By CNN
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Titans wide receiver Treylon Burks is “alert” and “moving,” Tennessee head coach Mike Vrabel told reporters after his team’s 20-16 loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers on Thursday Night Football.
Burks, 23, was carted off the field at Acrisure Stadium in Pittsburgh after landing hard on the ground trying to go for a catch on fourth down.
The second-year receiver lay motionless for a few minutes, with medical personnel removing his facemask from his helmet prior to him being strapped onto a board and then carted off.
Burks got a standing ovation from fans as he left the field, and he appeared to give a thumbs up on his way to the locker-room.
After the game, Vrabel provided an update on his receiver’s health.
“I would say the way it looked – I think that it’s probably better than how it looked,” Vrabel said, adding that he hopes to have more of an update on Friday. “So he’s alert and is in the training room getting evaluated.”
Vrabel said that the wideout was not transported to the hospital and later walked out of the locker room under his own power.
Burks was a first-round draft pick by the Titans in 2022 out of the University of Arkansas.
He had two catches for 23 yards and one rush attempt for five yards on Thursday before his injury.
The Titans would go onto lose against the Steelers, with Burks’ injury coming late in the fourth quarter as Tennessee was driving in hopes of a touchdown which would have seen the team take a late lead.
It was the second successive start for Tennessee rookie quarterback Will Levis, and after his blistering debut – in which he threw four touchdowns – he once again showed glimpses of why he was so highly thought of coming out of the University of Kentucky.
The 24-year-old showed class against a star-studded Pittsburgh defense, although his late interception sealed the victory for the Steelers.
Derrick Henry scored the Titans’ only touchdown of the game – bulldozering from close range – while Nick Folk successfully converted all three of his field goals.
The pressure fell on the shoulders of embattled quarterback Kenny Pickett who has failed to impress for much of his one-and-a-half years in the NFL.
But, trailing 16-13 with nine minutes left, Pickett was able to help fashion together a an 11-play, 92-yard drive that started at the Pittsburgh eight-yard line and finished with a three-yard touchdown reception for Diontae Johnson, the wide receiver’s first score in 668 days.
After the victory, Johnson spoke about his relief on finding the end zone after a 21-game drought.
“Oh yeah, I mean [668] days since I’ve scored, I’m happy I was able to get in the end zone today,” Johnson said after the game. “I seen it on Twitter today, and I was like, ‘Really, it’s been that long?’ But it’s like I’m saying, I’m happy that I got in the end zone and looking forward to getting in the end zone next week.”
The Steelers improve to 5-3 with Pittsburgh hosting the Green Bay Packers in Week 10, while the Titans fall to 3-5 as they travel to Florida face the Tampa Bay Buccaneers next time out.
