Tag: Jeffery Simmons

Titans’ Jeffery Simmons hands out meals for emergency workers

Tennessee Titans DL Jeffery Simmons went home to lend a helping hand.

After a winter storm hit in his home state of Mississippi, Tennessee Titans defensive lineman Jeffery Simmons decided to lend a helping hand to frontline workers dealing with the aftermath..

Last Friday, Simmons handed out signed t-shirts and meals provided by Mayberry Eatery to local law enforcement and electrical workers at the Noxubee County Civic Center in Macon, Mississippi.

Simmons was happy to help and give back to where he came from, according to Theo DeRosa of The Dispatch.

“I take pride in doing this; I take pride in just being able to show people that I don’t have a ‘hot head’ as people say,” Simmons said. “I just want to show people that no matter how far in life I go, I’m always going to remember Noxubee County. I’m always going to give back.”

Simmons, who was drafted by the Titans with the No. 19 overall pick in the 2019 NFL draft, went to Noxubee County High School and played his college ball at Mississippi State.

“It’s good to see somebody come in here and re-invest their time in the community,” said Jaron Andrews, a county electric worker. “I like to see that as a parent of children who are growing up in the community.”

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Tennessee Titans 2020 season review: Defensive line

Taking a look back at the Titans’ defensive line from the 2020 season.

Despite the emergence of Jeffery Simmons as one of the more dominant young defensive players in the league, the Tennessee Titans’ defensive line as a unit was mostly underwhelming in 2020.

Outside of Simmons, none of Tennessee’s front line scared opposing offenses, especially once Jadeveon Clowney went down for the season with a knee injury.

Clowney may technically be considered an outside linebacker, but he is the epitome of a chess piece who can line up anywhere, as he displayed during his eight games. Despite not having any sacks while in the lineup, Clowney did have an impact on the team, especially for Simmons.

People tend to look at the numbers when it comes to Clowney’s production, and rightfully so, but his impact often goes beyond the traditional stat line. The South Carolina product has earned the respect of the league due to his game-wrecker reputation and that leads to consistently being one of the most double-teamed players when he’s healthy.

He was also ranked in the top-15 at his position in both quarterback hurries and hits prior to his injury. Once Clowney was gone, all that attention turned to Simmons, who started the year looking like a legitimate All-Pro candidate before eventually being relatively neutralized due to the inability for anyone else to make offenses pay for doubling and even triple-teaming Simmons.

Despite being given this extra attention, the former Mississippi State product was a force to be reckoned with throughout the season. Simmons finished with 49 total tackles, three tackles for loss, 14 QB hits, three sacks, one forced fumble, and three fumble recoveries.

Clearly the Titans’ young star was in a class of his own in 2020. However, both Simmons (83.9) and Clowney (74.9) were the two highest-graded players on the defensive line and were the only ones to grade over 70.

DaQuan Jones was the next highest-graded player on the defensive line with a respectable grade of 67.7. Jones was solid this season, but he may not have done enough to earn himself a new contract in Tennessee for 2021 and beyond.

The rest of the depth upfront, such as Jack Crawford, Teair Tart, Matt Dickerson and Larell Murchison, all had moments, but none of them truly made an impact on the season with the exception of Crawford, who was solid in spurts.

Tart also played well in moments, but they were few and far between and unfortunately his most memorable moment was when he stepped on guard Wyatt Teller during the team’s week 13 loss to the Cleveland Browns.

PFF was not generous to Tennessee’s depth pieces along the defensive line, as Crawford’s grade of 53.5 led the group, while the other three graded out in the 40’s.

PFF re-grades Titans’ 2019 first-round pick, Jeffery Simmons

The man we call Big Jeff took a big step forward in 2020.

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In his second season after the Tennessee Titans drafted him in the first round of the 2019 NFL draft, defensive lineman Jeffery Simmons took a step forward to becoming a star defensive lineman in 2020.

Simmons was a force and a major disruptor upfront for the Titans, finishing with three sacks, 14 QB hits, 49 combined tackles (three for loss) and five passes defensed.

Considering the Titans got him at No. 19 overall after he was projected to be a top-10 pick before his ACL injury, Simmons is looking like quite the steal and is just one piece of what was an impressive draft class overall.

