The Tennessee Titans made a couple of big moves during the NFL Draft. For starters, they traded away disgruntled star A.J. Brown, who hadn’t agreed to a contract extension. Then, they took a promising QB in Malik Willis.
Needless to say, if someone can’t be happy about how the offseason turned out, that’s Ryan Tannehill. Not only did he lose his top two receivers in Brown and Julio Jones but he now also has some big competition in the locker room.
That’s why the former Miami Dolphins QB was brutally honest when asked about potentially mentoring Willis. Right now, he doesn’t feel like he has the obligation of mentoring someone who wants to take his job.
NFL News: Ryan Tannehill Didn’t Know Titans Were Taking A QB
“We’re competing against each other,” Tannehill said. “We’re watching the same tape, we’re doing the same drills. I don’t think it’s my job to mentor him, but if he learns from me along the way then that’s a great thing.”
That’s not what you’d want to hear from a veteran QB. That’s not competitiveness, even if he wants to mask it that way. Moreover, what does that say about his confidence, knowing that he could actually lose his job to a 22-year kid taken in the third round?
Tannehill Was ‘Hurt’ To Know Brown Was Gone
Tannehill also addressed losing Brown, both as a teammate and a close friend. He claimed the team kept him on the blue about this trade and that it hurt personally and professionally to watch him leave:
“Professionally, it hurt,” Tannehill said. “Top target, heckuva football player, made big plays for us consistently over the last three years. Personally, it hurt. A.J.’s a good friend. Have a lot of great times, great memories on and off the field with him. Not being able to see him on a daily basis is going to be different, going to be hard. Happy to see him get what he wanted, but, at the end of the day, it hurts.”
This latest string of moves doesn’t exactly make us think that the Titans will be a better team in 2022 than they were the past couple of years. They were pretty close to legit contention, now it seems like they’ve taken a couple of steps back.