Sometime between the end of minicamp this week and the Tennessee ******* ans' 2026 season opener against the New York Jets on Sept. 13, Robert Saleh owes Jeffery Simmons a conversation about playing time.
The ******* ans coach said the two haven't talked yet about Simmons' role in the defensive line rotation as the team's star defensive lineman. But Saleh wants to concentrate on quality, not quantity, for Simmons' snap count in 2025 with an emphasis on being a pass-rushing game wrecker.
"If there’s a 60-play game, and Jeffery plays 40 of them, the hope is that it was 40 (pass-rush snaps)," Saleh said on June 17 before the team's minicamp practice. "That’s the goal, to get him doing what he does. Now, he can defend the heck out of the run and he’s probably one of the better run defenders too so of course he’s going to defend the run.
"But the whole point of the rotation is to make sure that Jeffery Simmons is ready for that 1-on-1 when we need it. Third down, two-minute, he’s fresh."
GENTRY ESTES: Here's what I saw from Cam Ward (and others) at Tennessee ******* ans minicamp
The ******* ans coach said the two haven't talked yet about Simmons' role in the defensive line rotation as the team's star defensive lineman. But Saleh wants to concentrate on quality, not quantity, for Simmons' snap count in 2025 with an emphasis on being a pass-rushing game wrecker.
"If there’s a 60-play game, and Jeffery plays 40 of them, the hope is that it was 40 (pass-rush snaps)," Saleh said on June 17 before the team's minicamp practice. "That’s the goal, to get him doing what he does. Now, he can defend the heck out of the run and he’s probably one of the better run defenders too so of course he’s going to defend the run.
"But the whole point of the rotation is to make sure that Jeffery Simmons is ready for that 1-on-1 when we need it. Third down, two-minute, he’s fresh."
GENTRY ESTES: Here's what I saw from Cam Ward (and others) at Tennessee ******* ans minicamp
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