Tag: Kristian Fulton

Titans place Kristian Fulton, Kyle Peko on IR among 4 moves

The Titans made four roster moves on Wednesday, including placing CB Kristian Fulton and DL Kyle Peko on injured reserve.

The Tennessee Titans made four roster moves on Wednesday, which included the placement of two players on injured reserve.

The Titans announced they have placed cornerback Kristian Fulton and defensive lineman Kyle Peko on IR, which means they’ll miss the remaining four games of the 2023 season.

To fill those roster spots, the Titans poached defensive lineman Quinton Bohanna and Keondre Coburn off the practice squads of the Kansas City Chiefs and Detroit Lions, respectively.

With Fulton out for the season, we might have seen the last of him in the two-tone blue after what has been a disastrous season for the LSU product, who struggled mightily prior to his injury. He’ll hit free agency in 2024 and it’s highly unlikely the Titans bring him back.

The Titans are now even more shorthanded along the defensive line, as Jeffery Simmons is expected to miss at least one more game with a knee injury, hence Tennessee adding two defensive linemen.

Bohanna has appeared in three games for the Lions this season, tallying six tackles (two for loss). Coburn played in one game for the Chiefs, totaling one tackle (one for loss).

The Titans will return to action on Sunday when they host the Houston Texans at Nissan Stadium.

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Titans’ Mike Vrabel: ‘The hamstring got Kristian Fulton again’

Kristian Fulton and hamstring injuries go together like peas and carrots.

Hamstring injuries and Kristian Fulton go together like peas and carrots, as the Tennessee Titans cornerback has dealt with them on multiple occasions since entering the league in 2020.

He suffered a hamstring injury in 2021 that forced him to miss four games. Then, in 2022, the LSU product missed multiple games again because of an injury to that area, and he was on the injury report with it in other weeks.

Things didn’t get off to a great start in 2023, either, as Fulton missed the Week 2 contest because of a hamstring ailment. However, since then, the cornerback hasn’t missed a game.

Now, Fulton’s status is up in the air for Week 14, as head coach Mike Vrabel revealed on Monday that the 25-year-old is dealing with yet another hamstring injury following the Week 13 loss.

The extent of the injury is unknown, but Fulton was set to undergo an MRI to determine the extent on Monday.

In his revealing Fulton’s injury, Vrabel might have let a little frustration seep through, saying that “the hamstring got Kristian Fulton again,” per ESPN’s Turron Davenport.

Following the 2022 campaign, Vrabel specifically mentioned Fulton — along with former linebacker David Long — as one of the team’s repeat offenders with soft-tissue injuries.

Knowing that, Fulton decided to take a different approach to his offseason routine that included him doing his own thing instead of joining the team during OTAs, with the hope a change would help him stay healthy.

And so far that approach has worked, with Fulton only missing the one game. But now he’s in danger of missing multiple, and it’s once again his hamstring that could cause it.

Fulton is in the midst of a contract year, but he’s done himself no favors with poor play throughout the season. His stock will only plummet further if he’s forced to miss time down the stretch of the season thanks to his already lengthy injury history.

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Titans’ PFF grades and OL, pass-rush, coverage stats from Week 11

Kristian Fulton had an absolutely brutal game in the Titans’ loss to the Jags.

With the Week 11 debacle against the Jacksonville Jaguars mercifully in the books, it’s time to take a look at the Tennessee Titans’ best and worst Pro Football Focus grades, as well as the offensive line, coverage and pass-rush stats from the contest.

Tennessee’s highest-graded player on either side of the ball (minimum 10 snaps) was wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins, who notched a 77.3 on the strength of four catches for 59 yards and a touchdown.

However, if we don’t apply the snap minimum, defensive lineman Jeffery Simmons was the highest-graded player on the team, with Big Jeff earning an offensive (that’s right, offensive) grade of 83.6 after he scored a receiving touchdown.

Simmons played two snaps in total, with the defensive lineman serving as a blocker on his other offensive snap.

On defense, outside linebacker Harold Landry was the highest-graded player with a 77.2. Landry tallied one of the two quarterback hits the Titans mustered up on Sunday.

Now, the rest of the grades and stats from Week 11.

Titans confirm Kristian Fulton was benched in Week 11

Titans head coach Mike Vrabel said sitting Kristian Fulton in the third quarter was a coach’s decision.

As the Tennessee Titans were getting toasted by the Jacksonville Jaguars in Week 11, cornerback Kristian Fulton was pulled in the third quarter and was replaced by Tre Avery.

At the time, it wasn’t clear if Fulton was pulled because of injury or the fact that he was playing so poorly, but head coach Mike Vrabel confirmed on Monday that it was indeed a benching.

Fulton, who looked to be turning the corner in recent weeks, finished with six receptions allowed on six targets for a whopping 115 yards.

While he didn’t go into specifics, Vrabel said it was more than just about Fulton getting beat.

