How Titans Defense Will Plan for Life Without Jeffery Simmons

The Tennessee Titans' defensive line is going to look much different without Jeffery Simmons between the trenches. 

That's pretty obvious. 

For one, there's now the loss of his production.

Simmons has 38 total tackles, four sacks, six TFLs, one forced fumble and one fumble recovery. Jacob Martin and Jermaine Johnson are now the leaders in sacks with Simmons out of the picture. 

Martin has 3.5, while Johnson is behind him with three. 

The Titans are losing a leader in the locker room as well, so someone will have to step up and be that for the Titans with him gone now. 

Head coach Robert Saleh will have to get creative to make up for the loss of Simmons. He had media availability on Friday and was asked if the Titans will draw up more blitzes in the future. 

Saleh believes that every game is going to be different with blitzing. 

"Every game is going to be independent. You know, against Indianapolis, we pressured a little bit more. Against Cleveland, we didn't. So every game is going to be independent. It's not necessarily we lose a pass rusher, so now we've got to blitz cause they're still making sure that our back end is put in position to be successful also. They've got elite skill guys, so the more you bring, the more 1-on-1s you're creating in the back end. So, we'll be diligent. We've got a game plan. We'll execute it the best we can." 

The Titans were able to affect Daniel Jones plenty in the 26-20 win in Week 6 over the Indianapolis Colts. They sacked Jones six times. 

Then, they changed things up and didn't go after Deshaun Watson very much in the following game. We'll have to wait and see how much Saleh chooses to pressure Joe Burrow. 

The trade gives younger players like Femi Oladejo and Keldric Faulk a chance for more playing time, as Robert Saleh said at a recent press conference. 

Oladejo hasn't been very active on the defensive line lately. However, he did make a great play on special teams back in Week 6, scooping up a blocked punt for a touchdown against the Indianapolis Colts. 

Oladejo has been a rotational player so far but does have one sack in seven games. He also has 10 total tackles and one TFL. 

Faulk recorded the first sack of his Titans career in Week 3 against the New York Giants. He's been primarily used as a depth piece at edge rusher. He has yet to miss a game and should see more snaps with Simmons no longer on the team. 

The Titans will need to do their best to affect Burrow on Sunday. The Cincinnati Bengals do not give up sacks very often. Burrow has been sacked 10 times this season, which ranks sixth in the NFL. 

It's going to be a tougher task without Simmons there to eat up double teams and allow other players to get free in between the trenches. 

The Titans will need to plan their blitzes accordingly, or they could get burned. We'll see what the Titans have in store for their first game since the Simmons trade. 

Kickoff is set for noon CT on CBS.