A.J. Brown's Impassioned Pleas for Julio Jones Reveal Important Truth
A.J. Brown has done his best to keep people entertained during the offseason.
From his social media posts about his desire to be one of the NFL’s best wide receivers to his anesthesia-fueled revelation about two knee surgeries at once to – more recently – his public pleas for Julio Jones to join the Tennessee Titans, the Pro Bowl wide receiver has been must-see-Twitter/Instagram/Tik Tok.
He has been funny. He has been interesting. He has been enlightening.
Forget for a moment the fact that his sales pitches to Jones are pointless. The seven-time Pro Bowl wide receiver is not a free agent on the hunt for a new team.
The Atlanta Falcons have Jones under contract and intend to trade him, which means they will send him to whichever team makes the best offer. According to recent reports, that might just be the Titans. If it happens, Brown’s reaction undoubtedly will be something to see.
More importantly, though, Brown’s desire to see Jones in the huddle and on the line of scrimmage with him speaks to a deep and serious truth about the current state of the Titans.
Their pass catchers are not good enough. It’s that simple.
Wide receiver Corey Davis and tight end Jonnu Smith are gone via free agency. Adam Humphries was released, and he is gone too. Kalif Raymond no longer is around either. That’s three of last season’s top five – and four of the top 10 – in receptions. That quartet along with a couple others no longer on the roster accounted for 18 of last season’s 33 touchdown receptions.
To date, the Titans have not done enough to replenish that part of the offense. One wide receiver, Josh Reynolds, was added in free agency and two others, Dez Fitzpatrick and Racey McMath, came on board during the third day of the NFL Draft. Smith’s departure has left a hole at tight end that is yet to be filled.
Brown is a Pro Bowler and a two-time 1,000-yard receiver. He is a No. 1 receiver in every sense of the word, from his size and strength to his ability to turn short throws into big gains and his knack for making big plays in big moments.
But he doesn’t want to do it alone. Or, perhaps he is concerned that he can’t do it alone.
It is no wonder Brown is desperate for someone the caliber of Jones to join the offense – and that he is so willing to say so publicly.
Think about it. A year ago, Tennessee had every opportunity and plenty of reasons to want to pursue Tom Brady, the most successful quarterback in NFL history. No one, not Brown or anyone else on the offense, took to Twitter and called for that to happen. Ryan Tannehill is no Tom Brady, but he is a plenty good NFL quarterback, and his teammates were more than happy to have him run the huddle for another season.
When the Jacksonville Jaguars surprisingly released running back Leonard Fournette, no one said a word. And why would they? Derrick Henry was firmly positioned on his throne as the king of the offense.
Conversely, Taylor Lewan made good use of Twitter and made it known that he very much wanted free agent defensive end Jadeveon Clowney to sign with the Titans. Lewan, of course, plays on offense but he probably knew better than anyone that the defense needed help. No doubt, he saw a dramatic difference between the caliber of guys against which he practiced during the weeks and the ones against which he played on Sundays.
Titans management waited and worked throughout the entire offseason, and eventually signed Clowney.
Of course, the player they got was not the one they wanted. He had no sacks in eight games before he underwent season-ending knee surgery, and the pass rush bottomed out and finished with the third fewest sacks in the league.
A similar risk exists with Jones. He is coming off a season in which injuries limited him to nine games played. He has had just one season of 100-plus catches in the last five years. He is 32 years old.
But the need is also obvious.
Brown knows that as well as anyone. And he has not been afraid to say it.
