The Tennessee Titans opened up their offseason program on April 17, and while we don’t have an exact list of who has attended the voluntary workouts, photos from the team and comments from players have given us an idea.
For example: the Titans released some photos from the early workouts, and in them we saw quarterback Ryan Tannehill, which is notable considering the uncertainty around him, but not surprising because he’s done it before.
Another big name we were keeping an eye out for was safety Kevin Byard, whose future is at least a bit murky after he refused to take a pay cut and ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported the two sides were at a “crossroads.”
Well, we got our answer to that on Thursday night, when Byard and other Titans were in attendance at a charity event to raise money for childhood cancer research.
Byard was in attendance but declined to talk about football. However, new Titans linebacker Azeez Al-Shaair revealed that Byard has not been at the team’s offseason program thus far, per Nick Suss of The Tennessean.
Thursday night was actually Al-Shaair’s first time meeting Byard, the captain of the Titans defense. Al-Shaair said Byard hasn’t been at the Titans’ voluntary team workouts this week. Byard was the subject of contract speculation in February when reports surfaced that the Titans had asked him to take a pay cut. When The Tennessean asked Byard how offseason training activities have been progressing, Byard said he appreciated the question but preferred not to talk about football at the charity event.
To be crystal clear, Byard is not required to be at this portion of the offseason program. In fact, he doesn’t have to show up until mandatory minicamp, which takes place from June 6-8.
However, it’s also important to note that Byard was there Day 1 when the offseason program began last year, so this is at least a departure from that.
Perhaps he’s just taking a different approach this year, or perhaps there is an issue between Byard and the Titans, leading to his staying away for the time being. Whatever the case may be, this remains a situation to monitor.
