Caleb Farley made Tennessee Titans return just in time. Now he waits for what's next

NEW ORLEANS — Tennessee Titans cornerback Caleb Farley doesn't want to rob the moment of its poetry.

"If I put it into words," he says, "it wouldn’t do it justice."

Farley played football Sunday. He took the field in an honest-to-goodness football game. Sure, it was just the second half of a preseason matchup, one in which the Titans won 30-27. But his snaps against the New Orleans Saints were his first in any game, preseason or otherwise, in 651 days.

Now, Farley has only two days between the culmination of a long, harrowing saga filled with injury and tragedy and what may be the culmination of his Titans tenure. NFL rosters have to be cut from 90 players to 53 on Tuesday, and Farley is far from assured a spot.

"It’s easy. These next two days are easy," he said. "You can’t really control nothing. I’m just glad I got to come out here and have fun with my guys today. I worked hard these past two weeks to even have the chance to come out here and play. So I’m just glad it worked out."

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There's no short way to recount the Farley saga. The Titans drafted him 22nd overall in the 2021 NFL Draft after the 6-foot-2 cornerback opted out of his final season at Virginia Tech. His recurring back issues meant his medical reports heading into the league weren't exactly clean. He tore his ACL just three games into his rookie season, was benched as a defender five games into his second season and was resigned to play exclusively special teams.

He re-injured his back three games later, which put him on the shelf for more than a year. While he was trying to rehab his way back into football, he lost his father in a house explosion in summer 2023. He finally returned to the field in December 2023, but showed up for 2024 admitting he wasn't the same athlete he once was.. Then he injured his hamstring days before the Titans' preseason opener.

Farley's injury history is long, but he has never dealt with a hamstring before. He had to "battle (his) ass off" with the assistance of the training staff to be available for this one. For the sentimentality, conclusiveness and ability to actually take the field with his friends and have some fun — Farley really, really wanted this.

Which makes his first play on the field all the more remarkable. Farley screamed upfield in kickoff coverage and popped Saints return man James Robinson's helmet clean off. Juiced, Farley kept running and celebrating after the hit for another 5-10 seconds.

"Sometimes you don’t even get opportunities to make plays like that," he said. "When it happens like that, it makes you feel like a little kid. A lot of joy and a lot of happiness, especially celebrating with the guys and getting patted on the head. There’s nothing like it."

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Farley didn't figure into the stat sheet after that play. But he got his reps on special teams and on defense. He calls the hit on special teams his favorite hit he has ever made, specifically because it was the last one.

Not the last one. Not in the sense of a final chapter. This isn't Farley's retirement notice. When he says "last," he means "most recent."

Because he wants to make one thing clear: Whatever happens Tuesday, he hasn't gotten football out of his system quite yet.

"Nah, nah," Farley says. "I’ve still got a lot of fire in me."

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Nick Suss is the Titans beat writer for The Tennessean. Contact Nick at nsuss@gannett.com. Follow Nick on X, the platform formerly called Twitter, @nicksuss.

This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Emotional Titans CB Caleb Farley finally battled back into an NFL game