On Monday morning, Taylor Lewan‘s worst fears were confirmed. The Titans tackle has been formally diagnosed with a torn ACL (Twitter link via Lewan). 
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“I can’t wait to watch my guys crush it, I’m going to be the biggest Titans fan each and every Sunday,” Lewan wrote. “We are doing something special here and this small set back doesn’t change a thing!”
It’s a bad blow for the Titans, who advanced to 5-0 with their overtime win against the Texans. They managed to pull out the W without Lewan at left tackle, but it wasn’t exactly smooth sailing. Shortly after Ty Sambrailo took over, he allowed J.J. Watt to blow past him and surrendered a sack.
Lewan, a three-time Pro Bowler, stands as one of the NFL’s better left tackles. He’s also a locker room leader for the Titans. Last year, he earned an 80.2 grade from Pro Football Focus, slotting him as the No. 11 tackle in the league. That score was good for fifth among left tackles and his run-blocking grade was the best of any LT. He’s been consistently strong, too, routinely earning top 10 scores for pass and run blocking throughout his career.
If the Titans don’t want to move forward with Sambrailo as their LT, they could bump first-round pick Isaiah Wilson to the starting cast. After being cleared from the COVID-19 list, the Georgia standout could debut as soon as Sunday against the Steelers.
Dang what a blow
It’s a huge loss, he’s one of their best players.