Tennessee Titans cornerback L'Jarius Sneed Johnnie Izquierdo/GettyImages

Titans Stripped of Another Defensive Playmaker

Originally posted on Tennessee Titans on SI
By Lane Mills | Last updated Oct 23, 2025 3:00 PM ET

The Tennessee Titans have endured a number of season-altering issues throughout the 2025-26 season, not the least of which being consistent, nagging injuries on both sides of the ball.

Bad Luck on Both Sides of the Ball

Offensively, the team has seen veterans and younger assets alike fall to the same ailment at different times during the year. The Titans just reinstated running back Tyjae Spears into the rotation after the third-year rusher suffered a high-ankle sprain in the preseason.

In no time at all, veteran wide receiver and previously intended first-option among Tennessee's receiving core, Calvin Ridley, tweaked his hamstring in a road game against the Raiders and has still yet to escape the dreaded IR-designation.

Now, oppositely, the Titans' defensive unit has taken a serious blow with new news regarding veteran cornerback L'Jarius Sneed. After leaving last week's eventual home loss to the New England Patriots with a quad injury, it took the team no time at all to relegate the CB to IR, seemingly confirming the relative worst about his condition.

Sneed will miss at least the next four games as he works to recover from his injury, and the Titans, in the aftermath, are reeling in an effort to piece the already thinning defense back into workable shape.

The @Titans have placed CB L’Jarius Sneed on Injured Reserve.

The Titans have promoted LB Joe Bachie from the practice squad to the team’s 53-man roster.

Also, the Titans signed WR Lance McCutcheon to the team's practice squad.

READ https://t.co/WaBkbJfskt pic.twitter.com/C4UOYS4qbq
— Jim Wyatt (@jwyattsports) October 23, 2025

An Indicative History

Sneed's current problem isn't the first for the CB, as last season - in an eerie similarity - Sneed missed the final 12 games of the campaign with a quad issue, too. Coming into the new year, both he and the Titans surely hoped that the days of shaky health were behind him; and while Sneed could still recover and return this season, his history with the injury unfortunately suggests a more complicated answer regarding both his timetable and future.

Inarguably the Titans' additional top defender alongside sneed, defensive tackle Jeffery Simmons, is also out for the time being with a hamstring injury. While Simmons is only week-to-week, the Titans will be left without two of their invaluable defensive options on the road against the scalding hot Indianapolis Colts.

A Tennessee team at full capacity would likely struggle with the 6-1 Colts at this interval in the season, but the squad as it currently stands now? Titans fans, if they haven't been for weeks already, should likely brace for the worst.

All that can be hoped now is that Tennessee either returns Sneed sooner (relatively) rather than later, or that the team finds a reliable option to plug into his spot in the indiscriminate meantime.

Either way, the foreseeable future in the Titans' secondary just got significantly bleaker.

This article first appeared on Tennessee Titans on SI and was syndicated with permission.

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