The Tennessee Titans are relying on their newly updated secondary, and they’ll get their first chance to see it in action on Sunday during their season opener in Chicago.
Cornerback Chidobe Awuzie, who joined the team from Cincinnati in March, missed most of the preseason due to a calf injury suffered early in training camp.
L’Jarius Sneed, who had 10 interceptions in his four seasons with Kansas City, has been on a managed schedule since the Titans traded for him in late March.
First-year coach Brian Callahan isn’t concerned about Awuzie or Sneed, even though the secondary will have to quickly transition from practice to the season opener.
“It’s not what you would plan on if you had a perfect world, but I know what those two guys are made of, particularly L’Jarius and Chido,” Callahan said on Monday. “I’ve seen them play. I’ve seen L’Jarius play really, really good football. He looks great now.
I know what Chido’s capable of. So I know what the pieces are capable of, and then there’s going to come a part of playing together that we’re going to have to grow as we go.”
Callahan mentioned that this will be part of an ongoing process for Tennessee, given the number of new players and coaches.
“But I’m very confident in what those — especially those two people — what they’ve done and how they go about their work that I’m not worried about their level of play, but certainly the group as a whole is going to need to grow together,” Callahan said.
The focus has been on the two new starting cornerbacks. General manager Ran Carthon also brought in safety Jamal Adams in July before training camp and later added Adams’ former Seattle teammate Quandre Diggs in early August.
Carthon invested heavily to help new coordinator Dennard Wilson improve a defense that had the fewest interceptions in the NFL last season, with just six, while Tennessee struggled with 18 losses in their last 24 games.
Callahan did not provide any updates on injuries on Monday; the first official report is due on Wednesday afternoon. Sneed and Awuzie returned to practice last week, with the start of two sessions open to reporters.
Adams, who has been limited to 10 games over the past two seasons due to injuries, is expected to return from an unspecified injury.
Sneed mentioned that he has been involved in walk-throughs and meetings since joining in April and feels that the practice he gets before Sunday’s game will be sufficient. He learns best by walking through his tasks on the field.
“A lot of guys know it’s go time,” Sneed said, confident that both he and Awuzie are prepared. Awuzie shares this confidence and understands the next steps for a secondary that includes Amani Hooker, the only returning safety, and cornerback Roger McCreary, a second-round pick from Auburn in 2022.
“Now it’s time to build an identity of who we are,” Awuzie said. “You know me, Sneed haven’t really had the chance to be out there with the guys as much as you like to.
But in the meeting rooms when we’re hanging out in the locker room and all that stuff, we definitely built a strong bond. So now it’s just football.”
This secondary will face a test against Bears quarterback Caleb Williams, the top overall pick from April’s draft. Communication will be crucial.
Hooker emphasized that every practice session needs to be purposeful, with everyone aligned. It also helps that the new Titans have plenty of NFL experience.
“Guys are able to bring ideas from their previous teams that they believe could work and help us out,” Hooker said.
