Tennessee Titans outside linebacker Rashad Weaver took a few weeks to rest his body after the 2022 campaign, but after that it was right to work in preparation for the 2023 season.
Weaver says he went into “hibernation mode” for two weeks after the Titans’ season ended in Week 18, which entailed him getting a ton of sleep to help his body recover.
From there, it was on.
Weaver hooked up with “Monster Maker” trainers and worked on getting bigger and stronger via a vigorous offseason regimen that included three-hour stints in the weight room.
On his off days (if you want to call them that), Weaver did 50-yard sprints up hills to work on his speed, leg strength and drive.
And it appears all that hard work has paid off thus far, with Weaver noting how much of a difference he feels in himself from where he was last year.
“[Weaver’s offseason regimen] entails workouts for three hours in the weight room, where you lay on the ground and say: ‘I hate this’ every day,” Weaver explained, per Jim Wyatt of Titans Online. “And on the off days you go run hills, 50-yard sprints up the hills that’s working your speed and your leg strength and your drive.
“But I know it’s working, because I can feel the difference. And, the easiest way to know something is working is when you see the difference or other people see the difference in you and they make remarks about you.
“For someone like me, it just makes me want to keep going.”
Another part of his offseason work was watching film of himself and taking notes.
Among the things Weaver noticed was his lower-body strength wasn’t where he wanted it to be, something he partly blames on leg injuries suffered in recent years, one of which occurred during his rookie campaign.
Now, Weaver feels he’s added enough strength in that area, also, to better “bully guys” at the point of contact.
“The biggest thing for me (to focus on) was strength, and that’s where I put a lot of work in this offseason,” he said. “I’d never been a huge weight room guy, but coming off leg injuries in the past, those are things that knock your leg strength back.
“So now I can go out here and really bully guys and have play strength and play through contact and finish a lot of things that were really just right there last year, and really be better overall. … These are grown men out there.”
Even with the shortcomings Weaver detailed, he did show flashes of being an impact pass-rusher in his second season, with the Pittsburgh product tallying five sacks over the first 10 weeks before being shut out the rest of the way.
Looking ahead to 2023, Weaver figures to be third on the depth chart behind Harold Landry and Arden Key, but he should still have a sizeable role as a rotational piece who can play standing up and with his hand in the dirt.
And, if his offseason work proves to really pay dividends through his play on the field, Weaver could earn himself an even bigger role as the season progresses.
