A Matter of Trust

Franchise officials will make decisions in the coming days and weeks with the belief that certain key players will be relatively healthy throughout the 2022 NFL season.

Christopher Hanewinckel/USA Today Sports

You can’t blame an NFL player for getting hurt.

Injuries, undeniably, are a part of the game. As Tennessee Titans coach Mike Vrabel likes to say, anyone who plays the game long enough is going to get hurt. It’s that simple.

Still, nearly every player will tell you that the best ability is “availability.” Those who find a way to play – and play well – despite whatever physical issues confront them from week to week are the ones coaches and franchise officials covet because they provide a measure of certainty in a highly unpredictable industry.

For the Titans in recent years, there has been no better example of that trait than center Ben Jones, who has missed one game in an NFL career that started back in 2012. Last season, for example, he played through knee and neck injuries – and those are just the ones that were made public via the league’s official injury report.

“Ben does a great job of always being available,” Vrabel said recently at the NFL combine. “I think that whatever his level of play is, his availability and his durability is something that I’ve respected the most. … Just judging from the performance on the field, his durability and availability is something that I will always admire.”

Coaches and general managers would sleep much better at night if everyone was like Jones. But he is the exception.

Instead, rosters must be built, and playbooks must be filled based on a mixture of trust and hope that certain players will be on the field and able to do the jobs that are expected of them throughout the majority of the season.

In some cases, that requires a serious leap of faith. The Titans already showed that they were not ready to take that leap with running back Darrynton Evans, who was released last week after two injury-plagued seasons.

Here is a look at some other notable Titans who have serious injury issues in recent years and how much the team’s decision-makers should trust them to stay relatively healthy in 2022, on a scale of 1-5 (1 means “not at all” and 5 means “bank on it.”)

• Caleb Farley, cornerback: Last year’s first-round pick entered the NFL with a dubious injury history. He missed one full season at college with a knee injury and then had two back surgeries ahead of the draft. He played in last season’s opener but missed the next three games with a shoulder issue. He got back on the field for two games, the second of which was his first career start, but sustained a season-ending knee injury. If he lives up to his athletic potential, the benefits are potentially huge – but that’s a big ‘if.’ Trust factor: 1

• Julio Jones, wide receiver: He missed seven games and played just 58 percent of the snaps on offense in what was a disappointing first season with Tennessee, which included career-lows of 14.0 yards per reception and one touchdown catch. He also missed seven games in 2020, his final season with the Atlanta Falcons and now has gone – for the first time – back-to-back years without making the Pro Bowl. He turned 33 last month, which makes him one of the league’s oldest players at his position. If the franchise officials ultimately decide they can’t trust him, there is salary cap relief available by releasing Jones with a post-June 1 designation. Trust factor: 2.

• Rashad Weaver, outside linebacker: Weaver is another member of the 2021 draft class who got precious little experience as a rookie. In his case, at least, he showed real promise during training camp and the preseason. Last week’s decision to sign Harold Landry to an extension means the Titans won’t have to take a leap of faith with Weaver this season. The question is whether they believe he can come back from the broken leg that limited him to fewer than two games played and eventually become a regular contributor or if they have to address the future of the position in this year’s draft. Trust factor: 3.

• Taylor Lewan, left tackle: Coming off of reconstructive knee surgery, Lewan said he entered 2021 in the best shape of his career. Then he struggled mightily in the opener and was pulled from the Week 2 contest when he felt discomfort in the knee during pregame warmups. He missed one other game due to a pregame development and was inactive for one other. He is 30 years old and has played a lot of football – and has played well. At this point, the Titans must wonder if he is slowing down, breaking down or both? Trust factor: 3.

• Kristian Fulton, cornerback: He has been in the NFL for two seasons and has spent time on injured reserve in both. He missed nine games with a knee injury as a rookie and three with a hamstring issue in 2021. Even in the wake of the knee issue, though, he entered last offseason as a starter and made franchise officials look good as he was the Titans’ best defensive back at the start of the season and a consistent performer – when healthy – throughout. Expect him to figure prominently in whatever decisions are made related to the secondary in the coming days. Trust factor: 4.

• Derrick Henry, running back: The foot injury that sidelined him for the final nine games of 2021 was a cold splash of reality for the entire franchise. The fact that he made it back for the postseason speaks to his recuperative abilities, which likely will be tested again in the coming years. After all, Henry’s enormous workload beginning midway through 2019, likely was a contributing factor to last year’s injury and almost certainly will exact a toll for the remainder of his career. Henry proved last year that he actually is human, but there is also an abundance of evidence to suggest that he is no ordinary human. Trust factor: 4.

• A.J. Brown, wide receiver: He has led the Titans in receptions each of the last three years but has been on the injury report with a litany of ailments almost every week of the last two. He missed two games in 2020 and four in 2021, which included a three-game stint on injured reserve. Brown is one of those guys who does not need to feel good to play well, but as he enters the final year of his contract, there must be some concern about the cumulative effect of all of his recent health issues. To date, though, there has been no real reason to think he won’t continue to be Ryan Tannehill’s preferred target in the passing game. Trust factor: 5.