Tennessee Titans: Mental Toughness Helped Turn the 2019 Season Around
NASHVILLE, Tenn. — If you think that every NFL player does their job with a high level of effort simply because they're getting paid a lot to do it, Tennessee Titans head coach Mike Vrabel believes you should think again. "From an outside perspective, people say, 'well, they’re paid, so they’re supposed to play hard,'" […]
NASHVILLE, Tenn. — If you think that every NFL player does their job with a high level of effort simply because they're getting paid a lot to do it, Tennessee Titans head coach Mike Vrabel believes you should think again.
"From an outside perspective, people say, 'well, they’re paid, so they’re supposed to play hard,'" Vrabel said. "I don’t know if that’s always the case.
"I show the team tapes from across the league where, maybe, that’s not the effort we want to play with."
Unlike those teams that struggle with effort, Vrabel's team shines when it comes to the mental aspects of NFL football. Mental toughness is, perhaps, the one thing that's remained consistent for the Titans throughout a season that has been filled with ups and downs.
A ROUGH START TO THE TITANS' SEASON
After routing the hapless Cleveland Browns in Week One, the Titans failed to find any real semblance of rhythm or effectiveness over their next five games.
As a result, the team had a 2-4 record heading into Week Seven.
Ending the season with a playoff appearance seemed to be a near impossibility at that point. Not only were the Titans in a hole because of their record, but they were coming off of a shutout loss thanks to arguably the NFL's worst offensive performance of the entire 2019 regular season.
But the Titans' players stuck together. They believed in each other and stayed mentally locked in.
"We always had that mentality where, no matter what happens to us, we’re always going to keep fighting," receiver Tajaé Sharpe said. "We’re never going to quit. We’ve always got each others’ backs, no matter what."
FINE-TUNING THINGS
For the Titans to improve to the level that they have since that 2-4 start, it took some tough conversations. Several players had to look in the mirror.
Because the chemistry within the Titans' locker room is so strong, though, those moments were easier to get through.
"There was really no pointing fingers, everyone wanted to be accountable for their own actions," linebacker Rashaan Evans said.
"That’s a good thing, because any situation that comes up, we know that we can problem-solve, get through it and move onto the next play."
Defensive coordinator Dean Pees believes that such a willingness to make changes for the sake of improvement has been one of the foundational traits of the Titans as a team.
"We change things every week, sometimes we change them a lot," he said. "I think they’ve done a great job of always being in tune with what we want to get done. I don’t ever get the sense of, like, ‘why are we doing this, why are we changing this?’
"They know we’re doing it for a reason. They trust us, we trust them. That’s been the consistent thing about them."
CHEMISTRY TO CONFIDENCE
The Titans' efforts to improve after their 2-4 start paid major dividends, and they did so quickly.
Thanks to stellar performances from QB Ryan Tannehill and steady improvement from virtually every other player on the team, the Titans won six of their next seven games.
As they continued winning, ultimately earning themselves a playoff berth as a wildcard team, confidence grew.
"Almost consistently, we’ve tried and found a way to come out with a win," Tannehill said. "Whether it was special teams making a play, offense going in the two-minute, defense coming up with a huge stop at the goal line, somebody on the team stepped up and made a play.
"I think that belief has been built through actions. It’s been built through seeing it happen."
Now that they're in the postseason, getting set to face the Patriots on Saturday, the mental toughness that has carried the Titans to this point is coming to its full fruition.
"We're in the playoffs, we earned our way to be here," corner Logan Ryan said. "We're one of the twelve best teams in the league."
"That's confidence enough—playing in January."
Cover image: Christopher Hanewinckel/USA Today
