NFL Catchup: Jeanty Injured, Kittle Activated, Browns QB Drama & More

We're finally entering the last week of the preseason, which means the regular season is right around the corner. Sunday only brought us one preseason matchup, with the Tennessee Titans taking down the Seattle Seahawks. But there was also a bit of good and bad injury news on Sunday. The San Francisco 49ers got a couple of key stars back, while the Las Vegas Raiders might be without one of their promising young players to open the year. But the biggest news of the weekend might have come on Saturday, when Cleveland Browns quarterback Deshaun Watson called out the team's fans after getting booed for his outing against the Buffalo Bills. As you begin your week, here are some of the things you need to know about what happened around the NFL this weekend. Las Vegas Raiders running back Ashton Jeanty left Sunday's practice with an ankle injury after colliding with cornerback Darien Porter while diving for a catch. However, the injury might not be as serious as initially expected. Jeanty is believed to have a high ankle sprain, according to ESPN. Jeanty remained on the ground before being helped off the field without placing weight on his right leg. Head coach Klint Kubiak planned to feature Jeanty as a focal point of the offense alongside tight end Brock Bowers. If Jeanty is forced to miss time, fourth-round rookie Mike Washington Jr. is listed second on the depth chart and would take over primary backfield duties. Jeanty recorded 975 rushing yards and five touchdowns in his 2025 rookie season. The Raiders open their regular season at home against the Miami Dolphins. The San Francisco 49ers activated tight end George Kittle from the physically unable to perform (PUP) list on Sunday. Kittle took individual reps in full pads for his first practice session since suffering a torn right Achilles in January. Running back Christian McCaffrey also returned to practice after sitting out sessions since August 10 due to tightness, participating in individual drills and team period work. Offensive coordinator Klay Kubiak spoke about the impact of having both players back on the field. "It definitely just gives us energy," Kubiak said. "It just changes things. You have two Hall of Fame-caliber players out there who are back out there and getting their work in, and they practice at a high standard, and they lift everybody up. It's good to see them back out there." Kittle expressed hope regarding his potential availability for the regular-season opener against the Los Angeles Rams while acknowledging the full length of the schedule. "I want to play in every football game that I possibly can play in but I'm also aware it's an 18-week season," Kittle said. "If you miss Week 1 and you're playing Week 2, hey, it is what it is. I'm just going to keep that as my goal and then we'll adjust from there if we need to." McCaffrey addressed his recent practice absence, explaining that the time off was part of a planned workload management strategy leading up to September. "Obviously when you don't practice, the way the media works now it's a firestorm," McCaffrey said. "But this was kind of part of the plan from the jump was to ramp up pretty big, get nine, 10 practices in, kind of come back down and then ramp back up so we're fresh for the duration. Our staff's done a great job of coming up with specific plans. And again, I feel great. I feel fresh, and it's good to be back out there." Cleveland Browns quarterback Deshaun Watson addressed fan reaction after receiving boos during Saturday's 31-7 preseason loss to Buffalo. Watson completed 5 of 12 passes for 36 yards and an interception in his first home action since his 2024 Achilles injury. Watson called the crowd reaction personal. "I think the whole world knows it has nothing to do about the performance," Watson said. "It's a little bit more personal than that." Watson recalled the crowd's reaction when he suffered his Achilles injury in 2024 when evaluating his relationship with local fans. "Last time I played on this field, I tore my Achilles. And that same fanbase, they cheered when I got hurt," Watson said. "So what does that have to do with anything about performance? When a person gets hurt, especially for your own city, and they cheer?" Our Greg Auman argues Cleveland should cut Watson, citing his bellow .500 winning percentage as the Browns starter, performance struggles, and fractured relationship with the fanbase, despite significant salary cap penalties. Asked if he held any regrets regarding his time with Cleveland, Watson doubled down. "I don't regret anything in my life," Watson said. Addressing the crowd atmosphere for the upcoming schedule, Watson noted that "maybe it's 17 away games" in terms of environment. Auman wrote that Cleveland should move on and cut Watson despite the financial impact, which includes $127 million in dead money against the salary cap over two seasons. Head coach Todd Monken told reporters he hopes to name a starting quarterback Monday, potentially bringing an end to competition between Watson and second-year quarterback Shedeur Sanders ahead of Week 1. Cam Ward put up a respectable stat line for the Titans in their victory over the Seahawks on Sunday night, even if he only led Tennessee to three points. He completed 8 of 12 passes for 69 yards over three drives, setting his team up for a 55-yard field over his outing. But the Seahawks' offensive backups had a pretty strong night. Backup quarterback Drew Lock completed 12 of 14 passes for 102 yards, including a 36-yard touchdown to tight end Elijah Arroyo, as he got the start on Sunday. Running back Jacardia Wright added a 69-yard rushing touchdown, helping Seattle take an early 16-3 lead. Seahawks rookie safety Bud Clark left Saturday's preseason game against the Tennessee Titans in the first quarter after suffering a lower leg injury on the Titans' opening offensive series. Clark was carted off the field with what appeared to be an air cast applied to his leg following the play. The second-round rookie was expected to provide depth in Seattle's secondary during his rookie season. Head coach Mike Macdonald previously told reporters about Clark's development and workload during training camp. "Bud's one of those rookies that we're asking a lot of him right now, and I'm impressed with how he's handling it," Macdonald said. "It's not perfect, but how he goes about his business is what we're looking for." With Clark facing a potentially extended absence, Seattle will look to backup safeties AJ Finley and D'Anthony Bell to step into increased depth roles. On offense, rookie first-round running back Jadarian Price has positioned himself as the clear primary back following Kenneth Walker's free-agent departure and Zach Charbonnet's ongoing recovery from a torn ACL suffered late last season. Seattle has decided to sit Price for the remaining preseason games to protect his health. Dallas Cowboys quarterback Joe Milton made a strong push for the backup job behind Dak Prescott during Saturday's preseason game against the Arizona Cardinals. Milton started the contest, completing 9 of 13 passes for 179 yards and a touchdown before giving way to Sam Howell. "I was able to go out there and showcase what I got, what we've been working hard towards this whole camp, so it was great," Milton said. Milton, who joined Dallas in 2025, stated he feels a "major difference" in his comfort level with the offense compared to a year ago as he finds himself in a competition with Sam Howell for the Cowboys backup position. "That's out of my control," Milton said about the final decision. "The only thing I'm able to do is go out there and call the play, and just make sure the offense is moving. Whatever they decide, they decide." The Cowboys will evaluate both quarterbacks through the remainder of training camp before determining their Week 1 depth chart.

