Heading into perhaps his most meaningful season, former-first round wide receiver Treylon Burks experienced a significant setback today. The 25-year-old, coming off a season in which he missed the final 12 games with an ACL injury, fractured his collarbone today on a diving catch, per Ian Rapoport of NFL Network. A recovery timeline will come after he undergoes further testing, but he’ll certainly miss the start of the final year on his rookie contract.
2025 is set to be a contract year for Burks after Tennessee opted to decline his fifth-year option. His rookie year showed some promise through a bit of adversity. Catching passes in one of Ryan Tannehill‘s last two years in a Derrick Henry-heavy offense, Burks was the second-leading wide receiver on the team with 444 yards and a touchdown off of 33 receptions. His rookie year had potential to be more, but a turf toe injury in Week 4 of the season led to an inconsistent, 11-game campaign. Year 2 was more of the same as a preseason LCL sprain hampered him coming into the year. Missing two separate three-game blocks, Burks’ inconsistency continued to the tune of only 16 receptions for 221 yards in 11 games.
After letting injury derail his first two seasons before they really had a chance to get going, Burks was in a tough spot. New head coach Brian Callahan told reporters before the season that Burks would need to contribute on special teams in order to justify his roster spot. Burks was healthy heading into Year 3, but his usage and targets began to dwindle. In the week following a nine-snap offensive performance in a home loss to the Colts, Burks suffered a knee injury in practice that would be reported weeks later as a “loose ACL” that, ultimately, required season-ending surgery.
With injuries having defined his career thus far, it’s extremely unfortunate for Burks to suffer this injury today. Rapoport claims that Burks showed up to training camp “in great shape,” and we saw reports back in June that he looked ahead of schedule in his rehabilitation. The collarbone is, at the very least, a setback, as he’ll need to get back up to full speed in the midst of the regular season.
Burks already faced the challenge of trying to gel with a new passer in rookie quarterback Cam Ward. Burks was set to be the clear WR2 to Calvin Ridley after the team neglected to re-sign free agents Tyler Boyd and Nick Westbrook-Ikhine. The Titans, though, imported a ton of competition in the offseason,