The Tennessee Titans practiced Thursday in preparation for their Week 8 match-up with the Detroit Lions and see two starters sit out.
The Tennessee Titans were back at it Thursday, continuing their preparation for their Week 8 game with the Detroit Lions.
CB L’Jarius Sneed (quad) and WR Calvin Ridley (foot) missed practice for a second day in a row due to injury, and little information has been given on their status. Newly acquired LB Jerome Baker was in the building Thursday but was given the day off.
The biggest news on the day centered on LB Kenneth Murray (shoulder) and DT T’Vondre Sweat (hip). Both players were full participants on Wednesday, but limited in the Thursday session.
DT Jeffery Simmons, DT Keondre Coburn, and RB Julius Chestnut returned as full participants.
The Titans’ Thursday injury report can be found below:
Did not participate: CB L’Jarius Sneed (quad), OT Jaelyn Duncan (hamstring), WR Calvin Ridley (foot), LB Jerome Baker (NIR/rest)
Limited participants: QB Will Levis (shoulder), RB Tyjae Spears (hamstring), LB Kenneth Murray (shoulder), DT T’Vondre Sweat (hip)
Full participant: LB Cedric Gray (shoulder), Keondre Coburn (knee), RB Julius Chestnut (calf), Jeffery Simmons (NIR/rest)
Tennessee Titans LB Kenneth Murray speaks out after the trade of sidekick Ernest Jones to the Seattle Seahawks.
Many different feelings were floating around the Tennessee Titans locker room Wednesday after the team traded both wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins and linebacker Ernest Jones.
Of the two deals, the Jones trade may have been the biggest shock. Having only acquired him in September, Jones appeared to seamlessly settle into the defense and make an impact. He also fit in well next to linebacker Kenneth Murray and solidified the inside linebacker position.
Count Murray as a player who was a little surprised by the move.
“It’s unfortunate,” he said. “I’m definitely sad about it. I feel like that’s my dawg, my sidekick, whatever you want to call it. He’s a great person, great teammate, he’s definitely going to be missed.”
Football is a business and the move with Jones could just be a business deal, but it was also a move that seemed to come from nowhere. Jones was slated to be a free agent at the end of the season. If he wasn’t in the plan moving forward, then the deal makes some sense, but it will impact the defense.
Murray and Jones did mesh well together and it will be interesting to watch how this position moves forward in 2024. With rookie Cedric Gray appearing to be close to a return from his stint on injured reserve, does this move signal that the team believes he is the long-term solution? At this point, nothing is certain.
Linebacker Jerome Baker was also acquired in the trade, he is an experienced starter and has flashed explosive ability in the past. If he is fully healthy and can pick up the defense, he could help pick up the slack. But like Jones, he will be a free agent at the end of 2024, and is a larger question mark in the system with 11 games remaining.
Tune in Sunday for the Titans’ Week 8 battle with the Detroit Lions to see how they fill the void left by the Jones trade.
The Tennessee Titans made a rash of moves during the offseason. Now it is time to see how this $228.2 Million spending spree pays off.
After the Tennessee Titans’ 2024 offseason began, general manager Ran Carthon set out with a vision to improve the team after a dismal 6-11 performance in 2023. Now, after a complete overhaul of the coaching staff and spending a reported $228.2 million to retool the roster, it’s time to see the results.
On paper, the Titans appear to be in a good place. Offensively, they built around second-year quarterback Will Levis, using both free agency and the draft to bolster the unit.
After signing center Lloyd Cushenberry III to a four-year, $50 million contract, the team selected offensive tackle JC Latham with the No. 7 selection in the NFL draft. Infusing talent into a unit that struggled mightily in 2023.
With Levis being the key to the offense, the Titans added to their skill positions with moves that added talented playmakers to the roster. Running back Tony Pollard, wide receivers Calvin Ridley and Tyler Boyd came aboard to assist Levis, hold-overs wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins and running back Tyjae Spears to potentially create one of the most dynamic Titans’ offenses in recent memory.
