In first meeting since trade, Ryan Tannehill stands in way of Dolphins’ playoff hopes
Thirty-three months ago, the Dolphins stared down the reality of a rebuild under new head coach Brian Flores and decided to end a seven-year marriage between longtime starting quarterback Ryan Tannehill.
Tannehill, the No. 8 overall pick in the 2012 NFL Draft, was sent to the Tennessee Titans in a deal that netted the Dolphins draft capital and freed cap space.
On Sunday, the Dolphins will face Tannehill for the first time since his departure in a game that has major playoff implications for both teams. The Dolphins (8-7) can inch closer to a playoff berth with a win in Nashville. The Titans (10-5) can clinch the AFC South while remaining in contention for the conference’s No. 1 seed and a first-round bye.
Tannehill, who ranks third in Dolphins franchise history in passing yards (20,434) and touchdown passes (123), downplayed any animosity or feeling of revenge as he prepares to face his former team.
“I’m thankful for my time in Miami,” said Tannehill, who still owns a home in Fort Lauderdale. “It was a special time in my life. I grew a lot there, as a person, as a player. I became a father. I grew as a husband and grew on the field, as well. ... I have no ill feelings toward Miami.”
Flores declined to get into specifics of the decision to move on from Tannehill in 2019, calling him a “very good player.”
“Good arm, mobile, good command of the offense, makes checks at the line of scrimmage. He’s a very good player,” Flores said.
As Tannehill joked with Tennessee reporters this week, he won’t be able to banter and reflect on moments with many teammates from his time as a Dolphin. Of all the players who shared the field with Tannehill in his final win as the Dolphins starting quarterback — the 34-33 victory over the New England Patriots at Hard Rock Stadium that produced the “Miami Miracle” — just six remain on either the 53-man roster or practice squad.
“Great guy. Great football mind,” said tight end Durham Smythe, whose locker was next to Tannehill’s as a rookie in 2018. “He’s one of those guys that can look at a defense and tell you a lot of things just by really subtle things the defense does. So it was nice having him honestly around my rookie year as a guy who could teach us a little bit coming right out of college. He’s a great player obviously.”
Since taking over for Marcus Mariota in the middle of the 2019 season, Tannehill has found consistency that at times eluded him and the Dolphins during their tenure. Tannehill helped lead the Titans to the AFC Championship Game that season and was voted the 2019 Associated Press Comeback Player of the Year. Even without 2020 AP Offensive Player of the Year Derrick Henry to hand the ball to for half the season because of a foot injury, Tannehill has the Titans on the verge of their second consecutive division title. Tennessee rewarded Tannehill, 33, with a four-year, $118 million extension in March 2020.
“We want Ryan to be our quarterback for a long time,” Titans coach Mike Vrabel said this week.
It’s maybe a bit of painful irony for Dolphins fans that the player unable to carry the franchise to perennial postseason appearances now stands in the way of the team’s first playoff bid since the 2016 season, when Tannehill led the Dolphins to the wild-card round but was unable to play because of a torn ACL.
While Tannehill’s future in Tennessee is seemingly set, the same can’t be said for the Dolphins and their current starting quarterback. Tannehill’s jettisoning was made in part so the team could break from year-to-year mediocrity and join the league’s upper echelon with a franchise-altering signal-caller. Though Tua Tagovailoa, drafted No. 5 overall in the 2020 Draft, has quieted many skeptics with his improved play during the Dolphins’ seven-game winning streak, the team’s pursuit of embattled Houston Texans quarterback Deshaun Watson remains an unresolved dark cloud cast over a 1-7 start to the season.
Tagovailoa said he has “a lot of respect for the things that [Tannehill has] done throughout his career, his football career being here and also what he’s doing there at Tennessee” but redirected his focus to the Titans defense in a game that means so much for both involved, outside of the obvious reunion.
“I haven’t talked to [Tannehill] directly, but I’ve definitely been following him,” linebacker Jerome Baker said. “When he was here, he was a guy that led by example. He always did the right thing. He’s a family man and I’ll never forget that. When he left, I was still just rooting for him to do well, but you know Sunday, it is what it is. You’ve got to turn the page and he’s on the other side now, but he definitely was always a great teammate, a great guy. Sunday, it’s just business is business.”
