As motivational ploys go, the idea of recoiling at being blamed for lackadaisical COVID prevention methods that played a part in suspending your practice schedule and upending parts of the NFL calendar might seem unusual, or at least very 2020ish.
That doesn’t mean it can’t be effective.
In professional football, you take what they’re giving. For the Tennessee Titans, that means turning the NFL’s scolding attitude toward their behavior into an “us against the world” rallying cry.
“They hate it. They’re angry at us,” Tennessee’s Taylor Lewan shouted as he walked off the field Tuesday night following a satisfying statement of a victory, 42-16 over Buffalo.