Titans' Corey Davis shines, when he's on the field

When wide receiver Corey Davis has been on the field this training camp, he’s been one of the Titans' standouts, consistently making the types of grabs that demonstrate why he was selected No. 5 overall in the 2017 NFL draft.

Wednesday's practice was no different.

In team drills, Marcus Mariota fired over the middle to Davis, but the pass was underthrown. No matter — Davis stuck out his arm and brought it in one-handed for about a 20-yard gain.

"Marcus made a point. I said, 'Did you see Corey there? Or was he running a little faster than you thought?'" Titans coach Mike Vrabel said. "He’s like, 'I just knew he was going to be there.' Kind of trust what you see in the coverage and kind of throw it to a spot and Corey made a heck of a play."

Sound familiar?

Davis had an impressive first few days of training camp. He's had an encouraging last few days. In between, though, Davis had a stint away from the field that he labeled as "maintenance days," a red-flag raiser considering how much time he missed last season (all of training camp, the entire preseason and five-regular season games) with a nagging hamstring injury.

But whatever Davis was dealing with last week that forced him to miss two and a half practices and the Titans' preseason opener at Green Bay, he's clearly past it.

He burned Malcolm Butler on Monday for a 60-yard touchdown catch on a pass from Mariota. He was easily the brightest receiver for the Titans on Wednesday in a joint practice with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

Even with the reps he missed last week, Davis' timing with his quarterback looks to be improving.

"Definitely been working on that part of it," he said. "Just the timing, the chemistry. I feel like we definitely came along and we’re definitely still working on it."

Davis, who had 34 catches (on 65 targets), 375 receiving yards and no touchdowns last season, said he expects to play Saturday when the Titans host the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in Week 2 of the preseason (7 p.m., WKRN-2).

"I’m anxious to get out there," he said, "and ball out."

Rexrode:Why Corey Davis is the second-most important Titans player

For the soft-spoken Davis, that's a big part of what it means to be a leader.

"That’s the pressure I kind of take on, put on myself," he said. "I want to lead these guys, and I want to make sure that we’re all reaching our full potential. But I know I got to make sure that I’m at a certain level, that I’m in a position to actually lead them."

Reach Erik Bacharach at ebacharach@tennessean.com and on Twitter @ErikBacharach.