Defensive coordinator Gus Bradley is hailing a safety as a versatile cornerstone, trusting the former Jet to stabilize Tennessee’s secondary through his deep knowledge of the system.
The Tennessee Titans are entering their first season with Gus Bradley as the defensive coordinator.
He's going to work closely with head coach Robert Saleh but will still have a big role in how things operate on the defensive side of the ball.
Bradley is one of the former head coaches on the Titans' staff. He was previously the head coach of the Jacksonville Jaguars from 2013-16. Since then, he's been the defensive coordinator for the Los Angeles Chargers (2017-20), the Las Vegas Raiders (2021), and the Indianapolis Colts (2022-24).
The Titans are set to debut their new Nike Rivalry uniforms against Bradley's old team, the Jaguars, on Nov. 15 at Nissan Stadium.
Last season, he was an assistant HC with the San Francisco 49ers.
He now has his work cut out for him at the Titans. The Titans allowed the seventh-most passing yards (248.3) and the fifth-most points per game (28.1) last season. Tennessee also had the seventh-fewest takeaways (14) and ranked 14th in sacks, with 42 as a team.
One of the main issues with the Titans last year was the inconsistency at cornerback. The Titans traded Roger McCreary and Jarvis Browlee Jr. at the deadline. Before that, L'Jarius Sneed went down with an injury that knocked him out for most of the season.
Darrell Baker, Jalyn Armour-Davis, Micah Robinson, Marcus Harris and Kevin Winston all spent time at cornerback.
The Titans have attempted to rebuild the secondary with Alontae Taylor and Cor'Dale Flott. They also added many other depth pieces.
Tony Adams was brought in earlier in the offseason. The safety has a connection to Saleh since they were on the New York Jets together.
He hasn't had a loud preseason by any means, and has kind of gone under the radar. At a recent press conference, Bradley mentioned how versatile and valuable Adams is to the secondary, as someone who can play safety and nickel.
"He's got great versatility," Bradley said. "So, he'll be safety. He can also play nickel. He brings great energy and great spirit when he's in the game. There's a sense of calm with him. He understands, by playing in the system, the standard that it takes. So valuable to all aspects of our defensive unit. There's tremendous trust in him. Whether he's playing nickel, safety, or free safety, strong safety, it doesn't matter. He's got a lot of plays under his belt in this system."
Adams could be a useful player in the secondary, especially with the number of young players returning for the Titans. Robinson and Harris are both coming back but have limited experience.
Winston is in the same boat, even though he played cornerback and safety last year.
Until the Titans feel like those three guys are ready for bigger roles, Adams can come in and teach them what he knows to help them along.
Having a veteran who already knows the system like Adams does is extremely valuable and often goes under appreciated.
