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.
