Andrew Nelles / The Tennessean via Imagn Content Services, LLC
Titans Bring Back Former Special Teams Star
Josh Kalu made the play that arguably kick-started the Tennessee Titans’ run to the 2019 AFC Championship game.
Saturday, the veteran defensive back returned to the Titans in an attempt to re-start his NFL career.
Tennessee signed Kalu, whose last regular-season appearance was in the final game of 2020. He spent all last season on injured reserve with the New York Giants.
In a corresponding move, veteran safety Rodney Clemons was released. Clemons originally joined the Titans as a member of the practice squad for the final month of the 2021 season and was signed to a futures contract for 2022 shortly after the playoff loss to Cincinnati. Undrafted in 2020, he has spent time with two NFL franchises but has yet to appear in a regular-season game.
Kalu has played 28 games in his career – all with Tennessee from 2018-20 – and has been credited with 10 tackles, one pass defensed and one forced fumble.
Roughly 80 percent of his snaps, however, have come on special teams, and he has been credited with another 15 tackles in that capacity. Also, it was there that he made his most notable impact.
His blocked field goal as time expired on Nov. 10, 2019 preserved a 35-32 victory over the Kansas City Chiefs at Nissan Stadium. That was the first of a four-game win streak and a run of five wins in the final seven games allowed the Titans to claim the final AFC playoff spot. They upset New England and Baltimore in the postseason before a loss to the Chiefs in the conference title game. He also recovered a fumble to cap the wild victory over the Patriots.
Kalu entered the NFL when Tennessee signed him as an undrafted free agent out of Nebraska in 2018.