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Browns Waive TE Dae’Quan Wright, Paving Way For Him To Play At LSU In Historical Move

Tight end Dae’Quan Wright is set to make history in an unusual way. The Cleveland Browns are set to waive Wright and if the tight end clears waivers, he has a commitment in place to return to college and play for LSU in 2026, ESPN reported Sunday. If Wright does wind up playing for LSU this fall, it's believed that he'll be the first player to have ever played college football after being on an NFL roster, according to ESPN. Wright, who'll turn 23 in September, is one of a handful of players who have participated in an NFL training camp this summer and have also entered their names into the transfer portal. Wright is one of a few former Ole Miss players who were granted an injunction by a judge in Louisiana this past week that allowed them another year of college eligibility. The list of plaintiffs in the lawsuit featured 16 football players among student-athletes from other sports. The Philadelphia Eagles initially signed Wright as an undrafted free agent in May. However, they waived him on Aug. 10. The Browns picked him up a day later. Wright took part in warm-ups for the Browns ahead of their preseason matchup against the Buffalo Bills on Saturday. He didn't play a snap in the game, but the fact that he was in pads while also considering a return to college made headlines. The situation with Wright also left Cleveland Browns head coach Todd Monken befuddled. "Man, isn’t this s--- crazy?" Monken told reporters. "I don’t even know what to say. As far as I know, he’s had a medical issue that wasn’t allowing him to practice. That’s a medical issue. It has nothing to do with me. He was cleared, so we dressed him just in case we had to have him." "I don’t know what to say. I wondered why [LSU head coach] Lane Kiffin reached out to me a week ago. Now I know. I didn’t call him back. I guess I should have." Wright played for Kiffin at Ole Miss over the last two seasons, logging 1,029 yards and nine touchdowns over his time with the Rebels. Now, if all goes to plan for Wright, he'll follow Kiffin to LSU after the head coach departed Ole Miss over the offseason.

