Jeffery Simmons trusted he wouldn’t be traded.

“I know I’m not going nowhere,” Simmons told reporters on Nov. 13, following his first practice on the field with his Tennessee Titans teammates since injuring his hamstring on Oct. 19. “Of course the media talks and everybody goes ‘Trade this, trade that.’ I was focused on rehabbing. Trust me, I wasn’t thinking about getting traded.”

The Titans held onto Simmons, the team’s best and most valuable asset, through the NFL trade deadline despite rampant speculation about the team’s willingness to move him for draft capital. General manager Mike Borgonzi said after the deadline that trading Simmons was never a consideration; Simmons’ value as a leader and a symbol of success in the locker room is too valuable to Borgonzi’s and president of football operation Chad Brinker’s vision, not to mention Simmons’ status as one of the NFL’s premier interior defensive linemen.

While the Titans held onto Simmons, they traded three of his defensive teammates. When he returns from his hamstring injury, he’ll do so as part of a team that no longer features cornerback Roger McCreary or edge rusher Dre’Mont Jones. Safety Quandre Diggs is gone too, though he was released instead of traded. In the span of about a month, thanks to Diggs’ and receiver Tyler Lockett’s releases, both of the lockers next to Simmons’ have been vacated.

Simmons knows how this all looks.

“Talking to Mike and Chad throughout the season and the offseason, they have a vision,” Simmons said. “Trust me: It was hard as hell for me to see it early on, and it’s still kind of. I want to win. It’s frustrating. I get paid to play football. I get paid to be a leader in this locker room and when I’m on the field on Sundays to go produce. Chad and Mike, the vision that they talk to me about what they see in the future for the Tennessee Titans, that’s the reason why Amy pays them, to do their job. I’m backing them. I support everything they’re telling me.”

Simmons didn’t make any guarantees about returning when the Titans (1-8) play the Houston Texans (4-5) at Nissan Stadium on Nov. 16 (noon CT, FOX). He added he’s still in good shape and actually lost a little weight during the rehab process.

Simmons said the one-play-at-a-time approach that led to so much of his early-season success is serving him well as he rehabs, as is the experience fighting back from the injury that delayed the start of his rookie season.

But mostly, he says he’s itching to get back on the field.

“It sucks, especially when you’re sitting on the sideline watching that Chargers game,” Simmons said, referring to the defense’s six sacks in the Titans’ most recent game. “When you see guys taking advantage of a terrible offensive line and guys working together, that game I’m sitting on the sideline like ‘Jeez, I could only imagine if I was playing in this game right now.’ But that’s how I feel. It sucks to be injured and not be out there with your teammates.”

Nick Suss is the Titans beat writer for The Tennessean. Contact Nick at  nsuss@gannett.com. Follow Nick on X @nicksuss. Subscribe to the Talkin’ Titans newsletter for updates sent directly to your inbox.