The Tennessee Titans’ passing game has been struggling as of late, but they’ve been without wide receiver A.J. Brown. Now that he’s slated to return from injured reserve in time for the Titans’ Thursday Night Football tilt, what can fantasy football managers expect from Brown, Julio Jones, Nick Westbrook-Ikhine, and the rest of Tennessee’s wide receivers?
A.J. Brown and Julio Jones injury updates
Brown was placed on IR with a chest injury on Saturday, November 27. The injured reserve rules state that a player is eligible to return after three games, not three weeks. Brown missed Week 12, the Titans were on bye in Week 13, and he was out in Week 14, as well. The timeline kept Brown out of the first round of the fantasy playoffs in Week 15, but the Titans have activated him ahead of their Thursday nigh game.
As for the future Hall of Fame wide receiver Jones, he reaggravated a hamstring injury in Tennessee’s Week 14 game and was forced to leave early. Jones didn’t practice on Monday, but did return as a full participant on Wednesday. It looks like he’s in line to play, but I don’t trust the hamstrings to get through a full game.
Brown has not had a terrific season by any stretch
After two promising NFL campaigns, Brown was a high selection in fantasy drafts back in the summer. This season, however, has not been a banner year. Brown only has 46 receptions for 615 yards and 3 TDs through 10 games played.
Between Weeks 6-8, Brown had 25 receptions for 379 receiving yards and 2 TDs. Outside of those three weeks, Brown hasn’t topped 5 receptions or 49 receiving yards in any game this year.
Tennessee’s offense just hasn’t hit its stride this season. Brown and quarterback Ryan Tannehill aren’t connecting on deep passes and seem out of sync.
Brown’s receptions per game, yards per game, catch rate, and yards per target are all down from last year and are at career lows. In his rookie season, his yards per target was 12.5. This year, it’s 7.9. That’s a stark difference.
A.J. Brown fantasy expectations
It’s honestly hard to expect much from Tennessee’s passing game going forward. Tannehill is only averaging 207.4 passing yards per game (145.7 over the last three games). Brown is an incredibly talented wide receiver capable of posting huge numbers on any given week, but you can’t go into Thursday night expecting it.
Fortunately for Brown (and for Westbrook-Ikhine), the Titans are playing a 49ers defense that has given up the second-most fantasy points per game to opposing wide receivers over the last four weeks. San Francisco has given up a whopping 720 receiving yards and 7 TDs over that stretch.
If you have Brown and are still fighting for your playoff life, you probably need to play him and hope that he can return to his former self. Westbrook-Ikhine, on the other hand, is someone I would rather leave on my bench given that he plays in an offense that runs the ball at one of the highest rates in the NFL.