There was a decisive winner at Tennessee Titans training camp practice on Tuesday: defense.

Is it entirely possible the Titans' offense comes back Wednesday and hands the defense their collective butts? Yeah, of course. But from 8:30 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. on Tuesday, the Titans' defense looked nasty, penetrative, instinctive and strong in pursuit to the ball. Or, more accurately, from 8:30 to 10:15. The offense at least played to a draw (if it didn't win outright) in the simulated third-down period to end practice.

So let's break down the how and why of the Titans' defensive dominance Tuesday and examine if it matters heading into the preseason.

Titans secondary looked great in 1-on-1s ... without the big guns

Cornerbacks L'Jarius Sneed and Chidobe Awuzie and safety Jamal Adams didn't practice Tuesday. Let's start there. The secondary was playing shorthanded, with cornerbacks Tre Avery, Jarvis Brownlee Jr. and Gabe Jeudy-Lally picking up a lot of the first-team slack. But the scope of the coverage successes went much farther than this.

Former first-round pick Caleb Farley set the tone on the first rep of 1-on-1 drills, muscling up against star receiver DeAndre Hopkins and breaking up a pass fired in their direction by quarterback Will Levis. Brownlee had a couple pass breakups in this period too, blanketing routes run by Tyler Boyd and Kearis Jackson. And undrafted rookie Robert Javier broke up a Levis pass too, that one targeted for receiver Tre'Shaun Harrison.

Safety Matthew Jackson plucked the first interception of the day during 7-on-7 drills, where safety Elijah Molden and cornerback Eric Garror also had pass breakups. Garror's PBU was particularly thunderous, jarring a ball loose with a well-timed hit. Jackson recorded a second interception during team period, snagging a ball off backup quarterback Mason Rudolph. And Farley registered a second PBU in team periods on a pass thrown by Malik Willis.

It'd be one thing if these plays were being made by Sneed, Awuzie or Adams, the three big-name offseason additions. But the defenders making big plays Tuesday were, generally speaking, down roster or practice squad candidates.

Titans rush with Jeffery Simmons, T'Vondre Sweat got after it too

Levis' best play of the day was a doozy of a throw to receiver Nick Westbrook-Ikhine. Westbrook-Ikhine diagonally crossed the field right to left as Levis heaved a ball 45-50 yards in the air, gently guiding it into Westbrook-Ikhine's hands. But ... the throw probably never would've happened in a real game because safety Amani Hooker had a free release at Levis on a blitz and would've either sacked him or, at the very least, forced Levis to move out of the pocket.

Matthew Jackson's second interception also came on a play that probably should've been blown dead for a sack, this one belonging to second-year rusher Caleb Murphy. Running back Tony Pollard was blown up in the backfield by linebackers twice, once on a toss left and the other on a swing pass left in a simulated third-and-2. Interior defensive linemen Jeffery Simmons and T'Vondre Sweat both had strong days in penetration, with Sweat assuming more and more of the first team reps as camp continues onward.

And then there are the plays off the edge. The sack numbers weren't particularly big, but the patchwork right side of the Titans' offensive line didn't have its best day. Dillon Radunz and Leroy Watson IV started rotating in with Saahdiq Charles and John Ojukwu at guard and tackle, but it's hard to say anyone had a particularly strong morning.

But were Will Levis, Titans offense just sloppy?

Partially, yes. Receivers dropped four catchable balls in 1-on-1 periods with another drop in the team scrimmage and arguably a sixth drop in 7-on-7s. A couple of screen passes were blown up before they could get anywhere, Levis overthrew more than a couple passes, running back Julius Chestnut fumbled once and Rudolph had a pass tipped that ricocheted in the air and was nearly intercepted.

It's tough to blame the offense for everything. Everything needs to be better, sure, but Tuesday was the first day of training camp with pads on and the threat of getting your ribs crunched takes some getting used to. Still, losing 1-on-1 battles in pass protection or coverage is a fairly evergreen concern.

So, time for the verdict. How should Titans fans react to Tuesday's defensive dominance? Let's put it this way: The fact that defenders across the roster consistently made plays instead of just the starters and stars probably isn't a great sign for the offense. No disrespect to the down-roster players, but it's hard to make regular season projections based on how well the No. 7 cornerback or No. 5 pass rusher plays. Depth is a good thing, and the fact that the Titans are building it is fantastic. But if days like Tuesday start piling up, it probably means more about how far the offense has to go to get on rhythm than anything else.

Nick Suss is the Titans beat writer for The Tennessean. Contact Nick at nsuss@gannett.com. Follow Nick on X, the platform formerly called Twitter, @nicksuss.

This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Titans' Caleb Farley, Jeffery Simmons dominate Will Levis, offense