Titans' Jeffery Simmons Sounds Off After Broncos Loss

Tennessee Titans defensive tackle Jeffery Simmons is one of the leaders of the team as one of the only players still from the 2019 roster that went to the AFC Championship Game.

Simmons, a first-round pick in the 2019 NFL Draft, forced a fumble in the Titans' 20-12 loss against the Denver Broncos in Week 1, but he focused on some of the positives the team had in the season opener.

"That's one of the things that we've been talking about. The defense is trying to create turnovers, and we did a hell of a job at that," Simmons said postgame.

Tennessee Titans defensive tackle Jeffery Simmons runs a drill during training camp. | Denny Simmons / The Tennessean / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

"We can talk about all the good things as well, but you know what really got us beat? I'm going to keep saying it's the penalties that we had today. So after cleaning it up, that's a positive; that we did get the ball off their offense. So we took that step and now we got to take the next step and get less penalties and clean the penalties up."

The Titans are taking a step in the right direction, but penalties cost them the win against the Broncos. Simmons expressed his frustration when it came to the team's 13 penalties on the day.

"I'm sure when we go watch the tape, we'll see. But my penalty? Are they going to call it every time? I'm sure. When [Titans LB] Cody [Barton] stopped the guy's progress and I go and shove them, no matter if I thought I was trying to play through the whistle or not, I'm sure they're going to call it every time," Simmons said.

"When Cody stops progression, they're going to call it every time. At the end of the day, we have to clean up the penalties. There's a lot of good things we're going to see on tape."

The Titans play their Week 2 game against the Los Angeles Rams, which should provide another big test for the young, rebuilding teams.

Turnovers will be even more costly against the Rams if they multiply, so the Titans are going to have to clean things up in practice this week.

Make sure you bookmark Tennessee Titans on SI for the latest news, exclusive interviews, film breakdowns and so much more!