Titans list an astounding 23 players on Thursday’s injury report

Who is hurt? Everybody. That’s who.

The Titans’ Thursday injury report for Week 5 has arrived, and it’s nearly a two-pager. Tennessee listed an astounding 23 players on the injury report after listing 21 players there on Wednesday.

As John Glennon points out above, there is a glimmer of hope here as nine players who practiced in a limited capacity on Wednesday were upgraded up to full participants on Thursday. That group is made up of Khari Blasingame, A.J. Brown, Bud Dupree, Rashaan Evans, Sharif Finch, Chris Jackson, Jeremy McNichols, Rodger Saffold and Jeffery Simmons. It’s good to see several of Tennessee’s “star players” listed here. The Titans especially need Brown and Dupree to be back on their A-game sooner rather than later, but we hope they aren’t rushing them to get back on the field.

The bad news here is that the likes of Brett Kern, Julio Jones, Taylor Lewan, Jayon Brown and Aaron Brewer failed to practice for the second straight day. Julio is almost guaranteed to miss his second straight game at this point. It’s to be expected. If Kern can’t go, expect Johnny Townsend — who got off a 15-yard punt last Sunday — to handle punting duties once again.

There’s also a concerning topic emerging at left tackle. With Lewan failing to practice two days in a row and Ty Sambrailo listed as limited on Thursday, the Titans currently have a rather large question mark at that position. We expect one of these guys to recover in time, but a less-than-ideal situation is developing there.

It’s a bit of a similar situation at left guard. Yes, Saffold was a full participant but it’s pretty obvious the 33-year-old Saffold is dealing with something. He’s missed time in just about every game thus far, and the Titans will likely be without his top backup on Sunday.

Hidden in all this is that Denico Autry is trending in the wrong direction. Autry mysteriously did not practice on Thursday after being limited on Wednesday. It indicates the stud defensive linemen suffered a setback, and his status for Sunday’s contest is now trending in the wrong direction. Autry has been really good this season, and would be sorely missed on a below-average defense.

Rookie cornerback Caleb Farley practiced in full for the second day in a row on Thursday. We would love to see him get some snaps with the likes of Jackrabbit Jenkins and Breon Borders struggling on the outside as of late.

We’ll have to check back on Sunday afternoon for the inactive lists for both teams for a final update.