Titans' Kendall Wright re-injures hamstring

On his first day back at practice after a month-long injury absence, Titans wide receiver Kendall Wright re-injured his left hamstring while running a short pass route.

Titans coach Mike Mularkey said Wright is unlikely to play in the preseason finale Thursday at Miami and his status for the season opener on Sept. 11 against Minnesota at Nissan Stadium is unclear.

Wright originally injured the hamstring on Aug. 2 and missed the first three preseason games.

"He was going to take limited reps, which he did. He took limited reps, he took shorter routes," Mularkey said. "It was a short route he came up lame.”

Wright, however, said he thinks he’ll be available for the season opener: “It’s not in doubt. I think I’ll be able to play in it. It’s the same thing. Nothing has changed. Same thing, but it doesn’t feel as bad as it did. I think I’ll be able to go Sept. 11.”

Wright was limited to 10 games last season because of injuries to his knee (four games) and his ribs (two games). He’s entering the final season of his five-year contract and is trying to bounce back from his least productive season — 36 catches for 408 yards and three touchdowns.

“It’s probably as frustrating to him as it is to anybody,” Mularkey said. “That’s a long time (that he was out), so we were certainly thinking we could have gotten him back."

The Titans have been productive in the passing game without Wright in the lineup, as quarterback Marcus Mariota has completed 23 of 31 passes for 319 yards and a touchdown during the preseason. He has a passer rating of 104.1 through three games, and six Titans have at least five catches.

“We’ve played three games without him and we’ve operated pretty well without him,” Mularkey said. “We’d obviously love to have him back. It’s another weapon we feel can keep teams off balance.”

Wright said he believes he’ll still be effective despite the missed time.

“I think I was doing pretty good out there today, too,” Wright said. “My main thing is I’ve got to get my timing with Marcus. That’s my main thing. So whenever I get back and whenever I’m feeling good again, whenever practice is over, I’ll stay after extra and get some one-on-one with Marcus.”

How many throws does it take to build that timing?

“One throw each route, and I think I’ll be good,” Wright said. “It’s that simple Marcus knows where to put it at. All I’ve got to do is catch it.”

Contributing: Jason Wolf. Reach John Glennon at jglennon@tennessean.com and follow him on Twitter @glennonsports.