Titans Lose T’Vondre Sweat to Injury
NASHVILLE, Tenn. – The Tennessee Titans will be without their starting defensive tackle, T’Vondre Sweat, when they face the Indianapolis Colts on Sunday. The Titans placed Sweat on the reserve/injured list on Saturday.
Sweat suffered an ankle injury in the Titans’ season-opening loss to the Denver Broncos. The 6-foot-4, 366-pound lineman was unavailable for last week’s game against the Los Angeles Rams.
Sweat worked on a side field during Wednesday’s practice and was seen lightly jogging before participating in the individual period on Thursday. The Titans ruled out Sweat for Week 3 after he missed practice on Friday.
According to NFL Next Gen Stats, with both starting interior defensive linemen, Jeffery Simmons and Sweat, on the field last season (309 run plays), the Titans’ defense allowed 4.3 yards per carry, the tenth-lowest in the league. With either Sweat or Simmons (96 run plays), the Titans allowed 4.7 yards per carry (the sixth-highest). The average rises to 5.2 yards per carry without Sweat or Simmons on the field (98 run plays), which would be the highest mark in the league.
Colts running back Jonathan Taylor ran for 218 yards the last time he faced the Titans in Week 16. Sweat played 40 plays before he was poked in the eye and missed the rest of the game.
Veteran defensive tackle James Lynch will see most of the action while Sweat is out. The Titans used the standard practice squad elevation for defensive tackle Carlos Watkins on Saturday.
