Taylor Lewan rips former team after head coach says Titans need a new punter
Ex-Tennessee Titans tackle Taylor Lewan is known to keep things lighthearted.
So when the 32-year-old former first-round pick saw the Titans were having some special teams issues, Lewan took to social media to let his former team know he was free to lend a helping hand, or foot.
Lewan has spent most of his career on the offensive line, spending nine years as the Titans left tackle, four years before that as a tackle for the Michigan Wolverines and playing his senior season at Chaparral High School in Arizona as an offensive lineman. Prior to that, he was a defensive lineman for his freshman, sophomore and junior years of high school.
Lewan has no known punting experience.
His tweet came out moments after Titans head coach Mike Vrabel said the team was on the lookout for a new punter to replace Ryan Stonehouse, who leads the NFL in yards per punt (53.1), touchbacks (10) and punts inside the 20 (28), and ranks third in net punting (43.9 yards), but will miss the rest of the year after suffering a season-ending injury in Sunday’s 31-28 overtime loss to the Indianapolis Colts.
Beyond his punting duties, Stonehouse was also the team’s holder for field goals and extra points and his loss was felt immediately in the Colts game. Titans backup QB Ryan Tannehill replaced Stonehouse as the holder, and on his first snap kicker Nick Folk missed an extra point that would have put the Titans ahead 26-25 and negated the need for overtime.
The Titans fired special teams coordinator Craig Aukerman Monday morning following a disastrous showing showing against the Colts that included two blocked punts — one of which was returned for a touchdown and led to Stonehouse’s injury.
More must-reads: