Titans Notebook: No rest for Jarrett Payton
The son of the late Walter Payton came to training camp in 2004 as an undrafted free agent out of Miami and wound up on the Tennessee Titans’ practice squad. The Titans sent him to NFL Europe where he helped Amsterdam to a championship and finished tied with a league-high seven touchdowns.
He returned to Tennessee in June where the Titans put all of their NFL Europe returnees onto a plan to help them rest and recuperate before reporting to training camp.
“The season’s been long,” Payton said Saturday. “It feels like it never stopped from last year. It’s exciting being back. The accomplishments I had overseas made it more enjoyable to come back here and be around the guys and get back to practice.”
But Payton finds the backfield even more crowded now because the Titans traded for four-year veteran Travis Henry on July 18 to go with Chris Brown. Coach Jeff Fisher said don’t expect the Titans to follow tradition and keep only one other running back to go with a couple fullbacks.
There’s Damien Nash, their fifth-round pick out of Missouri and undrafted free agent Walter Reyes of Syracuse. Joe Smith, who led NFL Europe with 1,026 yards, still hasn’t been cleared by that league and remains in Birmingham, Ala.
Fisher said their skills on special teams will help influence the final decision on how many running backs they keep, and Payton said he’s ready.
“I think I fit in good. I went overseas and tried to show guys I could play, and I feel like I did that. I’m just here trying to work every single day. It’s going to be a fight, but for me, it’s just about going out and doing my business,” he said.
“If I do that, everything will work out for itself.”
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NEW FACES, NEW NAMES: The Titans had minicamps to help the veterans become familiar with all the new players on the roster. But that doesn’t mean everyone knows who all the rookies are yet.
“It’s kind of weird,” left guard Zach Piller said. “Benji (Olson) and I have been talking a lot about it. It’s definitely different coming in as a rookie here. I’m in my seventh year.”
Steve McNair is one of those veterans still working to put faces, names and numbers together.
“I know them by numbers. I call them by numbers now. I know some of them, but it’s going to take time. It’s hard to not forget a face, but it’s hard to remember names and put faces with them. Eventually as things go, I’ll make sure I get everybody’s names.”
That’s OK. It hasn’t been easy for even the equipment guys to get every name correct. Tight end Gregg Guenther still had his name misspelled with the “e” missing on the back of his jersey Saturday.
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WHO NEEDS FREE AGENTS? The Titans spent the offseason clearing space under the salary cap, so they didn’t have money to go chasing veteran free agents. Left guard Zach Piller said that doesn’t matter because of all the players returning who were hurt last season.
“I’ve been thinking all along we didn’t sign very many free agents. But you feel all these guys who were out it’s like you’ve got almost a whole new core of free agents, so I feel real good,” Piller said.
Piller is among those Titans returning who missed a combined 114 starts in 2004. He missed 15 games with a torn left biceps muscle. Receiver Tyrone Calico also missed 15 with knee injuries, and linebacker Peter Sirmon missed the entire season with a torn ACL.
That doesn’t include the reserves returning who missed a combined 41 games led by cornerback Tony Beckham who missed the first 11 because of a torn ACL.
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EXTRA POINTS: RB Joe Smith and CB Sam Massey remain in NFL Europe limbo. They cannot join the Titans until they have been cleared of any remaining physical problems, and coach Jeff Fisher said he has no timetable for when they might arrive or even what their injuries are.