The Tennessee Titans have placed kicker Ryan Succop on injured reserve.
The Tennessee Titans made a surprise roster move on Wednesday when the team placed kicker Ryan Succop on injured reserve.
ESPN’s Adam Schefter broke the news.
Surprise opening-week injury: Titans are placing veteran kicker Ryan Succop on injured reserve and signing former Bucs’ kicker Cairo Santos, per source. Santos and former Bears’ K Cody Parkey both tried out for the job this week.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) September 4, 2019
Also per Schefter, the Titans signed kicker Cairo Santos after both he and former Chicago Bears kicker Cody Parkey worked out for the team this week.
Because Succop made the team’s initial 53-man roster, he is eligible to return this season.
Succop had offseason knee surgery and began training camp on the physically unable to perform list, but was eventually cleared.
According to NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport, it appears Succop had a setback with his knee, which led to his being placed on IR.
The #Titans announce they’ve placed K Ryan Succop on Injured Reserve and signed K Cairo Santos. The injury, I’m told is related to the knee he battled in camp. He is eligible to and should be healthy enough to come back mid-season if it warrants.
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) September 4, 2019
Succop played in the team’s last two preseason games, making all four of his field goals. It was assumed he was fine and ready for the start of the 2019 season, but apparently that is not the case.
Here’s what Succop had to say about his 2019 status just a few weeks ago, per Erik Bacharach of The Tennessean.
"“I think we’ll be ready to rock and roll by the time I get to Cleveland (for their Week 1 game against the Browns on Sunday), for sure.”"
Now, the Titans will turn to Santos for kicking duties.
In 2018, Santos played in two games for the Los Angeles Rams and seven games for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. With the Rams, Santos made 5-of-6 field goals, and with the Bucs he made 9-of-12 field goal attempts. In total, he was 22-of-23 on extra points.
Succop has spent the last five years of his career with the Titans. He made 26-of-30 field goals he attempted in 2018, and 28-of-31 extra points. Succop has made field goals to the tune of an 83.6 percent success rate during his career.
To compare, Santos’ career field goal success rate is 83.2 percent.
The Titans kicker is signed through the 2022 season. Tennessee inked Succop to a five-year, $20 million contract in 2018.