The Tennessee Titans haven’t had much use for wide receiver Josh Gordon since signing him to the practice squad last month, with the 31-year-old playing just 24 snaps and seeing one target over two games played.
Last week, Gordon wasn’t elevated from the practice squad like he was for the previous two contests, but chances are that won’t be the case this week with Tennessee needing help at the position.
The Titans already had question marks at wide receiver, but now they’ll be even more uncertain at the position with the turf toe injury to Treylon Burks, which will almost certainly force the rookie to miss a few games.
With Burks sidelined, that leaves just four receivers on the 53-man roster in Robert Woods, Nick Westbrook-Ikhine, Kyle Philips and Cody Hollister. Gordon will almost certainly get the elevation on Sunday, and it’s quite possible the team will sign him to the active roster entirely.
The interesting caveat here is that Gordon can only be elevated one more time before the Titans have to sign him to the active roster. Perhaps he’ll receive one more audition before the Titans promote him or let him go.
Gordon says he’s feeling more and more comfortable with the offense now that he’s had time to get acclimated but isn’t sure how he’ll be used if he plays on Sunday.
“It’s coming along. I’ve kind of just got to go at it day-by-day, step-by-step and wait for my opportunity and make sure I’m ready,” Gordon said, per Terry McCormick of Titan Insider. “But I’m pretty comfortable right now with the plays and I’ve got all the help I can get from the coaches and my teammates with the plays and everything like that. It’s just a matter of where they might feel the most use for me, and get the most use out of me, whether it be in the slot or outside. I’m not 100 percent sure, but we’ll find out.”
Despite the fact that Gordon hasn’t posted significant production in years, the veteran remains confident he can help this team out. In reality, the Titans just need a competent receiver who can help piece this passing attack together.
“Most definitely,” Gordon replied when asked if he’s confident in himself. “If I’m called on, I think I’ll be able to execute and make some plays if they need me to, in whichever capacity I’m called upon. If not, I’ll be there to support whoever’s up.”
While there’s no guarantee the Titans will indeed deploy Gordon on Sunday, they’d be crazy not to, as Tennessee’s short-handed receiving corps. will need all hands on deck this week.
And who knows, maybe Gordon can surprise us.
