NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- The Tennessee Titans' run game might not be as complex as it appears when the season opens Sept. 11 against the Vikings at Nissan Stadium.

Last season, when Mike Mularkey was interim coach getting his team ready for a game against Carolina, he spoke admiringly about how the Panthers featured core plays in their ground game.

Any doubt the Titans can plant in defenders minds' could help backs Derrick Henry, left, and DeMarco Murray. AP Photo/Mark Humphrey

“A lot of runs that they run are the same runs that they’re handing to the backs, except there is a lot of window dressing, there is a lot of distraction, there is a lot of 'Look over here while we do things over here,' which I think is good,” Mularkey said. “It’s very deceptive. I think they do a good job of it.”

What we’ve seen in two preseason games from the Titans is the powerful run game the team promised from offensive coordinator Terry Robiskie. That all came out of the discussion of a Mularkey approach that’s been dubbed exotic smashmouth in the past.

That physical run game has included a dose of misdirection splashed in to keep defenses honest. The Titans look to be employing a Panthers-like philosophy with regard to window dressing.

“Obviously with the type of offensive scheme we have, we want to run downhill,” said DeMarco Murray, the team’s lead back. “But whenever you plug in a misdirection, it just kind of keeps those guys on their toes and doesn't let them know where we are running, our tendencies and whatnot. Coach Robiskie and coach Mularkey, they do a good job of calling plays and mixing things in.”

The Titans ran a Statue of Liberty play in each of their first two games.

A fan who donated $10,000 to the Make-A-Wish Foundation had a hand in the first play of the first game, which was picked out of the Titans' playbook and was major misdirection.

With Derrick Henry offset as the short back and Murray deep in an I-formation, Marcus Mariota took the snap from under center. Mariota turned and motioned as if to give it to Henry, crossing to his left, then pitched it to Murray behind him heading the other way. Murray got around the edge and turned up for a 15-yard gain.

“It’s been good, it’s been helping us, the guys are getting it down,” Robiskie said. “We just keep rolling, just keep going. ... It just ties in a lot of stuff we do. We just like it as part of what we are doing.”

NFL Films executive producer Greg Cosell said on The Midday 180 in Nashville that the Titans used a great deal of variety in the run game in Tennessee's second preseason contest Saturday against Carolina.

“They were incredibly multiple with both their personnel packages and their formations,” he said. “And I think that is something Mike does. ... Coaches who do all this, much of it winds up being window dressing. But it causes some mental stress for a defense.

“You have to prepare for different looks because you’re not exactly sure. I think he’ll continue to do that with the belief that, when all it said and done, we’re still going to power the football and you’re going to have to stop a physical offense.”

Misdirection plays can be a challenge to an aggressive defender, said Titans defensive lineman Jurrell Casey.

“It’s tough, because you’re thinking the ball is going to hit one direction and you start going that way,” he said. “Next thing you know you’ve got a running back sticking his foot in the ground and cutting back the other way. It makes it hard for you to take on a block that way.

“Obviously you want to make a play as a D-lineman and you’re locked up on a lineman, he’s pushing you one way, you’re trying to use all of your might to get back to the other way and still make a play.”

It sounds great, offensively.

But if a blocker gets beaten quickly or the Titans encounter a timely defensive call, it can be a problem. See Tajae Sharpe's 11-yard loss on a reverse.

“It’s all about your get-off,” Casey said. “If you can get off, a lot of time they are banking on gaining extra yards off the backside. But it can hurt them in the long run and they can lose a lot of yards with the misdirection if you get off the ball with the proper technique and beat the guy to a spot. You can always play the double gap and make a play for a tackle for a loss.”