Titans vs. Jaguars snap count report: How Tennessee used its roster in Week 5 victory

The Tennessee Titans bounced back from last Sunday’s debacle by beating the now 0-5 Jacksonville Jaguars by the score of 37-19.

It wasn’t perfect, but the Titans made key plays when they needed them. Role players such as Marcus Johnson, Teair Tart and MyCole Pruitt made several positive contributions. Without further ado, here is how the Titans deployed their players against the Jaguars, via the team’s official snap count report.

At receiver, Marcus Johnson made his Titans debut and led his position group in snaps (46) and receiving yards with 52 on three catches. Johnson averaged a healthy 17.3 yards per reception and looked every bit of the receiver that impressed us all in July and August. Johnson had a great training camp and it was nice to see him contribute on Sunday. We all hope he stays healthy and adds some depth to this group. A.J. Brown returned from his hamstring injury and was on a bit of a snap count, playing 65.6% of the team’s offensive snaps. Chester Rogers occupied his usual spot in the slot with 30 snaps and made a big play with a 26-yard reception. Josh Reynolds played just 16 snaps. It’s clear that the Titans prefer Johnson (when healthy) over Reynolds. Cameron Batson chipped in with 10 snaps. It was interesting to see Nick Westbrook inactive, but not all that surprising after he failed to take advantage of a big opportunity last week.

Derrick Henry played 77% of the snaps after playing just 59.1% a week ago. It was the typical Henry performance in Jacksonville. The King rushed for an astounding 130 yards and three touchdowns on a hefty 29 carries. Henry’s heavier workload naturally led to a demotion for McNichols, who played just 14 snaps after playing 37 snaps against the Jets in Week 4.

MyCole Pruitt led the tight ends in snaps with 37 (60.7%) and caught a key second-quarter touchdown. Pruitt has been this team’s most consistent tight end thus far. Geoff Swaim played a hefty 34 snaps but continues to underwhelm with his play. Anthony Firkser, who isn’t much of a blocking tight end, played just 24 snaps.

David Quessenberry, Nate Davis, Taylor Lewan and Ben Jones all played 100% of the team’s offensive snaps (61). It was nice to see all four players stay healthy after they’ve had some issues in that area. Rodger Saffold, who has struggled with injury all year long, played just 35 snaps (57.4%). What was interesting there was who replaced him. Dillon Radunz was active out of necessity for this game and spent time playing the guard position in training camp in order to be prepared for these scenarios. But it was Corey Levin (26 snaps) who subbed in for the injured Saffold, not Radunz. Levin was on the Titans’ practice squad recently. It’s pretty damning for Radunz. The Titans clearly believe he has absolutely no business being on an NFL field right now. It’s worth noting that Radunz was getting ready to replace Davis at right guard after the former Charlotte prospect appeared to suffer an injury, but a booth review of a play bought Davis enough time to where he didn’t actually have to miss a snap. Radunz would have been forced to play there, as the Titans had no other reserve interior linemen. With Aaron Brewer and Ty Sambrailo sitting this one out with injury, the Titans still turned to Levin before Radunz.

The Titans once again went heavy here with six active defensive lineman. It was no surprise to see Jeffery Simmons (53) and Denico Autry (44) lead the way here. Teair Tart was next up with 29 snaps and made a big play on a fourth down stop. Tart is a big body up the middle that can get backfield penetration. It was interesting to see Amani Bledsoe play 25 snaps (37.9%) snaps after he played 31 snaps a week ago. Bledsoe recently reunited with Tennessee, and has quickly made an impression. This coaching staff trusts him. Naquan Jones played a career-high 20 snaps. It’s a sign that the undrafted free agent is progressing nicely. Caraun Reid was active ahead of Woodrow Hamilton this week, and played 12 snaps. John Simon is also listed with this group, and played 19 snaps. It was nice to see Simon back in Tennessee after he was here in training camp.

Harold Landry was once again excellent while leading the way with a whopping 60 (90.9%) snaps. It was nice to see him play less than 98% of the snaps. He continues to play at an all-time high and had two lovely sacks. He’s on a mission this year. Ola Adeniyi played just 22 snaps. At inside linebacker, David Long led the way by playing every single snap on defense. Rashaan Evans played just 29 snaps and was responsible for Jacksonville’s biggest run of the day. Evans abandoned his gap on the play. He continues to play poorly. It was interesting to see rookie third-round pick Monty Rice play 12 snaps. I think it’s obvious this coaching staff is pretty down on Evans right now. It wouldn’t be a surprise to see Long pair with Jayon Brown when the former UCLA standout is ready to return from injured reserve. Joseph Jones and Nick Dzubnar played one snap each.

Kevin Byard (66 snaps) and Jackrabbit Jenkins (65 snaps) were the workhorses. There’s no surprise there. Dane Cruikshank (60) continues to play a ton of snaps with Amani Hooker still on injured reserve. Kristian Fulton played just 43 snaps and appeared to have suffered a hamstring injury. This group is bad enough with Fulton, who’s easily been their best cornerback, in the lineup. Tennessee can’t afford an injury to Fulton, so let’s hope he’s okay. Chris Jackson continues to get a lot of work by playing on 80.3% (32 snaps). Elijah Molden might be back in the coaching staff’s good graces after not playing much the last few weeks. He was in on 22 plays and made the first big play of the game when he forced a fumble that was returned for a TD by Byard. It was great to see Caleb Farley on the field for 22 snaps. It happened due to the Fulton injury, but it was nice to see him nonetheless.