Before Jay Gruden signed on to coach the Redskins, he had a very positive interview with the Titans, writes Jim Wyatt of The Tennessean. “It was a good visit,” Gruden said. “I was very interested in the job, but Washington called me I guess the night after the interview and had me fly up here and they offered me the job right away.” Gruden says he was never offered the Tennessee job and soon after, the Titans hired Ken Whisenhunt as their head coach.
Here’s more from out of the league’s two South divisions:
- Titans tight end Craig Stevens underwent surgery today to repair a torn quadriceps tendon, and will be sidelined for the season, writes Terry McCormick of 247Sports.com.
- The Saints‘ reasons for releasing fourth-round linebacker Khairi Fortt were never made entirely clear, and head coach Sean Payton declined to elaborate today on the team’s thinking, indicating that the move was in the club’s best interest, tweets Mike Triplett of ESPN.com. Fortt was claimed off waivers by the Bengals and has since been cut by Cincinnati as well.
- The Buccaneers, who signed corner Isaiah Frey earlier today, are clearly toying with their nickel back spot, tweets Roy Cummings of The Tampa Tribune. Keith Tandy worked in that role last week and defensive coordinator Leslie Frazier has said that the team needs better play out of that position.
- The Buccaneers likely re-signed Lonnie Pryor to their practice squad in anticipation of Jorvorskie Lane‘s suspension, Cummings tweets.
- Bears cornerback Charles Tillman told Robert Klemko of The MMQB that he “maybe” has two years left in the tank. Tillman also says that divine intervention led him to sign with Chicago this offseason rather than join Lovie Smith with the Buccaneers.
- In an investigative piece for ESPN The Magazine, Shaun Assael takes a look at the addiction issues battled by Colts owner Jim Irsay.
Luke Adams contributed to this post.