Tennessee Titans' Ryan Tannehill moving forward, but 'burning fire inside me' from Bengals loss
Tennessee Titans quarterback Ryan Tannehill said Wednesday he’s focused on 2022, but acknowledged that last season’s AFC divisional-round loss to the Cincinnati Bengals is still fuel and “a burning fire inside of me.”
Tannehill’s three-interception performance played a critical role in downing the Titans’ Super Bowl hopes. And overall, 2021 marked a regression from the efficient play that defined his 2019 and ’20 campaigns with Tennessee.
His passing touchdowns (21), touchdown percentage (4), interceptions (14) and interception percentage (2.6) last season were worse than the previous two seasons. His passer rating (89.6) was also his lowest since 2015, when he was still with the Miami Dolphins.
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“At this point, it’s a new season,” Tannehill said. “What happened last year doesn’t matter, but no doubt there’s a passion and a fire burning.”
The Titans open the season Sunday (3:25 p.m., FOX) against the New York Giants at Nissan Stadium.
Tannehill spoke at length in the offseason about the “dark place” he was in after the Bengals game. He had sleepless nights. Re-watched the playoff loss every time he closed his eyes. Therapy, a routine of his for a while, was needed more than ever.
While Titans coaches and players say Tannehill has been the same kind of leader he’s always been, some acknowledge that there’s an edge to him entering 2022.
Receiver Nick Westbrook-Ikhine said that he has a sense of urgency.
“Since we showed up in the spring, I feel like it started then,” Westbrook-Ikhine said. “Attention to detail. Not letting little minute details slip by the wayside. Minor mistakes, just being on top of those things to hit them early to make sure they don’t come up later.”
Practice squad wideout Dez Fitzpatrick added that Tannehill has been “laser focused.”
“I feel like he’s really making sure everybody knows the ‘why’ in every concept that we run,” Fitzpatrick said in August, “why everybody has to be where they’re at for the concept to actually work.”
“It’s almost like another coach out there at the same time. He’s definitely vocal out there on the field, vocal in the meeting rooms.”
Fifth-round rookie Kyle Philips, around Tannehill for the first time, said the quarterback’s command in the huddle – saying what he wants and how he wants it – is one of his defining qualities.
“He’ll even come into our wide receiver room to explain something again or make it a little more clear to make our jobs a little bit easier,” Philips said.
Ben Arthur covers the Tennessee Titans for The USA TODAY Network. Contact him at barthur@gannett.com and follow him on Twitter at @benyarthur.
This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Tennessee Titans' Ryan Tannehill: 'Burning fire' from NFL playoffs loss
