The Tennessee Titans picked up their first victory of 2024 with a hard-fought 31-12 win over the Miami Dolphins on Monday night. Tennessee did it without one of its top stars: defensive tackle Jeffery Simmons.
While the team did not provide detailed information last week other than that he was battling an elbow injury, the floodgates opened today, and the injury could have a lasting impact on the defense.
Opening up to AtoZ Sports Nashville, Simmons revealed that he damaged a ligament in his elbow, likening it to a ‘Tommy John’ injury. Although he says he’s good, the training staff wanted him to rest it through the team’s bye week and reevaluate.
Titans DL Jeffery Simmons shares that he tore a ligament in his elbow. Mentioned Tommy John for reference. The Titans staff felt he should give it the bye week to heal up. Says he’s good now.
Was a case of friendly fire. Wouldn’t throw the guy under the bus by giving us a name.
— AtoZ Sports Nashville (@AtoZSports) October 1, 2024
Making the injury even worse is the fact that it was a result of some type of friendly fire incident, although he did not go into the specifics on what player(s) were involved.
While there was no mention of severity or potential surgery, it was a positive sign that he was not placed on injured reserve. Although, that does not mean that he will be fully recovered in a few weeks. This type of injury could linger throughout the season and impact practice availability.
Jeffery Simmons wanted to play on Monday Night Football.
He was told he shouldn’t, but says he’ll for sure be ready for the Colts. #Titans pic.twitter.com/y3kmkz01mh
— AtoZ Sports Nashville (@AtoZSports) October 1, 2024
The Titans defense has been one of the better units in the NFL in 2024 and needs Simmons in the fold after already losing starting cornerback Chidobe Awuzie for multiple weeks with a groin injury. In Week 4, rookie T’Vondre Sweat and veteran Sebastian Joseph-Day led the charge against the Dolphins and look like a formidable force, Simmons will only make them better.
With the Titans on their bye week, there likely won’t be any type of update on this injury until next week when the team releases their Week 6 injury report on Wednesday. Even then, fans should be prepared for the coaching staff to take a cautious approach with his recovery. Stay tuned for more information as it becomes available.