Healthy Tannehill – knock on wood – streaking past Titans’ starter milestones

By John Glennon

With the Titans trying to put distance between themselves and the Lions in the second quarter last Sunday, quarterback Ryan Tannehill executed a play-action bootleg, spinning toward his left and seeing all kinds of open space in front of him.

He flew down the sideline at an impressive 20-mile per hour clip – according to NextGen Stats – and launched himself forward from the four-yard line, stretching the football just inside the pylon for a touchdown.

But instead of jumping into a waiting chest-bump from Titans coach Mike Vrabel afterward, Tannehill found himself face-to-face with a frown.

“I got to the sidelines and there wasn’t a ‘Congratulations,’ or ‘Good job,’” Tannehill said. “It was a scowl. I knew that was coming. As soon as I reached (with) the ball, I knew that was coming.”

Part of Vrabel’s concern was practical, as stretching with the ball around the goalline can lead to fumbles, turnovers or touchbacks.

But there was a bigger picture to the scowl as well: The last thing the Titans want to see is Tannehill – one of the twin engines in the NFL’s highest-scoring offense – sidelined due to injury.

The good news for the Titans in that regard is that Tannehill has shown impressive durability during his Tennessee tenure.

Author: John GlennonMulti-media journalist with extensive expertise covering the NFL, NHL, professional soccer and more, including the Tennessee Titans and Nashville Predators for The Tennessean with articles, videos and podcasts. Strengths include the ability to write quick, concise and thorough analysis, as well as the ability to uncover unique human-interest stories. In working as a reporter, John developed skills that extend beyond the sports journalism world. An efficient and effective communicator, John is confident, calm and productive under deadline pressure and knows the power of the written word. John brings to Broadway Sports a work ethic second to none, an intellectual hunger, and an ability to inform and entertain readers, viewers and listeners. Reach out directly to John at: