Who are the Tennessee Titans starters post COVID outbreak?
By Will Lomas
Tight End, Offensive line
Week 3 starters: Ty Sambrailo (played 57 snaps to Lewan’s 18), Rodger Saffold, Ben Jones, Nate Davis, Dennis Kelly, Jonnu Smith, MyCole Pruitt
Week 5 projections: Taylor Lewan, Rodger Saffold, Ben Jones, Nate Davis, Dennis Kelly, Jonnu Smith, Anthony Firkser
The big change here is that the extra week should have given Taylor Lewan enough time to rehab his shoulder injury which was a huge concern heading into a matchup against the Pittsburgh Steelers. Instead of that concern, they now get the offensive line back to the optimal lineup.
Also, let me take this time to apologize to Nate Davis. When I watched the games live, I have been hard on him for his mistakes, but after re-watching every snap from this season he has done much better than I gave him credit for.
The other big change here is that I think the Titans are going to need more snaps out of their tight ends this week with Khari Blasingame on the COVID list. That pushes MyCole Pruitt into the lineup more as a lead blocker and probably opens up more snaps for Anthony Firkser.
Firkser was a big offense in Weeks 1 and 2 despite limited snaps, but he didn’t get on the field as much in Week 3 so consider this a return to starting for him. Again, this group actually looks a little better than before the bye.