Carthon didn’t stop there. Turning to the defensive side of the ball, they added an array of veterans to bolster the aggressive style that the Titans want to employ. Free agent cornerback Chidobe Awuzie, safeties Jamal Adams and Quandre Diggs, and inside linebacker Kenneth Murray Jr. were brought in. He also hit the trade market, securing cornerback L’Jarius Sneed and, most recently, linebacker Ernest Jones IV in different transactions.
With pre-season in the books, there is good reason to be optimistic about the Titans’ potential. In less than a week, fans will see how well this spending spree translates into the regular season when the Titans open up against the Chicago Bears on Sunday, Sept. 7.
The Titans named five captains for 2024: Kenneth Murray, Jr., Jefferey Simmons, Morgan Cox, Lloyd Cushenberry III, and Will Levis.
Last year, Mike Vrabel & Co. named seven captains for the Tennessee Titans. If you think that’s excessive, remember that the New York Giants had 10 captains last season. This year, though, the Titans have trimmed it down a bit. Brian Callahan has named a much more reasonable number of captains for 2024: Five.
Inside linebacker Kenneth Murray, Jr., defensive end Jeffery Simmons, quarterback Will Levis, center Lloyd Cushenberry III, and long snapper Morgan Cox were all named Titans captains for 2024.
Murray joined the Titans this year after his rookie contract with the Los Angeles Chargers expired. Given his newness to the organization, he is demonstrating enough leadership skills to be granted this honor.
Simmons has been with the Titans since he was drafted in 2019 and has long been a leader on the defensive side of the ball.
It’s pretty standard for the quarterback to be named a captain, and Levis is no exception. He’s taken full control of the offense since he became the starter in the middle of 2023 and is the clear leader of the offense.
After spending his first four seasons in Denver, Cushenberry also joined the Titans this offseason and has proven to be an offensive leader.
Cox has 15 years of NFL experience, 11 seasons with the Baltimore Ravens and four with the Titans. He knows the game as well as anyone else.
These five players are responsible for exemplifying the Titans way, modeling appropriate behavior on and off the field, and showing the rest of the team what it takes to win. With these five at the head, Callahan has a solid group of players to help him keep the rest of the team on track.
Kenneth Murray Jr. is fired up and ready to “wreck s–t” with the Titans in 2024.
Kenneth Murray Jr. looked like a future star after his rookie season for the Los Angeles Chargers in 2020. The first-round pick started all 16 games and recorded 107 tackles, and looked like a potential franchise cornerstone.
Things began to trend downward in 2021, with Murray suffering an ankle injury that ruined his season. Over the next two seasons, Murray only missed two games but was far from a dominant presence on the Chargers defense.
Los Angeles declined Murray’s fifth-year option in 2023, and he’d have arguably his best NFL season. Murray tied a career-high with 107 tackles and also had three sacks and an interception. However, with the Chargers hiring a new coach, Murray would headed elsewhere.
Tennessee signed Murray to a two year deal worth $15.5 million contract in the offseason. If Murray becomes the player Tennessee believes he can be, that could prove to be a bargain.
What does Titans inside linebackers coach Frank Bush think Murray will bring to the defense?
“What we’re going to allow him to do is just turn himself loose within the system,” Frank Bush said via John Glennon of Nashville Post. “I mean, there are guys all around him, so that he doesn’t have to be a hero. You got Jeffery Simmons in front of you; you’re going to be okay. You can just be free to flow and do some of the things we do.”
Murray never played behind someone like Jeffery Simmons. When you add in massive rookie T’Vondre Sweat, Murray could have a career year. Remember, Murray is only 25 years old.
Murray is excited about his role with the Titans.
“Honestly, when you just know they’re putting you in a position to go down and just wreck stuff and wreck s–t, that’s what I love,” said Murray. “I definitely felt they put me in that position, and I’m definitely coming in with the mindset of trying to prove s–t. I’m trying to get s–t done. I love it. Love the way they’re calling it so far and look forward to getting better every day.”
The Titans made a lot of offseason changes, but Murray could prove to be one of GM Ran Carthon’s more shrewd additions.
