Friday Injury Report: Casey to Miss a Second Game for First Time

Pro Bowl defensive lineman was one of three Titans ruled out for Sunday's game against Kansas City

NASHVILLE – There have not been many times that the Tennessee Titans have had to play without Jurrell Casey. Good thing too.

In the NFL, there is always another player ready to step in when one gets hurt. Casey, though, is particularly difficult to replace.

“He’s a great leader for us, a great veteran player, a very instinctive player,” coach Mike Vrabel said Thursday. “He’s a smart player. He’s passed through the normal D-line protocol. [Now], he can kind of tell you what the linebackers are doing. He pays attention in meetings and he focuses. I can kind of see him following along if I’m talking to another player in a squad meeting, and he kind of understands football very well.”

Casey joined Titans as a third-round draft pick in 2011 and missed just three games in his first eight seasons, never more than one in a season.

Friday, the four-time Pro Bowler was one of three from Tennessee ruled out for Sunday’s game against the Kansas City Chiefs at Nissan Stadium, which will make it the first time he sits out consecutive contests. A shoulder injury sustained during a fourth-down tackle that preserved the Oct. 27 victory over Tampa Bay also sidelined Casey for last week’s loss at Carolina. He has not practiced at all for the past two weeks.

Previously, injuries sidelined Casey for just one game in three different seasons (2013, 2016 and 2018), although the last two times it was in the final week of the schedule. The Titans are 2-2 when Casey does not play, but they have lost the last two – last year’s finale against Indianapolis, which cost them a playoff spot.

“I think the health of our team is always critical – the health of our veteran players, our frontline players,” Vrabel said. “… They’re all hard to replace. We don’t have that many guys, so when guys go down, we’ve got to get the next guy ready and go from there. … But, they’re all hard to replace, and certainly Jurrell.”

Also ruled out were tight end Delanie Walker (ankle) and inside linebacker Jayon Brown (groin). Walker has missed the last two games. Brown missed one game and most of another last month due to his issue.

Wide receiver Corey Davis (hip) is doubtful.

The complete Titans-Chiefs injury report for Friday:

TENNESSEE

Sunday status

Out: Jayon Brown, ILB (groin), Jurrell Casey, DT (shoulder), and Delanie Walker, TE (ankle).

Doubtful: Corey Davis, WR (hip).

To be determined

Limited participation: Rodger Saffold, G (knee).

Full participation: Ben Jones, C (concussion), Harold Landry, OLB (shoulder), Chris Milton, CB (ankle), Jeffery Simmons, DL (hamstring) and Cameron Wake, OLB (not injury related).

KANSAS CITY

Sunday status

Out: Eric Fisher, T (groin) and Alex Okafor, DE (ankle).

Questionable: Frank Clark, DE (neck), Laurent Duvernay-Tardif, G (ankle), and Kendall Fuller, CB (thumb).

To be determined

Full participation: Derrick Nnandi, DT (elbow), Dustin Colquitt, P (left thigh), Chad Henne, QB (ankle), Joe Ivie, DT (back), Chris Jones, DT (groin) and Patrick Mahomes, QB (knee).