One of the least-familiar names on the Tennessee Titans’ 53-man roster is cornerback Tre Avery, an undrafted rookie from Rutgers.

Avery was a late addition to the Titans undrafted class for 2022 – signing May 13 – but showed great advancement in camp and preseason.

Such an achievement was great would be the highlight of any rookie player’s week. His week had already been made with the birth of his son, Riley.

“My son was born the day before (I made the roster), so I was more excited about that,” Avery says. “Then I got the call that I had made the 53-man roster. I was excited about that, too. I was grateful. I thanked God.”

For an unheralded and undrafted guy, especially one who was a late add, Avery didn’t feel at all like he didn’t belong.

“(I’ve wanted this) since forever. Since I started playing football, I’ve wanted to play in the NFL, and I’ve felt like I could play in the NFL. I knew I could,” Avery says.

Titans general manager Jon Robinson, whose opinion counted most of all, agreed.

“I made the analogy that he was kind of seventh or eighth in the race about midway through camp, and it seemed like once he got to turn four, he just hitched up and kept running and passed guys up,” Robinson says.

“He’s competitive at the line of scrimmage. He’s really sticky in coverage. He’s got good play speed. He’s got good instincts, and he doesn’t play the position like a rookie.

“He’s not intimidated. He gets up there and lines up on his guy, and he’s reactive. He’s really done a nice job.”

Avery had three tackles in the season-opener against the Giants and struggled, along with the rest of the defense, as a starter in Monday night’s 41-7 loss at Buffalo.