The Tennessee Titans entered the Week 5 contest against the Indianapolis Colts with multiple starters to replace due to injury. The two starters who were absent were defensive lineman Teair Tart and wide receiver Treylon Burks.
Tart’s absence proved to be the bigger one, as the Titans’ run defense had its worst showing in quite some time, with 117 of Colts running back Zack Moss’ 165 rushing yards coming up the middle, per Next Gen Stats.
Buy Titans TicketsBurks’ absence wasn’t exactly insignificant, though.
Outside of wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins eight-catch, 140-yard game, Titans receivers tallied just one reception for nine yards and Tennessee’s second-leading receiver was running back Tyjae Spears.
So, how did the Titans fill the voids at wide receiver and nose tackle with the absences of Burks and Tart? And how much playing time did wide receiver Kyle Philips get in his first game back?
Find out that and more as we analyze the Titans’ snap counts from the frustrating Week 5 loss to the Colts on Sunday afternoon.
Snap counts and analysis: Offense
-Hopkins led all Titans receivers with 52 snaps, the first time he’s gotten the most snaps at the position all season. Nick Westbrook-Ikhine had the second-most with 42 and Chris Moore was the biggest beneficiary of Burks’ absence with 37 snaps. Unfortunately, neither he nor NWI did anything.
-In his first game of the season following his return from a MCL injury, Philips played 13 snaps. He was non-existent in the passing game and his only contribution was a 12-yard punt return.
-Derrick Henry played just six more snaps than Tyjae Spears. Their snap counts continue to be a nearly-even split week in and week out.
-Josh Whyle played a career-high 22 snaps. He did have a clutch catch on the Titans’ final offensive drive to move the chains but was quiet outside of that. Trevon Wesco tallied 28 snaps, marking the smallest difference in snap counts between the two in any game this season.
Snap counts and analysis: Defense
-Kyle Peko saw his highest snap count of the season with Tart out. Naquan Jones and Jaleel Johnson chipped-in with 21 and 14 snaps, respectively.
-After head coach Mike Vrabel said he’d see more playing time during the week, Trevis Gipson had just six more snaps than he did in Week 4. The Titans are clearly intent on not using him.
-Amani Hooker, Kevin Byard, Sean Murphy-Bunting and Azeez Al-Shaair played every snap. Kristian Fulton, Jeffery Simmons and Roger McCreary weren’t far behind, playing 95, 94 and 94 percent, respectively.
-Elijah Molden played just 10 snaps. It might be time to dust him off and get him in the slot if the Titans decide to replace Fulton on the outside with McCreary.
More from Week 5
