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.
