Yesterday, Tom Pelissero of NFL Network reported that only nine players were currently carrying a reserve/COVID designation across the entire league. Three weeks into training camps featuring approximately 2,560 active players and hundreds of coaches and support staff members, that’s an excellent number and a very promising for the prospect of the upcoming NFL season.
Originally tweeted by Tom Pelissero (@TomPelissero) on August 20, 2020.
The Titans had two of those nine players as of yesterday, but they are now down to just one — outside linebacker Josh Smith — as defensive lineman Jack Crawford has been removed from the list and added to the active roster.
As a reminder, the reserve/COVID list can be used for a player who tests positive OR a player who comes in contact with someone who has tested positive and needs to be quarantined. The team cannot reveal which circumstance applies to specific situations, but the good news is that Crawford is healthy now and has cleared the required protocols to return to action.
I suspect we will see him hit the practice field today for the first time since August 7th. That’s good news as the 31-year old defensive lineman is expected to serve as a starting defensive end in the Titans 3-4 base defense alongside Jeffery Simmons and DaQuan Jones.
The Titans have remained relatively healthy through the first three weeks of camp and now have just one player who is expected to make the final roster on a reserve list in outside linebacker Vic Beasley, who remains on the reserve/Non-Football Injury list due to a failed physical after arriving to camp 10 days late. Players like Kenny Vaccaro, Kareem Orr, and Kamalei Correa have missed some time with minor injuries, but none of those three are expected to be out long.
After a day off on Wednesday, the Titans return to the practice field this morning so we should have more updates on the status of those players soon.
