NASHVILLE – It looks as if the Tennessee Titans will be without wide receiver A.J. Brown as they attempt to come from behind on Sunday.
They lost their leading receiver to chest injury late in the third quarter of Sunday’s game against the Houston Texans at Nissan Stadium. Franchise officials said his return is questionable.
Brown was injured on a nine-yard reception along the Titans’ sideline with 4:09 to play in the third. He briefly received attention from the training staff before he headed to the locker room to 2:24 to go in the quarter.
Brown led the Titans with five receptions for 48 yards at the time he was hurt, and the teams trailed the Texans 19-0. As he made his way to the locker, room, however, Tennessee scored on an 18-yard Dez Fitzpatrick reception. Following a missed extra point, the Titans trailed 19-6.
The injury was Brown's second of the contest. On the second play of the game, he failed to haul in a pass from quarterback Ryan Tannehill and immediately went to the sideline because of an issue with his left hand. He came back from that one and made his first reception – a 10-yard gain for a first down – with 2:20 to play in the first quarter.
Tennessee (8-2) entered the game against Houston (1-8) without wide receiver Julio Jones, who was placed on injured reserve a week earlier.
The 2019 second-round pick out of Ole Miss entered the game as Tennessee’s leading receiver this season with 41 catches for 567 yards and three touchdowns despite the fact that he missed one full game and part of another with a hamstring injury. He also has been listed on the injury report with a knee issue in recent weeks.
Brown was particularly effective over a three-week span beginning in Week 6 when he had at least seven receptions and 91 receiving yards in victories over Buffalo, Kansas City and Indianapolis.
Brown is one of 11 players in NFL history with at least 1,000 receiving yards in each of his first two NFL seasons and was need to the Pro Bowl in 2020.
On Nov. 12, Brown revealed via social media that he has battled depression in recent years and even considered suicide during the 2020 season. Days later, he said he has learned to deal with the issues and is “in a better place mentally” these days.
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