Kenneth Murray Jr. and the Tennessee Titans had a unique way of welcoming linebacker Shane Ray to the team.
Kenneth Murray Jr. has yet to log one snap with the Tennessee Titans, but that has not prevented the 25-year-old from bringing a leadership quality to the team.
Murray and his Titans teammates welcomed linebacker Shane Ray, who signed on Thursday morning, to the team in a unique way on Day 2 of training camp.
“We kind of have this little thing where we do 20 up-downs every time we get somebody on defense,” Murray said, via Paul Kuharsky. “Yesterday, you guys saw us do the 20 up-downs. It’s a little tradition when we get somebody new.”
Murray and the Titans’ defense encircled Ray while he was doing the up-downs. Once completed, he was officially part of the team.
“It’s like a ‘Welcome to the Brotherhood,'” Murray said. “We all did our 20 (up-downs), so he’s doing his 20. Now that he did his 20, welcome to the brotherhood.”
Murray is expected to be a big part of the Titans’ defense in 2024 after signing a two-year, $18 million contract in free agency. The former Oklahoma standout spent the last four seasons with the Los Angeles Chargers after being selected 23rd overall in the first round of the 2020 NFL draft.
The Houston native played in 15 games last season and recorded 107 tackles, including seven tackles for loss, three sacks, four pass deflections, one interception, and four quarterback hits.
We’ll see if Ray ends up making the roster in a depth role, but it sure is nice to see the Titans having some leadership behind Jeffery Simmons and the defensive line.
The Chargers beat the Rams on Sunday to improve to 10-6.
Here is a look at the good and not-so-good from Los Angeles’ victory.
Stud: Austin Ekeler
What a game it was for Ekeler, who had the longest run of his career on the second quarter 72-yard touchdown scamper. He also became the third running back to haul in at least 100 catches and score at least 15 touchdowns from scrimmage in a single season, joining LaDainian Tomlinson and Christian McCaffrey. Ekeler was virtually impossible to tackle all game, turning 14 total touches into 161 yards from scrimmage and two touchdowns. It was a stellar performance against a Rams rushing defense that came into the game ranked top ten in DVOA and had not allowed a 100-yard rusher the entire season.
Dud: Run defense
Giving up 6.4 yards per carry to a team with five offensive linemen on injured reserve that’s also starting a player they were trying to get rid of less than three months ago is…bad. What’s worse is that the defensive line was pretty frequently moved right off the ball when the Rams chose to run, which represents a disappointing downturn from the past few weeks. Cam Akers himself took 19 carries for 123 yards, good for a per-carry average of 6.5 that feels much more like Akers getting 6.5 every time rather than a few big runs with a few stuffs mixed in. The Chargers don’t have a high-quality run defense; this season has been evident of that at every turn.
Stud: Mike Williams
Williams had maybe his best game of the season, converting ten targets into seven receptions for 94 yards. There was the trademark Williams plays, namely an astounding one-handed catch on the sideline that dropped the jaws of the collective football internet. But there were also new wrinkles: screens to the bigger receiver, deep curls where Williams juked defenders to generate extra yardage after the catch, etc. It was an all-around phenomenal performance that made the game feel, at times, as though the entire offense flowed through Williams and Ekeler. That’s a good sign for the Chargers, who seemed on Sunday to finally find a way to consistently get their stars the ball and score 30+ points for the first time since Week 5.
Dud: Kenneth Murray Jr.
Like we said earlier, much of the struggle with run defense on Sunday came from the push the Rams’ offensive line generated. Still, that doesn’t mean the second-level defenders are without blame, and Murray, in particular, seemed to have a rough go of things. When Akers found himself wide open in space only to have a throw bounce off his fingertips, Murray had fallen down trying to meet him in the flat. As with the defensive line, it’s a disappointing showing for the linebacker, who had strung together a few quietly fairly good games. Sunday, unfortunately, represented a coming back to Earth for the former first-rounder.
