Entering Year 4 as the Tennessee Titans’ quarterback, Ryan Tannehill enjoyed a career resurgence in Nashville over his first two seasons before struggling mightily in 2021.
Despite his struggles, the Texas A&M product guided the Titans to their third straight playoff appearance and second straight AFC South division title, mostly thanks to a big helping hand from the defense.
Vying for another postseason berth in 2022, Tannehill, who turns 34 next month, had a forgettable showing in the team’s disappointing loss to the Cincinnati Bengals in the playoffs.
The Titans’ defense did its part, collecting nine sacks, but Tannehill’s three costly interceptions ended up dooming Tennessee in the 19-16 loss.
Earlier in the offseason, Tannehill noted how he used therapy to get out of a “dark space” he was in mentally following the loss. With his eye on the future, Tannehill says the loss is a scar he’ll continue to carry with him.
“Like I said, it’s a scar that I’ll carry with me,” Tannehill said, according to Jim Wyatt of Titans Online. “But I am looking forward to this year. [I’ll be] using it as fuel as I move forward. It’s something I’ll always remember, but at the same time, I dealt with it, it’s in the past, and now I’m using it as fuel to move forward.”
That’s not the only loss Tannehill has had to cope with this offseason. He will be without his primary receiving threat of the last three seasons in A.J. Brown, who was traded to the Philadelphia Eagles.
Going into the offseason program, Tannehill had a lot of new faces to begin building chemistry with. As far as that’s concerned, the veteran signal-caller believes he has made progress.
“We’ve done a lot of great stuff,” Tannehill said. “I am proud of our guys, the way we’ve come out and competed every single day. We’ve made a lot of progress – there’s a lot of new faces around here. To see those guys come out and learn the playbook, learn the way do things, and we’re learning each other as players. I am learning how Chig runs, I am learning how Austin runs, learning Treylon a little bit. A bunch of new faces – Josh (Malone), guys who haven’t been around here much, but learning how they move, learning how they run runs and how they fit in our system.
After closing the book on OTAs and minicamp, the Titans will get a break before training camp begins next month, but as Tannehill notes, it’ll be important for all players to stay in shape in the meantime.
“It’s an important time of the year,” Tannehill said. “If you sit on your butt for the next five weeks, and show up to camp out of shape, that is going to set us back. So, it is going to be important for guys to take some time away, prepare yourself mentally for a long grind of a season. You have to get ready to go, and make sure you come in at your strongest, most conditioned, ready to run. … If we can come in with a full head of steam and be in shape, be in conditioned and ready to go, it is definitely going to help us.”
