Josh Malone Eyes Career Turnaround with Tennessee Titans
NASHVILLE – Josh Malone’s telephone was ringing very last time. The problem was that nobody named a second time.
Teams required to discuss to him and glimpse at him. But that was as far as matters went.
Soon after four seasons in the NFL, therefore, the extensive receiver used 2021 out of motion. Slash by the New York Jets late in the preseason, he acquired alternatives to display what he could do, but no team saw healthy to include him to their roster.
“I was getting workouts,” Malone said. “It’s just the opportunity wasn’t there at the time. I just had to keep my head up, keep working and just wait around for the future possibility.”
It lastly came in February. The Tennessee Titans – 1 of the groups that hosted him for a exercise routine very last year – signed him particularly a person thirty day period just after their playoff loss to the Cincinnati Bengals and offered him with an opportunity to receive a job.
His prospects at a frequent-season roster place got improved when Julio Jones was introduced in March and A.J. Brown was traded in April. The final result was that the 26-yr-previous who attended substantial school in Gallatin, Tenn., a limited travel from downtown Nashville, at present ranks as one of the more experienced and productive receivers on the offseason roster.
A fourth-round pick by Cincinnati out of the College of Tennessee in 2017, Malone has 11 occupation receptions with a person landing in 26 contests. Minimum while it is, that is even now much more output than the the vast majority of the 12 large receivers currently beneath deal with the Titans, 50 percent of whom are rookies or to start with-yr players.
“I like the prospect,” Malone reported. “Landing below, you know, it’s just fate. I experienced the opportunity to function out for them previously in the season ahead of. The good thing is, I was blessed adequate to get an option with this organization. I just want to choose advantage of it.”
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Even ahead of previous season, Malone’s career was not particularly trending in the suitable course.
In 11 online games (7 begins) as a rookie with the Bengals, he caught six passes for 63 yards. Over the following a few seasons, he played in just 15 contests and caught 5 passes. Cincinnati lower him just just before the begin of his third season. He used the majority of 2019 and 2020 as a member of the Jets’ follow squad.
Then arrived final time, when he was out of perform but showcasing himself in almost weekly workout routines.
“It’s nerve-wracking,” Malone explained. “It’s aggravating. But it’s all about point of view. It’s all about just continuing to do what you do to prepare your self for the following option and to be all set for it any time the opportunity arrives.
“… Just continue to keep battling. Just get in the proper situation, and just get advantage of the proper opportunity.”
He hopes that is what he has observed with Tennessee. As of appropriate now, he does not look at it a likelihood to commence over but as a probability to flip points around and get again on track.
“To get an chance like this, you never want to acquire it for granted,” Malone claimed. “It’s truly a blessing.
“… I wouldn’t say it is a re-start out. I would say it is just continuing on the route that this job has established out for me in this journey.”