The Tennessee Titans’ first depth chart of the preseason shows Malik Willis as the No. 2 quarterback to Ryan Tannehill. Will it still read that way when the Titans open the regular season Sept. 10?

Tennessee will kick off its preseason against the Chicago Bears on Saturday. On Thursday, Titans coach Mike Vrabel said the coaching staff had a quarterback plan for the preseason game, but he declined to share it – not even the starting QB’s identity.

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But he did say the performances during the preseason would be a key part in deciding the quarterback pecking order.

Last season, Willis backed up Tannehill as a third-round rookie. The former Auburn QB completed 31-of-61 passes for 276 yards with no touchdowns and three interceptions and ran for 123 yards and one touchdown on 27 carries in 2022.

Willis started in Tannehill’s place in a 17-10 victory over the Houston Texans on Oct. 30, a 20-17 overtime loss to the Kansas City Chiefs on Nov. 6 and a 17-14 loss to the Texans on Dec. 18. But Tannehill missed two other games last season with injuries, and the Titans chose to start Joshua Dobbs after signing him from the Detroit Lions’ practice squad on Dec. 21.

Since then, Tennessee traded up to selected Kentucky quarterback Will Levis in the second round of the NFL Draft on April 28.

Vrabel is looking forward to watching his young quarterbacks perform in game action, when the protections of practice are taken away.

“The Bears won’t be staying away from the quarterback,” Vrabel said. “They’re going to have to get hit. They’re going to have to get knocked down. They’re going to have to be able to operate in and out of the huddle with efficiency, get us in a proper play. Make great decisions, accuracy with a live pass rush, the timing, all those things that we talked about last year with Malik that has improved through our team periods, those have to continue to improve for him, and then Will’s first exposure to the NFL.”

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On Tuesday, Vrabel said he had noted a difference between 2022 Willis and 2023 Willis.

“I just think it’s the way he walks in the building,” Vrabel said. “I think that you know when he’s there, and I’ll just leave it at that. The biggest thing is that you know when he’s in the building. There’s a presence to him, bopping around, that’s the biggest thing to me — that you know he’s there. And not just being there. He’s there, he’s engaged, you hear him, you see him. Those are all positives.”

Willis explained the difference.

“I think it’s just understanding what you’re doing and having a command over what you’re doing that you can have a presence,” Willis said. “You can’t do that if you don’t know what you’re doing — if it’s your first time under the center, if it’s your first time running this type of offense — and more than anything, it just takes reps and time.”

Vrabel seemed particularly impressed by a completion from Willis to rookie tight end Josh Whyle at practice on Tuesday.

“There’s times where you have to use your ability,” Vrabel said, “and that’s his movement, and being able to escape and run is something that he has to be able to do, but then also being able to keep his eyes downfield to be able to, when guys break like they did today — I thought that was a really cool play there with Whyle. …

“I thought that was a really cool play. Just sliding over there and not just taking off and running, which he probably would’ve gained some good yards. But being able to look downfield and keep his eyes downfield, it really forces the defense into coming out of coverage or plastering, and then in that case, Malik’s got to make a great decision and take off.”

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Willis joined Tennessee from Liberty, where he transferred after two seasons at Auburn. As Jarrett Stidham’s backup with the Tigers, Willis completed 11-of-14 passes for 69 yards with one touchdown and no interceptions and ran for 309 yards and two touchdowns on 28 carries in 2017 and 2018. In two seasons as Liberty, Willis completed 377-of-604 passes for 5,107 yards with 47 touchdowns and 18 interceptions and ran for 1,822 yards and 27 touchdowns on 338 carries.

In two seasons at Kentucky after transferring from Penn State, Levis completed 418-of-636 passes for 5,232 yards with 43 touchdowns and 23 interceptions and ran for 269 yards and 11 touchdowns on 179 carries.

The Titans and Bears will square off at noon CDT Saturday at Soldier Field in Chicago. NFL Network will televise the game.

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Mark Inabinett is a sports reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter @AMarkG1.