Tennessee Titans: Rodger Saffold admits he’s letting team down

Tennessee Titans left guard Rodger Saffold is taking responsibility for his poor play through the first five games of the 2019 season.

Even though the entire offensive line of the Tennessee Titans has played poorly this season, the one player who has perhaps stood out the most is left guard, Rodger Saffold.

The Titans inked Saffold to a four-year, $44 million contract ($22.5 million guaranteed) in the hopes that he would solve their O-line issues on the inside.

Instead, Saffold has added to them after allowing five sacks in five games, which is more than he allowed in 16 games for the Los Angeles Rams last season. Two of those five sacks allowed by Saffold came in Week 5 against the Buffalo Bills.

His comments on Sunday after the game were a bit concerning because it seemed like he was placing blame on already existing issues that he walked into, as our own Will Lomas pointed out.

But Saffold made it crystal clear on Monday that he knows he’s letting his team down and took responsibility for his poor play. Here’s what he had to say, per Jim Wyatt of Titans Online.

"“I’m letting my team down at this point. I’m not used to this type of frustration. I’ve been blessed to have a lot of great press my way, and the ability to improve year after year. And that’s something that I’m not going to blame on anybody on my team, my players, my coaches. I’m just going to have to find a way to just kind of connect it with this team, be able to get in rhythm with the team. Because at the end of the day, even though we all make mistakes, we always talk about that you have to be critical of yourself, and that’s one thing I definitely take to heart.”"

If you watch Saffold during his comments to the media, it’s abundantly clear that this is bothering him. While it’s easy to feel sorry for him because we are all human beings, it doesn’t change the fact that he’s getting paid a lot of money to do a job that he is badly failing at this season.

So, what can Saffold do moving forward?

"“Only thing I can do is come in here and try to be the same guy without being too down, and on Wednesday try to continue to improve, which means coming in here with my hair on fire and being able to go through practice with a different type of mind state.”"

If you’re a Titans fan hoping that the team will make some kind of change on the left side, don’t count on it. Sure, Tennessee could give swing tackle Dennis Kelly a shot in Saffold’s spot, but it’s doubtful the team is going to make that kind of move just yet.

It would be a bad look for general manager Jon Robinson, who will then be admitting he made a huge mistake in signing Saffold.

For now, Rodger Saffold is just going to have to figure things out on his own and continue to improve, as he said. Saffold’s stellar track record would indicate he’s better than this, so maybe better things are on the horizon for the 31-year-old.