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Turron DavenportESPN
NASHVILLE, Tenn. — To say the Tennessee Titans are disappointed in 2020 first-round pick Isaiah Wilson would be an understatement.
Titans general manager Jon Robinson addressed Wilson’s status during a virtual news conference with the local media Tuesday. He didn’t seem pleased with how the 2020 season ended for Wilson, who played only four snaps last year despite being the 29th-overall pick.
“We put him on the reserve/non-football injury list and haven’t spoken to him since. He’s going to have to make a determination on whether he wants to do what it takes to play pro football. That will be on him,” Robinson said when asked about Wilson.
“I know what the expectation level is here, and it’s no different than any other player on the football team. We have a certain standard that we want players to prepare and perform at professionally, and as people, and there’s a lot of work to be done there,” he said.
The Titans placed Wilson on the NFI list in December to put a cap on a rather regrettable start to his NFL career. Wilson found himself on the reserve/COVID-19 list twice last season. The rookie right tackle also had a couple of run-ins with the law.
The first incident came when Tennessee State University police broke up an off-campus party that Wilson had attended during training camp. In their report, the police documented that Wilson went to the second-floor balcony, where he appeared to briefly consider jumping. He received a trespass warning.
The second incident occurred when Wilson was arrested and charged with a DUI in September when he lost control of his vehicle and struck a concrete wall.
Robinson said the Titans did extensive research on Wilson leading up to the draft and liked what they saw. They spent time with Wilson at the NFL scouting combine, where the 6-foot-6, 350-pound player first sized up coach Mike Vrabel during a meeting. Robinson joked that Wilson’s chuckle reminded him of Hall of Fame wrestler Andre the Giant.
A lot has changed since their first impression of Wilson, and there is likely some degree of buyer’s remorse.
“We did a lot of work on him leading up to the draft. The player that was here in the fall was not the player we evaluated,” Robinson said.