Two Veterans Return to Special Teams

Randy Bullock is healthy enough to kick again, and Ola Adeniyi is removed from injured reserve ahead of Sunday's game against the Philadelphia Eagles.

Christopher Hanewinckel / USA Today Sports

NASHVILLE – Randy Bullock made it through a full week of practice and will be back in uniform Sunday when the Tennessee Titans face the Philadelphia Eagles.

Franchise officials released Caleb Shudak from the active roster Saturday and replaced him with outside linebacker/special teams ace Ola Adeniyi, who was removed from injured reserve.

That leaves Bullock, who missed the last two games because of a calf injury to his kicking leg, as the only one at his position on the roster.

Shudak was added a week earlier after having spent all of training camp, the preseason and the first 11 weeks of the regular season on the Physically Unable to Perform list. The undrafted rookie out of Iowa made three of four field goals and the only PAT he attempted in Sunday’s loss to the Cincinnati Bengals.

Having been with the Titans since immediately following the draft, Shudak is likely to be re-signed to the practice squad on Monday.

Veteran Josh Lambo was signed to fill in for Bullock on Nov. 17 at Green Bay. He made three of four PATs in Tennessee’s 27-17 victory that night.

In nine games this season, Bullock has missed just two kicks in all. He has made 11 of 13 field gals (84.9 percent), which is slightly ahead of his career success rate (83.3 percent). He is a perfect 19 for 19 on PATs.

“We want Randy to come back,” special teams coach Craig Aukerman said earlier in the week. “Not that we’re not happy with Caleb, but Randy has put in the work. He’s done a great job. He’s the guy for us.”

Adeniyi becomes the third Titans player to return from injured reserve this season. Elijah Molden and Treylon Burks were the first two. Under a rule change implemented this year, NFL teams may bring back no more than eight players during the course of the season.

Adeniyi sustained a neck injury in Week 2 at Buffalo and has not played since. Last season, his first with the Titans, he set a career-high with 10 special teams tackles.

“We miss Ola, a guy who’s been a really good special teams player,” Aukerman said. “… We miss his energy. We miss his juice. [He is] another physical presence for us to go out there and a guy who takes pride in being a four-core special teams player. He’s going to bring a little of the alpha dog mentality that we’re looking for. … That’s going to help us out a lot.”