Casey Expects 'Great Battle' in First Game Against Titans

Pro Bowl defensive lineman says Monday's game will be no different than the 139 he played for Tennessee.

It has been a popular topic since training camp ended. It finally will be a reality on Monday night.

After spending his first nine NFL seasons with the Tennessee Titans, Jurrell Casey will face them in his first career game with the Denver Broncos.

While the extra motivation to perform well against his former teammates and coaches is surely there somewhere for him, the 30-year-old Casey said he prepared for the Week 1 matchup the same way he would have for any other game.

“I always have a mantra, ‘You have never played a bad season. You have never played a bad game,’ just keep making it on that same trend,” Casey told Broncos media last week. “Just because it’s the Titans across from me, I don’t approach the game any different.

“You attack the film study the same way. You attack practice the same way. You go out there and get the job done. That’s my whole mindset going into this game. They’re a great program. I’m looking forward to playing them.”

Over the course of nine seasons with the Titans, Casey made five Pro Bowl appearances and earned All-Pro honors in 2013 after recording a career-high 10 1/2 sacks. In 139 games with Tennessee (137 starts), Casey collected 51 total sacks, 493 tackles and 84 tackles for a loss. In five postseason contests (two in 2017, three in 2019), Casey tallied 2 1/2 sacks and 15 tackles.

The Titans traded Casey to the Broncos in March for a seventh-round draft pick. Shortly after the trade, Casey made it clear that the decision left him feeling “confused and hurt.” He followed up later in the offseason by saying the Titans treated him “like a piece of trash” with the trade.

“I was there for the last nine years,” Casey said, “helped them build to where they’re at now. It’s definitely exciting to see how they’re going to bring it.”

As the Broncos and Titans began to prepare for their Monday Night Football meeting last week, Casey said he would give the Broncos any knowledge he remembers about the Titans offensive and defensive schemes.

However, Casey knows that it goes both ways. He knows the Titans well, and the Titans know him well. H just hopes his efforts on and off the field are enough to help his new team start off the season 1-0 and send his former team back to Nashville 0-1.

“... We didn’t have a preseason this year,” Casey said. “They don’t know what I’ve been working on. I don’t know what they’ve been working on. Let’s just say we’re going to come into this game and make sure it’s a great battle. We’re going to get after it.

“At the end of the day, I’m going to make sure the Broncos are on top.”