With most 2023 NFL training camps set to start this week around July 24, the Tennessee Titans had set up their mind to place their DB Caleb Farley along with OT Dillon Radunz on the active/PUP list and DB Josh Thompson on the active/non-football injury list.
Training camps usually pave the way for the members to accustom themselves to their new teammates. Rookies and inexperienced players are provided with the opportunity to prove their athleticism to their respective coaching staff. There are certain mechanisms in place should they not manage to perform or if they are considered unfit.
What is a PUP list in the NFL?
The “PUP list” stands for “physically unable to perform”. Any physically unfit football players might be placed on the list by their respective teams. These players are placed either on the active/PUP list or the reserve/PUP list.
Hence, being placed on the PUP list at such a crucial time might take a heavy toll on these players, albeit they might still be activated at any point or at the start of the regular season games.
Footballers who are placed on the active/PUP list during training camp can be removed from the list by the teams at any time during the session, albeit they can’t be placed back on the list again after the withdrawal. Players from the list finally see their way to the Reserve/PUP list or are released, traded, and counted against the 53-man roster.
The league modified this rule in 2022. Now the teams can move an athlete from Active/PUP to Reserve/PUP list and he would have to miss the first 4 regular season games, down from ‘Six’ in seasons prior to 2022,
“NFL teams can move a player from Active/PUP to Reserve/PUP. That player no longer counts on the 80-man active roster list, but must miss the first 4 games of the regular season. In previous years, players on Reserve/PUP missed at least 6 games.”
Why is Titans’ first-round pick CB Caleb Farley on the PUP list?
Farely was put on the active/PUP list Saturday along with OT Dillon Radunz. The Virginia Tech star was selected with the 22nd overall pick by Tennessee in the 2021 NFL draft. He was projected to be the top corner in the draft, albeit that didn’t turn out to be the case in the end. The footballer fell in the prior months due to some health issues. He had to undergo a microdiscectomy to deal with a back issue just before the pre-draft process.
#Titans placed former 1st round pick CB Caleb Farley on the PUP list as they begin Training Camp.
Farley played only made 2 career starts out of possible 24 through his two seasons in the league.
Even when he's healthy enough to play (9 games last year), the team doesn't start… pic.twitter.com/FQ7hMLGq6t
— Dov Kleiman (@NFL_DovKleiman) July 22, 2023
The 6-foot-2 rookie played for the Hokies from 2017-2020 before heading to the NFL and is currently in the third year of a four-year $13.495 million contract and the franchise will have a fifth-year option on him for the 2025 season.
The 24-year-old CB played just three games as a rookie due to being plagued by back injuries and appeared in nine games in 2022, recording 10 total tackles. He has been a starter for the Titans and played only 12 games throughout the last two years. Hence, his injury history had been a concern for the franchise.
Though it’s not a good thing to be listed in a PUP list, the Titans can still activate Farley at any time during the preseason. Hopefully, the youngster will get the chance to prove his excellence on the field.
