A Titans rookie emerged as a defensive powerhouse during an otherwise disappointing loss, leaving coaches with a major roster dilemma ahead of the clash against Philadelphia.
In the aftermath of Sunday's game, it's been hard to find things to feel about regarding the Tennessee Titans.
They lost to the New York Jets 23-10 at Nissan Stadium and looked like they weren't even playing the same sport for most of the game.
The fact that the Titans scored their first touchdown in garbage time was painful enough.
One player who gave fans hope was linebacker Anthony Hill Jr. He was one of the few bright spots in the game, and he wasn't supposed to be starting initially.
Hill led the Titans with 16 total tackles. He was also the highest-graded rookie from Week 1, which is surprising given how bad the rest of the team played.
Hill had a PFF grade of 78.7 from the game. He did better than Genesis Smith (77.5), Gabe Jacas (77.3), Jaishawn Barham (75.9) and Josiah Trotter (72.8).
The only reason that Hill was starting was because of the injury to linebacker Cedric Gray. Gray was involved in a UTV accident during Labor Day Weekend.
Robert Saleh said leading up to the game that there was a chance he could clear the NFL's concussion protocol by the end of the week. Gray was ruled out for the game on the final injury report.
This put the Titans in an interesting position.
They decided to trust Hill, and it paid off, even though the team struggled overall. Hill is taking the humble route even though what he did in his first start was remarkable.
He wasn't very concerned with his performance and just wanted the team to get a win on Sunday.
It seems the Titans will have another big decision to make regarding Hill in Week 2. Saleh expressed confidence that Gray would clear the concussion protocol and return against the Philadelphia Eagles.
With Gray expected to be back in the starting lineup, what will the Titans do with Hill?
He definitely made a case for more playing time with his play against the Jets. The Titans called up Mohamoud Diabate to be one of the off-ball linebackers.
If Hill and Gray are both available, do the Titans send Diabate back down to the practice squad? Cody Barton got plenty of snaps with Hill starting at linebacker, too.
It's clear he's still going to be a big part of the team's plans going forward.
It'll be interesting to see what the Titans decide with the Eagles coming to town. Kickoff is at noon CT on Fox.
