L’Jarius Sneed on playing with DeAndre Hopkins and Calvin Ridley: ‘I never had two elite guys like them’

Earlier this offseason, L’Jarius Sneed signed a four-year, $76.4 million contract with the Tennessee Titans. After spending the first four years of his career with the Kansas City Chiefs, Sneed was considered the top cornerback on the free-agent market. 

He was franchise-tagged by Kansas City and given permission to seek a trade. It took until April 1, but he finally got the deal. And now that he’s in Tennessee, Sneed is excited to practice against two of the league’s top wideouts in DeAndre Hopkins and Calvin Ridley on a daily basis. 

“To get out there and work with them elite wide receivers, I never had two elite guys like them, going up against them every day,” Sneed said during a SiriusXM NFL Radio interview. “I had great players, but them two guys, household names, they stick out. I can’t wait to get to work with those guys. 

“I know they’re gonna make me better in practice, and I can’t wait to pick both of their brains on how to get better. What they see. What my weakness is from their eyes and not from other guys I’ve been playing with for four years. I want new guys looking from the outside in.”

Of course, Sneed got to play with both Tyreek Hill and Travis Kelce at different times in Kansas City. But only one of those two is a wide receiver, and Sneed wasn’t a starter for most of the first season out of the two that he played with Hill. So, even though he did get to play with two elite threats, he probably didn’t spend all that much time going one-on-one with both of them on a daily basis, so this experience will likely be slightly different. 

Then again, Sneed is going from an organization that won back-to-back Super Bowls to one that has missed the playoffs in back-to-back seasons, so that will be a different experience as well. But that sounds just fine to Sneed. 

“Once I realized where I was headed to, I was excited,” he said. “It’s a new culture, and that’s something I love is change. I love growing, whatever aspect that is in life, I love change and I love to grow.”

The Titans changed over their coaching staff this offseason, hiring former Bengals offensive coordinator Brian Callahan to replace the departed Mike Vrabel as their head coach. Callahan brought in Dennard Wilson as his defensive coordinator, so Sneed will also be going from having one of the most experienced head coach-defensive coordinator combinations in the league (Andy Reid and Steve Spagnuolo) to one of the least. But if he likes change and opportunities for growth, this certainly qualifies.