Tag: Jack Gibbens

Titans offseason preview at LB: Pending free agents, biggest needs

In our latest offseason preview for the Titans, we take a look at the linebacker position.

While a lot of the focus on the Tennessee Titans’ 2024 offseason surrounds the offense, the team has plenty of work to do on the other side of the ball, and especially at the linebacker position.

The Titans are staring down the barrel of replacing a pair of starters, as both Azeez Al-Shaair and Jack Gibbens are free agents.

Al-Shaair was excellent in his first season as a full-time starter and he proved to be a very good leader, also, which has made him a popular choice to be brought back in 2024.

Gibbens unexpectedly grabbed a starting role out of training camp after fellow linebacker Monty Rice and Chance Campbell failed to cease the opportunity.

Unfortunately, Gibbens showed he’s better suited for a backup.

Now, a look at the Titans linebackers who are under contract, pending free agents, and what the team’s biggest needs are at the position and what Tennessee should do to address them.

Titans place 3 on injured reserve among several moves

The Titans made several roster moves on Saturday, including placing DL Jeffery Simmons on IR.

The Tennessee Titans will be without two more starters on defense for the rest of the season.

Just one day after placing safety Amani Hooker on injured reserve, the team announced it has placed linebackers Jack Gibbens and Luke Gifford and defensive lineman Jeffery Simmons on IR.

Simmons had missed the previous two games after suffering an unspecified knee injury. Gibbens and Gifford were listed with ankle and hamstring injuries, respectively, on this week’s injury report.

Taking their spots on the roster are linebacker JoJo Domann and offensive linemen Andrew Rupcich and John Ojukwu, all of whom were promoted from the practice squad.

Finally, the Titans are elevating defensive backs Tay Gowan and Shyheim Carter for the Week 16 game against the Seattle Seahawks. Both will revert back to the practice squad after the game.

Tennessee and Seattle will do battle at Nissan Stadium on Sunday, with kickoff set for noon CST.

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Titans’ Week 13 snap counts: Treylon Burks plays sparingly in return

Analyzing the Titans’ snap counts from their Week 13 loss.

The Tennessee Titans welcomed back wide receiver Treylon Burks in Week 13 but lost three starters to injury during the contest.

Running back Derrick Henry (concussion) exited in the fourth quarter, and defensive lineman Jeffery Simmons (knee) and punter Ryan Stonehouse (knee) were lost in the third quarter.

On top of those three, rookie tight end Josh Whyle (knee) left the game in the fourth quarter.

Henry is reportedly in the concussion protocol as of Monday, and Whyle and Simmons have both reportedly avoided season-ending injuries. As for Stonehouse, it appears he suffered a serious injury.

So, how many snaps did Burks play in his return? And how did the Titans fill the voids left by their injured players?

Find out now as we analyze the Titans’ snap counts from Week 13.

Titans’ Week 11 snap counts: Snaps split evenly at LB, TE

A look at the Titans’ snap counts from Week 11.

There were some interesting takeaways from the Tennessee Titans’ snap counts following their Week 11 blowout loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars.

Tennessee had a full-blown timeshare at linebacker between Monty Rice and Jack Gibbens. It was the second-straight week in which Rice eclipsed his season-high number of snaps.

Meanwhile, tight end Chigoziem Okonkwo saw a season-low number of snaps and did not lead the team in playing time at the position.

On top of seeing how the Titans divvied up snaps at linebacker and tight end, we’ll also be taking a look at how the team replaced some of their missing players at wide receiver, cornerback and offensive line.

Titans’ Jack Gibbens exceeding expectations early on in 2023

Dr. Gibby has been a pleasant surprise for the Titans through four games.

Tennessee Titans linebacker Jack Gibbens got an opportunity to play at the end of last season due to injuries, and not only has he parlayed that into a starting job in 2023, he’s thriving in the role.

According to Pro Football Focus, Dr. Gibby, who is tied for second on the team in tackles, ranks fifth in overall grade among all linebackers in the league with an 83.3.

Gibbens has proven to be a solid all-around linebacker, with the Minnesota product and former undrafted free agent tallying grades of 76.9 in run defense, 80.4 in the pass-rush and 74.6 in coverage.

Those three grades rank 14th, fourth and eighth, respectively, at the position. I don’t think even the most optimistic Dr. Gibby fan could’ve predicted a start like this.

Just in case you aren’t a fan of PFF grades, Gibbens’ raw coverage stats speak for themselves. The second-year linebacker has given up a completion rate of just 50 percent and 25 yards on six targets, good enough for a passer rating against of 61.1.

It’s safe to say Gibbens’ rise has been meteoric. At this point last year, he was on the Titans’ practice squad after failing to make the initial 53-man roster and his career looked to be hanging by a thread.

Now, he’s developing into one of the better linebackers in the NFL, creating quite the impressive duo with fellow linebacker Azeez Al-Shaair.

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Titans’ Jack Gibbens talks going from cut to starter, losing ‘Dr. Gibby’ nickname

Titans LB Jack Gibbens talks about the road from being cut last year to being a starter this year, and he revealed he’s no longer “Dr. Gibby”.

When the Tennessee Titans cut linebacker Jack Gibbens last year, it seemed like he was going to be just another undrafted free agent to come and go. However, Gibbens has seen quite the rebound since then.

Gibbens was brought back on the practice squad last season, where he spent the majority of the campaign before being promoted to Tennessee’s active roster in December because of injuries at inside linebacker.

