JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- When the Tennessee Titans finalized their roster heading into the season and kept only four receivers, it caused a lot of consternation.
The issue wasn't so much they kept only four as it was that they only had four to keep.
The team's lack of depth and lack of development were both on display at EverBank Field on Thursday night as Tennessee dropped a 19-13 decision to the Jacksonville Jaguars and blew an opportunity to remain within range of the top in a terrible AFC South.
Tennessee began the season with Kendall Wright, Harry Douglas, Justin Hunter and second-round rookie Dorial Green-Beckham as their receivers.
In Jacksonville, Wright sat out his third game in a row because of a sprained knee, and Hunter sat out his first since suffering a season-ending fractured ankle.
The group against the Jaguars was Douglas, Green-Beckham, Rico Richardson and Tre McBride, the latter two recent promotions from the practice squad. They combined for five catches for 56 yards Thursday, though a couple of pass-interference penalties also contributed to the Titans' gains.
Titans-Jaguars was the first game of NFL Week 11.
In Week 10, 18 individual receivers had both more catches and more yards than the Titans' entire group did Thursday night.
Eighteen.
The Steelers and Cardinals each had two receivers go well beyond what four Titans did collectively.
The Titans' No. 1 obligation to Marcus Mariota is to protect the rookie quarterback from pass-rushers trying to chop him down. The failure to do so with scheme adjustments cost Ken Whisenhunt his job only seven games into his second year as head coach.
They've given up five sacks in three games since, taking a step back against the Jaguars, who aren't a good pass-rush team but sacked Mariota four times.
Once you commit to keeping the quarterback upright, you have to give him a run game and some weapons.
The Titans have made some gains as a rushing offense.
But general manager Ruston Webster did poor work assembling receivers, and Whisenhunt, interim coach Mike Mularkey, offensive coordinator Jason Michael and receivers coach Shawn Jefferson have done insufficient work developing the players they were given.
Even before injuries started to mount, the Titans had a weak group.
"We're doing the best that we can with the personnel that we have right now," Mularkey said. "Those guys are battling their tails off, really battling."
With five seconds on the clock Thursday and one last snap from the Jaguars' 23-yard line, Mariota slipped as he tried to climb out of the pocket and was sacked from behind by defensive end Andre Branch.
Had Mariota managed to get a throw off, the primary target for a last-play touchdown to win the game was Richardson.
A kid's got to start somewhere, for sure. No offense to Richardson, but that play needs a No. 1 option who's more threatening.
The Titans put themselves in a spot where their top read on a crucial play was a guy who was an undrafted free agent out of Jackson State in 2013, a practice-squad regular playing in his sixth NFL game and still in search of his first catch.