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It's Time For The Browns To Move On And Cut Deshaun Watson

I keep making the mistake of thinking that things can't get worse for the Browns and quarterback Deshaun Watson. So far, the relationship has been marred by the remarkable trifecta of poor play on the field, terrible off-field red flags and an anchor of a $230 million contract that will continue to limit the franchise's ability to rebound, even after Watson is gone. Through all of that, to hear Watson speak to reporters after Saturday's home preseason loss to the Bills, there is somehow a complete lack of awareness, of remorse, of any ownership for where he is and why Browns fans booed him in his return. "I think the whole world knows it has nothing to do about the performance," Watson said. "It's a little bit (more) personal than that. I think that's a disrespectful thing." So, I'll say another thing he might consider disrespectful: The Browns need to move on and cut Watson. I say that not as an endorsement of second-year quarterback Shedeur Sanders, who would presumably step in as starter if Watson is out of the picture. Not because it's a sound move to make from a financial and salary-cap standpoint. If you're trying to move on as a franchise, you don't let Watson be part of that rebuilding just because you agreed to pay him $46 million for this season in 2022. It's the Marianas Trench of sunk costs. The worst thing about Watson's $230 million contract with the Browns is that the team has barely accounted for half of it from a salary-cap standpoint. If Cleveland cuts him before the season, it would result in $127 million in dead money, which is money that counts against the salary cap from a player no longer under contract. It would cost the Browns $41 million this year and $86 million in 2027 to cut Watson before this season. Cleveland doesn't even have $41 million in cap space right now, so it would take reworking other contracts, at the expense of future cap space, just to be done with Watson. Watson took issue with Browns fans on Saturday because some of them cheered when he tore his Achilles tendon in 2024. It's a fair gripe to have, but beyond the idea that you should never cheer an injury, he had already used up whatever goodwill he had with fans in Cleveland. Consider what $230 million has gotten them, just from a football standpoint. Watson is 9-10 as a starter, with 19 touchdown passes in those 19 games, against 12 interceptions. Of the 50 quarterbacks who have thrown 500+ passes since the start of 2022, Watson ranks 42nd in QB Rating. That's below established backups like Desmond Ridder, Gardner Minshew, Will Levis and Aidan O'Connell. Watson's time with the Browns began with a list of accusers that grew and grew until he settled with them before going to trial, an 11-game suspension and a $5 million fine, an embarrassment that understandably hasn't faded for many of their fans. Asked on Saturday if he regretted signing with the Browns, Watson said, "I don't regret anything in my life," a line that very few people can pull off with a straight face. Cleveland not only gave him $230 million but gave up three first-round picks and more to the Texans, who have made the playoffs three years in a row as a by-product of moving on from Watson, to acquire him. "I had different thoughts on how it was going to be," Watson said of his time in Cleveland, a sentiment that could be echoed by nearly anyone who's had interactions with him in the last four years. You feel for Todd Monken, who gets to become an NFL head coach at age 60, but only by accepting a team that's 8-26 in the last two years and just traded away the NFL Defensive Player of the Year. You wonder if the Browns will have patience with him, knowing that any turnaround will not be immediate. You understand why Myles Garrett would relent and allow a trade to the Rams. The Browns are poised to take a quarterback at or near the top of the 2027 NFL Draft, and frankly, any success this year makes that less likely to work out. To that end, keeping Watson and accepting his poor play might help improve the quality of his successor. Sanders isn't likely to get in the way of that either. He ranked 44th out of 45 quarterbacks with 100+ passes last season when it comes to passer rating; he ranked last in completion percentage and third-to-last in interception percentage. Anyone would be more well-liked by Browns fans, but at least you can cite the chance of improvement with Sanders, 24, compared to Watson at age 31. Watson said Saturday that he gets a warmer welcome at road games, saying of the upcoming season that "maybe it's 17 away games" in terms of how the crowd makes him feel. "Sometimes, the tables turn," he said of his future. If he's already envisioning his revenge with another NFL team, good luck with that. And if he says he's keeping his true feelings about his own fans to himself, why force those fans to be divided about their team by staying with him, by keeping him as your choice at the most important position on the field? Has Watson ever given them a real reason to cheer? He went 5-1 as a starter in 2023, but even then, three of those wins had the Browns defense hold opponents to 3, 3 and 0 points. He was more there for the win, much more than being responsible for it. When he said weeks ago that he would consider re-signing with the Browns, it was cringeworthy, like a marriage that neither side's friends wants to see continue under any circumstances. So, rip the $230 million band-aid off. Get the pain over with and start the process of putting Watson in their past, right now. When another quarterback takes the field for Thursday's preseason finale in Cleveland, the crowd will cheer. You might not know who the quarterback of your future is, yes, but there's a value in knowing who you've chosen as the quarterback of your past.

