‘EVERYTHING IS COOL’; TITANS’ MALIK WILLIS DOWNPLAYS WHAT RYAN TANNAHILL SAY ON MENTORSHIP.
The Titans selected Willis in the third round of the 2022 draft.
Tennessee Titans quarterback Malik Willis brushed off remarks from Ryan Tannehill about being a mentor on Friday as he started rookie minicamp.
Willis, who was selected by the Titans in the third round, is potentially the heir apparent to Tannehill. The veteran quarterback, who signed a four-year extension ahead of the 2020 season, has a possible out after the 2022 season, according to Spotrac.
When asked about Tannehill’s remarks, Willis said it didn’t bother him.
“We chopped it up. It was never anything negative,” Willis said, via ESPN. “Ryan’s a good dude. Everything is cool. He had us over [to] the house the other day and gave us a little bit of game regarding what comes with this process.”
Titans coach Mike Vrabel also praised Tannehill’s leadership and made clear that being a mentor wasn’t “his job.”
“He was genuine, he was authentic. Everybody here knows he’s a great teammate. That (mentoring) is not his job. His job is to prepare to help us win a bunch of games and be a great teammate and help out. That was not any sort of an issue for me,” Vrabel said.
Tannehill drew ire from his remarks after the draft.
“That’s part of being in a quarterback room, in the same room. We’re competing against each other, we’re watching the same tape, we’re doing the same drills,” Tannehill told reporters. “I don’t think it’s my job to mentor him, but if he learns from me along the way, then that’s a great thing.”
