Unbeaten Titans are unapologetic, but hardly unblemished, as they host Steelers
You’d think that after their facility in Nashville became the epicenter of the NFL’s first covid-19 outbreak, the Tennessee Titans may be a bit remorseful.
After all, the whole league went into crisis prevention mode, and the schedules of multiple teams got reshuffled as a result.
So maybe a sense of guilt, sheepishness or responsibility from the fan base?
“Nope,” laughed Jon Burton of NewsChannel 5 and WNSR Radio.
The former WTAE anchor and 93.7 The Fan host joined me for Tuesday’s “Breakfast With Benz” podcast. He was a guest after the originally scheduled Week 4 game between the Steelers and Titans had to be postponed. At the time, Burton said he’d be extremely surprised if the Titans were guilty of breaking covid-19 protocols which may have led to the outbreak.
“Mike Vrabel is a lot like Mike Tomlin,” Burton said back on Oct. 2. “Structured guy. Attention to detail. No stone unturned. I am fully confident in telling you that the Titans did not break any protocol.”
Well, after seeing the practice footage of the Titans gathering against NFL rules following the shutdown of the facility, Burton admits he was forced to change that belief.
“This was coming on the heels of Vrabel telling his players not to gather,” Burton said. “Well, they gathered. And it was a clear violation. I was shocked to see that. I was shocked to hear about it.”
Despite that discovery, though, and reports of the players and staff not wearing masks around the facility properly, the Titans seem far from conciliatory in the wake of the venom spewed their way from fans of other teams impacted by the rescheduling.
You know, like the Steelers.
“The players were using it as kind of a chip on their shoulder,” Burton said. “Everybody hates us, so we are going to win a bunch of games and rub it in your face.
“The players are basically saying if you don’t want to like us because of this, that’s fine. We’ll use it as fuel for our fire.”
That angst outside of the Music City was cranked up Monday when news leaked that the Titans franchise may be penalized for breaking guidelines, but no specific executives, coaches or players will be.
Tuesday night, after the team beat Buffalo in its first game following two weeks of not playing or practicing, Titans tackle Taylor Lewan trashed-talked the public for being critical of the franchise.
Taylor Lewan is a fake tough guy. Not my LT. pic.twitter.com/3RbqA0GYAJ
— #BringMeBieniemy (@mattkaroly) October 14, 2020
“We’re used to it with Taylor Lewan. That’s how he is,” Burton said, likening Lewan to Steelers players such as Lethon Flowers, Joey Porter and Ryan Clark.
In other words, guys who loved to stoke controversy through the media and play the “they hate us cuz they ain’t us” card.
“He’s a demonstrative, talkative guy. It didn’t get a lot of play around here. But I can imagine in other parts across the country it did. It’s not a good look when you come out and say you didn’t do anything wrong, and you did things wrong,” Burton continued.
Lewan’s “us against the world” mentality may have been adopted for another week as the team improved to 5-0, outlasting the Houston Texans 42-36 in overtime.
But in the process of that game, Lewan went down with an ACL injury. And for as much as his mouth may turn off people, he is a very good offensive lineman. A former Pro Bowler. And he will be quite a loss for Tennessee.
The team is also far from perfect on defense. They only have seven sacks through five games. That’s the third-lowest total in the league. And, at 272.8 yards passing per game allowed, only four teams in football are yielding more on average.
Burton and I talk about what’s going wrong on that side of the ball and how everything is going right on offense.
Derrick Henry has become god-like at running back. He and quarterback Ryan Tannehill are flirting with the MVP race. And pass-catching weapons are emerging all over the roster.
Burton and I get into that dichotomy, the loss of Lewan versus the loss of Steelers linebacker Devin Bush, and how the Titans probably benefited from having this game against Pittsburgh being delayed three weeks.
Tim Benz is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Tim at tbenz@triblive.com or via X. All tweets could be reposted. All emails are subject to publication unless specified otherwise.
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