Stud: Morgan Fox
The book on Baker Mayfield is pretty widely distributed: make him feel pressured, and he will make mistakes. The Chargers were able to do that on Sunday, racking up three sacks and four QB hits, one of each of which came from Fox. The former Ram has continued to be perhaps the best free-agent acquisition of the year for the Chargers and perhaps across the entire league when you consider value. Fox is constantly disrupting the pocket and redirecting runners when given the opportunity to do so, and he’s proven to be a key cog in the Chargers’ defense.
Dud: Open-field tackling
One of the reasons Cam Akers was so successful was that he’s a bigger, more powerful running back who can break tackles with relative ease. Against players like that, you have to be sound as a tackler to limit them effectively. On Sunday, the Chargers were far from sound: every run from Akers seemed peppered with flailing Chargers defenders and ended with him dragging defenders a few extra yards. Tackling has been an issue for this defense dating back to the preseason, and those issues have continued to rear their heads throughout the year. Whenever Derwin James, who missed Sunday’s game with a concussion, is off the field, the deeper levels of the defense lose most of their teeth.
Stud: Offensive line
After a series of down games from the offensive line unit, Sunday’s performance was sterling. Justin Herbert was not sacked for the first time since the Falcons game. He was only hit twice, the lowest number since the Falcons game. The Rams presented a bounce-back opportunity as soon as Aaron Donald was ruled out, especially because the recent downturn in offensive line play had a lot to do with going up against elite interior pass rushers in recent weeks. On the ground, we’ve already given some credit to Austin Ekeler, but kudos are also for the group blocking for him. The Chargers could largely match the push the Rams got, giving Ekeler space to find a hole and then navigate from there, which is when he’s at his best.
Dud: Big play defense
The few times the Rams were able to move the ball down the field, it was primarily because they generated at least one big play on the Chargers’ defense. The 13-play, 81-yard field goal drive was catalyzed by a 42-yard Cam Akers rush. Baker Mayfield had a 39-yard completion to Van Jefferson on the ensuing drive. The Rams’ lone touchdown came on a 23-yard untouched run from Malcolm Brown. The Chargers were able to limit this tendency in the second half. Still, it’s concerning to give up those sorts of plays to an offense as anemic as the Rams when you’re staring down the barrel of an AFC gauntlet that includes Patrick Mahomes, Joe Burrow, Josh Allen, and Lamar Jackson. It’s also a return to earlier versions of this defense, which gave up big plays routinely before finding solutions over the bye week.
Jeff Okudah of Ohio State leads a deep draft class of defensive backs. Xavier McKinney, Antoine Winfield and Trevon Diggs aren’t far behind.
With the 2020 NFL Draft fast approaching, it is time to start finalizing draft boards. Not just for NFL teams, but for the team here at Touchdown Wire. Here is Touchdown Wire’s list of the top 25 defensive prospects in the 2020 draft class.
1. Jeff Okudah, CB, Ohio State
(AP Photo/Jay LaPrete, File)
If there’s one thing NFL teams need more than anything else on defense right now, it’s the prototypical lockdown cornerback who can take an opponent’s No. 1 receiver through any route in any coverage. Of the cornerbacks in this draft class, Okudah is the one who raises no questions regarding his ability to do so. After playing 70% of his snaps in man coverage in 2018, per Sports Info Solutions, Okudah dipped down to 54% man coverage last season, upped his zone percentage and still allowed just 21 catches on 54 targets for 280 yards, three interceptions, one touchdown, and an opponent passer rating of 46.8. There may be more physically talented players in this class, but outside of the top quarterbacks, none are more positionally important.
2. Isaiah Simmons, Defense, Clemson
(John David Mercer-USA TODAY Sports)
In his 2019 season, per Pro Football Focus, Simmons played 299 snaps in the box, 262 snaps at slot cornerback, 132 snaps at free safety and 116 snaps at defensive line. The 6-foot-4, 225-pound Simmons also played 13 snaps at outside corner, to make his versatility even more impressive. Asked at the scouting combing what his position was, Simmons simply responded, “Defense.” In the modern NFL, a player who can do everything from blitzing, to taking on the run game as a linebacker, to coverage as a slot defender and safety, is of prime value as defenses move to nickel and dime defenses as their base.
