Titans lose valuable chess piece days before NFL trade deadline during win over Patriots

The Tennessee Titans left the football field excited and relieved in Week 9, having gotten a badly needed second win. But in the 24 hours since, smiles have been wiped away as they've gotten injury news on two key starters. In the immediate aftermath of the game Sunday afternoon, Paul Kuharsky reported the season-ending nature […]

Easton Freeze — Tennessee Titans Beat Writer
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Tennessee Titans safety Quandre Diggs (28) is looked at on the field after getting shaken up on a tackle against the Indianapolis Colts during the first quarter their game at Nissan Stadium in Nashville, Tenn., Sunday, Oct. 13, 2024.
© Denny Simmons / The Tennessean / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

The Tennessee Titans left the football field excited and relieved in Week 9, having gotten a badly needed second win. But in the 24 hours since, smiles have been wiped away as they've gotten injury news on two key starters.

In the immediate aftermath of the game Sunday afternoon, Paul Kuharsky reported the season-ending nature of C Lloyd Cushenberry's achilles injury. The other key starter who left the game early was S Quandre Diggs.

On the game broadcast, you could tell the injury was foot or ankle related. He was officially designated as OUT before halftime with a foot.

And on Monday morning, Ian Rapoport was first to report that Diggs suffered a season-ending Lisfranc injury.

This is of course a significant blow to the Titans defense. Diggs was brought in late in the free agency process this summer and immediately become a leader on his side of the ball. The Titans had managed to avoid losing any starters for the season until this week, where they've now lost two big ones.

Unlike Cushenberry, Diggs was a valuable trade chip on paper. Perhaps the Titans had no desire to move him, but as a selling team at the deadline, he was one of three of four top trade candidates on the roster. As an aging veteran on a cheap expiring contract, he was a textbook trade piece. Now less than 72 hours before the deadline, an unfortunate injury eliminates any value he presented. 

Not only is he a difficult loss of tradable value to swallow, but he's also a big contributing defender you now have to replace. Diggs is currently the 17th ranked safety in the league this season according to PFF's grading. He managed 37 tackles and 13 defensive stops on 419 total snaps this season. He represents a lot of quality snaps the Titans will have to look for from somebody else.

With failed free agency experiment Jamal Adams no longer on the roster, Mike Brown was the swing safety who came in to replace Diggs against the Patriots. Head Coach Brian Callahan said at his Monday presser that he was impressed with what Brown did in a pinch, and that he's gotten a lot of run in practice recently.

The Titans will presumably lean on the third year defensive back the rest of the season.

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