NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Jeffery Simmons has continued to rehabilitate the torn left ACL he suffered in Feb. of 2019 with Titans strength coach Frank Piraino and head medical man Todd Toriscelli as the NFL rules have allowed during the COLVID-19 pandemic.
He’s one of the few players and people who’ve been in the facility during that time, but said he hasn’t really noticed.
“It’s kind of how it was when I first got here (after getting drafted), just me rehabbing,” Simmons said. “Every day that I am going into the building it’s just the same mentality, continue to get my knee in the best shape I can for the season. That’s pretty much what it is. I’m not feeling lonely. … [Unlocked.]
“I don’t know (how many people I see.) My head be down most of the time working. I’m not trying to count how many people are in the building.”
A.J. Brown, who also has a Zoom call with media Wednesday, said he’s also been at the facility some for rehab but didn’t offer any details about what he’s recovering from.
Among the things Simmons is working on is slimming down. When he made it to the active roster last season to play starting Week 7 he said he weight about 320 pounds. Now he’s about 310 and he’d like to play at 300 or 305.
.@GrindSimmons94 says he has not done a drill with his knee brace this offseason. Isn't sure where it is. #Titans pic.twitter.com/7Orj4BYOXN
— Paul Kuharsky (@PaulKuharskyNFL) May 20, 2020
He was surprised by the Jurrell Casey trade and appreciated what the veteran did for him, but doesn’t feel there will be an extra burden on him in terms of leadership as the defensive line will take it all on together.
And while he will head into his second year without OTAs again, this time he’s getting the same things as everyone else with the remote offering and he said he doesn’t believe it will set him back.
The work on his knee is helping him gain extension he was lacking and building strength in his quad.
But he’s getting in plenty of other work on his full game as well and said all of it will help him bend at the hips, get his butt back, shoot his hands, be explosive and use his strength to his advantage.
“I work drills, I work out every day,” he said. “I work hands, I work pass-rushing moves. I’m still working out and doing the things I need to do to sharpen my game up. I don’t feel like we’ve got to be going against another man, an offensive lineman.
“Like this past weekend, I worked out with a defensive lineman guy, we just worked pass rush moves and hand stuff.”
Simmons replacing Casey and Kristian Fulton replacing Logan Ryan as a top-three cornerback are two crucial moves for the Titans' defensive personnel. An offseason of rehab and work away from the team needs to have the second-year defensive linemen ready for a big jump in workload.