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Running Back Nick Chubb Announces Retirement From The NFL After 8 Seasons

Running back Nick Chubb has announced his retirement from the NFL on Friday, he announced via Instagram. Chubb played eight seasons in the league, competing for both the Cleveland Browns and the Houston Texans. "Twelve year old me could never imagine this day, and 30 year old me is wondering where all the time has gone. I've known for some time now, but I'm finally ready to share that I'm done playing football," Chubb wrote on Instagram. "I wanted to end my career on a healthy note, and I was able to do that." The 2018 second-rounder instantly made his mark in his rookie year with Cleveland. Chubb rushed for 996 rushing yards, eight touchdowns and added 149 receiving yards and two touchdowns through the air. On top of his impressive rookie campaign, Chubb went on to amass four consecutive 1,000-yard seasons with the Browns, which led to four Pro Bowl nods. However, Chubb suffered an injury in 2023 — on the same knee he injured in 2015 at Georgia — sidelining him for over 20 games between 2023 and 2024. While Chubb signed with the Texans in 2025, his production did not match his early-career performances pre-injury. Chubb finished the year with 568 rushing yards and three touchdowns. Not only did Chubb succeed in the NFL, but he was a legend at Georgia. As a bulldog, Chubb recorded 4,769 total rushing yards, 44 total touchdowns, an SEC Championship title and a College Football Playoff appearance in 2017. Chubb also added a note to his teammates, alluding to the setback he faced when dealing with injury: "I say this to all my brothers still on the field, still in the heat of it: there's a life waiting for you after football. And health is the real wealth. I end my career in a great place."

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Sam Darnold Connects With JSN, But Titans Pack A Punch Of Their Own

