Underrated ingredient an important piece to a big Titans' season

NASHVILLE, Tenn. – When Taylor Lewan joined the Titans in 2014, the locker room was dingy and divided.

Defensive backs including Bernard Pollard and George Wilson and running backs like Antonio Andrews and Shonn Greene had lockers in a central area that blocked the flow of the room and blocked teammates from seeing each other.

It was hardly the key to the chemistry problems at the time – the 1999 Super Bowl team had the same setup – but a few years later it was considered symbolic when those booths were eliminated in a locker-room overhaul.

Pool photo: George Walker, The Tennessean

Lewan, the second-longest tenured member of the team, was part of a 2-14 season his rookie year and a 3-13 campaign the following season that was just as bad.

That locker room was torn up and rebuilt after the 2015 season, the first piece of a total overhaul of the team’s headquarters that will be completed sometime this fall or winter when a new, second building will be completed.

A more significant project that started in 2016 is also well along. It doesn’t have a completion date and requires constant oversight.

The culture of the football side of the franchise, bolstered by all the capital improvements, has improved greatly since Jon Robinson became the general manager and gotten better since Mike Vrabel became his coach in 2018.