3. Chase Young, EDGE, Ohio State
(Brian Spurlock-USA TODAY Sports)
Young has often been compared to fellow Ohio State alums Joey and Nick Bosa, and from a traits perspective, those are pretty good matches. In 2019, Young put up 16.5 sacks, 21 tackles for loss, seven quarterback hits and 31 quarterback hurries. And if you’re concerned about his getting shut out in sacks through his last three college games, a cursory look at the tape will tell you that he still had a massive effect on opposing offenses.
Chase Young this week on the three-sack drought: "Being the best defensive end isn't about sacks, it's about being the most disruptive player on the field. You can do that without having a sack… I had a lot of quarterback hits, a lot of pressures."
At 6 feet 6 and 302 pounds, Kinlaw fits the physical profile of the ideal multi-gap defensive lineman who can get nasty everywhere from over the center to outside the offensive tackles. In 2019, he raised his sack total from four in 2018 to six in his final college season, adding seven quarterback hits and 28 quarterback hurries. Perhaps the most impressive thing about Kinlaw’s potential is that he’s turned himself into a wrecking machine without the benefit of advanced hand technique. Once he reaps the benefits of NFL-level coaching, he projects well as an All-Pro-level disruptor.
5. Derrick Brown, DT, Auburn
(John Reed-USA TODAY Sports)
Brown’s relatively weak combine performance might debit him in the eyes of those who haven’t studied his tape. Similarly, his total of 12.5 sacks over four seasons at Auburn could push him under other defenders in your mind if you’re just box-score scouting. But when you watch Brown do his thing on the field, the perspective is entirely different. At 6-5 and 326 pounds, Brown had 10 quarterback hits and 20 quarterback hurries in 2019, adding four batted passes and two forced fumbles to his statistical arsenal. Brown is an ideal three-down defender who can stop the run as well as he can blast through double teams.
6. Xavier McKinney, DB, Alabama
(Steve Mitchell-USA TODAY Sports)
Multi-positional defensive backs are all the rage in today’s NFL, and Nick Saban has been grooming them at Alabama for a while. Minkah Fitzpatrick of the Steelers was an early part of paradigm, and McKinney is ready to follow in Fitzpatrick’s footsteps. Last season, per Pro Football Focus, McKinney played 285 snaps in the box, 271 snaps at free safety and 227 snaps in the slot. The 6-1, 200-pound McKinney also played 38 snaps on the defensive line and five snaps at outside corner. Playing all those positions, he allowed an opponent passer rating of 73.6 and came away with three interceptions, as well as 21 total pressures in just 71 pass-rushing snaps. If you can’t get Isaiah Simmons in your 2020 draft because he goes too early, McKinney is more than an acceptable substitute.
7. Patrick Queen, LB, LSU
(Brett Davis-USA TODAY Sports)
In 2019, Queen established himself as one of the linchpins of the Tigers’ championship defense after lining up for just 255 total snaps in his first two collegiate seasons. The 6-foot, 229-pound first-year starter proved to be the model of the modern linebacker when he finally got his shot, playing 780 snaps in 2019 and showing the ability to excel everywhere from the box to the slot to the occasional go at outside cornerback. More impressively for Queen’s NFL future is his ability to face up against top running backs and make stops when stops are needed. Not every light linebacker can do that, and once Queen gets the hang of the intricacies of coverage (especially zone coverage), he could be one of the NFL’s best three-down linebackers.
8. Antoine Winfield Jr., S, Minnesota
(Jesse Johnson-USA TODAY Sports)
Winfield missed all but a total of eight games in his 2017 and 2018 seasons due to injuries, but he came back with a full head of steam in 2019, picking off seven passes and giving up just 11 catches on 22 targets and an opponent passer rating of 45.5. A healthy Winfield has all the athleticism and range you’d want in a deep-third safety, but what really makes him the best in this class at that particular designation is his ability to read offenses and coverages on the fly — as he detailed to me in a recent film session, he learned a lot from his father, who played cornerback for the Bills and Vikings from 1999 through 2012.
