Ryan Tannehill: Tennessee Titans in London, ‘awesome’ Derrick Henry and quarterback pressure

Quarterback Ryan Tannehill is looking to use every ounce of his experience to get the Tennessee Titans a win in London this Sunday.

The 35-year-old is making his fourth trip over to the UK, but this is the first time with the Titans.

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Tannehill is making his fourth trip to London and will be his third gameCredit: Getty

All three of his other visits were with the Miami Dolphins, with the first of those being in 2014.

That was a win against the Oakland Raiders [now Las Vegas Raiders], followed by a defeat to the New York Jets in 2015.

He didn’t play in the 2017 visit where they lost 20-0 to the New Orleans Saints because of injury.

Each of those games were at Wembley, so there will still be a first for Tannehill as the Titans close out the International Series in London with a clash against the Baltimore Ravens at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

Speaking exclusively to talkSPORT, Tannehill said: “It’s always an exciting time. It’s a whirlwind, right?

“You’re flying over on Thursday night and kind of hitting the ground running, trying to recover on sleep and get on the right schedule, getting ready for the game. But there’s a lot of excitement, a lot of buzz going into the game and it’s a lot of fun.”

He added: “I’m older. I’m more experienced. I’m hopefully wiser. I’ve been through a lot, learned a lot. 

“Everything in life is a learning experience so whether a good thing or a bad thing, you can always learn from it. And being here with a different team, a different organisation, different teammates.

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Tannehill spoke exclusively to talkSPORT ahead of this Sunday’s game

“So it’s a lot of fun, a bunch of new guys that are experiencing this for the first time, so just watching these guys soak up the experience has been a lot of fun for me.”

Tannehill joined the Titans in 2019 and never looked back after winning the starting job from Marcus Mariota.

He led them to the play-offs in each of his first three seasons and to the AFC Championship in that 2019 campaign.

Things have started slowly in 2023, going 2-3 through the first five weeks of the season.

This included a close 23-16 loss to division rivals the Indianapolis Colts last week.

Tannehill stated: “We’ve left something on the table, right? There’s been some good, there’s been some bad and we just have to be more consistent. 

“We did some really good things last week as the game was going on, moved the ball really well throughout the game but didn’t finish drives in the red zone.

“Got to be able to finish those drives in the red zone with touchdowns and score points, score more points than we are.

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Tannehill has been Titans QB since 2019Credit: Getty

“It’s just a matter of putting it together and playing a full, complete game and being consistent throughout the four quarters.”

Tannehill is in a contract year with the Titans and has two young quarterbacks in Malik Willis and Will Levis behind him waiting to get their chance.

Having that pressure behind him, particularly in the face of an inconsistent start to the season, has not fazed the quarterback.

He added: “I just go about my business day in and day out, try to do the best job I can of leading this team, preparing to win each and every game, trying to lift up the play of the guys around me and go find a way to win football games. 

“So I don’t really think about all the extra stuff that goes on. And we have a good quarterback room, we have a good team, guys that support each other and want to see each other succeed.

“So I’m looking forward to getting a win this week.”

The Titans have some hugely talented players on the offensive side of the ball like running back Derrick Henry and wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins.

On Henry, Tannehill said: “Derrick’s been awesome my entire time in Tennessee. Obviously he’s tough, he’s physical, he’s fast, he’s a specimen of a human.

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Henry is the star man on the Titans offenceCredit: Getty

“Not too many guys walking around on planet Earth that look like him and especially not at the running back position.”

Hopkins is a more recent addition to the Titans offence, and is in his tenth NFL season, but Tannehill says it hasn’t taken too long to build a connection.

He remarked: “D-Hop is great. He’s a guy who’s been a really good player for a long time.

“He has that feel of how to get himself open, whether it’s man coverage and he’s able to use his length and his savviness to get a little bit of separation, or finding the holes in the zones kind of like we saw last week. 

“That relationship just continues to grow the more reps we get, the more I see him make the adjustments and see things, and now we’re starting to see things the same way, which is huge.”

Listen to live and exclusive commentary from the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium of the Tennessee Titans vs Baltimore Ravens on talkSPORT 2 this Sunday.