Titans DL Jeffery Simmons on his 2023 highlights: ‘Wasn’t good enough’

Tennessee Titans defensive lineman Jeffery Simmons had an up-and-down season in 2023. While his production was solid, Big Jeff came down with a knee injury that ended his campaign early.

Simmons tallied 44 tackles (10 for loss) and 5.5 sacks in 12 games, and had he not gotten hurt (he was placed on injured reserve prior to Week 16 after missing two games), he may have broken his single-season mark for sacks, which is 8.5.

But if you ask him, his performance — and the performance of the team overall — simply wasn’t good enough.

How do I know that? Simmons said so himself when quote-tweeting 2023 season highlights that the team shared on social media.

Wasn’t good enough!! We’ll be back!! https://t.co/gZTHvemO03

— Jeffery Simmons (@GrindSimmons94) February 27, 2024

Simmons is entering his sixth season in the NFL in 2024 and will be faced with something he’s never had before during his pro career: a new head coach.

Simmons was no doubt sad to see Mike Vrabel go, but he’s also made it clear he intends on rallying the troops around new head coach Brian Callahan, once again showing the kind of leader he is.

“You know I am always that guy,” Simmons said, per team writer Jim Wyatt. “I am going to make sure I can keep the locker room tight, and make sure no matter what it might be, no matter the situation, of course we just got a new head coach, I think it’s going to be simple: Buy in or you just have to get left behind.

“For me, being a captain and a leader on this team, my job is to keep holding my end up on that,” he added. “At the end of the day, it is a new beginning for us. It’s a new chapter. We have a new head coach, so we just have to take off with it.”