Titans safety Bernard Pollard has gained a reputation over the years as a fiery player on the field and one capable of giving a strong quote off of it.
Both sides were on full display Friday. During practice on Friday, Pollard was loud while communicating with his teammates on defense and then hit tight end Craig Stevens in the back with a ball at the end of a play. Pollard said after practice that he apologized to Stevens while explaining that it’s all part of the business of football.
“Tempers flare,” Pollard said, via Jim Wyatt of the Tennessean. “For y’all in the media, you see a guy do something like that and you want to say ‘He’s crazy,’ or ‘He’s a thug’ or this and that. But when you are playing a violent game like this you have to have an edge. You have to have switch.”
Actually, we’d say that sounds a lot like the kind of aggression the Titans were hoping to add to their defense when they signed Pollard. Throwing balls at teammates might not be the finest behavior in the world, but anyone who has been around a football field knows these things happen. At any rate, we don’t imagine the Titans are too upset by it nor by Pollard stepping into a leadership role by calling out those who think the Titans aren’t going anywhere this season.
“Every team is different,” Pollard said, via Paul Kuharsky of ESPN.com. “This is a very athletic team, this is a very, very smart team. Now it’s about putting the product together on the field. They signed me here for a reason. Screw what the naysayers got to say, screw what everybody else got to say. I’m healthy right now, ready to go. I think our team is going to be a force to be reckoned with. At the same time we’re floating under the radar and this is where we need to be. We have a very talented team but at the same time, we still have some things to learn.”
The Titans might not live up to Pollard’s expectations, but it’s nice to see that the safety continues to live up to ours in his new stomping grounds.