Kevin Byard: Defenses Will 'Have a Lot of Trouble' vs. Titans After Julio Jones Trade

The Tennessee Titans were already difficult to stop with Derrick Henry and A.J. Brown before they acquired Julio Jones in a trade with the Atlanta Falcons.

Now they are an absolute nightmare for defenses.

"Defenses are just gonna have a lot of trouble game planning against us every week, because if you try to double Julio or slide the safety over to Julio's side and you have A.J. Brown on the other side," Titans safety Kevin Byard said, per Nick Shook of NFL.com.

"Having Derrick [Henry] back there in the backfield, all defenses have to respect him, whether they're putting eight men in the box, at times, nine men in the box, whatever they have to do to stop the run," Byard said. "That's gonna be a lot of opportunity for Julio and A.J. and all the other receivers that we have to get 1-on-1 coverages, to get favorable matchups, to be able to win 1-on-1."

Jones is a seven-time Pro Bowler and two-time All-Pro selection who was often the one drawing double teams during his time on the Falcons.

The opportunity to work against single coverage figures to help him remain productive even if he is 32 years old and coming off an injury-plagued 2020 campaign in which he played just nine games.

The Titans made the playoffs in each of the past two years as a run-first offense with Henry steamrolling would-be tacklers. While that may not change even with Jones, they have three of the most dynamic weapons in the league for Ryan Tannehill to work with as he lines up under center.

Byard is clearly expecting big things.