Linebacker Brought Back on Practice Squad

Vanderbilt's Josh Smith took part in rookie minicamp and a portion of the preseason

David Boclair | Dec 10, 2019

Jim Brown/USA Today Sports

NASHVILLE – There likely will come a time when football takes Josh Smith away. For now, he continues to find opportunities close to home.

The Tennessee Titans signed the outside linebacker to their practice squad Tuesday.

Smith (6-4, 240 pounds) was with the Titans briefly during training camp (he was on the roster fewer than two weeks before he was cut) and during the offseason took part in their rookie camp on a tryout basis. He played college football in town at Vanderbilt, where he played inside linebacker and outside linebacker, and was part of a state championship team at Oakland High School in suburban Murfreesboro.

He took the place of Jamal Davis, who the Miami Dolphins signed to their active roster. Davis, who had been on Tennessee’s practice squad since Week 5, now has a chance to make his NFL debut. Undrafted out of Akron in 2018, he also has spent time with the Houston Texans and Indianapolis Colts.

Smith appeared in 40 games during his four seasons at Vanderbilt and started 12 contests at outside linebacker as a senior, when he was the team’s fifth leading tackler with 61 stops. He also recorded a team-high nine tackles for losses, three and a half sacks, three pass breakups and one forced fumble.

He is one of two linebackers on the Titans’ practice squad.

Published Dec 10, 2019

DAVID BOCLAIR

David Boclair has covered the Tennessee Titans for multiple news outlets since 1998. He is award-winning journalist who has covered a wide range of topics in Middle Tennessee as well as Dallas-Fort Worth, where he worked for three different newspapers from 1987-96. As a student journalist at Southern Methodist University he covered the NCAA's decision to impose the so-called death penalty on the school's football program.