The Titans Can Manage Doubt but Only Winning Can Answer It

The Titans believe in what they’re being taught, but players have different ways of handling the uncertainty that comes when the work hasn’t yet produced wins.

By PAUL KUHARSKY

NASHVILLE, Tenn. – A technique the Titans have worked on for months isn’t working with any regularity. The scheme isn’t producing. And twice in two games, players have tried to follow what they’ve been taught without getting the intended result.

It’s early, and the Titans still believe in what Robert Saleh and his staff are teaching. 

No matter how strong that belief is -- in the little stuff and the big themes -- human nature invites doubt when things don’t pan out according to plan.

So I’ve been asking how people deal with that.

What Happens to Belief When the Titans Keep Losing

“I love my financial advisor, but if his numbers don't improve, I'm going to have doubt in his ability to be a financial advisor for me,” Robert Saleh said. “So the affirmation of winning, yeah, it's a human thing throughout all of our universe, right? If you're not getting the results you're looking for and you're preaching for, doubt seeps into everybody. 

“But the important thing is to stay self-regulated in terms of controlling what you've got control over. Trust the people around you. We've got a lot of football left to play, we're going to be around each other for a very, very long time. But yeah, you'd love a couple of affirmations to make sure that you can see that there is light at the end of the tunnel, you just got to continue to grind through it.”

How Elic Ayomanor Prepared Himself for Doubt

Elic Ayomanor is one of the Titans’ rising young players.

He said he actually thought about doubt during the offseason and prepared for it.

“My relationship with doubt feels like a bad devil on your shoulder,” he said. “You have the angel and the devil on your shoulder. It's just something that your mind will say. It's just when somebody says, 'Don't think about an elephant,' you start to think about elephants. Sometimes, it's just natural for you to start to think about those bad scenarios. But for me, it's how can you deal with those bad scenarios? What is your reaction? I honestly do a lot of work of visualizing. What would happen if? I made a bad play. 

“If I made a bad play, how would I react to it afterwards? Would I start spiraling and let the doubt take over my mind, or would I say, 'I made this bad play. This is why it was a bad play. This is why I should do better next time,' and just take another step? And I did some work in the offseason, and we said this is called the positive impact of negative preparation. Visualizing how you react to those negative scenarios to make sure that, even though there's going to be some doubt there, you can respond in a positive way.”

Titans Players Have Different Ways of Managing Uncertainty

Ayomanor prepares himself for the possibility that doubt will arrive. Jacob Martin’s approach leaves less room for it in the first place. Losing one rep doesn’t alter what he expects from the next one.

“You're not going to win every rep, man,” he said. “When you're playing against good players, and every team is good, everyone's good. You know what I mean? You're not going to win every engagement with them.

“But what you tell yourself as a competitor, what the elite ones do is like, ‘Okay, he got me this one, the next one I'm (going to) win, the next one I’m going to win, the next one I’m going to win.’ There's no doubt.”

For Amani Hooker, any uncertainty is snuffed out in advance.

Preparation is what does it. If a player has done the work and knows what to do, there’s less room to question whether he’s ready when things start going badly.

“The way to limit the doubt and take the doubt away is by preparation,” he said. “If I’m going out here and doing all the things I need to do, I leave all the doubt at home.

“All you can do is trust your preparation. We’re all brothers here, we’re all working to one goal. It could look funky, but trust the process, trust the leaders.”

Wan’Dale Robinson is new to the Titans but not to dealing with a team struggling to produce results. He experienced plenty of that with the New York Giants.

“I think the work you put in through the offseason and all those things should kind of eliminate the doubt,” he said. “I think a lot of teams go through some point kind of like that, nothing can kind of get going. And you’re just kind of like, ‘We know we’re better than this.’

“I think the best of teams have to deal with it at some point. When they have a game where they may not look the best or look normal at all. You kind of have to just get through that and continue to push forward.” 

Why Belief Eventually Needs Results

There are plenty of ways to manage doubt, then. Ayomanor’s visualization. Martin’s competitive stubbornness. Hooker’s preparation. Robinson’s trust in the work.

But Saleh acknowledged the one thing that would do more than any of them.

Affirmation.

The Titans need to win.