NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- As a rookie in in 2009, Jason McCourty played right cornerback. After that, he played on the left side.

In 2013, he matched up with Demaryius Thomas of Denver and Andre Johnson of Houston wherever they went, but otherwise he stuck to the left side.

This year’s been different.

On Sept. 28 against Indianapolis, with two big threats in T.Y. Hilton and Reggie Wayne, McCourty played predominantly on the left. Against teams with no clear-cut No. 1 receiver -- the Browns and Jaguars -- he didn’t appear to track an opponent.

But in more than half the Titans games on most plays, McCourty has tracked the opponent’s best receiver: Kansas City’s Donnie Avery, Dallas’ Dez Bryant (before McCourty suffered a hamstring injury and left the game), Cincinnati’s A.J. Green, Washington’s DeSean Jackson, Houston’s Johnson and Baltimore’s Steve Smith.

McCourty vs. No. 1 WRs Receiving numbers against the Titans by players covered mostly by Jason McCourty. Receiver Catches Yards Long TDs Donnie Avery 7 84 25 0 Dez Bryant* 10 103 22 1 A.J. Green 6 102 29 0 DeSean Jackson 3 49 37 0 Andre Johnson 7 55 13 0 Steve Smith 3 17 12 0 * In the first half before McCourty left the game hurt, Bryant had four catches for 41 yards and a long of 18.

“It’s a lot of fun, you get a chance to compete against the best in the league every week on an every-snap basis,” McCourty said. “Going against some of the really good wide receivers in this game forces you to be on point every single play, knowing that a lot of the targets are going to come there ....

“Lately I feel like I’ve played a lot better. I’ve been in position throughout this entire season. I haven’t been able to make all the plays that I want to make, obviously. When you’re not winning, everything is magnified so you always feel like you could have done this better or that better to help the team win some of those close games.”

McCourty said Green, Bryant and Jackson were especially big challenges, as he was facing them for the first time.

Titans defensive coordinator Ray Horton said it didn’t take long after he joined the team to determine the team would be best off having McCourty track top targets.

Alterraun Verner left the Titans for Tampa Bay as a free agent, and second-year corner Blidi Wreh-Wilson won the spot replacing him with Coty Sensabaugh remaining as the nickel corner.

“Well, obviously (McCourty) was the only guy with experience in the games,” Horton said. “He’s progressing. Last week he held Steve Smith to his lowest output of the season. … He’s really growing into: ‘Wow, guys you can count on me to do the job you asked me to do.’”

For all the Titans' troubles en route to 2-7 and even with Wreh-Wilson struggling, Tennessee's pass defense has been a relative bright spot.

The Titans are giving up 211.3 passing yards a game, 11th best in the NFL.