NASHVILLE – Amani Hooker took a major step forward in his NFL career this season when the Tennessee Titans pegged him as one of their starting safeties.
After one game in that role, his progress has been halted by a foot injury.
The Titans placed Hooker on injured reserve Tuesday, which means he must miss a minimum of three games. Before he was injured Sunday, he played 36 snaps on defense and registered six tackles, one short of his career-high.
Veteran Bradley McDougald, a game-day addition to the active roster from the practice squad and made one tackle in 37 snaps. Tennessee signed McDougald to the active roster on Monday.
“We just have to go to next-man-in mentality,” safeties coach Scott Booker said Tuesday. “Obviously, (McDougald) came in and played the rest of the game at safety. That’s the thing, we’re getting everybody ready every week. It’s unfortunate that (Hooker) went down but we’re ready to go with the next man in.”
McDougald, 30, has played 106 games (82 starts) for five franchises over eight-plus NFL seasons. That includes three years as a starting safety for the Seattle Seahawks (2017-19).
The Titans play at Seattle on Sunday. Two weeks after that, they play the New York Jets, the team for which McDougald started seven games in 2020 before he sustained a season-ending shoulder injury.
Hooker, a fourth-round pick out of Iowa in 2019, was a backup to Kenny Vaccaro for the past two seasons. Nonetheless, he tied for the team lead with four interceptions in 2020.
Also Tuesday, the Titans signed tight ends Tommy Hudson and Austin Fort to the practice squad. Hudson opened the season on the active roster but was released Monday. Fort, undrafted out of Wyoming in 2019, spent the past two seasons on injured reserve with the Denver Broncos, who cut him during this season’s training camp.
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