Old space-eaters, now free to cause mayhem

But new coach Dan Quinn thinks otherwise He wants them to blast off the ball, get penetration and try to cause mayhem in the backfield.

In order to better fit their roles, both Soliai and Jackson had to slim down over the offseason. Soliai dropped 16 pounds from 345 to 329, while Jackson has dropped 18 pounds from 296 to 278.

Both are moving much better and flashed their new combination on the right side of the defense in the exhibition opener against Tennessee.

On the Titans’ sixth play, Soliai got a nice jump on the snap and drove his blocker right into quarterback Marcus Mariota, who was flushed into the oncoming arms of Jackson. He lowered the boom on the rookie for a sack and an 11-yard loss.

“I was just playing physical,” Soliai said. “I’m just glad Tyson was there to finish the play. That’s something that me and him have been working on this whole offseason.”

There is something liberating about abandoning double-team duty for the former space-eaters.

“We are just having fun, getting off the ball and creating plays,” Soliai said. “We are trying to keep the (offensive) linemen off our linebackers and get into the backfield, get to the quarterback and make big plays.”

Soliai, who was the 3-4 nose tackle and fought with the center and guard, had just one sack last season. Jackson, who was the defensive end, did not record a sack.

“With Paul and Tyson both, when you are playing straight two-gap (alignment) you need some more size and bulk,” Quinn said. “We are not doing as much of that in the system now. That’s why we recommended for those guys to get their weight down.”

Quinn is calling for them to play even more on the move. The defensive line neighbors have been working playing off one another.

“That competition goes back and forth with them,” Quinn said. “They are building a great chemistry and relationship across the line and it’s carryover over to the other guys.”

Jackson, who was the third overall pick in the 2009 draft by Kansas City out of LSU, didn’t mind losing the weight.

“I didn’t need those extra pounds to play those double-teams and all of that type of stuff,” Jackson said.

He trained with noted mixed martial arts trainer Jay Glazer to help him drop weight.

“It was insane,” Jackson said. “It was my first time taking part in something like that. I can honestly say that guys in the MMA and UFC world, those guys should be paid more attention to because the things that they do are real violent and real effective.”

Jackson plans to use some of those techniques during games.

“Definitely. That’s all the trenches is about,” he said. “The hand battles and one-on-one fights, a lot of those moves can transition from in the ring onto the football field.”

He also enjoys his new role as an end in the 4-3.

“I just think this defense is more aggressive,” Jackson said. “It’s more of that textbook defense, just get after the offense. It’s not really too much about what they do. It’s about what we do. That’s the line on this defense.”