The Tennessee Titans welcomed the arrival of wide receiver Julio Jones during the offseason, as well as strengthening their 28th-ranked defense; safety Kevin Byard insists reaching playoffs is the minimum for Mike Vrabel's side in 2021.
Wednesday 8 September 2021 07:30, UK
The Tennessee Titans are in the Super Bowl window, knocking on the Super Bowl door, and safety Kevin Byard knows it.
Tennessee have reached the playoffs in three of the last four seasons, losing a Divisional Round matchup to the New England Patriots (2017-18), falling to the Kansas City Chiefs in an AFC Championship Game (2019-20) and most recently coming up second best in a Wild Card meeting with the Baltimore Ravens.
While Mike Vrabel has orchestrated one of the toughest teams in the league, now-Atlanta Falcons head coach Arthur Smith leaves the Titans with an offense that ranked third in 2020 behind a back-to-back rushing champion in Derrick Henry whose power on the ground has been complemented by a rejuvenated Ryan Tannehill and a play-action passing game that will now include Hall of Fame-bound wide receiver Julio Jones.
Questions may loom on defense, but the pieces are in place to put this team in contention.
"That's the mentality we have in our locker room, Super Bowl or bust," Byard told Sky Sports' NFL 32 Live. "We're not accepting anything less than that. Playoffs is the minimum.
"We have to make sure we're doing all the little things right. Anybody can beat anybody on any given Sunday. We have to put the work in and go out there and do the right things."
Having lost Corey Davis to the New York Jets in free agency, the Titans more than filled the void by winning the race for seven-time Pro Bowler Jones as he moved on from Atlanta after 10 years.
The 32-year-old was limited to 51 catches for 771 yards and three touchdowns in nine games due to injury in 2020, ending his streak of six straight seasons with at least 1,300 receiving yards that included league-highs of 1,871 in 2015 and 1,677 in 2018.
His arrival adds to AJ Brown, Henry and Tannehill in giving newly-promoted offensive coordinator Todd Downing everything needed to succeed as Smith's replacement.
"I could still remember going back to my college days, even before college, I was on my official visit to the college I attended Middle Tennessee and I was watching the playoff game between the Atlanta Falcons and the Green Bay Packers and I think Julio Jones went for 200+yards and I’m back in high school thinking ‘man this guy is the best receiver in the NFL’ and now I have the chance to be his teammate," said Byard.
"Just a surreal moment. You think about having Julio, Derrick Henry, AJ Brown, Ryan Tannehill and all those guys on the offense, they’re just explosive."
It was on defense last season where the Titans faltered as they ranked 28th overall, 29th against the pass, 19th against the run and 24th in scoring.
They sought to address their frailties this offseason by signing former Pittsburgh Steelers edge rusher Bud Dupree and former Indianapolis Colts defensive end Denico Autry in free agency, while adding the experience of cornerback Janoris Jenkins and drafting two of the top defensive backs on the board in first-round corner Caleb Farley and third-round corner Elijah Molden.
Second-year cornerback Kristian Fulton is also expected to be more prominent after injury restricted him to just six games in his rookie year, all in all giving Byard some welcome help in the Titans secondary.
"Me being a defensive player I feel like we need to hold up our end of the bargain and make sure we’re playing great defense to make sure we give those guys the ball as much as we possibly can," added Byard.
"I think as a whole as a defense we weren't as detailed as we needed to be, the communication wasn't there all the time, we had some new pieces, I could use a lot of excuses but they're just excuses.
"This year we'll try to put that behind us. We've been as detailed as we've ever been since I've been here but that has to carry over to the regular season."
The Titans open their season at home to the Arizona Cardinals.
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