Pro Football Focus’ Anthony Treash recently did a re-grade of every first-round pick from 2019, and he gave the Titans an “excellent” mark for their pick of Simmons. Here’s his breakdown of the grade:

Simmons would have likely gone inside the top 10 had he not torn his ACL prior to the draft, so the Titans received impressive value here. Simmons was not expected to see the field during his rookie campaign, but he defied the odds and made his debut in Week 7, logging 397 snaps on the year. Simmons flashed some dominant reps en route to a 67.2 PFF grade and took a leap forward in 2020. This past season, Simmons had two of the best games we saw at the position from a player not named Aaron Donald with a 92.8 PFF grade in Week 3 and a 94.2 in Week 9. That led to him finishing the year with an 83.6 PFF grade, the eighth-highest at the position.

Now we just need to see Simmons consistently perform and produce at that elite-level more often since he only generated three games with a PFF grade over 80.0.

While Simmons’ impact tailed off as the season progressed, that was more a result of his facing more double and triple teams than anything else.

Now it’s up to general manager Jon Robinson to surround his budding superstar lineman with more help in order to take some pressure off.

It’s scary to think what Big Jeff will be capable of once he’s freed up more often, and, in turn, the focus that Simmons will continue to draw will do wonders once there’s more talent in the Titans’ front seven.

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Titans players thank fans, reflect on 2020 season via Twitter

Titans players took to Twitter to thank their fans after Sunday’s loss.

The Tennessee Titans’ 2020 season is over after they fell to the Baltimore Ravens in the Wild Card Round on Sunday at Nissan Stadium, 20-13.

While the season wasn’t a total disaster considering the Titans earned double-digit wins and an AFC South title for the first time since 2008 — and did all of that despite a bad defense and in the midst a pandemic that led to a COVID-19 outbreak — the early exit is no doubt a disappointment still after Tennessee entered this campaign with Super Bowl aspirations.

Now, the Titans will look to the 2021 offseason where general manager Jon Robinson will have some tough decisions to make on key players on both sides of the ball.

On top of trying to keep an elite offense intact, Robinson must also heavily address a defense that wasn’t the ultimate cause of the Titans’ demise on Sunday, but is no doubt the weakest link of this team.

After the game was over, Titans players took to Twitter to thank the fans and reflect on what was a crazy 2020 season.

Titans’ Jeffery Simmons on his mindset: ‘I will not be blocked one-on-one’

Simmons has been a force for the Titans upfront this season.

After a rookie season in which he flashed following his recovery from a torn ACL, Tennessee Titans defensive lineman Jeffery Simmons has taken that next step in his sophomore campaign.

Simmons has been a disruptive force on the inside for Tennessee, which doesn’t always show up in the box score. What has shown up in his box score has been impressive, though.

Simmons has posted 45 combined tackles, including three for loss, five passes defensed, and he has three of the team’s 14 sacks. The Mississippi State product has recorded an elite 84.1 Pro Football Focus grade.

As Simmons continues his rise to stardom, opponents are definitely taking notice, as evidenced by the double teams he’s facing that aren’t always enough to stop him.

Simmons’ mindset going into games is simple: he knows teams can’t block him one-on-one, according to Terry McCormick of Titan Insider:

“That’s kind of my mindset, even though sometimes I feel like I can beat two and that’s my mindset. Even when I’ve got two on me, I still want to make the play,” Simmons said. “My mindset when there’s one guy on me, I will make the play. When there’s one guy trying to block me, no matter what block it is, I’m gonna disrupt the play. In my mindset, can’t no one block me one-on-one. That’s how I go into this game and that’s how I approach this game: I will not be blocked one-on-one.”

“Teams are going to have to put two on me. When I’m single blocked, and it showed this weekend,it showed out, and I take pride in that. Even if it’s not the run, if it’s the passing game, I want to affect the quarterback and get inside the pocket and stuff like that. No matter what it is, single blocked I want to make sure that I win the down,” Simmons said.

Even with his ability to dominate upfront, Simmons knows it still takes a team effort to be successful, especially when opposing offenses run the ball in the opposite direction of where he is.

“I know that a lot of teams are going to double me. They may even run the ball away from me, but that’s one of the things where I can’t win a game by myself. If I’ve got two on me, somebody is going to be free,” Simmons said. “If they run the ball away from me, I know I can count on my teammates to make the play.”

Simmons was originally slated to be a top-10 pick in the 2019 NFL draft, but he slid thanks to the aforementioned ACL injury he suffered prior to the draft.

At the time, the Titans were taking a chance on him at No. 19 overall because of the injury; however, taking that chance has paid off in spades, as Simmons now looks like an absolute steal at that spot.

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What Titans are saying after Week 13 loss to Browns

The most notable reactions from the Titans after their Week 13 loss.

The Tennessee Titans suffered a brutal defeat at the hands of the Cleveland Browns in Week 13, falling at Nissan Stadium, 41-35.

