Five named captains from among a bevy of candidates

Coach Mike Vrabel said numerous players on the roster were considered by teammates

Christopher Hanewinckel/USA Today Sports

The results were not unanimous. And coach Mike Vrabel liked it that way.

Tennessee Titans players voted on team captains for the 2019 season and the outcome – announced Wednesday – was not exactly surprising. Quarterback Marcus Mariota, center Ben Jones, defensive lineman Jurrell Casey, safety Kevin Byard and linebacker Wesley Woodyard were installed as the official locker room leaders.

Apparently, though, that quintet will have plenty of lieutenants.

“There were a lot of guys that I was proud of that got votes,” Vrabel said. “I’ve talked to (those players) individually about not only our coaches noticing, but I think players and their teammates are noticing that these players are ascending. They’re becoming more comfortable in what we’re doing and how we’re asking them to play and they’re ability to lead other people.

“They didn’t reach the amount of people that the guys that ultimately got the most votes did, but they were able to reach more people than they did last year.”

Mariota has been a captain every season of his NFL career, which is now in its fifth year. Same for Woodyard, who has played 11 seasons for two different franchises (he also was a captain every year of his college career). This will be Casey’s sixth straight year as captain.

Byard and Jones are first-time captains but their prominent places within the roster were assured with recent contract extensions. Byard set an NFL record for safeties with his five-year, $70.5 million extension signed just prior to the start of training camp. Jones finalized a two-year, $13.5 million extension last Friday.

“I thought it was a great representation of those players and how our team felt about each and every one of them,” Vrabel said.