Tennessee Titans Using COVID Outbreak as Motivation and Proof Someone Is Rooting Against Them

The Tennessee Titans improved to 4-0 on the season with a 42-16 win over the Buffalo Bills on Tuesday Night Football. Tuesday night football ... because 24 people in the Titans organization have tested positive for COVID-19 over the last few weeks and they were finally able to play their first game since September 27th last night.

The NFL jumped through hoops to make this game happen in an attempt to keep their original 17-week regular season intact. They have literally bent over backwards to accommodate the Titans, including so far doing nothing about their secret practice.

Now, most level-headed people probably aren't upset with the Titans. Somebody caught COVID and there was an outbreak. The NFL's protocols were lacking and there was no bubble to isolate players from the outside world so this kind of thing was bound to happen. It just happened to the Titans the most so far this season.

Yet the Titans appear to be taking the media coverage of their viral outbreak personally. Here's Tyler Lewan after the game, via the team's official Twitter.

"They hate it. They're angry at us. They thought we did everything wrong. Don't put us in adversity. Scratch all day, match all weight."

Who is they? Sure, somebody must be angry, but that can't be the consensus here. Since contract tracing in America is lacking, it's unclear if someone did something wrong. Is he talking about the media, the fans, the league or coronavirus? Is that who put the Titans in adversity? The pandemic? Buddy, I've got some news for you. We're all in adversity right now. So have we actually reached the part of the season where a team uses COVID-19 as a motivational tool? It certainly appears that way.

I mean, how have they been treated? Like a group of people who have been exposed and should stay home in quarantine and not play football right now? The NFL put them on the schedule at the beginning of the year. They certainly want them to play the games. I'm not sure there is anyone who doesn't want the Titans to play games this year. They were just in the AFC Championship. They're a pretty good football team. We all want to see the NFL season completed in full. We damn sure want to see Derrick Henry do stuff like this. The only people rooting against the Titans are fans of the other teams.

I guess when you think about football mentality and the hurdles that a non-bubble football season would present, it was inevitable that COVID-19 would become a motivator. It's coronavirUS vs. them and buddy, if you're not wearing a Titans jersey on Sunday or Tuesday, then you're on the wrong side of the field.