Byard Believes First INT of 2020 is Past Due

For as inconsistent as the Tennessee Titans’ defense has been this season, forcing turnovers – particularly interceptions – has been a steady strength.

The Titans rank among the NFL’s top five with nine picks through nine games. Seven different players have accounted for those nine. Cornerback Malcolm Butler and safety Amani Hooker (two apiece) are the only ones with more than one.

However, safety Kevin Byard, Tennessee’s most accomplished interception artist, is still in search of his first. The one-time All-Pro said that it has been one of the hardest things for him to fathom this season.

“I have been pretty frustrated about the fact I haven’t been able to get my hands on the ball,” he said Wednesday. “It’s one of those things in the league where you have to take advantage of every opportunity you can get, and sometimes they don’t come that often. In the Buffalo Bills game, I had a chance to get an interception, and didn’t make it.”

But Byard knows who he is and what he is capable of on the field.

It goes back to his college days at Middle Tennessee State University. In four seasons with the Blue Raiders, he played in 49 games (46 starts) and set school records with 19 career interceptions, 377 interception return yards and four interception returns for touchdowns.

A third-round selection by the Titans in the 2016 NFL Draft, he made an almost immediate impact as a professional. From 2017 through 2019, Byard led the league with 17 interceptions. He has topped the Titans in each of the last three seasons, and his eight in 2017 tied for the league lead and were the most by any Titans/Oilers player in a single season since 1990, when Richard Johnson registered eight.

“I don’t want to be pressing and going outside the defense to try to make plays,” Byard said. “I have been getting interceptions for a long time, going back to college. One thing I always know, when you play within the defense and be disciplined, the ball is going to come your way.”

Byard’s last interception came when the Titans defeated the No. 1 seeded Baltimore Ravens on the road in the Divisional Round of the playoffs in January. It came on quarterback Lamar Jackson’s second pass and ended Baltimore’s first offensive possession. It also led to Tennessee’s first touchdown and a lead it never relinquished.

The Titans (6-3) play the Ravens (6-3) at Baltimore again this Sunday.

“You see around the league, guys are getting tipped balls thrown right into them,” he said. “...I just have to keep doing what I am doing to help the defense and help the team try to win games. Those numbers will definitely jump up.”