New York Jets vs. Tennessee Titans Offensive Players to Watch

Here are the offensive players to watch for each team as the New York Jets prepare to face the Tennessee Titans on Sunday.

Sep 9, 2024; Santa Clara, California, USA; New York Jets wide receiver Allen Lazard (10) celebrates after a touchdown reception during the fourth quarter against the San Francisco 49ers at Levi's Stadium. / David Gonzales-Imagn Images

The New York Jets are preparing for their second straight road game to open the 2024 season when they head to Nashville and face the Tennessee Titans at 1 p.m. eastern on Sunday.

The Jets (0-1) are the only team in the AFC East entering the second week without a victory.

New York coach Robert Saleh is spending some of his time answering questions about the Haason Reddick holdout, but he’s spending the bulk of his preparation trying to fix a leaky run defense and prime a pass rush that didn’t do a good job of getting pressure on opposing quarterback Brock Purdy.

If they are going to bounce back from a 7-11 season and fulfill the expectations most have for them, the Jets not only need the defense to get turned around, but they need the run game to get going, too.

The Titans (0-1) put up just 17 points against the Chicago Bears, and that might have been enough had the defense not blown a 17-point lead.

With a new head coach in Brian Callahan, Tennessee is trying to build a team around young quarterback Will Levis. The days of running back Derrick Henry and quarterback Ryan Tannehill are all done.

Here are the offensive players to watch for both teams entering Monday’s game.

New York Jets

QB Aaron Rodgers

Perhaps everyone just expected too much from a 40-year-old quarterback coming of a torn Achilles injury?

He finished the Monday's game 13-of-21 for 167 yards with one touchdown and one interception. The quick take is that he was uneven and only moved the team down the field for one solid drive. But a wider view finds that the San Francisco 49ers' offense held the ball for 38 minutes and Rodgers did what he could with 22 minutes on offense.

There is plenty of good news. He made it through the game. He took hits and got back up. Some of his passes were vintage Rodgers. Others were close. The one interception was a bad bounce.

In other words, most of what didn’t work on Monday can be cleaned up for Sunday.

OLs John Simpson, Joe Tippmann and Alijah Vera-Tucker

So the Jets’ run game was not a masterpiece against the 49ers. Breece Hall rushed for just 54 yards and a touchdown. Some of that was him. Some of that was the offensive line.

While teams need five linemen moving in concert with each other, Hall is a good between-the-tackles runner, which means it’s up to Simpson (left guard), Tippmann (center) and Vera-Tucker (right guard) to push the line and make room for the third-year back.

WR Allen Lazard

Institutional knowledge can be a wonderful thing. In the grand scheme of things, Rodgers is still new to town. So is Lazard. But they have history.

He played five seasons for the Green Bay Packers with Rodgers and earned the veteran’s trust. He followed the quarterback to New York. Without him last season, he had his worst output since his rookie year (one reception in 2018).

He caught two touchdown passes in the opener — one from Rodgers on one of those vintage free play bombs he’s known for, and another from backup Tyrod Taylor.

He won’t lead the team in receptions, but there will be moments this season when Rodgers goes to his old pal and he’ll deliver.

Tennessee Titans

QB Will Levis

The Titans are staking their future on the second-round pick out of Kentucky — and perhaps the future of their new head coach. Callahan was the offensive coordinator in Cincinnati for Joe Burrow.

Perhaps he can spin the same magic with Levis?

He played well enough last season for the Titans to chase off both Tannehill and backup Malik Willis. His opener this year left something to be desired, as he threw for only 127 yards, completed just under 60% of his passes and threw one touchdown and two interceptions.

There’s a long way to go before Tennessee figures out if he’s the guy.

RB Tony Pollard

The Titans moved on from Henry after the season, one of the best running backs in franchise history (with this franchise, the conversation starts with Earl Campbell, even though that was back in the Houston Oilers days).

Pollard is not either of those backs. The shifty former Dallas Cowboys star rushed for 82 yards and a touchdown against the Bears last week. The Cowboys chose not to re-sign him after five seasons in which he rushed for more than 3,000 yards and 23 touchdowns. He also caught 176 passes for Dallas.

He’s going to bring a different dynamic to the offense.

WR Calvin Ridley

The former first-round pick out of Alabama was at one point one of the league’s most productive receivers while with the Atlanta Falcons, but he missed the entire 2022 season after he was suspended due to betting on NFL games.

Last year, he returned and signed with the Jacksonville Jaguars. He picked up right where he left off, catching 76 passes for 1,016 yards and eight touchdowns.

He caught three passes for 50 yards in the opener. Chances are by season’s end he’ll have another big year.