Packer Central

Packers-Titans Big Matchup: Going Back to School

Two of the NFL’s best players at their position, Packers left guard Elgton Jenkins and Titans defensive tackle Jeffery Simmons, will renew acquaintances on Sunday.

Bill Huber

Green Bay Packers guard Elgton Jenkins will see a familiar face, Jeffery Simmons, against the Tennessee Titans on Sunday.
Green Bay Packers guard Elgton Jenkins will see a familiar face, Jeffery Simmons, against the Tennessee Titans on Sunday. / Mark Hoffman/Milwaukee Journal Sentinel / USA TODAY NETWORK
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GREEN BAY, Wis. – One of the big matchups of Sunday’s Green Bay Packers-Tennessee Titans game will be a blast from the past.

Packers two-time Pro Bowl left guard Elgton Jenkins vs. Titans two-time All-Pro defensive tackle Jeffery Simmons. This will be the third NFL matchup between the former Mississippi State teammates.

“That’s my dog,” Jenkins said. “This is our third time going against each other. The way we approach it is the best man wins, you feel me? He lines up in front of me, I’m trying to whoop his ass.

“It’ll be fun, though. We’ll talk a little sh**, get after each other. He already knows that I’m going to compete and he’s going to compete. At the end of the day, it’s all love. When we’re on that field, though, we’re enemies.”

Simmons was a first-round by the Titans in 2019. He was voted All-Pro and Pro Bowler in 2021 and 2022, when he had a total of 16 sacks. He had 5.5 sacks in 12 games last season.

Jenkins was a second-round pick by the Packers in the same draft. He earned All-Rookie honors in 2019 and Pro Bowl accolades in 2020 and 2022. According to Pro Football Focus, he hasn’t allowed a sack since Week 10 of the 2022 season. Jenkins’ 26-game streak without a sack started the following week against Simmons and the Titans.

One reason why they are premier players at their positions is because of their work on the practice field in Starkville, Miss.

“I was playing center my last two years and he was playing nose guard, so every day in practice, we’re fighting, we’re balls to the wall,” Jenkins said. “We used to hate each other on that field. We’d get in the locker room, we’re cool but, when we crossed them lines, it was go time. …

“It was always an iron-sharpens-iron situation. Some days, he’ll get the best of me but most days I’d get the best of him. Nah (laughs). No, it was always an iron-sharpens-iron situation. We got each better, for sure. There was no day that we gave each other off. It’ll be a good battle coming up.”

This week, with the Titans gearing up for a heavy dose of Packers running back Josh Jacobs, Simmons proclaimed “no one runs the ball on the Tennessee Titans.” Simmons is the fulcrum of a defense that is 10th in yards allowed per carry this year after finishing seventh in 2023, first in 2022 and fourth in 2021.

“Everybody makes the game plan around Jeff,” Titans defensive coordinator Dennard Wilson told reporters this week. “So, Jeff always gets the slide (and) he’s going to get the double teams. Right now, Jeff's doing the dirty work. I love Jeff and the way he goes about his work and not being a selfish player. His time will come.”

It will take a village to stop Simmons, who has lined up at six different spots on the defensive line, with slightly more snaps coming on the defense’s left.

Bragging rights will be at stake for the longtime friends as the Packers look to improve to 2-1 and the Titans search for their first win.

“Oh yeah, for sure. Every time,” Jenkins said. “He’s a good player, for sure, but whoever gets the dub has bragging rights. Good player but, at the end of the day, we’ve got to get this ‘W.’”

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Bill Huber
BILL HUBER

Bill Huber, who has covered the Green Bay Packers since 2008, is the publisher of Packers On SI, a Sports Illustrated channel. E-mail: packwriter2002@yahoo.com History: Huber took over Packer Central in August 2019. Twitter: https://twitter.com/BillHuberNFL Background: Huber graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater, where he played on the football team, in 1995. He worked in newspapers in Reedsburg, Wisconsin Dells and Shawano before working at The Green Bay News-Chronicle and Green Bay Press-Gazette from 1998 through 2008. With The News-Chronicle, he won several awards for his commentaries and page design. In 2008, he took over as editor of Packer Report Magazine, which was founded by Hall of Fame linebacker Ray Nitschke, and PackerReport.com. In 2019, he took over the new Sports Illustrated site Packer Central, which he has grown into one of the largest sites in the Sports Illustrated Media Group.