It’s been a tough offseason for Titans quarterback Ryan Tannehill – and it goes beyond the team drafting Malik Willis.
Tannehill, who has been the Titans’ quarterback since 2019 and has led Tennessee to three straight playoff appearances, met the media on Tuesday after the team drafted Willis in third round of the 2022 NFL Draft. While he turned heads with his comments that it’s not his job to mentor the new quarterback, he also revealed the depths of his difficult offseason, which began with a heartbreaking 19-16 playoff loss to the Bengals.
“It’s a deep scar,” Tannehill said, per ESPN. “Every time I closed my eyes I kind of rewatched the game. I didn’t get a whole lot of sleep for weeks. I was in a dark place, and it took me a while, a lot of work to get out of it.
“I’ve worked through it, but therapy, talking to people, time helped. It took a lot of work to get through it. This is the first time that I absolutely needed it [therapy] to pull me out of a dark space.”
Tannehill has been heavily criticized for his performance in the game, in which he threw three interceptions and compiled a passer rating of 66.7. The Titans sacked Joe Burrow nine times and had the ball late in the game with a chance to win it, but the quarterback’s third pick of the game gave the Bengals that opportunity instead.
It’s hard to argue that anyone had a rougher draft than Tannehill, who watched as the team traded away No. 1 receiver A.J. Brown to the Eagles, then drafted the QB’s potential replacement in Willis. They did use their first round pick on receiver Treylon Burks, but it’s a stretch to expect him to fill the production Brown left behind.
The 33-year-old appeared testy in the press conference when asked about Willis and the potential relationship the two quarterbacks would have.
“I don’t think it’s my job to mentor him,” Tannehill said. “But if he learns from me along the way, that’s a great thing.”