Before the Tennessee Titans went on their current three-game winning streak going into the bye, the team looked to be in bad shape after losing its first two games of the season.
Following an upset loss at the hands of the New York Giants in Week 1, things got even worse in Week 2 after a shellacking at the hands of the Buffalo Bills.
With the team needing some kind of spark, a players-only meeting was called. So far, it looks like it has helped.
“We actually held a players-only meeting (after the loss to the Bills),” Byard revealed, per ESPN’s Turron Davenport. “Talking to the guys, saying ‘hey, man, it’s early, we’re not going to panic but we have to get this thing fixed.’ And it obviously worked.”
Worked it has — Tennessee has won three straight games and now sits in sole possession of first place going into the bye. Granted, there are plenty of issues to fix, but things could be much worse.
Byard says the resiliency this team has shown starts at the top, from head coach Mike Vrabel on down to the leaders of the team.
“It starts from the top… What [Vrabel] believes in with this culture,” Byard said. “Then the leaders and everybody else. The experience of understanding that we’ve been in these games many times, they may make plays earlier in the game. So what? We are going to keep fighting.”
“They fight and they compete,” Vrabel said of his players, per Davenport. “I love that about them. They are not afraid to play in a close game if it gets to that. They understand what the situation is, what it requires, whether that is offensively in a four-minute drill or defensively to be able to execute in the end of the game.”
The veteran leadership from guys like Byard and running back Derrick Henry has been crucial to keeping things together, especially with all the injuries. This is yet another example of that.
