Ryan Tannehill may get one last hurrah with the Tennessee Titans after Will Levis picked up a foot injury in last Sunday’s loss to the Houston Texans.
Titans coach Mike Vrabel told reporters Tuesday he isn’t sure whether Levis will be able to practice Wednesday.
If Levis is unable to play in the regular-season finale Sunday against the Jacksonville Jaguars, Vrabel said Tannehill would start, rather than third-stringer Malik Willis.
“We’ll evaluate (Levis) through the week, and we’ll see how practice goes, and then we’ll prepare accordingly and make sure that we give everybody the best opportunity to win the football game,” Vrabel said. “We’ll see when he’s healthy as they work through treatment today and practice and treatment through the week.”
Levis hurt his left ankle during Week 15 and missed the Titans’ Week 16 loss to the Seattle Seahawks, as Tannehill started in his place. Levis returned last week, only to injure his right foot during the second quarter.
The Titans (5-11) have lost three straight games and are the only AFC South team out of the playoff picture. After this season, they could move on from the 35-year-old Tannehill, who was benched for Levis in October and who is a pending free agent.
In nine games (seven starts) this season, Tannehill has completed 64.7 percent of his passes for 1,448 yards, with just two touchdown throws and six interceptions. He has racked up 34,713 passing yards, 214 touchdowns and 114 interceptions in 11 NFL seasons with the Miami Dolphins (2012-18) and Tennessee (2019-23).
The Titans can’t change anything Sunday besides potentially play spoiler for the Jaguars (9-7), but Vrabel explained why his team was still playing for a win.
“It (expletive) sucks, losing,” Vrabel said. “Awful. That’s why I want to win.
“Because you don’t sleep. You want to win for the players that bust their tail — that’s it. I mean, it’s not about, ‘Hey, we’ll go into the offseason with a good note.’ Nobody knows what you did on January 7, or 8, or 6 in April when you come back. But you want to see it all come together. Just put four quarters together, win a game like we talked about.”
