Tag: Jeffery Simmons

Tennessee Titans’ winners and losers from Week 9 victory

Breon Borders and Desmond King were just two winners from the Titans’ defense in Week 9.

The Tennessee Titans finally got back on track after two straight losses with a Week 9 win over the Chicago Bears, 24-17.

For once, it was the defense that bailed the offense out, as the former was clearly the better unit on Sunday. The 17 points the Titans allowed was the second-fewest they have given up in any game this season.

It was a complete turnaround for the Titans’ embattled defense that was once again short-handed. We saw several players step up big time with respectable coverage and a consistent pass rush that made a big impact.

Of course, it also helped that the Bears were terrible offensively, but the Titans’ defense did what it was supposed to do, giving hope that better times are ahead.

Without further ado, let’s take a look at the Titans’ winners and losers from the Week 9 win over the Bears. As you’d imagine, most of the winners come from the defensive side of the ball.

Titans’ Mike Vrabel sees Jeffery Simmons as a future captain

The Titans appear to have the full package in Jeffery Simmons.

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Tennessee Titans defensive lineman Jeffery Simmons is taking the second-year leap in 2020 with his sensational play on the field that has earned him the label of the team’s best defender.

The numbers speak for themselves when it comes to Simmons. His two sacks in five games matches what he did in seven regular-season games last season, and his eight QB hits are six more than he had in his rookie campaign.

But Simmons’ development is about more than just what he’s doing in the trenches. The former first-round pick is also becoming a leader for the Titans, which doesn’t happen very often with a second-year player.

Prior to games, Simmons leads the team in a chant to “get the blood flowing a little bit,” according to Jim Wyatt of Titans Online, and he hopes that his passion for the game rubs off on his teammates.

“You want to feel that fire from teammates that you have. For me, I wake up on game day so ready to play with so much passion inside. Hopefully it rubs off on other guys,” Simmons said, via ESPN’s Turron Davenport.

Simmons says being a leader is something he has always tried to be. He also holds himself to a “high standard” and pushes the guys around him to be better.

On Thursday, head coach Mike Vrabel shared his belief that Simmons has what it takes to be a captain for Tennessee in the future.

From the looks of it, the Titans seem to have the full package in Simmons, whose impact is being felt in more ways than one. With each passing day, Tennessee’s selection in the first round of the 2019 NFL Draft looks more and more like a steal.

Titans’ Jeffery Simmons is ‘feeling great’ after bout with COVID-19

Jeffery Simmons spoke about the symptoms he was experiencing while battling COVID-19.

Defensive lineman Jeffery Simmons was one of several members of the Tennessee Titans’ organization to test positive for COVID-19 during the team’s recent outbreak.

However, after missing the Week 5 game, Simmons has been activated off the Reserve/COVID-19 list and is ready to take the field in Week 6 against the Houston Texans.

Simmons spoke to the media on Thursday and not only revealed that he’s “feeling great” after recovering from the virus, but also spoke about the symptoms he was experiencing, per Terry McCormick of Titan Insider.

“I’m feeling great right now actually. I’m just glad to be back with the team. I’m glad to be back in the building around my teammates, the coaching staff and everybody here,” Simmons said. “During that process with the virus, I didn’t really have too many bad symptoms. I lost my taste and smell, but other than that, I felt pretty good during the quarantine period.”

Simmons says he had a tough time battling boredom while he was quarantined, and his attempts to pick up a new hobby failed.

“The most boring experience of my life… I was never one of those guys that liked to just sit around the house,” Simmons said. “I was trying to find another hobby around the house, but I couldn’t.”

Even though he couldn’t taste, Simmons knew he had to eat in order to keep his weight up. Still, as you can imagine, he wasn’t thrilled he couldn’t taste his food.

“I knew I still had to eat something, I couldn’t taste it, but I knew that I needed to eat. I was pretty upset I couldn’t taste my food,” Simmons admitted.

As far as this Sunday is concerned, Simmons isn’t worried about conditioning after all the time off and plans on going “full speed” into the game versus the Texans.

“I’m not thinking about how tired I’m going to be. If I get tired, oh well. I’m going to push myself every day I step on this field. I’m going to give my all and be the best I can be, no matter how I feel,” he said. “I’m going full speed into this game. I want to give my all, even though it’s a short week. I’m going to push myself with extra conditioning to make sure my conditioning is on top. I’m feeling good and I’m ready to go play ball.”

Full speed or not, the Titans are thrilled to get Simmons back, as he’s been the team’s best defender so far this season. There’s no doubt he’ll provide a huge boost to a defensive front that played well on Tuesday night but still needs him to be at its best.