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — During a break in 11-on-11 drills at Friday’s joint practice between the Titans and Seahawks, the quarterbacks from both teams gathered in the middle of the field at the Vanderbilt Health Football Center. Before Sam Darnold could even complain about the heat — mid 80s, plus humidity — Tennessee's QBs essentially thanked the Seahawks for the reprieve. "They’re like, ‘Oh, it’s a beautiful day! You brought the cool weather with you,’" Darnold said post-practice, laughing and shaking his head in disbelief. That pretty much summed up how the defending Super Bowl champions felt in the muggy heat, much different from the cool weather they’re used to in Seattle. Several Seahawks battled heat-related issues. On the practice field, the champs traded blows with a Titans team hoping for better days under new coach Robert Saleh. Despite their pedigree, the Seahawks have questions of their own. Perhaps the biggest one facing Seattle entering 2026: What will its offense look like? Darnold is a proven Pro Bowl quarterback. Superstar wide receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba, the reigning Offensive Player of the Year, is one of the NFL’s best players. The Seahawks had the league’s No. 3 scoring offense last season. But they have a first-time playcaller in Brian Fleury, who replaces Klint Kubiak, who was named the Las Vegas Raiders' head coach in February. Fleury spent the past seven seasons as an assistant with the San Francisco 49ers. "I think for him, it’s just like learning the flow of [playcalling]," Darnold told me. "When to call a certain play. When to get the play in. How much time we’re going to have on the play clock. When we want to get into tempo. … It’s tough sometimes to be the offensive coordinator, but he’s really, really smart and we know he can handle it." My takeaways from Friday’s joint practice: Titans quarterback Cam Ward gave the Seahawks’ elite defense fits in a Week 12 matchup last season, and he had more success against Seattle on Friday. In a red-zone period at the start of practice, last year’s No. 1 overall pick threw a short touchdown pass across his body to second-year receiver Elic Ayomanor. Ward also capped off a two-minute drive late with a touchdown pass to tight end Daniel Bellinger. Ward didn’t force shots deep, taking what Mike Macdonald’s defense gave him underneath for several short completions. It wasn’t all perfect — Ward threw a pick-six to Seahawks safety Ty Okada — but it was an encouraging day overall for the young quarterback, who hopes to make big strides in his second season with new offensive coordinator Brian Daboll. Playing well against a Super Bowl defense is a great sign. After an uninspiring preseason opener last week, Ward has strung together a handful of strong practices. "He can extend plays, I think that’s a big part of his game," Seahawks linebacker Ernest Jones IV said post-practice. "I think he was on time with his throws today, getting to his check downs. I think he’s growing and getting better." And it wasn’t just Ward playing well for the offense. Ayomanor drew an interference penalty to set up Bellinger's score in the two-minute drill. Running back Tony Pollard ripped off several great runs thanks to a great showing from Tennessee’s offensive line. Ward agreed with the sentiment that there were "A-plus" plays on the ground. "They made some holes for us, for sure. They were the first ones to the ball," Ward said. "I’m happy to have those guys in front of me." Not surprisingly, the All-Pro receiver was a standout on the day. With the Seahawks deep in negative territory during team drills, Smith-Njigba beat Titans cornerback Alontae Taylor with ease down the left sideline to catch a Darnold pass. Later in the same period, he wiggled his way through the middle of Tennessee’s defense to find open grass, making a grab around the one-yard line. A two-time Pro Bowler, Smith-Njigba is coming off a season in which he led the league in receiving yards (1,793). He’s just 24 years old and his numbers have improved across the board in each of his three seasons, so he should continue to ascend — a scary proposition for opposing defenses. Early in team drills, Jeffery Simmons stuffed first-round running back Jadarian Price up the middle. The All-Pro defensive tackle proceeded to chirp at the Seahawks’ offense. It set the tone for what turned out to be a strong showing for Tennessee’s defense against a talented Seattle offense. "You see the aggression, you see kind of the pressure they put on the quarterback," Darnold said. "Their four-man rushes are really, really good, and then they bring five or six-man rushes. And even when they bring fire zones [blitzes], they’re really, really good. Their back end is really good at disguising right now. They’re