Titans place starters JC Latham, Amani Hooker on PUP list to open training camp, but the inevitable panic is a waste of energy
Two key starters won’t begin practice with the rest of their team at Titans training camp. Here’s what we know, and why you shouldn’t panic.
Tennessee Titans training camp kicks off next week, and the first roster news of the summer already has the fanbase buzzing for all the wrong reasons.
The Titans placed starting right tackle JC Latham and starting safety Amani Hooker on the PUP list Thursday afternoon, meaning neither player will practice when the team takes the field for its first session Wednesday.
For a franchise banking on Latham’s development and Hooker’s veteran presence in the secondary, the optics aren’t great. But the reality of this situation demands patience before panic.
What being on the PUP list actually means
The PUP (physically unable to perform) list is a routine designation for a handful of players on each team this time of year. Players land on it for all kinds of reasons. Sometimes they’re returning from a prior injury. Sometimes they’re nursing something new from the offseason. Sometimes they’re simply ramping up. The common thread is that they aren’t cleared for on-field work yet.
The key detail fans need to internalize is that a player can come off PUP at any time. Some guys start on the list and remain there through roster cutdowns and into the regular season. Others are back on the practice field before the pads even come on, just a couple of days into camp. There is nothing binding about this designation, and it tells us very little about the severity of what a player is dealing with.
Early report offers a calming sign on both players
Within moments of the PUP news breaking, Titans beat reporter Paul Kaharsky tweeted that both Latham and Hooker are dealing with short-term injuries and are expected to be on the field soon.
Reading between the lines on how beat reporting works, that kind of immediate reassurance suggests his sourcing got back to him quickly with a unconcerned response.
That doesn’t mean fans should write off the news entirely. It is at least somewhat concerning to see two important starters begin camp on the sideline. But what matters far more than where Latham and Hooker are on July 23 is where they are physically down the stretch of training camp as September approaches.
Latham’s situation is the inverse of last year, and that’s a good thing
Here’s the thing about JC Latham’s PUP placement: the natural reaction from a segment of the fanbase is going to be that he’s off to another terrible start, that he’s a certified bust, that he’s unreliable. Those personally invested in the narrative that Latham won’t work out will use this to confirm their priors. I’m here to tell you that the annual PUP list is a classic stop on the panic circuit that doesn’t deserve that energy in July.
Last year, Latham’s health storyline ran in the opposite direction. He started out practicing, then suffered a hip injury at the tail end of camp that kept him out of some of the most important weeks of preparation. It stunted his conditioning, and when he tried to start the regular season, he irritated the hip and missed the bulk of the early schedule. By his own admission in hindsight, he came back earlier than he probably should have.
That version of events is far more damaging than easing into camp on PUP while dealing with something that, by all accounts, isn’t expected to linger. Training camp is a ramp. It starts in shells, builds into pads, escalates to joint practices, and then moves into preseason games. Missing the first few days of that progression is not the end of the world. Missing a big chunk of it can be.
This feels consistent with Robert Saleh’s philosophy
My analyst guesswork here is that this PUP placement aligns with the messaging we’ve heard from new coach Robert Saleh all offseason. He has been vocal about body activation and getting players up to speed at the pace that best serves them reaching 100% at the right time. The right time is September, not late July.
Saleh needs his starting right tackle when the games count far more than he needs him for the first walkthrough in shells. If putting Latham on PUP to begin camp is a preventative measure designed to avoid a repeat of last year’s spiral, then so be it.
It becomes a genuine concern if this lingers. If Latham is still absent when the pads come on, still missing joint practices, still in and out of the rotation because he’s irritating something, then we have a real problem. But that’s not the situation right now. Right now, we have a short-term PUP designation backed by early reporting that both he and Hooker will return soon.
I’d far prefer this version of Latham’s training camp health arc over the version the Titans got last year. Do whatever it takes to avoid a repeat of that. If this is the first step, I’m on board.