Tennessee Titans’ Harold Landry thinks he’s better than ever after football ACL injury. Here’s why.

Harold Landry missed football so much, he even longed for the hot, sticky days of Tennessee Titans training camp.

Landry tore his ACL toward the end of training camp last year, ending his season before it began. Eleven months later, the linebacker says he feels like himself again, maybe even better than he did before the injury, two practices into another training camp, his sixth with the Titans.

“Being away from the game as long as I’ve been, obviously I missed all of last year, I missed making plays in front of the fans in the games,” Landry said. “That feeling is just euphoric. But honestly, being away for that long, you start to appreciate and miss it even more. Just coming out here on the practice field and hearing Jeff (Simmons) talk s— or hearing your guys joking around … I’m ecstatic to be back.”

Landry had a career year in 2021, making his first Pro Bowl after logging 12 sacks, 14 tackles for loss and 22 quarterback hits. The Titans signed him to a five-year, $87.5 million extension following his breakout season, but the torn ACL wiped out the first year of the contract.

If Landry’s lucky in any way, it’s in what part of the season his injury occurred. He was able to focus on rehab during the 2022 season and spend much of the offseason doing position-specific drills and getting work in to be ready for training camp.

He says the main way his game has changed is in his technique. Even when his knee wasn’t ready, he was able to work on his hand placement and, as he puts it, enhance his pass rushing moves. He says he believes it’ll take a week or so of training camp to get his timing right and match his footwork to his new moves, but once he gets to that point, he thinks he’ll be as good as ever.

The roster Landry is returning to has warped and twisted in various ways since his injury. Gone is Bud Dupree, his old partner-in-crime off the edge, and in is Arden Key, a free agent signee who Landry has known since they trained together for the 2018 NFL combine and who Landry describes as “pure energy.”

Landry and Key will play alongside new linebackers such as Azeez Al-Shaair, Ben Niemann and Luke Gifford throughout camp, as well as a new veteran in the defensive backfield in Sean Murphy-Bunting.

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Landry knows that sort of roster turnover is part of football. He misses the teammates who are gone, but he said he trusts coach Mike Vrabel and GM Ran Carthon in their efforts to field the best team possible.

But more than that, Landry’s just happy to be back, regardless of who’s lining up beside him.

“I just feel like I’m a resilient guy,” he said. “I knew at the end of the day that I was going to come back stronger from this … Expectations are high. I worked my a– off to get to this point. The people here have helped me so much. I just feel great.”

Nick Suss is the Titans beat writer for The Tennessean. Contact Nick at nsuss@gannett.com. Follow Nick on Twitter @nicksuss.

This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Tennessee Titans’ Harold Landry ecstatic in return from football ACL tear