Tennessee Titans' Ryan Tannehill admits 'it hits hard' to be backup behind Will Levis

With the Tennessee Titans announcing Will Levis as the team's starting quarterback for the remainder of the season, Ryan Tannehill is trying to adjust to being a backup for one of the few times of his 11-year NFL career.

"It hits hard," Tannehill said Wednesday. "I mean, I've never been in this situation before, so it hits hard. Never a situation that anyone wants to be in. But that's the situation I'm in, so got to walk through it."

Since starting his NFL career in 2012 with the Miami Dolphins, Tannehill has rarely been benched, taking over the starting duties for Miami in his rookie season. Aside from injuries, Tannehill only spent time on the sidelines in his first season in 2019, when Marcus Mariota began the season as the starter. After a disappointing start, Tannehill took over the starting duties and had been at the helm since then.

'Try to help him out along the way'

Tannehill, who had missed the last two games with a high ankle sprain, said head coach Mike Vrabel told him of his decision on Monday before it was announced on Tuesday. He said he has been trying to "walk through those emotions and prepare" to be named the backup.

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Still dealing with the injury, Tannehill's main goal is to get healthy as he returned to practice this week. But he still wants to be a mentor to Levis and "help him find his footing." As Levis prepares to start his third game of the season, Tannehill told the rookie during drills this week to "start owning the position."

"I'm going to be here to answer any questions he has and try to help him out along the way," Tannehill said. "It's not a fun situation to be in, but I want to be a pro and handle it with class, and still be a guy that people can look to."

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Will Levis on Ryan Tannehill's professionalism

Levis gave praise to Tannehill for keeping the decision professional while helping him become the new leader of the team.

"Yesterday at practice, doing a good job of stepping in and letting me know that the reps, even in the beginning of practice, with the 1s" Levis said. "I didn't want to step over him, but he came to me first to be like, 'Hey, this is you.' So it was cool to hear that."