One of the many things that went wrong for the Tennessee Titans during their Week 6 loss to the Baltimore Ravens was wide receiver Kyle Philips fumbling a punt on a fair catch at the end of the first half.
Making this muffed punt even worse is the fact that Philips did so as time was running out in the second quarter. In fact, Baltimore recovered the fumble with just one second remaining before making a field goal.
After the game, Philips took responsibility while also stating the obvious: he didn’t need to go anywhere near that ball.
“In that situation, I really didn’t [need to] catch it,” Philips said, according to AtoZ Sports’ Kelsey Kramer. “It was what, one second left. I’m the reason we gave up three points in the end, so that’s on me. Like I said, I’ve got to take it on the chin, go forward and just be better.”
This, of course, is not Philips’ first issue as a punt returner. He had a pair of fumbles last season and missed the first four weeks of this campaign after suffering a MCL injury trying to return a punt during the preseason.
Head coach Mike Vrabel didn’t mince words about the play but also noted he could have simply not had anyone back there to avoid such a situation.
Vrabel on Kyle Philips: We have to catch our punts, it's the National Football League. And I have to do better transitioning (and not even have a returner back there in that situation). It can't happen #Titans
— Jim Wyatt (@jwyattsports) October 16, 2023
Say what you want about Vrabel having someone back there, Philips should know better not to try and even fair catch that punt under the circumstances.
The Titans did stick with Philips as the returner the rest of the game, but that’s one of many things this team needs to change during the bye week.
