NASHVILLE, Tenn. – While Tyler Lockett, L’Jarius Sneed, Kevin Zeitler and T’Vondre Sweat were not spotted Wednesday at the second practice of Phases Three of OTAs, the first open to the media, all three were at team headquarters participating in meetings and rehabbing.
Which meant only one player kept the Titans from a remarkable perfect attendance mark at the first two of the voluntary sessions: Jeffery Simmons.
Simmons has not been part of any of the Titans' in-house offseason but has communicated with the team about his plans throughout.
Amani Hooker and Zeitler missed large portions of that early work, so it's not as if Simmons was totally alone. Some players pop in and out while others are committed to perfect attendance.
Phase Two, when players could be with their position coaches and the offense or defense on the field, started May 5th, and Phase Three, when the offense and defense do some work against each other in seven-on-seven and 11-on-11, started Tuesday.
The only mandatory part of the offseason is the June 10-12 minicamp.
The NFL Players Association does currently list an agent for Simmons and I have no direct route to him.
Callahan was asked about Simmons’ offseason before Wednesday’s practice.
“It's been pretty consistent for Jeff, I think,” he said. “Whether you see him every day here or not, there's one person on his team, probably more than anybody, I never worry about being ready to play on Sunday, and that's Jeff. So I'm pleased with where he's at. He's working. I know he's ready to roll. So that's really all I can say to that.”
Simmons is a four-time team captain whose leadership has periodically been both overstretched and called into question.
One of Callahan’s big themes this offseason has been to grow more leaders and to redefine what Titans' leadership is. He’s not satisfied with players leading by example, which he says is expected.
Wednesday, I asked Dennard Wilson a general question – not specific to Simmons -- about developing new leadership and how he rated last year’s defensive leadership.
“The leadership can always be better,” he said. “When we looked back at ourselves, some guys had self-reflections on how they could help other players. We talk about leading by example is not what you want to do. It’s your job to show up, play hard. That’s your job. But if you’re not bringing people to the well with you, if you’re not taking them to that water and they’re not walking with you hand in hand, you’re not a leader.
“…I think everybody on this team right now has gravitated to that message. And it’s been sprinkled from the top down, from our head coach. It’s self-evaluations. The players love it, the energy, the effort, the attention to detail.”
It is not uncommon for veterans around the league to skip voluntary Phase Three OTA practices. DeAndre Hopkins was 
among the recent Titans to miss.
Some choose to work out on their own, deciding it will be more beneficial for them. Others stay away in contract disputes. Kirk Cousins is not with the Falcons now as he tries to prompt a trade. Buffalo’s James Cook and Washington’s Terry McLaurin are not present as they push for new or revised deals, while Myles Garrett is not with the Browns and Haason Reddick is not with the Cardinals after each got a new deal.
There is no indication Simmons has any contract issues.
He signed a four-year extension in 2023 worth $94 million in new money and nearly $48 million guaranteed per Over the Cap. He is guaranteed $11.5 million this season but that drops to $6.47 million in 2026. He will turn 28 in July.
