Despite having the best statistical year of his four-year career in 2019, Tennessee Titans outside linebacker Kamalei Correa isn’t settling.
Correa stepped up in a big way for the Titans once fellow outside linebacker Cameron Wake went on IR.
The Boise State product totaled four of his five sacks in the last five games of the regular season, and also added another two during the playoffs. His late-season surge no doubt helped his case for the Titans to keep him in 2020.
While it was no doubt an impressive finish for the 26-year-old in his second season in Nashville, Correa wasn’t impressed, according to Jim Wyatt of Titans Online.
“I wasn’t too impressed with myself,” Correa said.
“I am always going to be my toughest critic. I was trained to always keep pushing, always keep striving, always try to be better because the moment you settle is the moment you get beat. So, I’m always thinking: How can I do better? How can I keep improving? It is a fresh start now, and a new season is coming up. This is year five for me, and I am going to do everything I can to be better so I can help the team.”
In order to help improve his game even more, Correa has picked up boxing as part of his training. He believes it can help improve his pass-rush, something he is working hard on this offseason.
“(Boxing) is helping me with my cardio and my hands and footwork,” Correa said. “(Yildiz) is also a strength coach that does functional movement training along with boxing. A lot of the things I needed to improve on were my hands and feet working together, and kind of turning my body and moving my body in a certain way.
“I am really trying to focus on my pass rush this year. I felt like there was a lot of improvement I could make in that area. Boxing helps you move your feet and body and hands in a way for speed and reaction, which is just like when you’re coming off the edge as an edge rusher, you have to read and react to get past an offensive linemen. So, I think that is helping me out in a huge way.”
The Titans know that if they’re going to compete for a Super Bowl, the pass-rush has got to improve — and that was never more evident than during the AFC Championship Game loss to the Kansas City Chiefs last season.
The Titans have added help for Harold Landry in the pass-rush during the offseason with the signing of Vic Beasley, but they’ll also need help from some in-house options, like Correa.
It’s expected that Beasley and Landry will be the primary starters off the edge in 2020, but with the Titans desperately needing a boost in the pass-rush, any player who can create consistent pressure will see significant playing time.
And, if Correa can pick up where he left off last season, he could challenge Beasley for the majority of snaps this season.
[lawrence-related id=36535,36484,36424]