The Minnesota product not only got the promotion, he also received a look as a starter to close out the year, putting himself in position to have a chance to grab a starting role in 2023.

And Gibbens ran with the opportunity, as he successfully beat out 2021 third-round pick Monty Rice, 2022 sixth-round pick Chance Campbell, and a pair of veterans in Ben Niemann and Luke Gifford.

“I drove back to Texas (after being cut in 2022) and then a week later they were calling me back to come back out on the practice squad,” he said on Monday. “When I got back out here I just kind of said, ‘I’m going to make the most of this opportunity.’ They gave me a second chance and I just took the mindset of I’ve got get better everyday, I’ve got to fight to earn it everyday. That’s the same mindset that I’m trying to have right now.”

Aside from better-than-expected play, one of the things that made Gibbens stand out last year was his nickname “Dr. Gibby”, which was bestowed upon him by head coach Mike Vrabel because of his intelligence and how quickly he picked up the defense.

While the nickname will forever live in our hearts and minds, Gibbens says his coaches and teammates have since dropped the doctor part.

“I haven’t really been doctor too much anymore, it’s just Gibby,” he said with a laugh. “I don’t know what happened. I guess I’m not practicing anymore.”

Through two games, Gibbens has the highest overall grade on defense (82.2), per Pro Football Focus, and the second-highest run defense grade (82.3) and fourth-best coverage grade (70.2).

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Biggest takeaways from Titans’ updated unofficial depth chart

The Titans released their latest unofficial depth chart on Monday. Here are the biggest takeaways from it.

The Tennessee Titans released their latest unofficial depth chart on Monday ahead of their Week 1 game against the New Orleans Saints on Sunday, September 10.

While the latest version did answer some questions we still had, others went unanswered, like the backup quarterback situation, for example, something head coach Mike Vrabel said is still up in the air.

“I think a lot of it is based on game plan, about who we feel who would step in there and help us,” Vrabel said, per Jim Wyatt. “Will has been out a little bit (injured), but we’re excited to get him back this week and (we’ll) continue with Malik’s maturity and kind of see where it goes at the end of the week.”

Two other spots that remain mysteries are CB2 and kick returner, as those positions were separated by slashes, also. We’ll go into detail about those situations and more below.

But first, here’s a look at the depth chart.

Now, the takeaways:

Projecting Titans’ starting defense heading into Week 1

A look at the Titans’ projected starting defense going into Week 1.

The Tennessee Titans are less than one week away from opening their season against the New Orleans Saints on Sunday, Sept. 10.

While we haven’t been given official depth charts just yet, most of the starting spots are rather predictable at this point of the year.

It should go without saying that the players who accumulate eight-figure salaries annually are in the starting lineup, such as defensive lineman Jeffery Simmons, safety Kevin Byard and outside linebacker Harold Landry.

However, when it comes to the defensive side of the ball, there are a few spots that are somewhat up in the air, so those are the ones that we’ve provided a brief explanation for.

Also, it should be noted that there are 12 players listed below instead of the 11 since Tennessee will obviously run its fair share of nickel packages throughout the year (five defensive backs).

Without further adieu, let’s take a look at the Titans’ projected starting defenses heading into Week 1.

Biggest takeaways from Titans’ 3rd padded practice of training camp

Another day, another Jamarco Jones dust-up at Titans training camp. Plus, Dr. Gibby was mentioned as someone to “keep an eye on” for the starting linebacker job.

After no media availability on Wednesday, the Tennessee Titans once again opened their doors to practice on Thursday for what was the third padded session of training camp.

For the first time in camp, the Titans practiced inside the bubble. The session started outdoors but was forced indoors due to lightning.

As has been the case all training camp long, the Titans’ defense won the day, but there were some highlights to speak of from the offensive side of the ball.

Unfortunately, right tackle candidate Jamarco Jones got into another scuffle with a defensive player, this time with linebacker Azeez Al-Shaair, who didn’t take kindly to a dirty block on linebacker Chance Campbell.

Jones was removed from the team period and was not spotted the rest of the day. This comes after Jones was booted from practice on Tuesday after a scuffle with Jeffery Simmons.

Now, a look at the biggest takeaways from Thursday.

Titans’ Jack Gibbens making a run at starting linebacker

It appears Dr. Gibby has a shot at a starting spot for the Titans.

All offseason long, Tennessee Titans 2021 third-round pick and linebacker Monty Rice has been projected to be one of the starters alongside Azeez Al-Shaair, but it appears fellow linebacker Jack Gibbens may give him a run for his money.

According to ESPN’s Turron Davenport, Gibbens, who was pretty solid last season while filling in because of injuries, was rotating with Rice on the first-team defense, something head coach Mike Vrabel spoke about after practice on Monday.

“I think just right now they’re just trying to develop a role on this football team,” Vrabel said of Rice and Gibbens. “Obviously, Gibby’s got a little bit more length, Monty’s probably a little bit quicker and maybe a little faster.

“But other than that, they both have been productive thus far and I thought they both showed up today. I saw Monty show up on the sideline, being able to run and go chase down Tyjae (Spears). So, he showed up and, again, that’s the play speed that we’re talking about at times last year about being around the ball and flying. That’s good to see and we’ll keep having them in a competition and know that they’ll continue to get better.”

With speed being so important in today’s game, Rice’s advantage in that area gives him a leg up in this competition, but clearly Dr. Gibby is doing enough to earn a look for a starting spot.

As for the other starting spot, Al-Shaair seems to be firmly planted there. After practice, he spoke about wearing the green dot on his helmet, which means he’s calling the plays for the defense.

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