The Tennessee Titans are looking to maintain the level of success they found during the 2019 season. Despite starting off the year 2-4, the Titans rebounded to secure a postseason bid and made it all the way to the AFC Championship game. While Tennessee is looking to prove they can compete on the same level as the Baltimore Ravens and Kansas City Chiefs, they also appear to be focused on saving their star players for the very meaningful games, and lessen their respective workloads during the regular season.
Pass rusher Harold Landry had a career year in 2019, as he recorded 68 total tackles, a team-leading 13.5 tackles for loss and a career-high nine sacks. He appears to be a star in the making, but the Titans are actually looking to somewhat limit his playing time this upcoming season.
"He played a lot of plays for us and he did, probably, too much — that's on me," outside linebackers coach Shane Bowen said, via the team's official website. "But we've got to find ways to get some other guys that can take some stuff off of him too, and I've got to get those guys developed where we are trusting them, putting them in the game, where we feel like they can make plays for us. I've got to do a better job of not putting so much on him in terms of play count."
According to Pro Football Reference, Landry played in 85.84 percent of the team's defensive snaps in 2019 -- a total of 952 snaps. He also played another 25 snaps on special teams. Tennessee is looking to get more "bang for their buck" when it comes to Landry, and it may be possible. The Titans have a much more solid rotation at pass rusher with the addition of Vic Beasley and a healthy D'Andre Walker. Tennessee is also reportedly still in the mix for Seattle Seahawks pass rusher Jadeveon Clowney.
The Titans aren't just looking at saving one of their defensive stars some reps for the postseason, they also want to lessen the load for running back Derrick Henry. The league's reigning rushing champion quite literally carried Tennessee through the postseason last year, as he rushed for 446 yards and two touchdowns in three playoff games. Henry has the third-most carries in the NFL over the last three seasons and is coming off a year where he was just the third running back to eclipse 300 carries in the past three years. To say he had a heavy workload in 2019 (303 carries) would be an understatement.
"We'll see how the season evolves for him and see what happens with the other running back spot," offensive coordinator Arthur Smith said earlier this month. "But Derrick has done a great job the last couple of years, especially down the stretch. We'll have to see how it evolves during the season."
The Titans worked to get deeper at both of these positions this offseason, but it remains to be seen if that depth can do enough to keep stars like Landry and Henry fresh.
