Forgotten Titans player is starting to have growing impact

NASHVILLE -- The 2023 season has been a roller coaster for Tennessee Titans linebacker Monty Rice. 

The former third round pick out of Georgia was a popular pick to have a breakout campaign going into his third NFL season. But Rice found himself on the outside looking in after training camp and has since been an afterthought for Titans fans.

Tennessee opted to start 2022 undrafted free agent Jack Gibbens alongside Azeez Al-Shaair at inside linebacker while Rice was asked to fill a role on special teams.

Through Tennessee's first eight games of the season, Rice had played just six defensive snaps. But things have started to turn around with Rice leveraging his performance on special teams into more defensive opportunities.

"Monty Rice, we challenged him to do well on special teams, to perform there, which in turn would lead to some defensive snaps, which he has gotten and I would say has taken advantage of those. He's been active," said Titans head coach Mike Vrabel earlier this week. 

"Monty is a really competitive player. He does a really good job for us," said Titans special teams coordinator Craig Aukerman of Rice. Aukerman said earlier this week that Rice's success on special teams has helped him gain confidence in his abilities as a defender. "Him just continuing to gain confidence in what his abilities are and understanding the details. The more he understands that, the more he's going to gain confidence and be a good player for us. I really like what Monty is doing for us. Hopefully he continues to develop a role on defense."

According to Aukerman, the habits that Rice has developed as a special teamer have directly carried over to his defensive snaps. "To be honest with you, it's a lot of the same things," said Aukerman. "We get a bunch of our drills from the defensive coaches. A lot of that correlates."

Rice played 19 defensive snaps in Tampa and 29 defensive snaps in Jacksonville. He was also Tennessee's leading tackler on Sunday against the Jaguars with eight combined tackles.