Minus Landry, Titans 'Going to be Tested'

Under coach Mike Vrabel, there is a proven ability to overcome injuries, but replacing the team's three-time sacks leader poses a tougher challenge than most.

NASHVILLE – Kevin Byard went rogue Monday. The Pro Bowl safety knew what he was supposed to say, and he did not say it.

Byard took a moment to divert his attention from this week’s 2022 season-opener against the New York Giants and addressed the season-ending knee injury that outside linebacker Harold Landry sustained last week.

“I understand as an organization we have to look forward and keep pushing, but as players – to have a season-ending injury like that, especially before the season starts – I don’t really want to gloss over that, man,” Byard said. “I think Harold is a great player. He has been with us for a long time. He’s put a lot of work in and has had a lot of production here. So, I just hate it for him.”

“… I know how hard he’s worked, and I know he prides himself on being able to play every single game.”

It had been five days since Landry, a 2021 Pro Bowler and the Tennessee Titans’ leader in sacks each of the last three seasons, went down during the first full practice since the conclusion of training camp. Monday, though, was the first media availability since that incident, and Byard was not the only one talking about him.

The Titans showed a remarkable ability to overcome injuries in 2021 when they went an AFC-best 12-5 despite almost constant roster turnover that caused them to use an NFL-record 91 players. If there is anyone who will be hard to do without, though, it is Landry, one of three players on Tennessee’s defense who started every game last season.

Franchise officials made clear early in the offseason what they thought of their second-round pick in the 2018 draft when they signed him to a five-year, $87.5 million contract extension to keep him out of free agency. Over the past three seasons, he played roughly nine out of every 10 defensive snaps and developed into a player coaches deployed a several positions and in several ways.

“It's unfortunate,” coach Mike Vrabel said. “It's disappointing. I feel terrible for Harold, the work that he's put in, and his value to our football team. But we have to move on and get everybody ready to go in.”

Teammates expressed equal parts disappointment for the fact that Landry won’t line up with them this season and concern for what awaits him over the next several months following reconstructive surgery.

“Man, you know it just teaches about adversity throughout the whole process,” outside linebacker Bud Dupree, who spent most of 2021 on the mend from the same injury, said. “Really and truly man, it sends a whole life lesson, not just in football but in life in general – your family, yourself, your mental state as a human person.

“Sometimes you have days you want to give up. Sometimes you have days like, ‘Is it still going to be the same?’ But you know you have to fight through and get to the end of the tunnel, and once you’re done everything is going to work out.”

The Titans acquired Landry with the 41st pick in the 2018 draft. They traded with the Raiders to move up 16 spots in order to select him, and things could not have worked out much better since. He ended last season with streaks of 59 straight games played and 52 consecutive starts, both of which were among the longest active streaks at his position.

With 31 career sacks to date, including a career-high 12 last season, Landry already ranks fifth on the franchise’s list during the Titans era (1999-present) and is one of two players – Jevon Kearse and Kyle Vanden Bosh are the others – who have led Tennessee in sacks in three consecutive seasons. His tackles for lass have increased every season – from two in 2018 to 14 last season – and the same is true of his quarterback pressures, which have grown from 18 to 49.

The chance that anyone can step in and make anyone forget Landry and that type of production is slim, to say the least.

Whatever happens, Byard made it known that Monday was not an anomaly. He plans to make time over the course of the next 18 weeks to ensure that Landry does not feel he has been left behind or forgotten.

“There will be dark times coming ahead for him, as far as mentally,” Byard said. “I’ll make sure I reach out to him and make sure he’s staying mentally engaged, he’s not getting too down on what happened.

“It’s kind of crazy but – like I said – as an organization, you have to keep pushing forward. We always preach here ‘next man mentality,’ but it’s a reality and it’s going to be tested right now.”