A.J. Brown Activated From IR, Will Face 49ers

NASHVILLE – Statistically speaking – traditional statistics, that is – A.J. Brown is having a down year.

Having played in just 10 of the first 14 games and having missed parts of several others, the Tennessee Titans wide receiver has 46 catches for 615 yards and three touchdowns. He leads the team in all three (he is tied with two others in touchdown catches) but his per game averages are all worse than last season.

There is one number that shows just how important Brown is to the offense, though, and why his return to the lineup is so important. Franchise officials returned Brown to the active roster on Thursday, which means he will play against the San Francisco 49ers in the first game of the NFL’s Week 16 slate. Additionally, cornerback Chris Jackson was removed from injured reserve and added to the practice squad, and tackle Kendall Lamm was moved to the Reserve-COVID 19 list.

In a recent analysis for The33rdTeam.com Peter Engler broke down seven advanced statistics among Pro Football Focus’ abundance of information that he feels are the most meaningful. One is receiving threat percentage, which measures “how often a quarterback/offense tries to get the ball to a certain player in the passing game,” and it is there that Brown is among the NFL leaders.

Brown has been targeted on 28 percent of the pass routes he has run. That ranks fourth behind three other notable pass catchers, Cooper Kupp of the Los Angeles Rams, Green Bay’s Davante Adams and Tampa Bay’s Antonio Brown.

“I have a ton of confidence in A.J.,” quarterback Ryan Tannehill said. “… Obviously, he is a big weapon for us.

“You look at what he has done for us over the last few years and the confidence that we have together. Just the plays he has made, some of them have been spectacular.”

In the three games Brown missed while on injured reserve, no one for the Titans caught more than four passes in a game and no one emerged as a consistent target. Nick Westbrook-Ikhine and Cody Hollister tied for the team lead against New England with two each. Anthony Firkser and Julio Jones had four each against Jacksonville, and Westbrook-Ikhine, Chester Rogers and Dontrell Hillard all had four Sunday at Pittsburgh.

Brown had five receptions or more in five of the six contests before he was sidelined.

Overall, he has been targeted 78 times. That is more than twice as many as evey other Titans receiver except Westbrook-Ikhine (47).

“A.J. is obviously an extremely talented playmaker,” offensive coordinator Todd Downing said. “He’s electric with the ball in his hands. He’s a big, strong, physical runner. Producing yards-after-catch has always been a specialty of his career. That would be an outstanding element to add at this juncture of the season.”