Earlier in the day it was reported that the Tennessee Titans and defensive lineman Jeffery Simmons have spoken about a contract extension, but we might’ve gotten a sign that things aren’t going so well.
Simmons has stopped following the Titans on Instagram and has even removed the pictures of himself donning Titans gear, ESPN’s Turron Davenport noticed on Sunday.
Here’s a screenshot of Simmons’ profile, which is noticeably missing any mention of the Titans.
On top of the move on Instagram, Simmons has also apparently taken down his Twitter profile, as a search on the platform doesn’t reveal a result.
We’ve seen this story before where a player unfollows his team and removes any mention of them from their social media. The most recent examples are Kyler Murray and Deebo Samuel, both of whom eventually re-upped with their respective teams.
However, A.J. Brown did something similar last year when he scrubbed “Tennessee” from his Twitter account before being traded nine days later.
So, while it is at least a little troubling, don’t go panicking just yet.
Simmons commented on his contract situation last month, saying he was “very confident” he and the Titans would get an extension done. Simmons also heaped praise on new general manager Ran Carthon, saying the new Titans exec told him he was one of his priorities.
“We had a great talk, and him saying I am one of his priorities, that meant a lot,” Simmons said. “I feel like he is the person for this job. There’s not much I can say especially with talk of the contract — my (agent) is handling that. But whenever we get to that point — I feel very confident that I’ll be here in Tennessee, and I want to be in Tennessee. So, we’ll see how that goes.”
I just can’t see the Titans not getting something done with one of their best players, especially after the A.J. Brown debacle. Hopefully there’s no fire with this smoke.