showing a lot of different things defensively. … That defense is going to be really good this year." Taylor had a pick-six off Darnold in the first play of a two-minute period. Linebacker Cody Barton broke up a pass in the red zone. The Titans’ defensive front held up well in the run game. Tennessee’s secondary came under fire for a poor showing in last week’s preseason opener against San Francisco's backups, but the defensive backs — and the defense as a whole — bounced back against Seattle. Seattle’s backfield faces a bit of uncertainty entering 2026, with reigning Super Bowl MVP Kenneth Walker III departing in free agency for the Kansas City Chiefs and Zach Charbonnet recovering from a torn ACL suffered in January. The Seahawks will need unproven players to step up at running back this season. At Friday’s practice, backup George Holani answered the bell. The third-year pro had a pair of touchdowns as a pass-catcher — one off a deep pass on third down, and another on a short catch and run. Price, who has missed time in training camp due to lower-body soreness, continued his ramp-up by participating in full contact work at joint practice. "They may be hungry, but we're starving. Let's continue to starve to get to where we want to get to." — Titans DT Jeffery Simmons after practice with the Super Bowl champs

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2026 NFL Odds: Back C.J. Stroud, Texans To Win AFC South; Fade Titans

Which teams will rise to the top of the AFC South in 2026? With a few preseason games out of the way, I'm feeling pretty confident about a couple of wagers when it comes to this division. Here's what I'm backing. This page may contain affiliate links to legal sports betting partners. If you sign up or place a wager, FOX Sports may be compensated. Read more about Sports Betting on FOX Sports. The Texans have the best defense in football. Their defense was first in yards averaged per game and second in points allowed. It was seventh in sack rate and second in defensive DVOA. It generated 30% of its pressures with just a four-man rush and allowed under two yards a play when pressuring. Just wildly good numbers. That defense should be elite again in 2026. It returns almost everyone, and it just drafted a few more defensive pieces. Houston head coach DeMeco Ryans has been at the helm for three seasons. He’s 32-19 and helped lead the squad to a division title in 2023 and 2024 before finishing just one game outside the division title in 2025. His teams are disciplined, tough, physical and are easy to root for. The question for the Texans is their offense and quarterback C.J. Stroud. The offense was nothing special in 2025. It was middle of the pack in total yards but poor on third and fourth down. It couldn’t rush the ball either, with just 3.9 yards per carry — which was 29th in the league. Stroud was up and down last season and ended with a dud in Houston's postseason loss to the Patriots. This offseason, the Texans went about fixing the offensive line through free agency and draft additions. It should be better. David Montgomery is the new running back and the Texans receivers are mostly healthy entering the season. So it all comes down to Stroud. I have faith in Stroud because he’s shown plenty in his career. Even for large stretches last season, he showed glimpses of the guy we saw as a rookie in 2023. Houston returns the same offensive coordinator in Nick Caley, which gives the offense some familiarity. An improved offensive line and running game should ease the pressure for Stroud, and he doesn’t have to do much with that defense. Just play within yourself. In the AFC South, the Texans will have to compete with the Jaguars once again, but the Jags have the tougher schedule with those three first-place games. Houston's roster is better. The Colts don’t worry me. They are not as talented as the Texans and quarterback Daniel Jones is coming back off injury. The Titans … well, they have no chance in the division. I want Cam Ward to succeed, but the vibes aren’t great at the moment. Reports out of camp are that Ward has struggled a bit. The Tennessee offense was bad in the first preseason game, joint practices haven’t been pretty either, and there is a new offense that does display some red flags. However, I like the Titans' running game and the draft pick of Carnell Tate to help Ward. You’d have to believe the Titans' defense will improve with Robert Salah in charge. However, I’m not sure that this group is an overly-talented unit. Looking at the Tennessee schedule makes me love the Under even more. There are just not a ton of winnable games for this team as it stands right now. Jets, Browns and Raiders stand out as winnable games. That’s about it. So the Titans would need to win those games and then four more. I just don’t see it.

