Titans defensive tackle Jeffery Simmons closed out the 2025 season with some of his best play.
Simmons had 26 tackles, seven tackles for loss, 4.5 sacks, three passes defensed, and two forced fumbles in the team’s final five games. One of those tackles for loss resulted in a safety in Tennessee’s win over the Chiefs.
The NFL announced on Thursday that Simmons has been named the AFC’s defensive player of the month for the first time in his career.
Simmons’ 4.5 sacks in December and January’s games pushed him to a career-high 11 for the season. He’ll be hoping that his play contributes to a few more wins once the Titans return to action in 2026.
Two more teams are interested in talking to 49ers defensive coordinator Robert Saleh about their head coaching vacancy.
Albert Breer of SI.com reports that the Titans and Falcons have submitted requests for interviews with Saleh. The Cardinals did the same earlier this week.
Saleh will be able to interview virtually with any of those teams after the 49ers play the Eagles on Sunday.
Saleh was the 49ers’ defensive coordinator from 2017 to 2020 and left to become the Jets’ head coach. He was 20-36 before being fired during the 2024 season and he returned to the 49ers after consulting for the Packers last year.
The Titans are set to speak to Chiefs defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo about their head coaching vacancy.
Albert Breer of SI.com reports that Spagnuolo will interview with the team on Thursday. The Titans are the only team that has requested an interview with Spagnuolo at this point in the hiring process.
Spagnuolo and Titans General Manager Mike Borgonzi were both in Kansas City from 2019 to 2024. Chiefs offensive coordinator Matt Nagy was in Kansas City for the last three of those years and he is also set to interview with Tennessee, but Borgonzi said this week that he will work to separate past associations from what the Titans are looking for in their next head coach.
“You have to remove that piece,” Borgonzi said, via Turron Davenport of ESPN.com. “That biased opinion on anybody that you might have a relationship with. You have to make the best decision for the organization, and that’s really the bottom line. ‘Who is going to be the best leader and coach for this organization?’”
Spagnuolo was 10-38 over three seasons as the Rams’ head coach. He also had an interim head coaching stint with the Giants in 2017.
Matt Nagy is set to have a busy next few days of interviews.
According to Mike Garafolo of NFL Media, the Chiefs’ offensive coordinator will interview with the Raiders and Titans on Thursday before meeting with the Cardinals on Friday.
Nagy, 47, was the Bears head coach from 2018-2021, accumulating a 34-31 record with one division title and two postseason appearances. He was named AP coach of the year in 2018.
He has worked under Andy Reid for much of his career, starting out as a coaching intern with the Eagles in 2008 and moving to the Chiefs with Reid in 2013 as quarterbacks coach.
Nagy was Kansas City’s offensive coordinator from 2016-2017 before his stint with the Bears, returning in 2022 as senior assistant and quarterbacks coach. He was promoted to offensive coordinator in 2023.
Titans G.M. Mike Borgonzi worked with Nagy in Kansas City before being hired in Tennessee last year.
At a time when all numbers are up for the NFL, one number is down.
Attendance.
Sports Business Journal reports that average crowd size dropped for the first time since the pandemic ended, with 69,055 per game.
The percentage of available inventory sold to fans dropped from 98.3 percent to 97.6 percent, with 12 teams selling 100 percent of their tickets.
Three teams were under 93 percent: the Jaguars (91 percent), the Jets (90.8 percent), and the Titans (85.2 percent). The Titans had the biggest drop in attendance, by 9.1 percent. The Jets saw a 5.1-percent decrease, and the definitely not dysfunctional Browns had a 3.9-percent reduction.
The 69,055 average attendance remains the fifth highest since Sports Business Journal began tabulating attendance in 2004.
