Tennessee Titans will be without Taylor Lewan and Rodger Saffold again
By Will Lomas
It has been a tough season for the Tennessee Titans across the board when it comes to injuries, but no positions have been hit harder than the wide receivers and the offensive line.
The great news is that it looks like Julio Jones is going to play again on Thursday and he will potentially be joined by A.J. Brown.
If both play, the Titans would have more talent at the skill positions than they have had since Week 8 when Derrick Henry was healthy.
Ryan Tannehill has been surrounded by a supporting cast that has been…below NFL quality to put it nicely. However, with the starters back at wide receiver, he can finally take a deep breath right?
Right?
Taylor Lewan and Rodger Saffold are out for Tennessee Titans.
It is never that simple with the 2021 Tennessee Titans.
Rodger Saffold missed Sunday’s matchup with the Pittsburgh Steelers with a neck injury, and he couldn’t get right in time for the game with the San Francisco 49ers on a short week.
Saffold has missed time or been inactive in each of the last four games and he has only played every snap with the starters 8 times this season.
Taylor Lewan hasn’t faired much better. Despite trying to get back to full health before the season, Lewan has missed one game in each month this year and he has missed time in four more games.
As sad as it might be for some Tennessee Titans fans to hear, this may be a glimpse into the future for this offensive line. There will be plenty of time to talk about it this offseason, but the Titans can save $23 million in cap space if they cut ties with their starting left side.
Whether you want to look at injuries, age, lack of effectiveness in pass protection, or any other metric, it is getting hard to justify keeping both guys next season.
Ben Jones is set to be a free agent this offseason and every time David Quessenberry tries to pass protect, it looks like a man begging to be fired.
If “chemistry” and “continuity” are going to be lost this season anyway, you might as well save a lot of money and invest in their replacements or use that money to add talent elsewhere.