Titans Become First AFC Team in 2020 To Win All Three NFL Weekly Awards
Jeffery Simmons was the first to admit that he could have done better Sunday against the Chicago Bears.
The second-year defensive tackle had a chance for an interception early in the fourth quarter but failed to come up with it. In fairness, it was not a routine play as the 6-foot-4, 305-pounder had to leap and stretch out to try and corral the ball after outside linebacker Harold Landry had tipped a pass.
“I was pretty upset,” Simmons said after the game. “I dove for it and I kind of fell on it. … He tipped it. I ended up dropping it, true enough, but still saved a touchdown. But I should have caught that.”
Even with that “mistake,” there was no player on defense anywhere in the AFC who was better. Not in the eyes of the NFL, at least.
Simmons was named AFC Defensive Player of the Week on Wednesday.
That made the Titans the first AFC team this season to have a player win each of the league’s three weekly awards. Kicker Stephen Gostkowski was the AFC Special Teams Player of the Week in Week 3 for his six field goals against Minnesota. Running back Derrick Henry was AFC Offensive Player of the Week in Week 6 for his 212-yard, two-touchdown performance against Houston.
The Seattle Seahawks are the only NFC team to do the same.
Simmons was credited with three tackles, a forced fumble, a fumble recovery and a pass defensed against the Bears. His forced fumble, early in the third quarter, was recovered by cornerback Desmond King, who returned it 63 yards for a touchdown. His fumble recovery, with 3:46 to play, marked the only time in four fourth-quarter possessions the Bears failed to score.
“Everybody was flying around having fun (Sunday) and that's what our defense is about,” Simmons said. “That's what we want to get back to, just having that juice and flying around.”
The 2019 first-round draft pick has become a central figure for that unit in his second season. In eight games (he missed one due to the coronavirus), he is tied for seventh on the team with 28 tackles and is second with two sacks. His two fumble recoveries are a team-high, and he has registered 10 quarterback pressures, two tackles for loss, three passes defensed and one forced fumble.
He also is an emotional leader for that group.
“We have to stay on the grind and have that mindset that we're going to bring that energy every game,” Simmons said. “We're going to bring that swagger, especially on defense.”
