Titans veteran quarterback Ryan Tannehill caused a debate May 3 after he said it wasn’t his job to mentor rookie Malik Willis. Critics called Tannehill a bad teammate.
Others agreed with Tannehill, questioning why anyone in any profession should be expected to groom an apprentice to take his or her job.
Willis wasn’t going to get pulled into the argument Friday. He downplayed Tannehill’s comment, at first joking about it before insisting that everything is “cool” between the new teammates. Willis even pointed out that Tannehill had the rookies to his house last week as a welcome to the team.
Titans coach Mike Vrabel chimed in, agreeing with Tannehill. Vrabel said Tannehill is the starting quarterback, not a mentor or a coach.
“His job is to prepare to help us win a bunch of games and and be a great teammate and help out,” Vrabel said Friday via Teresa Walker of the Associated Press. “And I know that he’s going to do that. So that was not any sort of issue for me.”
Vrabel said no one inside the building was upset about Tannehill’s comment.
“I thought Ryan handled that very well,” Vrabel said. “I thought he was genuine. I thought he is authentic. And I know Ryan is a great teammate. Everybody here knows he’s a great teammate. And that is not his job.”