“I felt like it needed to be better,” Vrabel said, according to Jim Wyatt. “And we’ve had a conversation, and I’ll keep that between (Kristian) and I. We have to move on to this week. Getting beat is one thing. We just have to make sure we are executing the call and the scheme. Corners are going to get beat … so that wasn’t the reason we put Tre in there. There were some other reasons that Kristian and I talked about.”

Two bad plays that stood out the most were Fulton getting beat by wideout Calvin Ridley down the sideline, and the LSU product abandoning his zone coverage to make a play on Trevor Lawrence, which resulted in D’Ernest Johnson getting loose for a big gain through the air.

Unfortunately, the Titans didn’t get much better from Avery, who gave up three receptions on three targets for 40 yards and a score in 26 snaps.

It was just another stark reminder that as bad as Fulton has been, the Titans simply don’t have the horses to replace him, especially with Sean Murphy-Bunting’s injury leaving the secondary shorthanded.

It remains to be seen if the Titans will go back to Fulton in Week 12, but it’s not like they have any viable options to replace him with.

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Titans’ winners and losers from ugly loss to Jaguars

The Titans’ winners and losers following their Week 11 loss.

Here we are once again lamenting how bad the Tennessee Titans are after yet another ugly loss in Week 11 to the Jacksonville Jaguars.

At this point, we can pretty much copy and paste everything we write on a weekly basis, as the Titans have the same issue each and every week.

On Sunday, the Titans’ offense was stagnant, mostly thanks to poor pass protection upfront. As a result, the Titans had the ball for just under 24 minutes and ran just 38 plays.

Meanwhile, the Jaguars ran a total of 69 plays as they did whatever they pleased against the Titans’ lifeless defense.

Tennessee was also littered with self-inflicted wounds via penalties, turnovers (including on special teams) and mental lapses on defense.

Like I said: copy and paste.

We did manage to scrounge up some winners after this pathetic loss, but as you’d expect, the losers were greater in number. Let’s see who fell into what category.

Stock up, stock down for Titans going into Week 10

Shaun Calderon takes a look at the players (and a coach) who either improved or hurt their stock the most in Week 9.

The Tennessee Titans have had a handful of days to digest their deflating 20-16 loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers last Thursday, a game that wasn’t a pretty contest by any means.

There were a lot of moments the team certainly wishes it could have back. In fact, if the Titans somehow find a way to go on a second-half run but fall just short of making the playoffs, this is the kind of game that they’ll look back on as one that got away.

Despite the loss, there were some players who found a way to improve their individual stock ahead of a Week 10 matchup against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

On the contrary, several others ended up lowering theirs by the end of the weekend.

Scroll down below to see which three players we felt raised their stocks and which players/coaches ended up lowering theirs after the disappointing defeat at the hands of the Steelers.

Titans DBs coach Chris Harris still a believer in Kristian Fulton

Titans DBs coach Chris Harris has not lost faith in embattled CB Kristian Fulton.

To say it’s been a rough start to the year for Kristian Fulton would be putting it mildly. The Tennessee Titans cornerback has come under tremendous scrutiny this season.

Fulton has allowed an 81.0 percent completion rate and 110.5 passer rating for opposing quarterbacks through the first six games. The Titans are 2-4 over that stretch.

According to Titans’ defensive backs coach Chris Harris, Fulton’s best football is yet to come.

“Kristian (Fulton) is a starting corner in this league,” Harris said earlier this week, via ESPN’s Turron Davenport. “(He) just needs to come out here and continue to work, just continue to work. We’re in the process of getting better.

“We got a lot of football left to play this season. There’s a ton of football left. The sky’s not falling. I’m excited for Kristian. He’s going to be just fine.”

Reading the tea leaves, this is a classic coach defending his player.

There’s no denying that Fulton has been a liability this season. Perhaps the bye week will allow the 25-year-old to hit the reset button, but he certainly has a short leash going forward.

The former LSU standout’s struggles came to a head after his performance against the Indianapolis Colts in Week 5. Fulton allowed four catches for 95 yards and was dinged for two ill-timed penalties.

He was benched midway through the Titans’ 24-16 loss to the Baltimore Ravens in London in favor of second-year cornerback, Tre Avery.

Fulton played better against Baltimore, but he also wasn’t challenged as much, as head coach Mike Vrabel said earlier this week. He was credited for allowing four catches for 24 yards, and despite splitting time with Avery, Fulton still accounted for 77 percent of defensive snaps. 

Avery played well in a limited sample size, seeing 18 snaps in relief. The 26-year-old allowed just one catch for four yards and could continue to see an increased workload should Fulton struggle coming out of the bye week.

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PFF suggests 3 trades Titans should make at deadline

PFF recently included three Titans players in an article listing trades that should happen at the deadline.

With the Tennessee Titans sitting at 2-4 at their bye week, speculation has run wild about the team possibly being a seller at the trade deadline, which hits in Week 9 on Oct. 31.

When asked about what the team might do at the deadline, head coach Mike Vrabel didn’t hint either way on what the Titans’ approach will be.

