Rodger Saffold calls out Tennessee Titans lack of consistency after 3-sack day
By Will Lomas
This is a bad look for Tennessee Titans guard Rodger Saffold.
Maybe I am reading too much into this because of how it coincides with his recent performances, but quotes from Rodger Saffold after the game should have Tennessee Titans fans mad.
Before I say anything, A to Z Sports is where I saw this from first, and the link to the video is hyperlinked here so before you read any further check this out and form your own opinions.
Good? Good.
These two lines stood out most to me from that video:
"“We just went back to not doing our fundamentals.”and“This team has had issues for a long time.”"
Saffold has talked a lot about the Titans improving and needing to work on things. Before this I didn’t really care because it is what struggling players say sometimes.
To me though, the second line especially sound as if he is a great player who stepped into an offense that is poisoned and that he is doing everything that he can but the rest of the team isn’t stepping up around him.
If that is what he believes, someone needs to let him know that including what looked like 3 sacks allowed by him today, he is now up to 6 allowed sacks according to PFF.
That number is worst in the NFL by any guard.
As a huge Rodger Saffold fan coming into the season, I praised the player I saw on film for his ability to set his anchor and to get to the second level in the run game. That is the guy that the Titans paid for.
Instead, so far they have gotten a guy who has gotten bull rushed at will, and someone who has talked about improvement and the team getting better a lot more than he has shown it with his play on the field.
Maybe I am misinterpreting what he said in that video and Saffold certainly has the talent to rebound. However, if he thinks that he isn’t the biggest culprit on an offensive line who is allowing pressure at an alarmingly high rate, then he isn’t being honest with himself.
I’ll close with this. People will ask what the difference between those quotes and this quote from Taylor Lewan is.
The difference is that Lewan is someone who has criticized his own play before and has rebounded to have three straight Pro Bowl seasons. Saffold was a player whose career was average to above average, but who looked to turn the corner under new coaching in Los Angeles.
So if he is coming in and acting like he has been a pillar of consistency and excellence and that the Titans as an organization are holding him back, that is an issue that fans and players should have an issue with.