Brock Expects to be 'Ready To Go' by Sunday
NASHVILLE – Tramaine Brock ripped open one of the boxes on the floor in front of his locker, looked inside and pulled out one item. With that, he began to settle into the Tennessee Titans’ locker room Wednesday afternoon.
When it comes to fitting into the defense, the veteran cornerback planned a decidedly different approach. He wants to dive right in.
“It’s just a lot of mental work,” he said. “A lot of studying, just time after practice and time after meetings. I feel like I’ll be ready to go Sunday. It’s a lot of different communication words, but as far defenses, I’ve played in a lot of different defenses. So, I should be ready to go Sunday.”
If experience counts for anything, the 31-year-old ought to be able to navigate the learning curve pretty quickly. In a 10-year career that started when he made the San Francisco 49ers roster as an undrafted rookie in 2010 and includes time with three other franchises, Brock has appeared in 113 regular season contests. That makes him the most among members of the Titans’ secondary. Cornerback Logan Ryan is close with 105 appearances and safety Kenny Vaccaro is next with 93.
Changing teams midseason, though, is something new. The Arizona Cardinals waived him Monday. The Titans claimed him Tuesday and he was on a plane to Nashville that evening.
“As soon as I got the call, I had to pack up some stuff and get ready for the flight,” he said. “… It’s a new journey. I’ve never been in this position, but it’s all football.”
That’s what the Titans hope as well. They are not sure how they will use Brock, coach Mike Vrabel said Wednesday, but they definitely could use another cornerback with Malcolm Butler on injured reserve and two others, Adoreé Jackson and LeShaun Sims, battling injuries.
“He’s played a lot of snaps and played on Sunday,” Vrabel said. “… We’ll see how it goes this week. We’ll see how he does and how he reacts to what we do and to our terminology and our scheme. As much as a he can handle, we’ll try to give him.”
Brock also has playoff experience few of his new teammates can match. He appeared in eight postseason contests for the 49ers (2011-13) and two more with Minnesota (2017). He was a starter for the 49ers in 2013, when they reached the NFC Championship, and a backup a year earlier when they played in Super Bowl XLVII.
With Arizona, he was not going to get anywhere near the postseason this year. With the Titans (7-5), winners of five of their last six, he gets the opportunity to jump into the middle of the AFC playoff chase.
“That’s the best part,” he said. “Coming from the Cardinals, where we were (3-9), not in the playoffs, coming to a team that’s in the playoffs [chase]. That’s exciting to go out and make some plays.”
