NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Taylor Lewan knows he returns to big expectations, and he certainly welcomes them. He’s not lacking in confidence, and that whopper of a contract he got last season confirmed the Titans share it.
But even as the guy who is probably the best player on the team returns from a four-game suspension for a violation of the NFL’s PED policy, he did make it a point to offer a reminder that he won’t be floating down on a cloud and solving every issue. He did that by looking back rather than ahead.
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“For anybody to say 'Jeez, if Taylor would have been here’ is probably saying a little too much about me,” he said. “You know, I’m a left tackle and that’s it. I can’t play guard. I can’t play center. I can’t play quarterback.
"I’m not good at those positions. I’m barely good at left tackle sometimes. I would definitely pump the brakes on I’m a world-beater, this type of guy, I’m just here to play it the best I possibly can. But I appreciate the hype.”
He’s trying to be modest there. He’s immensely talented and his game will have a bearing on people as far removed from him as Adam Humphries.
Without a doubt, Bills rusher Jerry Hughes would have rather faced the Titans in the first four weeks than Sunday.
He also brings an energy to the team that was sorely lacking without him. After Delanie Walker there is no one who approaches Lewan in terms of bringing the offense juice, and I think the Titans underrate the need for it, not just in a game but during a workweek.
“That’s going to help, no doubt,” Marcus Mariota said. “Just through the few meetings, just what we’ve been through in these first few hours with him, he’s excited and you can tell that he’s got a little juice to him. I think when you bring that type of player into the offense with some juice and excitement it’s going to kind of carry that over into the other guys as well.”
Lewan sometimes gets overexcited and said he needs to keep that in check when he returns so as to be sure not to draw any penalties that put his team into a bad situation.
.@TaylorLewan77 aims to keep his emotions in check vs. #Bills. #Titans. pic.twitter.com/ImlKs5tbwZ
— Paul Kuharsky (@PaulKuharskyNFL) October 2, 2019
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