For the record, Taylor Lewan did not refuse to speak to reporters after Sunday’s abysmal performance, by him and the Titans, in a 38-13 loss to the Cardinals to open the season at Nissan Stadium.
He was not approached by Titans’ communications team to be one of the several players interviewed afterward — Rodger Saffold was the offensive lineman chosen, and obviously in seasons without COVID-19 protocols the entire locker room would have been open and Lewan would have been available. He would have talked, too, because he has always done so, in the best and worst of times. Also for the record, a standing request for Lewan has been submitted for postgame interviews, and not because he sometimes says outrageous things. It’s because he speaks with insight and frankness, as he did Thursday with reporters in his first public comments since Sunday — other than a mea culpa tweet that was among many things Lewan has been criticized for this week. Here’s the full discussion between Lewan and reporters as the 0-1 Titans try to avoid an 0-2 hole at Seattle:
How much of a factor was the knee in your performance and how much of a factor will it be moving forward?
I don’t know how much of a factor it was. I think I put too much on the game. I got too excited. I kind of maybe got a little overexcited before the game and when the game came I felt drained. My legs felt heavy and I had more anxiety. I was more worried about messing up than I was being better, or helping the team. I think I was trying to compensate in a certain couple ways for my knee and that’s … I’ve spent a long time in this league and had a lot of success. And through those things, like Year 2, Whitney Mercilus having a similar game (against me), it’s something I have to overcome and work through. And I plan on doing those things. It’s not easy. It was a tough 24 hours. But you’ve got to get over it and move on and hopefully play better next week.
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Shouldn’t you be able to not be overexcited, as long as you’ve been in the NFL?
I think you’re right, I should be that way. However, I think, you know, this is the first time in my life I’ve been injured. I got my tonsils out when I was 21, that was a bit of a deal. I lost about 15 pounds, that sucked. Other than that, this is the first time I’ve had surgery. And not playing in a game since October, I put a lot of pressure on myself. And yeah, you’re right, I should have been a better pro in that situation — obviously, hindsight is 20/20. I should have handled that situation better, maybe calming my nerves. I remember it being Monday before the game and I’m, you know, amped up. And it’s like “What the hell am I doing?” It’s Monday, and I get to Sunday and I’m drained. You know, like, Chandler Jones is a stud. Right? There’s no denying he dummied me all day. Like, I’m not gonna live in a, “Oh this, I did this or that.” I have to be accountable. I wasn’t accountable in that game to my team, to myself, to my family, to everyone watching, to you guys, to the fans. And you know, you go in, you get an IV, you’re cramping, you come back out and they announce I’m back in the game, you get booed from the fans. And you know, that stuff happens man. It hurt, but at the same time, the way I was playing, I don’t blame them. They want the team to do well, they’re not just rooting for me. So I’m sorry for letting them down.
You said compensate for the knee? You mean pain you were feeling, or mentally compensate?
No, I think honestly, I could sit here and try to overthink everything, right? I could sit here and be like, “Oh this and that, oh my foot wasn’t, I was on my toes and I wasn’t on my instep on bull rushes, I didn’t punch the way I usually punch.” You know what? It’s all bullsh*t at the end of the day, you know what I’m saying? I can say whatever to you guys. The reality was, it wasn’t good enough and I think I got in a big panic mode in the first quarter, just trying to figure out, “What should I change?” And that’s not usually the route I go, it’s (usually), “OK, what am I good at, what are my strengths as a football player?” and I wasn’t doing those things. So definitely one to learn from. Huge challenge this week, going to Seattle, the first game in two years they’ve had with fans, it’s gonna be huge.
Was that you taking accountability with the tweet you sent out after the game? Usually we would talk to you in the locker room after that.
Yeah. At first, it was just like, “f*ck, that was embarrassing.” It just was what it was. That sucked. I felt like one of those kids on Rivals, when a five-star athlete is playing against a 165-pound White kid playing tackle. And it’s … kind of just doing whatever you want with me, right? You want to go this way? Sure I’ll go that way. You want to go that way? It’s kind of just what it was. There wasn’t any energy in my play, and there wasn’t any attitude in the way I play. It was what it was. And yeah, when I sent that tweet out, I knew there’d be an opportunity, here we are now, to have this conversation. The fans need to know that I’m not just going home to my house and sitting with my kids, smoking a cigar, saying, “Welp, get them next time.” Like, that sh*t sucked. That sh*t was awful. You know? And I don’t want to go through that again. So, big couple days out here to work on all that and go into an extremely hostile environment with some very talented pass rushers and play some ball Sunday.
You feel you’re going to be in a good place Sunday to bounce back?
Yeah. There’s no point talking about it as far as, “I’m gonna be this, I’m gonna be that.” I’m gonna go and play Sunday, and we’ll see what happens.
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As a man of pride, when you have that performance, how do you tuck that away and have a better performance?
You don’t put too much pressure on yourself from that standpoint. I’m a pro football player. I’ve done this for a long time at an extremely high level. Let’s just get back to that. Put myself in front of a guy and block him. I’m not reinventing the wheel with the way I play. I just need to go back to the way I play.
There’s been a lot of talk about the team coming out with low energy, and you’re normally a guy who brings that. Are you expecting to ramp that up at Seattle?
I think we need to go into the game, and me saying words about that is just gonna be words. We’ve got to have energy. Like I said, it’ll be a hostile environment, it’s us. That’s all we have is us in there. It’s not like you have the fan base having your back. You are in Seattle, and they’re loud, arguably the loudest — this is the first time I’ve played there — arguably the loudest in the NFL. So I can talk about having more energy, but let’s just go do it.
The rough 24 hours, did that include reaction on social media or did you tune that out?
Oh no, I didn’t read nothing. Ain’t nobody saying nothing I (don’t already) know. I put that little tweet out there and boogied off the old social media. I wasn’t touching none of that sh*t, that was brutal.
Why do you guys seem to be better as underdog? You were big favorites going into that game.
Yeah I don’t know why. That’s a good question. I don’t know why we’ve got to make it harder on ourselves than we have to. I don’t know. That’s a good question, a really good question.
What happened on the play that Budda Baker knocked you to the ground?
I tried to get back and I flipped my hips. When I flipped my hips and put my arm out, I was leaning back and just put myself in a really bad position. Hey that was a solid last (question).
(Photo: Christopher Hanewinckel / USA Today)
Joe Rexrode is a senior staff writer for The Athletic covering all things Nashville and some things outside Nashville. He previously worked at The Tennessean, the Detroit Free Press and the Lansing State Journal, spending the past three years as sports columnist at The Tennessean. Follow Joe on Twitter @joerexrode
