Titans’ Tannehill ready for anything
NASHVILLE — The Tennessee Titans have only one real choice with workhorse running back Derrick Henry, the twotime reigning NFL rushing champion and current league leader, sidelined by a broken right foot.
“Keep moving,” Titans quarterback Ryan Tannehill said Wednesday. “We have to keep moving forward as a team, as an offense and find a way to continue to play our football and play good.”
For the first time since becoming Tennessee’s starting quarterback in mid-October 2019, the pressure will be squarely on Tannehill to deliver in the Titans’ passing game. And his first shot without Henry comes Sunday night in Los Angeles against the Rams (7-1) and tackle Aaron Donald, the NFL defensive player of the year three of the past four seasons.
“I want to do whatever it takes to win,” Tannehill said. “If that is throwing the ball more, then it is throwing the ball more. If that is running the ball more, then it is running the ball more. I just love winning football games. Whatever it takes to win and give our team the best chance to win, that is what I will do.”
The Titans (6-2) signed 2012 league MVP Adrian Peterson for what might wind up a committee approach to replacing Henry.
The reigning NFL offensive player of the year, Henry had carried much of the attack before being hurt, running for 10 touchdowns through six games. Tannehill only got to 10 touchdown passes last weekend with his second three-score game of the season, but he is also Tennessee’s second-leading rusher this season, having averaged 7.2 yards per carry, including three touchdowns.
Tannehill is 26-12 since becoming Tennessee’s starting quarterback. He just led the Titans to a 12th comeback when trailing in the fourth quarter or overtime with the OT road win last Sunday against the Indianapolis Colts. He also has had a passer rating of 90 or better in three of four road starts this season.
He threw for 3,819 yards last season with a careerhigh 33 touchdown passes but has topped 300 yards only once this season. Tennessee ranks 21st in the NFL in passing yards per game with an average of 229.5.
“His toughness, his understanding of our offense and what we are trying to do each and every week has been good,” Titans coach Mike Vrabel said. “It can always improve. We have a lot of things to work on.”
The passing game isn’t what was expected after the Titans traded for seven-time Pro Bowl wide receiver Julio Jones in June, pairing the former Atlanta Falcons star with 2020 Pro Bowl receiver A.J. Brown.
Both have dealt with hamstring trouble this season. Jones has missed three games, including last weekend’s win over the Colts. He has 17 catches for 301 yards and is still looking for his first score this season after officials overturned a catch at the back of the end zone in an overtime road win against the Seattle Seahawks in September.
Brown has had his two best games over the past two weeks, and he made a season-high 10 catches for 155 yards and a touchdown in Indianapolis.
Peterson got on the field Wednesday for the first time since signing with Tennessee’s practice squad the day before. The Titans only had a walkthrough, but Tannehill thinks Peterson’s style as a physical, downhill runner fits the offense.
Tannehill doesn’t expect the system to change much without Henry. For the quarterback, making the offense go means just playing.
“I don’t think you have to overthink it a lot,” Tannehill said. “Just continue to prepare to win a football game and make the plays that come up within the frame of what we are trying to accomplish offensively.”
Replacing Ridley
FLOWERY BRANCH, Ga. — Fantasy football players trying to figure out which Atlanta Falcons wide receiver to plug in for Calvin Ridley should be warned: The answer may change every week.
With Ridley out for an indefinite period of time while addressing his mental health, quarterback Matt Ryan is preparing to pass to multiple players in Sunday’s game at NFC South Division rival New Orleans.
Though Tajae Sharpe had five receptions in last week’s 19-13 home loss to the Carolina Panthers as the fill-in for Ridley, Ryan doesn’t expect any one player to have the lead role at receiver.
“I think it’s by committee,” Ryan said Wednesday. “We want to get production by committee and try and use all of our guys in ways that can help us. We certainly have trust in Tajae. He’s done a great job for us all year.”
It would not be a surprise if Russell Gage, who had no passes thrown his way against Carolina, was Ryan’s top option against the Saints on Sunday. It also wouldn’t be a surprise if rookie tight end Kyle Pitts, who had only two catches for 13 yards last week, returns to the production he showed by topping 100 yards each of the previous two games.
Perhaps the most consistent option for Ryan has been running back Cordarrelle Patterson, who has 601 combined rushing and receiving yards this season with seven touchdowns. The only other Atlanta players to have at least 600 scrimmage yards and seven touchdowns through seven games were running back Devonta Freeman in 2015 and wide receiver Andre Rison in 1990.
Patterson and running back Mike Davis had five catches apiece last week.
“You talk about getting production from not only different guys at the wide receiver group but different position groups,” Ryan said. “We’re lucky we have versatile players, guys that can do a lot of different things. That’s going to help us moving forward.”
Ridley was a last-minute scratch against Carolina. During the game, he posted an explanation on his Twitter account, writing: “These past few weeks have been very challenging and as much as I’d like to be on the field competing with my teammates, I need to step away from football at this time and focus on my mental wellbeing.”
Ridley wrote the time away will “help me be the best version of myself now and in the future.” He has provided no timetable on his return.
Asked Wednesday about Ridley’s status for Sunday, Falcons coach Arthur Smith said: “I don’t know. Just like anyone with an injury, we’ll get updates, we’ll figure it out. I can’t answer that because I don’t know.”