Stop me if you’ve heard this before. The Tennessee Titans continue to deal with several injuries. Head coach Mike Vrabel just delivered his Friday afternoon press conference ahead of Sunday’s divisional contest against the Houston Texans. Vrabel ruled OUT LB David Long Jr., OLB Bud Dupree, RG Nate Davis, LB Rashaan Evans, RB Jeremy McNichols, TE Geoff Swaim and CB Greg Mabin. Ouch.
Vrabel: Nate Davis, Bud Dupree and David Long, Rashaan Evans, Jeremy McNichols, Geoff Swaim and Greg Mabin all OUT for Sunday for @Titans.
— Jim Wyatt (@jwyattsports) November 19, 2021
Dupree injured his abdomen on the first snap of last Sunday’s win over the Saints and never returned to the game. We wouldn’t be shocked if Tennessee held him OUT of next week’s game against the New England Patriots as well, and opt to give him three full weeks to get healthy since the bye week is fast approaching. Expect to see plenty of Ola Adeniyi and Derick Roberson opposite Harold Landry on Sunday. Denico Autry also possesses the flexibility to kick outside while the likes of Naquan Jones, Teair Tart and Kyle Peko replace Autry inside.
Long and Evans will miss yet another game, leaving the Titans incredibly thin at the inside linebacker position. Barring health, Jayon Brown and Monty Rice are in line to play 100% of the team’s defensive snaps on Sunday. Rice performed admirably in his first career start last Sunday by recording a team-high 11 tackles. We’re excited to see what Rice can do with another big opportunity coming his way.
It will be interesting to see how the Titans handle McNichols’ absence. Will it be D’Onta Foreman, Adrian Peterson, or a combination of the two on third down? We lean towards Foreman, who had an explosive passing play a week ago. He’s also playing against his old team. This sets up nicely for the haunting #revenge game for Foreman.
Swaim has been dominating the snaps at tight end as of late, and he’s improved as the season has gone by. Tight end Tommy Hudson probably isn’t ready to return yet, leaving MyCole Pruitt and Anthony Firkser as the two lone tight ends on the roster.
Mabin will be missed outside, but Jackrabbit Jenkins thankfully returned to practice on Friday. We expect to see Jenkins and Kristian Fulton outside with Elijah Molden in the slot. Chris Jones will provide depth, alongside a potential practice squad call up of Breon Borders and/or Briean Boddy-Calhoun.
Aaron Brewer returned to practice on Friday and is expected to replace the injured Davis in the starting lineup at right guard. Dillon Radunz will be active as well.
As always, stay tuned to MCM for all roster updates with in-depth reactions and analysis.