How Tennessee Titans responded to 'embarrassing,' painful end to their 2022 season

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. − After 10 weeks of pain, Tennessee Titans defensive lineman Jeffery Simmons finally felt his agony.

Simmons and the Titans lost 20-16 to the Jacksonville Jaguars on Saturday night, ending their season on a seven-game losing streak to miss the playoffs for the first time in Simmons' four-year career. A win would've sent the Titans (7-10) to the postseason and clinched their third straight division title. But that win slipped through the grasp of quarterback Joshua Dobbs' fingers on a sack-fumble returned for a touchdown with 2:51 remaining to give the Jaguars (9-8) their only lead of the game, and the only lead they needed.

The Titans sent 28 players to injured reserve this season, finishing with 23 players on the shelf. Simmons never was one of them, but he played the end of the season despite an ankle injury that nagged him since October. Speaking after the Titans' loss, Simmons emotions poured out under the weight of the season, his own injuries and the injuries to his teammates.

"I’ve battled through so much (expletive) man," Simmons said through tears. "I’ve been shooting my ankle up since Week 8, man. These guys in this locker room, man, I love them. No matter what, I wanted to be on that field. I don’t know what I’ll figure out this offseason that I can do to get better, but these guys meant so much to me. I just wanted to be on the field. Hurting, I didn’t care. I’m a fighter. I’m a warrior. I give it all to my guys because that’s how much I love the game and this locker room. I appreciate these boys so much. We’ll find a way next year to be better as a team and we’ll figure it out."

The Titans have plenty to figure out, but wanting to win isn't one of them. Everyone from coach Mike Vrabel to running back Derrick Henry to safety Kevin Byard to Dobbs, who's only been with the Titans for three weeks, talked about how proud they were with the effort the Titans exhibited in their win-or-go-home Week 18 battle.

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But as Vrabel conceded, sometimes you need more than great effort. The Titans' injuries caught up with them Saturday, especially the three missing starters on an offensive line that didn't pick up the blitz that led to Dobbs' fumble. So did the stale offensive approach to second halves that's haunted the team since Week 1. So did their NFL-worst pass defense that was gashed throughout the first half.

Not that Byard thinks any of this makes the losing OK.

"It’s embarrassing," Byard said. "It’s embarrassing especially to go out that way. Obviously to still have an opportunity to go to the playoffs was really good, ending took a little bit off of that. But I’m just disappointed the way we ended the year."

Henry and Simmons addressed the locker room after the loss. So did Vrabel. The message was one of pride, one of gratitude. Vrabel said he knows there are teams where a late losing streak would've turned him into less of a coach and more of a hall monitor breaking up fights and trying to mend relationships between warring factions in the meeting room.

He thanked them for their effort and their willingness to compete. Then he apologized.

"I’m sorry that they lost, that we lost," Vrabel said. "I wanted a win for them. And the people that have stood by us through this whole thing."

The Titans didn't get that win. They won't have another chance to excise the demons of this losing streak until next season starts in September. By that point, the Titans will have a new general manager, new players at just about every position on the depth chart and a new path to another quest for the same goal: a Super Bowl.

"We’re used to putting that T-shirt and hat on (as division champs)," Byard said. "It’s the way the business goes. A lot of guys are not going to be here. Some guys will be back but who knows? There’s going to be a lot of questions that need to be answered with this (organization) period, but we’ll see what happens the next few months."

Nick Suss is the Titans beat writer for The Tennessean. Contact Nick at nsuss@gannett.com. Follow Nick on Twitter @nicksuss.

This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: How Tennessee Titans responded to 'embarrassing' end to 2022 season