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Why 'Purposeful' Titans Rookie Carnell Tate Is The Receiver Cam Ward Needs

In November 2019, during a Chicago-area high school football playoff game, a 14-year-old Carnell Tate couldn’t be stopped. Starring for Marist High School, the freshman receiver caught eight passes for 92 yards against Loyola Academy, a perennial national power and the defending Illinois state champions. When Tate scored the late touchdown that helped Marist push the game out of reach, his teammates went crazy. But not Tate. "Our senior wide receiver came up to me and he's like, 'He won't even celebrate!,'" Matt Shalvis, Marist’s offensive coordinator, told me. "He was humble, so it was hard to get him to react at all out there. He was like a robot — just out there playing the game, consuming everything. Great teammate — not like he was shut off to his teammates — he just didn't like to boast or celebrate his touchdowns or anything. … You could tell he was excited, but he just didn't want to show anybody up or show it." Nearly seven years later, not much has changed. For the No. 4 overall pick in the 2026 NFL Draft, equanimity appears to be a defining attribute. Tate has stayed emotionally neutral throughout his first training camp with the Tennessee Titans. It doesn’t matter how big of a play he makes. He even kept his cool during a physical, chippy joint practice with the San Francisco 49ers last week. "You got to know how to control your emotions and not let your emotions control you," Tate said after a few weeks of his first NFL camp. "When you’re able to do that, you’re able to consistently play at a high level." That’s what the Titans will need from Tate, of course. He is expected to develop into a No. 1-caliber wide receiver, one who will accelerate second-year quarterback Cam Ward’s development as Tennessee's franchise quarterback. After a catch-less preseason debut last week against San Francisco, Tate will look for his first NFL reception when the Titans host the Seattle Seahawks on Sunday night (8 p.m. ET on FOX). "I thought he was very physical in the run game," Titans coach Robert Saleh said of Tate’s performance in the preseason opener. "… He played physical, he played fast. He was winning his one-on-ones when he was getting those opportunities. As time goes, we’ll find ways to give him the ball." ‘That’s The Level Of Expectations He Has’ During his time at Ohio State, former Buckeyes offensive coordinator and wide receivers coach Brian Hartline would point out "MAs" — missed assignments — when his receivers blocked the wrong guy. But Tate took it a step further. An MA for him came from blocking the right guy … but using the wrong kind of leverage or the wrong shoulder. To Tate, if he didn’t make contact with the proper play-side leverage, then he didn’t know the play. So that's a mental mistake. Now the head coach at the University of South Florida, Hartline explained that Tate was simply holding himself to a higher standard. "That’s the level of expectations he has," Hartline told me. Before transferring to Florida’s IMG Academy, Tate got straight A's as a freshman at Marist. Every day, he made the long commute from home on the west side of Chicago to Marist, a private Catholic school on the south side. "He was up early, and he was taking buses by himself and putting in that work to make sure he was there," Titans rookie offensive lineman Pat Coogan, Tate’s teammate at Marist, told me. Added Ron Dawczak, his coach at Marist: "There was no detail too small." During Tate’s freshman year at Ohio State, there was one game week when one of the Buckeyes’ top receivers, current Tampa Bay Buccaneers star Emeka Egbuka, was sidelined due to injury. Tate was up to fill the void in the slot — a position he’d never played to that point. But Hartline watched him fit into the offense seamlessly, a testament to the preparation he’d done to understand the entire scheme. When Tate entered the Buckeyes’ loaded wide receiver room, which included Egbuka and Marvin Harrison Jr., he peppered his older counterparts with questions — about Ohio State, playing college ball and football at large. He was a willing blocker. Hartline always knew he could count on Tate in any given play call. No matter if he was banged up or out of gas, Tate had a way of compartmentalizing any feelings that took away from his ability to perform. He embraced constructive feedback and applied it to the field almost immediately. Tate became vocal in the meeting room with seniority, not afraid to call out players at other positions. "He's a quiet kid at heart," Ohio State wide receiver Brandon Inniss told me. "But when he opens his mouth, people listen because they see his potential and abilities on the field." Hartline describes Tate as "very purposeful." "He doesn't like to watch people do half-assed things," Hartline explained to me. "Carnell doesn't do well with stupidity. Carnell doesn't do well with laziness. Carnell doesn't do well with lack of excellence from people, like coaches. It doesn't matter. If you're talking and it's not good, he's gonna tell you it's not good. If you're playing football and you're on his team and it's not good, he's gonna tell you it's not good. "He just calls a spade a spade. He's got his boys. He's really tight with his boys. But when it comes to work and football, it's just more of a matter of fact. He doesn't need the [pat] on the back." ‘He Really Doesn’t Drop Nothing’ During a two-minute drill near the end of Monday’s practice, the Titans’ offense faced a fourth-and-long near midfield. Ward connected with Tate deep down the right sideline to move the chains. It was an impressive catch for the rookie receiver, who stretched his arms wide to make the grab and held on despite a mid-air collision with Titans safety Kevin Winston Jr. It added to Tate’s growing list of highlight-worthy plays since the offseason program. He’s been a primary target for Ward on third downs and other got-to-have-it situations. "He really doesn’t drop nothing," Ward said in May. That was the case at Ohio State, too — he didn’t register a drop last season, according to Pro Football Focus. The 6-foot-2, 192-pound Tate is a sure-handed, crafty route runner who glides in and out breaks. He’s smooth. He’s a ball tracker and proficient at making contested catches. Whatever he lacks in suddenness, he makes up for with long speed that enables him to get behind the defense at a high rate. "No, he doesn't have 4.2 speed, and he doesn't have a 40-inch vertical," Egbuka told me. "But when it comes to making separation, running clean routes and catching the ball, he does all those things at a very, very high level. And that's what we get paid to do." Statistically, Tate was Ohio State’s second option behind Jeremiah Smith last season. Buckeyes quarterback Julian Sayin didn’t see it that way, though. "I like to tell people we had two number ones when he was here," Sayin told me. "When you're a quarterback, you have a lot of trust in him." It’s not like being Ohio State's No. 2 or even No. 3 receiver has prevented anyone from becoming an NFL star, either. Egbuka, who was 62 yards short of 1,000 receiving yards as an NFL rookie last year, was the Buckeyes’ No. 2 option to Smith in ‘24. New York Jets star Garrett Wilson, the NFL's 2022 Offensive Rookie of the Year, and New Orleans Saints All-Pro Chris Olave ranked second and third for Ohio State in receiving yards, respectively, in their last college season in 2021. The Buckeyes' wide receiver room is regularly filled with guys who, because of all the talent, never get to show what they’re fully capable of in college. The Titans are counting on Tate to add to that list. But at the moment, he’s not actively seeking out the guidance of former Ohio State receivers starring in the NFL. Instead, he’s zeroed in on being the best possible receiver for Titans OC Brian Daboll's offense. "I’m leaning on the guys who’ve been around Dabes," Tate said earlier this month. "Like, Wan’Dale [Robinson] has been with him with the Giants. So I’m trying to learn as much as possible from Wan’Dale. He’s played every position in Dabes' offense. He’s been with Dabes the past four years. And then Rid [Calvin Ridley] is familiar with the offense as well. I just be trying to learn from those two guys." So Tate is focused. You could even say purposeful.

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