“I think we would always consider strengthening the team, whether that’s right now, this week, or in the future,” Vrabel said of making trades at the deadline, per FOX Sports’ Ben Arthur.

However, Vrabel also noted that the team isn’t going to quit on its season.

“We’re going to fight,” he said. “If you want our identity, we’re going to fight. We ain’t going to quit. We’ve been through this before.”

And therein lies the problem with the Titans being sellers: in order for them to do that, Vrabel would have to wave the white flag on the 2023 season at the halfway point, something I’m not sure he’d be willing to do.

In a recent article from Pro Football Focus’ Brad Spielberger, he lists 10 trades he’d like to see at the deadline, and three of them include Titans players.

The surprise is running back Derrick Henry isn’t one of the Titans mentioned. Here are the three deals Spielberger proposes:

Titans’ Mike Vrabel talks Nicholas Petit-Frere at LT, Kristian Fulton and Tre Avery

Titans head coach Mike Vrabel touched on the two notable changes the team made in Week 6.

The Tennessee Titans made two notable changes to their lineup during the Week 6 game against the Baltimore Ravens.

Tennessee replaced Andre Dillard at left tackle with Nicholas Petit-Frere, and the team deployed a combination of Kristian Fulton and Tre Avery at cornerback.

On Monday, head coach Mike Vrabel noted he was pleased with the effort Petit-Frere gave after the Ohio State product was inserted in the second half following Dillard giving up a sack.

“We’ll still evaluate that,” Vrabel said of the position, per Jim Wyatt. “But what I did appreciate is that Nick was into it, he acted like he wanted to be out there. He acted like he loved it, and was pushing piles, jumping over the pile. Squeezing the last couple of yards out of every run, he was down there. (He was) doing things we feel like are critical.”

I’m not sure if that’s a shot at Dillard’s effort, but it can certainly be construed as such. Whatever the case may be, the Dillard experiment on the left side may be over, at least for now.

According to Pro Football Focus, Petit-Frere (17.4) actually posted a worse pass-blocking grade than Dillard (20.7) and gave up two sacks to Dillard’s one. Both players surrendered four pressures.

Fulton, who had been struggling mightily going into Week 6, started for the Titans but was pulled from the game temporarily for Avery before being re-inserted. Fulton still played 55 snaps (77 percent) and Avery contributed 18 (25 percent).

Vrabel said the move was not because of an injury and that the team “wanted to try and give Tre a little bit if work and see how that went,” per Wyatt.

The Titans head coach said he was happy with Fulton’s showing, but noted the embattled cornerback was not challenged as much as he was against the Indianapolis Colts. Vrabel added there is no concrete plan for the position moving forward.

Fulton posted a PFF coverage grade of 54.6 and gave up four catches on five targets thrown his way for 24 yards. Avery notched a 76.0 coverage grade, the second-best on the team, and allowed one catch on the lone target he faced, which went for four yards.

Tennessee will have the bye week to figure out their approach at both positions ahead of the Week 8 contest against the Atlanta Falcons.

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Titans’ Sean Murphy-Bunting defends Kristian Fulton: ‘I think he’s elite’

Titans CB Sean Murphy-Bunting came to the defense of CB Kristian Fulton.

Tennessee Titans cornerback Sean Murphy-Bunting has come to the defense of his teammate, fellow cornerback Kristian Fulton, who has been getting dragged for yet another disappointing performance in Week 5.

Murphy-Bunting called Fulton “one of the most confident dudes I’ve ever been around” while also saying the LSU product is “elite.”

“I think he’s one of the most confident dudes I’ve ever been around,” SMB said of Fulton, per Ben Arthur of FOX Sports. “Whatever the fans and the media are saying, I mean, I don’t listen to it. I know he doesn’t listen to it.

“I think he’s elite. If he wasn’t elite, he wouldn’t be here. He wouldn’t be a starting cornerback in this league. Being a cornerback is a hard job to do.”

Murphy-Bunting also expressed an issue with criticism coming from people who have never played the position in the NFL, and he remains confident in his teammate.

“If you haven’t done it, I don’t really feel like it’s necessary for other people to be able to speak on it if you haven’t lived that life,” he said. “He lives that life every day. I see how hard he works. He’s going to continue to ball and do his thing. I don’t have any concerns about him, regardless. I know what type of player he is and he’s going to show that.”

Fulton has looked anything but elite this season. On top of bad penalties, the Titans’ supposed No. 1 cornerback has allowed 81.3 percent of the passes thrown his way to be completed and he’s surrendering a passer rating of 117.7.

Things have gotten so bad that head coach Mike Vrabel wouldn’t rule out sitting Fulton for the upcoming game against the Baltimore Ravens, and he even considered benching Fulton in Week 5.

Based on Vrabel’s comments, Fulton’s leash will likely be short if he does play.

“They’d better be correctable quickly,” Vrabel said of Fulton’s issues, per Jim Wyatt. “Would hope that we wouldn’t be having these conversations about putting our eyes in the backfield and grabbing guys down the field.”

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