Titans make moves with linebackers

Nigel Harris brought back to practice squad days after Jayon Brown was injured

Christopher Hanewinckel/USA Today Sports

The Tennessee Titans brought back linebacker Nigel Harris to their practice squad Tuesday.

The 24-year-old spent the majority of last season on the practice squad before he was promoted to the active roster for the final two games. Harris (pictured) appeared in both of those contests (Washington, Indianapolis), primarily as a special teams player. He did not register a tackle in either game.

This time, he potentially could be on the active roster by the end of the week. Jayon Brown, a starter and one of the team’s leading tacklers, was injured early in Sunday’s 16-0 loss at Denver and sat out the rest of the game. Brown’s status for this week is undetermined.

“We’ll see where he’s at going forward and try to get him back here towards the end of the week,” coach Mike Vrabel said Monday about Brown. “But [he] wasn’t able to finish the game.”

To make room for Harris, linebacker Ukeme Eligwe was released from the practice squad. Eligwe was a fifth-round pick by Kansas City in 2017 and has 24 games of NFL experience with the Chiefs and Giants. The Titans signed him during training camp when rookie D’Andre Walker was placed on injured reserve, which means he has relatively little time in the defense.

Harris (6-foot-2, 225 pounds) was with Tennessee throughout most of the offseason and training camp before he was waived-injured on Aug. 19.

Undrafted out of South Florida in 2017, he ultimately appeared in eight games for three different teams (L.A. Chargers, N.Y. Giants and Tampa Bay) that season. In 2018, he spent time with Tampa Bay and Arizona before the Titans added him to their practice squad on Oct. 9. He remained with Tennessee through the end of the season and the Titans were the only team for which he appeared in the regular season.

If Brown is unable to play Sunday against the Los Angeles Chargers at Nissan Stadium, veteran Wesley Woodyard will start in his place. Then the determination will be made whether or not Harris is needed to provide depth on the active roster.