Palmer wants O-line to communicate better

When Titans quarterback Matt Hasselbeck talked last week about changing the team’s starting centers, he didn’t try to downplay the significance of the move: “It is kind of a big deal. But it’s our job to make it not a big deal.”

So far, so good for Fernando Velasco.

Making his first start at center since 2010, Velasco got good reviews for his performance in the preseason opener at Seattle.

“I thought he played very well for the first time out,” Titans offensive coordinator Chris Palmer said. “He did a nice job there.”

Hasselbeck and Velasco had talked about the challenge of the center mastering the silent count prior to the Seattle contest, but that went smoothly for the most part. The Seattle environment even provided a better-than-usual preseason test for Velasco, as Qwest Field was noisy and nearly filled to capacity.

“We had a little hiccup there early in the game,” Palmer said of the silent count, “but after that we were fine.”

Palmer wasn’t as happy with the play overall of the first-team offensive line, especially in terms of the run game. Chris Johnson, for instance, was held to eight yards on five carries.

“I’d say obviously we’re not happy with our run game and what we did, especially with the first (group),” Palmer said. “I think it was more communication than it was anything else. You have to give the back a chance to get going and sometimes we didn’t give him a chance to get going. Again, it’s preseason and we’ll continue to get better.”

The contest was the first for the Titans’ newly aligned interior of the offensive line, which featured Steve Hutchinson at left guard, Velasco at center and Leroy Harris at right guard.

“For us in the run game, it was pretty sloppy,” Harris said. “Not individually, but sloppy overall. We’ve got lots of technique stuff to clean up. There was a little bit of penetration here and there that messed a play up. We have to clean that stuff up all around.”

Source: Titans Insider