NASHVILLE – Titans linebacker Anthony Hill Jr. is off to a booming start in his rookie season.
Through eight games, Hill is ranked second in the NFL with 82 tackles.
Hill joined Azeez Al-Shaair as the only Titans defender since 2000 with 80 or more tackles through the team's first eight games of a season, and he's coming off a game in Cincinnati when he led the defense with 14 tackles for the second time this season.
Hill is also the NFL's first rookie to post five tackles in each of his team's first eight games of a season since Jacksonville's Devin Lloyd and Green Bay's Quay Walker did so as rookies in 2022.
During the bye week, Hill is looking for ways to turn things up another notch.
"During this bye I am going to take some time to evaluate myself and see how I can get better," he said. "I feel like there's a few plays I left on the table, so I am always going to try to continue to get better and take that next step forward.
"At the end of the day, I am learning every game and just trying to get better."
A second-round pick of the Titans in the 2026 NFL Draft out of the University of Texas, Hill has started all eight games and he's been credited with 35 solo stops, and 47 assists, to total 82. Hill has 10 quarterback pressures, one forced fumble, one tackle for a loss and three passes defensed.
"Hopefully," Hill said with a smile. "I'll have some sacks or interceptions coming up on me next."
Already, it's been an impressive start for Hill, who earned the green dot during training camp, and set himself up as a key communicator on the field.
Hill thinks his communication has improved, and he's getting off blocks better than he did at the start of the season.
He wants to improve his open field tackling, and he wants to do things like punch the ball out more.
Hill has given up some plays, been juked out, and there are plays he'd like to have back, but it's all part of the learning experience in his eyes.
"You look at yourself in the mirror and say: What can I do during practice or during the week that can make myself better?," he said. "You have to take the good with the bad, and eliminate some of the bad."
Hill admits his body is more sore after NFL games compared to his college days, which means more massages the days after games.
But he said his time at Texas, when he played anywhere from 13 to 16 games, helped prepare him for the rigors of a long NFL season, which consists of 17 regular season games, and three preseason games.
Hill said he learned a lot from the recently departed Jeffery Simmons about taking care of his body, eating right, and becoming a pro.
Because, as Hill has found out, the NFL is the best of the best.
"You play in the SEC, you think you are playing with the best guys until you get here and then you are playing the best of those guys," he said. "So, it is a whole different level.
"I feel like I have done a pretty decent job in terms of communication, but definitely some stuff I want to work on, and am definitely going to get better at. I want to take this bye week to evaluate that, and to get my body back healthy and get ready to go play."
