The Tennessee Titans entered the Week 7 contest against the Indianapolis Colts in familiar territory: they were missing key players on both sides of the ball.
In fact, the Titans have been dealing with this issue since 2021, which led to the team fielding an NFL record 91 players last season, and a whopping 66 through six games in 2022.
On top of having to replace injured players, the Titans made a key change in the secondary for the game against the Colts, a move that proved to pay massive dividends in the 19-10 win.
As we do every week, let’s see how the Titans divvied up the snaps.
Skill positions
-All four of Tennessee’s tight ends saw snaps, with Geoff Swaim leading the way. Rookie Chigoziem Okonkwo actually out-snapped Austin Hooper, but it was the veteran who made a big contribution on Sunday.
-Malik Willis saw the field for three snaps, two of which saw him line up as a receiver. He saw an attempted handoff in the fourth quarter, but the exchange was fumbled. He also saw one snap for Ryan Tannehill, who left briefly due to injury.
-All of four of the receivers who dressed saw snaps. Robert Woods led the way, followed by Nick Westbrook-Ikhine, Cody Hollister and Mason Kinsey.
Offensive line
-Ben Jones was the only offensive lineman to miss a snap as he battled through an apparent knee injury, and it was just one snap; talk about a warrior. Corey Levin was called on to replace him for the play.
Defensive line
-Naquan Jones saw his lowest snap count of the season. It’s amazing how quickly he has fallen out of favor after garnering starting consideration before the start of the season.
-Mario Edwards continues to see significant snaps ahead of DeMarcus Walker.
Linebackers
-In his first game back from injury, Dupree played a season-high 48 snaps. He was sensational on Sunday.
-With Zach Cunningham and Joe Jones out, Dylan Cole saw the majority of snaps at linebacker, followed by Joe Schobert.
-For the second straight week, Monty Rice didn’t see a single defensive snap. He did make a great tackle on special teams, but that’s not why the Titans drafted him… I think. Perhaps they’re still easing him in.
Secondary
-Caleb Farley, Joshua Kalu, Tre Avery, Josh Thompson and Lonnie Johnson didn’t see a single defensive snap.
-We saw a big change in the secondary on Sunday, as Andrew Adams got the start at safety with Amani Hooker moving to the slot. Adams played all but two snaps and made a huge impact.
-Terrance Mitchell was the only other cornerback outside of Kristian Fulton and Roger McCreary to see a snap. He forced a huge fumble in the fourth quarter that put the Colts away for good.
