One Player Removed, One Added to COVID Reserve List

Linebacker David Long will be available to play Sunday against the Colts. Cornerback Chris Jackson will not.

NASHVILLE – David Long did not pick up where he left off last season.

Now, though, he has the opportunity to step up his performance at about the same point in the schedule as he did a year ago.

The Tennessee Titans activated Long from the COVID-19 reserve list on Saturday. That means the second-year inside linebacker will be available for Sunday’s AFC South showdown against the Indianapolis Colts, a team dealing with significant COVID issues of its own.

He was the only Titans player on the COVID-19 reserve list. However, as he came off, rookie cornerback Chris Jackson was added to that list and will not be available to face the Colts.

Long (pictured) was removed from the active roster on Nov. 16 and missed last Sunday’s victory at Baltimore.

“(Long) is an important part of our team,” coach Mike Vrabel said Friday. “[He] plays special teams. He was backing up a very good player, a player that was productive and called our defense and was involved in every package, so sometimes that's difficult to try and find some snaps for him.”

A sixth-round pick in 2019, Long appeared in eight of Tennessee’s first 10 games but never played more than 10 snaps on defense in any of them. He has been credited with seven tackles and one tackle for loss in addition to four special teams stops.

In the wake of Jayon Brown’s season-ending elbow injury, however, Long is now in position to step up his performance when it matters most. As a rookie, he played little on defense through the first seven games but later in the year got more opportunities based on matchups. In the postseason, he played at least 25 percent of the snaps in all three contests and as many as half, in the divisional round victory over the Ravens.

Eleven of his 15 regular-season tackles came in one game (Kansas City). In the playoffs, he made 16 more stops and created optimism for what was come. Instead, he took a step back.

Veteran Will Compton will start in place of Brown and will call the plays for the defense. But Long is now on the short list of substitutes at that position.

“I've expressed that with David, that he's a large part of our plans going forward, and he's remained positive,” Vrabel said. “He's continued to work, and I know that if he's able to play he’ll give us everything he has.”