While the Titans did end up losing by just one score, this game wasn’t really that close. Tennessee got absolutely out-classed in every facet in the first half, leading to a 38-7 deficit going into halftime.

The Titans’ offense would finally wake up in the final two quarters, but by then it was too little, too late. It also didn’t help that the Titans shot themselves in the foot with multiple turnovers during the game.

With the loss, the Titans fall to 8-4 on the season, but luckily remain in first place in the AFC South even though the Indianapolis Colts won thanks to owning the tiebreaker, which is divisional record.

Here’s a look at what Titans head coach Mike Vrabel and several other players had to say about what was ultimately an embarrassing loss.

5 Tennessee Titans who deserve Pro Bowl consideration

Which five Titans deserve Pro Bowl consideration this year?

During a season that has had more than it’s fair share of ups and downs, the Tennessee Titans have had some impressive individual performances thus far.

These individual performances have helped lead to one of the best starts this franchise has had over the last decade. It certainly doesn’t feel that way after the last four weeks, but this team still has everything they want in front of them for the taking.

The 2020 Titans are at a crossroads where their season can go either way over the next couple of weeks in a stacked AFC.

If Tennessee is going to give itself another chance at making noise come playoff time, they will need their Pro Bowl-caliber players’ individual success to translate to team success as well.

With all that said, let’s take a look at who has a realistic chance at being on the Pro Bowl roster by the end of the season.

You can place your Pro Bowl vote here!

Titans’ A.J. Brown, Jeffery Simmons posting elite PFF grades in 2020

Simmons and Brown have been stellar in 2020.

The Tennessee Titans are 6-2 at the midway point of the 2020 season, and wide receiver A.J. Brown and defensive lineman Jeffery Simmons have both played a key role through eight games.

Brown leads all Titans pass-catchers with 31 receptions and 457 yards, and he’s tied for the team-high in receiving touchdowns with six.

Simmons has been a force on defense with 28 combined tackles (16 solo, 3.5 for loss), two sacks, nine QB hits, five passes defensed, one forced fumble and two fumbles recovered, and his role as a disruptor upfront can’t be measured in a box score.

According to Pro Football Focus, Brown has earned an overall grade of 86.6, which ranks him second in the NFL among second-year offensive players.

Simmons, who was the AFC Defensive Player of the Week for his Week 9 performance against the Chicago Bears, has posted an overall PFF grade of 90.1, placing him third in the league among defensive tackles.

It’s safe to say that general manager Jon Robinson hit a pair of home runs with his first two picks of the 2019 NFL draft.

Simmons and Brown will once again look to make a serious impact in Week 10 when the Titans host the Indianapolis Colts for a crucial AFC South showdown on “Thursday Night Football.”

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Titans’ Jeffery Simmons named AFC Defensive Player of the Week

Simmons has been the Titans’ best defender in 2020.

Tennessee Titans defensive lineman Jeffery Simmons has been named the AFC Defensive Player of the Week for his performance against the Chicago Bears in Week 9.

In that game, Simmons totaled three tackles, one pass defensed, and had both a forced fumble and fumble recovery. He also nearly had an interception.

Simmons’ forced fumble was returned for a touchdown by cornerback Desmond King in the third quarter, and the fumble he recovered was forced by inside linebacker Jayon Brown in the fourth quarter, helping to secure the win over the Bears.

The Mississippi State product also received some recognition for his showing from Pro Football Focus, who named Simmons its Defensive Player of the Week after he posted an overall grade of 94.2.

Simmons’ sophomore campaign continues to be impressive and he’s in the midst of making the leap to becoming an elite player at his position.

He has been Tennessee’s best defender through eight games of the season and has totaled 28 combined tackles (16 solo, two for loss), two sacks, nine QB hits, three passes defensed, one forced fumble and two fumbles recovered.

The Titans drafted Simmons in the first round of the 2019 NFL Draft, and that move is paying huge dividends for Tennessee.

The NFL’s Secret Superstars of Week 9

Every week, there are players whose performances don’t get the praise they deserve. Here are the NFL’s Secret Superstars of Week 9.

Every NFL season features a certain number of players who come out of nowhere to surprise and entertain at a level we did not expect. Perhaps they’re veterans for whom everything finally clicks. Perhaps they’re rookies who show that the NFL curve can be navigated at a quicker pace by some more than others.

Whatever the circumstances, there were several players who either expanded their 2019 performances, or came into the NFL as first-year players in 2020 and showed that they didn’t need a preseason to ball out at a professional level.

Here are the NFL’s Secret Superstars of Week 9.