Titans activate Jeffery Simmons from COVID-19 list, put Darrynton Evans on IR

Simmons has been the Titans’ best defender so far this season.

The Tennessee Titans should be getting back their best defender in Week 6, as the team announced that defensive lineman Jeffery Simmons has been activated from the Reserve/COVID-19 list on Thursday.

However, there was also some bad news, as running back and 2020 third-round pick, Darrynton Evans, has been placed on Injured Reserve.

Evans had been dealing with a hamstring injury all season, and while he was able to suit up in Week 5, he was forced to exit early. The rookie can return after three weeks.

Along with those two moves, the Titans have moved safety Dane Cruikshank from IR to the “Designated for Return” list. This opens up the three-week window for Cruikshank to return to practice.

With Simmons coming off the list, the Titans have now activated nine players off of it since Saturday, and five players remain: wide receiver Corey Davis, fullback Khari Blasingame, tight end MyCole Pruitt practice squad players Breon Borders and Tommy Hudson. Hudson is currently serving a six-game suspension, though.

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Two Titans make PFF’s list of top-50 linemen in NFL after 4 weeks

Jeffery Simmons has been the Titans’ best defender after three games.

While the Tennessee Titans’ defense has been lackluster in each of the past two games, a pair of defenders from the team recently made Pro Football Focus’ list of the top-50 linemen in the NFL after four weeks.

In an interesting twist, Pro Football Focus combined both offensive and defensive linemen to make up their list — and on it are Jadeveon Clowney (No. 40) and Jeffery Simmons (No. 46). No offensive linemen from Tennessee made the cut, though.

Here’s what PFF had to say about Clowney, who has compiled an overall PFF grade of 72.9.

Why he’s ranked here: Clowney has been more disruptive for his new team than the zero sacks he has recorded this season would suggest. His 13.3% pressure rate is a top-20 mark among edge defenders with at least 50 pass-rushing snaps, and he has been a force in the run game. That’s an area in which he has excelled throughout his career, even if he has never quite lived up to expectations as a pass-rusher.

Now, here’s a look at what PFF said about Simmons, who has been the team’s best defender through three games and has compiled an impressive overall grade of 89.5.

Why he’s ranked here: Simmons had a solid showing as a rookie last season after starting the year sidelined with injury, and now it looks as if he is on the verge of breaking out. He recorded a career-high seven pressures in his last game — a Week 3 contest with the Vikings — and has one of the higher grades at the interior defender position this season.

Former Titans right tackle Jack Conklin, who is now playing for the Cleveland Browns, made the list also, coming in at No. 32. He has posted an overall grade of 85.8 after four games.

The Titans are hoping to return to game action on Tuesday night against the Buffalo Bills after last week’s game was postponed, although they might have to do it without one of the players who made PFF’s list, as Simmons is currently on the Reserve/COVID-19 list.

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Tennessee Titans add Jeffery Simmons to COVID-19 list

Simmons is the eighth Titans player to be added to the list this week.

The Tennessee Titans announced that they’ve added defensive lineman and 2019 first-round pick Jeffery Simmons to the Reserve/COVID-19 list on Saturday.

Simmons is the second defensive lineman and eighth player overall to be added to the list this week with the Titans in the midst of a COVID-19 outbreak. Eight players and eight personnel members have reportedly tested positive since the start of the week.

The other seven players to test positive based on reports are defensive lineman DaQuan Jones, long snapper Beau Brinkley, outside linebacker Kamalei Correa, wide receivers Adam Humphries and Cameron Batson (practice squad), tight end Tommy Hudson (practice squad) and cornerback Kristian Fulton.

Practice squad defensive back Greg Mabin also tested positive last week, and outside linebackers coach Shane Bowen did not travel with the team to Minnesota last Saturday because of the virus, per head coach Mike Vrabel.

The Titans’ Week 4 game against the Pittsburgh Steelers has already been postponed and pushed back to Week 7, but now the Week 5 game against the Buffalo Bills could be in jeopardy.

We’ll have to see how things transpire in the coming days, but if the positives don’t stop coming in, the game could be postponed.

Titans coach on Jeffery Simmons’ football identity: ‘He’s trending towards violence’

According to Titans DL coach Terrell Williams, Jeffery Simmons is a bad, bad man.

After putting together an impressive rookie campaign and following that up with a stellar showing during this year’s training camp, the Tennessee Titans’ coaching staff is understandably high on second-year defensive lineman, Jeffery Simmons.

If you needed proof of that, look no further than this comment from Titans defensive line coach Terrell Williams, who was asked about Simmons’ developing identity as a football player.

