Tennessee Titans guard Aaron Brewer came to the team in 2020, undrafted out of Texas State. He has won the starting job left vacant by the loss of Rodger Saffold, now with the Buffalo Billls.

-- Photo By Wade Payne | Ap

When asked about Aaron Brewer, Mike Vrabel utters one of his best lines of training camp, declaring the left guard as “tougher than a $2 steak.”

Brewer entered camp supposedly in a competition with free agent pickup Jamarco Jones to be the starting left guard replacing Rodger Saffold, a salary cap casualty in the offseason.

But that competition never materialized. Jones got hurt and missed several practices in the middle of camp, and Brewer did his part by playing well enough to give coaches and teammates confidence in him as the regular season begins Sunday (3:25 p.m., Fox) against the New York Giants.

Brewer, a third-year player who came to Tennessee as an undersized and undrafted free agent from Texas State, entered camp with one goal.

“I came in trying to own that spot,” Brewer says. “In my mindset, it was like it’s in front of me, and I’m going to take control of that situation and seize that opportunity. I felt like I had to come in and get a position and keep that position.”

Most NFL guards are around 300 pounds or more. Saffold played at around 325 pounds. Brewer is listed at just 274 pounds.

He switched numbers this year from 62 to 55, and change that, if anything, makes Brewer look even more slender.

Coach Mike Vrabel, who seems to take a liking to underdog players who come in and earn their way into a role, made culinary quip about Brewer early in camp but says toughness is only part of the way Brewer makes up for his lack of bulk.

“He’s explosive, he’s quick and he’s tougher than a $2 steak. He understands angles and how to get to guys and understands pad level and technique,” Vrabel says. “Those are things that he can do that somebody that’s bigger can’t, just the way that he moves. I just like the way he competes. He shows up to work every day and is willing to compete.”

Titans star defensive tackle Jeffery Simmons, who works against Brewer often in practice, offered a similar evaluation

“You can say that (he’s undersized), but Brew has a lot of things going for him. He’s got quick feet. He’s not the biggest guy, but being a smaller guy, you’ve got to be good at something, and he’s pretty efficient with his feet and hands.”

Now having cracked the starting lineup, Brewer says his approach won’t be any different from how he did things in his first two seasons.

“The next step is just being the best player I can be, and the sky’s the limit. This is my first starting season, and I’m trying to be the best interior lineman I can be,” Brewer says.

“I don’t feel like it will be any different because I’ve gotten some games where I’ve started and played the whole game. I’m just taking it one game at a time, and taking each game and making it better.”

It also helps that he has veterans on both sides with Ben Jones at center and Taylor Lewan at left tackle.

“He comes to work every day and gives 100% effort,” Lewan says. “He and Rodger have a lot of similarities in their games. Obviously, their size is different, but Brew does a lot of great things, and I’m excited to play next to him.”

Likewise, Brewer has earned his center’s trust in manning the left guard spot.

“Brew has played a lot of good ball for us over the past two years,” Jones says. “He’s played multiple positions for us and multiple games. So he’s a guy we trust

“We’ve played a lot of snaps with him. He’s a guy we can rely on to come out there and execute for us.”

Terry McCormick covers the Titans for TitanInsider.com, a part of Main Street Media.