NASHVILLE – Tennessee Titans outside linebacker Arden Key was off to a slow start to the 2024 season, but after seeking some help from outside the Titans organization, the 28-year-old pass rusher is playing the best football of his NFL career.

Key had just nine tackles and only one QB hit through the Titans' first five games of the season. He was a non-factor in Tennessee's defense, which was proving detrimental as the unit struggled to get after opposing quarterbacks.

Tennessee is still 28th in the league in sacks, but over the last few weeks, Key has been looking like a dominant force coming off the edge. He has eight tackles, five quarterback hits, and three sacks in the last two games alone.

Against the Detroit Lions in Week 8, Key finished the game with two sacks, three quarterback hits, and six tackles (a new career-high).

What changed? Well, according to Key, he made some adjustments to his plan and weekly routine. After consulting with "people he trusts on the outside," a new plan was developed and it's resulting in more sacks and pressures. He's now rushing very differently.

"I changed some things up the last two weeks. If you see the last two games, I rushed a whole lot different and more productive than the games before," Key said in the locker room last week. 

When I caught up with Key in the locker room a few days back, he told me the main change was picking his offseason drills back up. "I just took the drills that I've been doing over the summer for the last four years. I wasn't doing them at the beginning of the year. It was good to start something that I've been doing since OTAs. I got away from those drills and picked them back up," Key told me.

It may seem a bit unconventional, but Titans head coach Brian Callahan told me that players getting outside help during the regular is more common than you might think. And as long it's helping perform on the field, he doesn't mind Key leaning on the people in his circle.

"I think there's a lot of guys that have people that they trust and lean on," said Callahan when I asked him his feelings about his players going outside the organization for coaching advice. "I think there's a place for that. And then there's guys that people trust and there's advice that they trust. And sometimes that outside perspective has a different view of what's happening. They see it from a different perspective because they're not in the day-to-day. And so, I think there's a benefit to that. A lot of guys have people that they lean on and trust, whether it be their trainers from other places in terms of how their bodies feel, people they work with, people they talk to. I think that's all well and good, and I think most guys have something along those lines somewhere on part of their team. So, I would say it's pretty normal." In Key's case, it's his offseason trainers that he's been going to. 

Now, I have to ask the question. If Key normally does particular drills during the offseason that help him perform at his best, why were those not carrie over in the first place? Was that a Key choice or a coaching choice?

We'll probably never get an answer on those. But whatever helps Key keep up this production is a positive development for the Titans. 

Tennessee is receiving trade interest from contending teams with the deadline just days away. Key has definitely boosted his value over the last few weeks and another strong performance against the Patriots on Sunday afternoon would cement that even further.

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