Ever since the resurgence of the Tennessee Titans’ pass-rush, which is led by Jeffery Simmons, Harold Landry and Denico Autry, fans have been trying to come up with a nickname for the group.
Somewhere along the lines, the nickname “Tickle Monsters” was suggested and has gotten more traction than it should, mostly thanks to the sheer ridiculousness of it.
Not surprisingly, Simmons is not a fan of the nickname, which seems to be more of a running joke at this point than anything else.
“I saw that, I kind of ignored that,” Simmons said. “That’s not who we are… They need to come up with something more aggressive. “Tickle Monsters” sounds, I guess, too nice. When we’re on the field, we like to be mean, we like to be aggressive, so I don’t like that one.”
Does Simmons have any suggestions?
“I don’t know. They’ve got to come up with something better than that,” Simmons said.
With or without a nickname, the Titans’ pass-rush has been sensational this season. Tennessee has notched 27 sacks, which is tied for the second-most in the league this season and eight more than the team had in all of 2020.
Landry (10), Simmons (7.5) and Autry (five) have combined for 22.5. Landry ranks third in the NFL in sacks, while Simmons is tops among interior defensive linemen.
