Jarius Sneed knows something is wrong. Deep inside himself. Deep in his soul. He feels it.
Sneed’s time with the Tennessee Titans wasn’t exactly a fairytale start. Sneed came to the Titans as one of the NFL’s most respected cornerbacks, known for his physical, aggressive, ball-hunting tendencies. During last season’s Super Bowl run with the Kansas City Chiefs, Sneed went viral for taking down Miami Dolphins receiver Tyreek Hill in the press box and solidified the Chiefs’ AFC championship title with a forced fumble against the Baltimore Ravens.
His first three games with the Titans haven’t advanced that narrative. No interceptions. No pass breakups. Five missed tackles. And his Titans are 0-3, and need a win on Monday Night Football against Hill and the Dolphins to avoid a winless first month of the season.
“I still have a lot of work to do,” Sneed told reporters Wednesday. “I’m still behind and I feel like I still have a lot of work to do. Nobody respects me right now and I still have a lot of respect to show people. I feel it. I feel it inside. I feel it in my soul that I still have work to do.”
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If there’s one matchup that can get Sneed back on track, it’s his upcoming matchup with Hill. Hill was nearly unstoppable at times last season, leading the NFL in receiving yards (1,799), touchdowns (13), first downs received (83) and yards per game (112.4) in just 16 games. Sneed, however, made Hill look like a walkover. The Dolphins targeted Hill 18 times in two games against the Chiefs last year, and the sprinter made good on his plays, catching 13 passes for 124 yards and a touchdown. But only three of those 18 targets came from Sneed, and only one of those targets resulted in a reception, a glorified lateral pass that went for nine yards.
Of the scene where Sneed pushed Hill into the dirt, Hill joked on social media that Sneed “sent him to Cancun” for the offseason. The Dolphins and their No. 1 passing attack threw the ball to Sneed a total of nine times in that playoff game and completed just three passes for 29 yards and a first down.
“I’m focusing on my film studies,” Sneed said of what allows him to have so much success against Hill and the Dolphins. “I just study it and do what I do. Thankfully, God blessed me and I came out on the right side.”
The Dolphins’ offense isn’t playing to its full potential with quarterback Tua Tagovailoa on injured reserve. Hill caught just three passes on five targets for 40 yards last week, which would have matched his lows of the 2023 season. But Hill’s speed doesn’t go away no matter who throws him the ball.
Sneed knows this. When asked if there was a trick to slowing Hill down, Sneed said no. Twice, for emphasis.
However, there is a plan.
“We know what it takes to stop the speed in the room,” Sneed said, “and we’re going to carry that with us.”
Nick Suss is the Titans writer for The Tennessean. Contact Nick at [email protected]Follow Nick on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, @nicksuss.
This article was originally published on Nashville Tennessean: Titans CB L’Jarius Sneed: ‘Nobody respects me right now’
