VIDEO: Ryan Tannehill Learns How to Fly — Literally

Tennessee Titans quarterback Ryan Tannehill knows how to get aerial with a football, and he can do it in an airplane now, too. Tannehill said Wednesday that he's earned his pilot's license and that everyone — from his wife to head coach Mike Vrabel — have been supportive of it.

NASHVILLE — Tennessee Titans quarterback Ryan Tannehill can air it out with a football, but now he can get airborne in an airplane, too. The veteran quarterback got his pilot's license recently, and he talked about it on Wednesday following the Titan's final workout of the offseason.

"I was able to get my pilot's license. It was something I spent a lot of time and a lot of effort to do,'' Tannehill said. "It's a lot of fun, a little escape for me. It's something I have to be totally focused on and in the moment, be present in the moment, But at the same time, it's an escape. A lot of hard work went into it. I'm thankful I was able to get that, and I'm excited to be a pilot.''

Tannehill has a house in Tennessee and he has been here for much of the offseason for workouts, but also still has a family home in Florida with his wife Lauren and their two kids. Flying a plane home isn't an option quite yet, he said with a laugh. 

"I will not be flying myself home. I will be flying Southwest,'' Tannehill said. "Hopefully, I can get a free flight or something for saying that.'' 

He said his flying has been a topic of conversation among his teammates, but he's not sure he has any takers for a ride quit yet, including wide receiver Treylon Burks, who flew in a small plane to get to training camp a few weeks back.

"Yeah, there's a lot of guys that are curious, a lot of 'yeah, yeah, yeahs.' '' Tannehill said. "We'll see if they actually are going to go when the time comes to take them up. I asked Treylon. I said, 'hey, you've been on a small plane. You ready to go again?' He said, 'I think it was a one-time thing for me,' so I don't know if it's going to be Treylon or not.''

Tannehill said there is nothing in his contract that precludes flying, and that coach Mike Vrabel has been good about it.

"I haven't had any issue with it and Vrabel has been supportive of it in my communication with him about it,'' said Tannehill, who's getting ready to start his 13th season in the NFL. "He was even trying to get me  to go even a step up, but that's a little out of my league right now. I'll stick to where I'm at.

His wife, Lauren, is all in, too.

"Yeah, my wife was supportive. She was really excited to go,'' he said. "I was able to take my family up the day after I passed my exam, so that was a lot of fun. The kids were excited, I was a little nervous taking my family up for the first time. There's this growing process throughout the flight training where at first you're nervous coming in and doing everything perfectly.

"As you get a little more comfortable, the nerves go away a little bit. You're still making sure you're on top of everything, but you're not quite as on edge when you're coming in to land. When I had the family in there the first time, I felt like I reverted back and got a little nervous with my whole family on board. I was able to execute the landing and everything. and the next morning, my daughter and son were like, 'Daddy, can we go back in the plane again?'  So they loved it, and I'm glad to be able to share those experiences and create family memories together through that.''

The Titans report to fall camp on July 25, and they've got lots of work to do. They lost their last seven games, including the season finale against Jacksonville when another AFC South division title slipped away. Tannehill threw for just 2,536 yards and 13 touchdown, both career lows during his four years in Tennessee.

There's been more continuity along that line through the spring workouts, both the mandatory practices last week and the well-attended voluntary workouts before and after. They are hoping that all translates to more victories in 2023.

"It's huge, just being able to all get on the same page and all be confident in all the terminology that we're using and not be thinking and decoding things at the line of scrimmage,'' Tannehill said. "We all need to break the huddle and go to the line confidently, all knowing exactly what's expected of us.''

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