NASHVILLE — The Tennessee Titans will place L’Jarius Sneed on injured reserve after the 27-year-old cornerback missed the past five games with a quadriceps injury.
The move will become official Saturday, Titans coach Brian Callahan said Friday, and will keep Sneed out at least four more weeks per IR rules. Tennessee (2-8) visits the AFC South-leading Houston Texans (7-4) in a division matchup Sunday.
Sneed has not played since being diagnosed with a bruised quad sustained in Tennessee’s 20-17 home loss to the Indianapolis Colts on Oct. 13. The injury was initially diagnosed as a bruise, and the Titans had hoped Sneed would not miss any time. Two weeks ago, the team revealed it had also discovered that the muscle was strained and would need more time to heal through rest.
“As I said before, it turned out that he had a quad bruise, a pretty significant quad bruise, but it didn’t get better very fast,” Callahan said. “It turns out after we did some scans on it, he had a pretty significant strain on top of it. Those things are generally a couple of weeks. I felt like we had a chance to get him back, but he has not progressed. It has been more complicated than normal.”
Sneed was one of the Titans’ biggest offseason acquisitions, coming to Tennessee in a trade with the two-reigning Super Bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs in late March in exchange for the third-round pick in the 2024 draft. The Chiefs had initially placed the franchise tag on Sneed before dealing him to Tennessee.
Chidobe Awuzie, who started at cornerback for Tennessee in the first three games but has been out since then with a groin injury, is expected to have his return-to-play window from injured reserve open next week. With the team’s top two cornerbacks out, the Titans have started rookie Jarvis Brownlee and waiver claim Darrell Baker.
Callahan also said linebacker Jack Gibbens, out with a broken ankle incurred in last Sunday’s home loss to the Minnesota Vikings, will be placed on injured reserve. In addition, offensive tackle Leroy Watson (back) and running back Tyjae Spears (concussion) will be out against the Texans, while cornerback Roger McCreary (knee) will be questionable.