Devastating injuries to Jaylen Harrell and Jaren Kanak overshadow a preseason victory, forcing the Tennessee defense to adapt after losing two key contributors to season-ending tears.
The Tennessee Titans left Levi's Stadium with a 19-13 win over the San Francisco 49ers on Thursday night.
It wasn't pretty, but the team managed to win its first preseason game. Unfortunately, the Titans left the game with two significant injuries to two of their players.
A lot of the rookies from April got to see the field on offense and defense. Jaren Kanak, Carnell Tate, Fernando Carmona, Keldric Faulk, Mani Powell, Bishop Fitzgerald, Sean Brown, Jalen McMurray and many others saw the field.
Third-year players like Jaylen Harrell also got some action. Harrell had 15 plays but then left with an injury.
For Kanak, he got in for one play before exiting the game with an injury.
Saleh shared the latest on Kanak during Friday's Zoom call, revealing that it was a pectoral injury and that the team was awaiting the results of his MRI.
Things went from bad to worse for both players after Saturday's practice session. Saleh went to the podium and announced that Harrell and Kanak would be done for the year.
Harrell tore his ACL, and Kanak tore his pectoral muscle.
Saleh additionally shared that players like Tony Pollard, Nicholas Singleton, and Jacob Martin were dealing with minor injuries, and he was hopeful that they would be back for practice on Monday.
"Yeah, Harrell and Kanak will unfortunately be done for the season," Saleh said. "Harrell with his ACL. Kanak with a torn pec. I think it was a pec, right? Everyone else, just minor aches and bruises. Tony didn't practice today. Just dealing with a sore foot. Hopeful to get him back Monday. Same thing with Nick Singleton. Jacob Martin, same thing. So, there was a couple of guys with a little bit of soreness. Plus, with the travel, just felt like it would be good to give them a quick break."
Harrell was entering his third year with the Titans this year.
He was drafted out of Michigan in the seventh round of the 2024 NFL Draft. He ended up securing a spot on the team as a backup outside linebacker as a rookie. He played in all 17 games in 2024, accounting for 13 total tackles and two TFLs.
Harrell then got into the sack category last season, recording 4.5, which was the fourth most on the team.
He was in a similar position to Femi Oladejo, having to learn a new position this offseason as the Titans transitioned from a 3-4 to a 4-3 defense under Saleh.
Kanak was also a seventh-round pick, but in the 2026 NFL Draft.
The Titans selected him from Oklahoma. He started his college career as a linebacker but didn't get much playing time. He converted to a tight end last season and finished with the third-most receiving yards on the team.
Kanak was fighting for a spot in the tight end room. Heading into Thursday's game, he was listed pretty far down the depth chart. Kanak was the second-to-last tight end in the order. Joel Wilson was underneath him, and Kanak was behind David Martin-Robinson, Kylen Granson, Daniel Bellinger, and Gunnar Helm.
It's heartbreaking that both of these guys' seasons are now over before they really got a chance to begin.
This is sadly just a part of the NFL preseason.