“He’s trending towards violence. He’s going to be a violent football player,” Williams said, per Buck Reising of AtoZ Sports Nashville.

Talk about leaving nothing to the imagination.

Williams also went into detail about one play Simmons made during training camp that made him realize even more that the Titans have something special in their 2019 first-round pick.

With Jurrell Casey no longer on the team, the Titans are hoping that Simmons can take the torch as the defensive line’s stalwart for the long haul. So far, it looks like he’s gotten off on the right foot to doing just that.

Williams briefly addresses Clowney

It’s possible we see outside linebacker Jadeveon Clowney line up at defensive end during the 2020 season alongside Simmons and DaQuan Jones (can you imagine?), but for now, Williams isn’t going into detail about how Tennessee plans on using its newest toy.

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Watch: Behind the scenes highlights from Titans’ Media Day 2020

Check out these behind the scenes highlights from Titans Media Day 2020.

It’s been an interesting offseason full of unprecedented events, but the NFL is moving forward with a 2020 season and the Tennessee Titans are back at work preparing to expand upon last year’s success.

Tennessee recently held its annual media day, which is a chance for the team to shoot promotional videos and photos of some of the team’s players.

Thanks to the Titans’ social media page, we got a behind-the-scenes look at the shoot, as well as a look at the players in their uniforms.

Here’s a look at some of the best highlights from Media Day:

Along with those videos, some of the players posted their media day photos on Instagram. Check it out.

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We’ve been putting in the work. ⚔️

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Back with the boys! Let’s Gooooo!! #Year3

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🐼 Year 1 ⚔️

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Year 7 🎲

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The Titans are set to kick off the season against the Denver Broncos on Sept. 14 at Empower Field at Mile High.

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Gil Brandt tabs Titans’ Jeffery Simmons as Year 2 breakout candidate

The Titans and their fans are expecting big things from Jeffery Simmons in 2020.

The Tennessee Titans and their fans aren’t the only ones who are expecting big things from defensive lineman Jeffery Simmons in his second season.

Hall of Fame talent evaluator and NFL.com analyst Gil Brandt named Simmons as one of his Year 2 breakout candidates at defensive line, ranking the Mississippi State product at No. 1.

Simmons was a top-10 prospect before suffering a torn ACL in pre-draft training, and he showed why in his first rookie action, logging four tackles and a sack against the Chargers in a disruptive Week 7 debut. In eight more appearances, he tallied just one more sack and 14 additional tackles. But he’s also dropped significant weight this offseason, saying he wasn’t comfortable playing at 320 pounds last season, and he appears to be in outstanding shape. Simmons is poised to validate the Titans’ faith that he can step up and anchor the defensive line in the wake of five-time Pro Bowler Jurrell Casey’s trade to the Broncos.

Despite missing the first six games of his rookie season while rehabbing from a torn ACL, Simmons still made a big impact upfront for the Titans by being a disruptive force, and he did so right away with one sack in his debut.

But Simmons wasn’t totally comfortable in his rookie campaign. Not only was he playing at a heavier weight than he would have liked, he was also forced to wear a knee brace that no doubt hindered him a bit.

Fast forward to 2020 and Simmons has shed the knee brace and looks to be in phenomenal shape, setting the stage for Big Jeff to really show what he can do.

Simmons will not only be tasked with taking the leap in Year 2, he’ll also be looking to take the torch upfront from Jurrell Casey, who was a stalwart for Tennessee on the defensive line for nearly a decade before getting traded to the Denver Broncos earlier this offseason.

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See it: Titans’ Jeffery Simmons looks to be in phenomenal shape

Big Jeff is in great shape ahead of training camp.

Tennessee Titans defensive lineman Jeffery Simmons has been hard at work this offseason — and the rest of the NFL should be scared.

Big Jeff posted pictures of his progress on social media, showing the great shape he is in as he prepares to report to training camp this week.

Earlier this offseason, Simmons made it clear his goal was to drop some weight after not feeling comfortable being a bit heavier during his rookie season following his return from a torn ACL.

Even with the added weight, Simmons still made a big impact on Tennessee’s defense and was a menace to opposing offenses upfront in 2019.

In nine regular season games, Simmons finished with 32 combined tackles (four for loss), two sacks and one pass defended.

During the playoffs, the former No. 19 overall pick posted three combined tackles, one QB hit and made a key fumble recovery against the Baltimore Ravens.

The Titans are hoping that Simmons can make the leap in Year 2 and take the torch from Jurrell Casey, who was the star of the team’s defensive line for nine years but was traded to the Denver Broncos earlier this offseason.

By the looks of it, Simmons is up for the challenge.

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