Rookie LB Zach Brown Ties NFL Record for Most Interception Return TDs in Game

Head coach Mike Munchak said Sunday the Titans have three “special” linebackers in Akeem Ayers, Colin McCarthy and Zach Brown.

The latter, the rookie from North Carolina, gave Munchak every reason to feel confident about his linebacker corps going forward.

Brown intercepted Jaguars QB Chad Henne twice for touchdowns — and he could have had another had he not dropped his first chance early in the game.

Brown’s first pick went for 79 yards and his first career touchdown, tying the game at 14 late in the second quarter. It was the team’s longest interception return since Jordan Babineaux’s 97-yarder at Cleveland on Oct. 2, 2011.

In the third quarter he struck again, picking off a Henne pass and racing 30 yards for a score to give the Titans a 35-14 advantage.

Brown tied the NFL record (reached several times) for most interception return touchdowns in a game, and he became the third player in franchise history to accomplish the feat, joining Miller Farr (Dec. 7, 1968) and Ken Houston (Dec. 19, 1971).

“It felt good to get the picks,” Brown said after the game. “The first one, I dropped it, but coach (Munchak) told me he’d throw me another one. I was just waiting for it. He threw it to me two times, and I should have had one more, but it is what it is.”

Brown said Henne has a tendency to stare down defenders, so he began taking “a little quick peek” on Henne’s passes that were often intended for his go-to target Mercedes Lewis.

“It feels good, and it’s something as a defensive player that you want to do,” Brown added. “We’re not in the playoffs, but in any event, we were still playing to win. For us, it’s just pride kicking in. If you don’t like to play the game to win, then you shouldn’t be here at all.”

Brown’s touchdowns gave the team four interceptions for touchdowns in 2012.

Seven Sacks at Jacksonville Marked 4th Highest Total in NFL in 2012

Last week at Jacksonville, the Titans defense recorded a season-high seven sacks, matching the fourth-highest total in the NFL in 2012.

Linebacker Zach Brown and defensive end Kamerion Wimbley each had 1.5 sacks in the game*, while linebacker Akeem Ayers, safety Michael Griffin, and defensive tackles Jurrell Casey and Karl Klug each tallied a solo sack.

In franchise history, there have been only five games in which the Oilers/Titans recorded more than seven sacks and only three road games with more than seven sacks.

Most team sacks in a road game, franchise history:

8 – Nov. 10, 1985 at Buffalo
8 – Sept. 12, 1982 at Cincinnati
8 – Oct. 17, 1976 at San Diego
7 – Nov. 25, 2012 at Jacksonville
7 – Oct. 9, 2005 at Houston
7 – Nov. 28, 1999 at Cleveland
7 – Nov. 14, 1999 at Cincinnati
7 – Sept. 23, 1979 at Cincinnati
7 – Dec. 22, 1963 at Oakland

* Brown was initially credited with two sacks in the game, and Wimbley was credited with one sack. A third-quarter sack by Brown has since been changed to a split sack between Brown and Wimbley.