Did Baltimore Ravens cornerback Jimmy Smith give the Tennessee Titans bulletin board material?
Baltimore Ravens cornerback Jimmy Smith might have given the Tennessee Titans bulletin board material with a comment he made a few weeks back.
The Titans, and in particular cornerback Logan Ryan, made it abundantly clear that New England Patriots linebacker Kyle Van Noy did just that with his comment about starting a “revenge tour” by beating Tennessee in the Wild-Card round.
"“Tom Brady doesn’t do that. Julian Edelman doesn’t do that. Devin McCourty, (Stephon Gilmore) – they don’t do that. And Kyle Van Noy is running his mouth and giving us bulletin board material about his revenge tour. His revenge tour ended early.”"
Well, if Ryan and the Titans had an issue with Van Noy’s comments, I can definitely see them having an issue with those of the Ravens cornerback.
After the Week 17 win over the Pittsburgh Steelers, Smith explained why Baltimore badly wanted to win even though it had nothing to play for with the No. 1 seed already wrapped-up.
In his response, Smith made a mention of Tennessee, and not exactly in a glowing way, per the Associated Press’ David Ginsburg.
"“We definitely had to win this game. It means a lot to us to be 14-2 this year,” cornerback Jimmy Smith said. “It’s a Steelers game, too. It’s not the Titans or something.”"
It’s possible the Titans were the team he mentioned because that’s who the Steelers were chasing for the final wild-card spot, but of all the teams Smith could have referenced in the NFL, Tennessee was the one that came to his mind.
And, now these two teams will meet in the AFC divisional round on Saturday night; how perfect is that?
The Titans will be heavy underdogs to the 14-2 Ravens after a sensational season that saw quarterback Lamar Jackson take the league by storm. There’s no question that Jackson will take home the NFL’s Most Valuable Player award when it’s announced.
Should the Titans pull off an upset, I don’t think there’s any doubt we’ll be hearing about this quote again.