Rookie Cornerback Returns to Active Roster

Second-round draft pick Kristian Fulton missed the last seven games while on injured reserve with a knee injury.

Kristian Fulton was added to the Tennessee Titans’ active roster Tuesday.

The second-round draft pick out of LSU was placed on injured reserve on Oct. 31, a day before the loss at Cincinnati, because of a knee injury. He was injured in the Week 7 loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Fulton was designated for return on Nov. 24 and had practiced with the team since. Had he not been moved to the active roster by Tuesday, he would have reverted to injured reserve and would have missed the rest of the season.

Also Tuesday, outside linebacker Tuzar Skipper was placed on injured reserve. Skipper played the last four games and started the last two as a practice squad addition to the active roster. He has made five tackles.

It remains to be seen what role, if any, Fulton will have this week, but the collective health of Tennessee’s cornerbacks is as good as it has been in weeks.

Adoreé Jackson has yet to play in 2020 because of a knee injury but practiced last week and looks close to making his season debut. Tye Smith has played the last three games after having missed the previous four with a shoulder injury, and another member of the 2020 draft class, seventh-round choice Chris Jackson, returned to action Sunday at Jacksonville after two weeks on the COVID-19 reserve list.

With Fulton, the Titans now have eight cornerbacks on the active roster. That is the same number of offensive linemen among the 53 players on the active roster.

Fulton played in five of the first six games and started against Houston and Pittsburgh before he was injured. He was credited with 15 tackles and is one of three members of the Titans defense with at least one sack and one interception (he has one of each). He got off to a good start with four tackles (still his season-high) in the opener against Denver and an interception, which he returned 44 yards, against Jacksonville in Week 2.

The Titans (8-4) face the Detroit Lions (5-8) on Sunday at Nissan Stadium. Detroit is ninth in the NFL in passing offense with an average of 261.2 yards per game but is 25th in completion percentage (63.5).