Casey's Knowledge Creates Problems for Titans

Defensive tackle Jurell Casey won't have to wait too long to face the team he played 139 games for since 2011.

Casey will wear the Denver Broncos' colors instead of the Tennessee Titans’ two-toned blue in the Monday Night Football matchup that concludes the NFL’s opening week of games. Even before kickoff, he plans to help the Broncos get a leg up on his former team.

“Definitely, I’m pretty sure that’s going to come as soon as we get started next week [helping the Broncos plan for the Titans],” Casey said last week. “First meeting in the week we’re going to sit down and start hammering out things, what they need tips on, what they need help on. Whatever they ask me for, the knowledge I remember, I’ll make sure I give it to them.”

After nine seasons with the Titans, including the last two (2018, 2019) with current head coach Mike Vrabel, Casey could have a pretty good idea of what Tennessee wants to do on both offense and defense. Vrabel acknowledged that the Titans will need to approach their gameplan with caution for that exact reason.

“That happens a lot in the league, but just speaking personally on Jurrell, he did,” Vrabel said. “He was one of those players that would pay attention when I was talking to the offense about the situation in two-minute, and he would dial in, even though I might be talking to an offensive player, I think he was a player that was engaged.”

While Casey will be able to provide his new teammates and coaches in Denver with some intel on the Titans, he will by all indications be motivated to perform well against his former team.

The Titans traded Casey to Denver in March in exchange for a seventh-round draft pick and soon thereafter, he said the decision left him “confused and hurt.” Months later, Casey again expressed his displeasure, saying the Titans treated him “like a piece of trash” with the trade.

Selected by Tennessee in the third round of the 2011 NFL Draft, Casey is a five-time Pro Bowler and earned All-Pro honors in 2013. Casey reached the playoffs twice with the Titans (2018, 2019) and recorded 51 sacks, 493 tackles and 84 tackles for a loss in nine seasons. In addition, his 137 starts on defense are the most by any Titans player since the start of 1999 season.

“Obviously, have the utmost respect for Jurrell (Casey) and what he did for our organization,” Vrabel said. “He did know our defense extremely well. He did. He was one of those players that we talk about that knows more than just his position. We moved him around, I felt comfortable putting him in other places.”

As the matchup draws near, the Titans will have Casey on their minds for what he can do on the field during a game and off it in preparation.

Vrabel said that as always, the Titans will “have to be careful.”

“We know his skillset, we know a lot of the players’ skillsets that Denver has,” Vrabel said. “Even that our guys know what we're doing on defense, it's not always as easy as it sounds once you're out there thinking about your call and what may be happening with hearing what the other team is doing.”