Titans expected to be without starters L'Jarius Sneed and Lloyd Cushenberry to begin Training Camp with injury designations

The Tennessee Titans report to training camp this week, and when they hit the practice field for the first time on Wednesday, they'll be without a pair of starters.

L’Jarius Sneed To PUP

L’Jarius Sneed is expected to begin camp on the Physically Unable to Perform list (PUP), per team sources. His health has been in question ever since suffering a season-ending quad injury 5 games into his Titans tenure last fall. Since then he’s been in the thick of rehab on both his knee, a chronic ailment that requires management, and his quad, an acute and particularly unusual injury that has seemingly been a real struggle to get to heal.

Naturally, this will come as a real disappointment for Titans fans. In fact, it’s just downright frustrating. I’d say that’s a fair read on the situation for just about everyone involved, including Sneed himself. Local media only laid eyes on Sneed in quick passing at OTA’s, as he was around the building but not visible during practice. The only thing we’ve heard from him since locker clean-out day back in the winter is his interview with local station KTAL News at his hometown youth football camp in June. What he had to say then was encouraging:

“I'm healthy, I'm healthy as I've ever been. You know, last year, my first year (in Tennessee) didn't go as planned. But, you know, it's time to come out and show the world and show what God has been instilling in me this entire year. I'm ready to get back on the field, and that's my life, that's what I do for a living. And I missed a whole year, and you know, I have to remind everybody who L’Jarius Sneed is.”

Turns out, “healthy as I’ve ever been” apparently doesn’t mean quite healthy enough to return to practice. I’m not sure what L’Jarius meant by this. Perhaps he was merely saying he was in the best place with his rehab he’d been in yet, and that things were progressing.

That’s the silver lining here, because things are, apparently, really progressing. Multiple team sources emphasized to me that despite beginning camp on PUP, Sneed is on track to return to play in time for the season, and that so far things look good on that timeline. So while the timeline to practice is unclear, the timeline to play is still on schedule. We’ll have to see if that suffers any additional setbacks.

Head Coach Brian Callahan had this to say in the spring about wanting to see more from Sneed in practice this year:

"The rehab process is ongoing. He’s in a good spot. Excited about where he’s at. But there’s definitely a part where (we’d) like (him) to practice more. I think he’s on the same page too. You’ve got to balance those things. There’s a management part for a lot of players. But there’s also you’ve got to practice and get better at your craft. You need to improve. We’ll balance that."

Lloyd Cushenberry To PUP

Another Titans starter is expected to join Sneed on PUP to begin camp, and that’s center Lloyd Cushenberry.

This comes as much less of a surprise, since Cushenberry is still finishing up his recovery from a torn Achilles tendon last November. That was Week 9 of the 2024 season. Week 1 of the 2025 season will be just over 10 months removed from the initial tear.

Early reports on his progress have all been positive this summer, but he isn’t yet healthy enough to return to practice. When that time will come is unclear, and until then, rookie Cam Ward is going to have to settle for Corey Levin or Sam Mustipher as his center in camp. Now, both of these linemen are perfectly capable backups. But people rant and rave about the quarterback-center connection for a reason; they have to be on the same page to get things right pre-snap. And the longer Cushenberry is away from the field, the less time he and Ward have to build up that connection.

Achilles injuries are scary, and can be finicky to return from. It’s always been foolish for anybody to bank on Cushenberry’s return to form going perfectly smoothly this year. Click here to read more on his injury, and the odds he comes back to play high-level ball early this season.