such a moment, even while making his 10th career start.

“Got to be better than that and be able to get the ball on the ground and not throw it to anybody,” Callahan says of the play. “He was not trying to throw to Tyler (Boyd); he was trying to get it out of his hand. Just a tough spot going to his left and he couldn’t get anything on it. We can’t have that. We can’t have an interception for a touchdown when we are up 17-16 at midfield, and the way our defense was playing, it’s killer. It’s killer.”

Levis understands the reality

Levis had another term for it, calling it a “bonehead play.”

“Just trying to throw it in the dirt,” he adds, “and when you’re getting taken down you don’t know what’s going to happen with the ball when it comes out. Was really just trying to dirt it.”

As he finished his explanation for the miscue, Levis added, correctly, the better option “might be one of those times to just take the sack. So (that’s) one of the things that I can learn from this game.”

The growing pains Levis endured last season as a rookie should make him better in some aspects. But he’s also learning a new offense with a new head coach and plenty of new teammates. And judging from what happened in the season opener, the process is going to yet take a lot more time and a lot more patience before the Titans and Levis begin to see the desired results.

That’s what Callahan was trying to keep in perspective, even as Levis’ mistakes in the second half cost the Titans 10 points with an interception returned for a touchdown and a strip sack that the Bears turned into a field goal.

The head coach, a first-time play-caller himself, said he needs to be better as well to help Levis and the offense find improvement.

“You just can’t put the ball in harm’s way,” Callahan says. “He’s still a young player and he has to learn in the game moments. This is when it happens.

“It’s one thing to do it in practice. When you’re in a game and the bullets are flying it makes it a little bit more challenging. He has room to improve, as do I, in some of the play calling. Best I can answer that.”

Terry McCormick covers the Titans for TitanInsider.com