Ryan Tannehill Discusses Being in ‘Dark Place’ After Titans’ Playoff Loss

Ryan Tannehill led the Titans to earn the No. 1 AFC seed in last season’s NFL playoffs. However, his team lost 19–16 in the divisional round to the Bengals.

Speaking to reporters on Tuesday, Tannehill expressed that the game left him in a “dark place” for weeks.

“It’s a deep scar,“ Tannehill said. “It was a lot of sleepless nights. Every time I closed my eyes, I was rewatching the game in my head. I was in a dark place, it took me a while and a lot of work to get out of it. It wasn’t something that went away easily. It’s a scar I’ll carry with me the rest of my life.”

The quarterback completed 15 of 24 attempts for 220 yards in the battle against Cincinnati who, behind Joe Burrow’s 28 completions on 37 attempts for 348 yards, was on par with the AFC leaders throughout the game. But, a game-winning field goal made by Bengals kicker Evan McPherson sealed the win for Cincinnati.

Tannehill, who finished the 2021 season with 3,734 yards, said that he felt like his divisional round performance was below his standard.

The 33-year-old said therapy is what eventually helped him get through the tough time. Now, he has reached a point where he can use the loss as fuel as he heads into the 2022 season.

“At this point, I can look back at it, recognize it for what it was and learn from it and move on,” Tannehill said.

The Titans head into offseason workouts with a new quarterback on the roster after they picked up Liberty quarterback Malik Willis in last weekend’s draft. Tannehill is still expected to start, though.

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