Boclair: The Best Comeback was the Last One

NASHVILLE – Two out of three ain’t bad.

One by one, as their open date drew near, the Tennessee Titans put some of their biggest names on injured reserve. First, it was Julio Jones. Then Bud Dupree. And finally, A.J. Brown.

No one will admit it publicly, but a franchise that emphasizes a day-to-day approach actually adopted a long-term view. Clearly, coaches and franchise officials wanted those guys to get their bodies right for the stretch run and the postseason but didn’t want them to do it all at once.

Thus, one by one, in the wake of the open date, they came off injured reserve. First, it was Julio Jones. Then Bud Dupree. And finally, A.J. Brown.

Two of them (Dupree and Brown) came back looking like new men – or at least the players the Titans wanted (needed) them to be.

None more so than Brown, who dominated the second half Thursday night and almost single-handedly rallied the Titans to a 20-17 victory over the San Francisco 49ers at Nissan Stadium. It was a virtuoso performance in which he caught 11 passes for 145 yards and a touchdown that gave Tennessee (10-5) its first lead of the night 2:58 into the fourth quarter.

“I feel very grateful just to play football again,” Brown said. “I tweeted I missed playing football because I did. I was on IR watching the games, tough losses. It was tough to watch. I know it was tough for our guys to be in those games, losing those big games. It was tough for me to watch them.

“I really feel like this is my purpose of living, you know. So, it was tough.”

The third-year wide receiver accounted for more than half of his team’s 278 yards of total offense in his return to action. That was consistent with the fact that more than half of quarterback Ryan Tannehill’s 29 throws (16 of them) were intended for Brown and a distinct departure from the three games he missed (two losses), when no one among the Titans caught more than four passes in a game.

To be exact, 69 percent of the Titans’ passing offense came from Brown. According to ESPN Stats and Info, that is the highest single-game percentage this season.

“You want A.J. out there at all times,” center Ben Jones said. “He is a guy who can change the game at any point. He is the X-factor. He can go get it. He can do a lot of things with it. I love A.J. to death, and he is a guy who puts it all out there.”

The third quarter started with a drive capped by a field goal, Tennessee’s first points of the contest. Brown moved the chains twice on that 13-play possession with an 18-yard reception on third-and-7 and a 13-yard catch on third-and-10.

The third quarter ended with a 42-yard reception by Brown on third-and-23. Then, just over a minute into the fourth quarter, his 12-yard reception on third-and-10 led to his 18-yard go-ahead touchdown catch on the next play.

Eight of Brown’s 11 catches came on third down, which is the most by any NFL player in the past 40 years.

“Everybody (always) wants to fire the conditioning coach and the trainer because guys get hurt, they're also responsible for getting guys ready to come back,” coach Mike Vrabel said. “But it's on A.J. We understand how important he is to our football team. Love him as a person and glad to have him back.”

There is something to be said for star power, after all, and Brown, a second-round pick out of Ole Miss, has shown plenty of it since he entered the NFL.

He is not the only one, though. Dupree arrived on the roster this year with the glow of a five-year, $82.5 million free-agent deal, and Jones came flush with seven Pro Bowl appearances and some of the gaudiest receiving numbers in NFL history to his credit. Injury issues from their final seasons with their previous teams followed them to town. With Dupree, who had reconstructive knee surgery, it was expected. A nagging hamstring injury has been an unpleasant surprise to Jones and everyone else associated with the team.

Dupree has shown signs of life since his return. He has recorded a sack in two straight games, the first time he has done so since Nov. 15 and Nov. 22, 2020. He made four tackles against the 49ers, which was at least twice as many as he had in his previous eight appearances.

Then there is Jones. He had four receptions for a modest 33 yards in his return, but then was shutout Sunday at Pittsburgh when the hamstring issue returned and shut him down once again before the end of that game. It looks as if he never will be anything for the Titans close to what he was all those years in Atlanta.

If there is good news, it is that Jones played from start to finish against San Francisco. The bad news is that you would not have known it because he caught just one pass for seven yards.

Of course, with Brown doing his thing, there really was not much of an opportunity for anyone else in the passing game.

“I have so much fun throwing the ball to him,” Tannehill said. “He finds a way to get open. He is big, he is physical, he’s good with the ball in his hands and he makes plays on the ball. He is everything you look for in a wide receiver and I have a ton of confidence throwing him the football. No doubt it was great having him back.”

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