The Tennessee Titans are not asking Jeffery Simmons to disappear. They are asking him to arrive when the game is most likely to be decided.
That is the logic behind Robert Saleh's plan to curtail Simmons' snaps in his new scheme, a move that is less about lowering Simmons' importance than about concentrating it. Saleh said the rotation is meant to keep Simmons ready for third down and two-minute situations, when one-on-one wins matter more than steady volume and when a fresh interior defender can change the entire feel of a possession.
There is a clear football case for that approach. Saleh's system is designed to get interior defenders upfield and into the backfield more than a two-gap defense, which means the job is built around disruption. Simmons has already shown he can do that at an elite level. Last season, he produced 60 quarterback pressures, a 13.9% pressure rate and 11 sacks, all league highs for a defensive tackle. Those are not ordinary numbers; they are the numbers of a player who can tilt protection plans by himself.
The bigger question is how often the Titans want that force to be on the field. Simmons has played at least 80% of defensive snaps per season when available dating back to 2020, and he has reached at least 15 games in every season in which he logged 750-plus snaps. In other words, he has been durable enough to carry a heavy load. But durability and optimization are not the same thing. A player can handle more snaps and still be more dangerous with fewer of them.
A workload plan built around leverage
Saleh made the point plainly last month: if Simmons is on the field for 50 plays out of 60, he is not doing it right. That does not sound like a coach limiting his star for the sake of caution; it sounds like a coach trying to preserve the highest-impact version of him for the most valuable downs. Third down and two-minute situations are where pass rushers earn their reputation, and Simmons' job in this scheme appears to be more about explosive moments than constant accumulation.
Simmons, to his credit, has not sounded interested in accepting a reduced role as a permanent label. During minicamp, he said he wants to prove he can handle more workload, and he added that he wants to show Saleh he could go six plays instead of the four they were discussing. That is the right competitive instinct from a player who just posted one of the most productive seasons by any interior defender in the league.
The Titans also have a financial reason to treat Simmons like a premium asset. They agreed to a three-year, $105.8 million contract extension with $100 million guaranteed this offseason, in part because his cost could have risen next year. When a team commits that kind of money, it is usually buying both present production and future efficiency. A snap plan that keeps Simmons fresh in the biggest moments fits that logic.
None of this guarantees the rotation will work cleanly. Reducing snaps can be a smart way to maximize impact, but it can also test rhythm for a player who has long been used to carrying a major workload. The Titans will have to balance the desire to unleash Simmons with the reality that elite defenders often shape games not by being everywhere, but by being devastating when they arrive.
That is the bet Robert Saleh appears ready to make. If Simmons stays fresh, the Titans may get less of him in total and more of him when it counts most. And for a defender who just finished as the league's most productive interior pass rusher, that may be the most valuable snap count of all.
