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Pruitt Provides Unexpected Pick-Me-Up

Two touchdowns fewer than five minutes apart started the Titans' second-half turnaround Sunday against Cleveland.

Ian Kayanja

After an abysmal first half against the Cleveland Browns, the Tennessee Titans can thank blocking tight end MyCole Pruitt for the impetus that created a second-half surge and produced a respectable final score in a 41-35 defeat Sunday at Nissan Stadium.

With 13:52 left in the third quarter, Pruitt caught a 22-yard touchdown pass from Ryan Tannehill, giving Tennessee its second score in a game that was shaping up to be a blowout. On the following possession, Tannehill completed a pass to A.J. Brown who, while fighting for extra yards, fumbled at the goal line. Again, Pruitt made a play when he scooped up the ball up on the 3-yard line and scored Tennessee’s – and his – second touchdown in a span of 4:44.

“We needed a score,” Tannehill said after the game on Sunday. “MyCole did a great job of stepping in for us. And making huge plays for us.”

The first touchdown Pruitt scored took advantage of the Browns’ scouting. It came off a similar look to one on which Derrick Henry scored a week earlier at Indianapolis.

Cleveland bit on the fake from Tannehill to Henry. That allowed Pruitt a free to release down the field.

“Teams are going to flow with (Henry), and I was able to take advantage of the space that was there, and (Tannehill) found me,” Pruitt said. “It was pretty easy walking in the touchdown,”

The second touchdown came directly from his effort and positioning. When the ball was stripped from Brown, it bounced and ended up in the tight end’s hands. From there, he scampered into the end zone.

“Coach (Vrabel) is always preaching effort and finish, finish longer than the guy with the ball,” Pruitt said. “Get there and be in the right spot, and you get rewarded sometimes for that.”

Added Vrabel: “I’m proud of Pruitt’s effort to go down there on the second one.”

The Titans signed Pruitt back in 2018 off of the Houston Texans’ practice squad. He made a name for himself in the Titans’ tight end rotation as a blocker who is seldom used in the passing game.

In his previous 58 NFL contests, he had scored just three total touchdowns. And in 2019, he played all 16 games (started 10), but only recorded six receptions for 90 yards and one touchdown.

Prior to Sunday’s game, Pruitt had just three receptions on three targets for 17 yards on the season. He hadn’t played in the previous three games due to a knee injury and hadn’t caught a pass since Sept. 27.

So, in a game where the second half looked far more competitive than the first, Pruitt provided the spark, even though he was not the most likely candidate to do so.

“It doesn’t matter who scores or how it gets done, but we needed a score,” Tannehill said. “And we were able to get those scores pretty quick and keep ourselves in the game a little bit.”

And in an ugly loss to an AFC rival, Pruitt’s involvement and effort provide, at the least, a vestige of a silver lining.

“We just came out and didn’t have the fight we needed in the beginning,” he said. “We just waited too long to start stepping on the gas. You can’t do that against good teams in this league.”

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Ian Kayanja
IAN KAYANJA

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