While he wants a chance to play again, Ryan Tannehill has not asked for a release out of his current situation in Nashville after losing his starting job to rookie Will Levis.
Tannehill was recently asked to respond to a report that he has asked for a trade. He said that there "have been no talks of a trade," via Paul Kuharsky.
"I was kind of caught off guard by those reports as well," Tannehill said. "Obviously, I have a desire to play but still don't know what that looks like."
Tannehill suffered an ankle injury in the Week 6 loss to the Baltimore Ravens, which opened the door for the Levis kid to shine, and he has taken advantage of this opportunity over the last several weeks.
Tannehill addressed the quarterback switch earlier this month, telling reporters that, "It hits hard," via ESPN. Still, he wants to be a professional and handle the situation the right way.
"I wanna handle the situation with class, right?" Tannehill said. "It's not a fun situation to be in, but I want to be a pro and handle it with class and still be a guy that he can look to. So, not an ideal situation, but you know, I want to try to handle it well."
Tannehill said the rookie played very well in his first NFL start against the Atlanta Falcons, and did some good things last week vs. the Pittsburgh Steelers, too. Levis burst onto the NFL scene in Week 8, throwing for 238 yards and four touchdowns in a 28-23 upset victory over Atlanta. He doubled Tannehill's season passing touchdown total just in that one game. While Tennessee then fell to Pittsburgh on a short week, Levis still made some eye-popping throws, finishing with a stat line of 262 passing yards, zero touchdowns and one interception. It was enough for him to secure the starting job.
Levis has praised Tannehill for how he has handled this change. He even recounted a moment in practice Tuesday, where he decided not to step over Tannehill for the reps with the "ones" at the beginning of practice. Tannehill came to him and said, "Hey, this is you."
Tannehill went 38-23 for the Titans over five seasons. He stepped in for the struggling Marcus Mariota in 2019 and took a 2-4 team to 9-7. That same year, Tennessee made a run all the way to the AFC Championship game, upsetting Tom Brady and the New England Patriots in Foxborough, and then Lamar Jackson and the No. 1 seed Ravens the following week. The former first-round pick of the Miami Dolphins helped the Titans make the playoffs three straight years, and he currently ranks No. 5 in franchise history in passing yards, and No. 5 in QB wins.
Speaking of his injury, Tannehill said that he is "heading in the right direction." The 3-6 Titans will face the 6-3 Jaguars in Jacksonville this Sunday.
