Tennessee Titans linebacker Cedric Gray has entered the NFL’s concussion protocol after an ATV accident just days before the start of the season, the team has confirmed.
“Over the weekend, Cedric Gray was involved in a UTV accident in Tennessee and sustained a concussion and minor injuries,” the Titans said in a statement on Monday, September 7. “We look forward to Cedric returning to the field soon and in full health when he clears the NFL’s concussion protocol.”
There was no alcohol or reckless driving involved in the accident, a team source told ESPN.
Gray, 23, is entering his third season in the NFL after playing his college ball at the University of North Carolina. The Titans drafted the second-team All-American in the fourth round of the 2024 NFL Draft.
In 2025, his first full season, Gray emerged as a starter, leading the team with 164 tackles, which ranked fourth in the NFL.
The Titans open the regular season on Sunday, September 13, at home against the New York Jets. Gray’s status is listed as questionable for the game, but he must satisfy several criteria before returning to play, per the league’s concussion protocol. One of those criteria will be for an independent consultant to clear him to return to practice and games.
While return timetables can vary wildly among those who suffer concussions, Titans analyst Drew Beatty called his possible absence in the season-opener “pretty catastrophic for the defense.”
“Thankful it’s only short-term,” he told Heavy.com via text message. “He’s grown into (in my opinion) a top-5 ILB in football and one of the core pillars of the defensive unit. Looking at an aging Cody Barton (who’s definitively on the decline) and Anthony Hill being thrust into the starting lineup in his first game as a rookie now. Not great!”
The Titans’ season-opener will take on additional intrigue for head coach Robert Saleh in his first game at the helm. The Tennessee coach led the Jets from 2021 to 2024, when he was fired five games into the season.
Saleh, 47, tried to downplay the added meaning in his first game, keeping the focus on his current team.
“Our desire to win Week 1, beat the Jets, is because it’s Week 1 and nothing more,” Saleh told reporters on Monday. “I’m forever grateful for the opportunity they gave.”
Lineman Solomon Thomas played for the Jets from 2022 to 2024, and added that the adversity those teams faced has helped build the culture in Tennessee.
“We went through a lot of adversity at the Jets, and we’re bringing all the things we learned from that adversity here and spreading it in the culture of this locker room, spreading in the culture of the coaches,” he said. “And I think it’s a lot of knowledge that we’re passing on from then.”
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