Kevin Byard ate his vegetables, so to speak, even though he knew they’d taste awful.
“Enough to make you puke,” was Mike Vrabel's review.
Here I thought I'd need to dig deep into my memory banks for a suitably foreboding introduction of last season's blustery, cold loss to the Cincinnati Bengals for the Tennessee Titans. Vrabel accomplished it in five words. Well done, coach.
Nonetheless, on Monday night, Byard braced himself and went back and studied the 31-20 defeat. He couldn’t say he enjoyed the experience, either.
“It didn’t look like us,” Byard said. “We’re a totally different team.”
Extra motivation shouldn’t be needed for anyone at this stage in the playoffs, but the Bengals (11-7) make an intriguing visitor for the AFC divisional playoff game at Nissan Stadium on Saturday (3:30 p.m., CBS) because of this previous meeting.
Whether or not they’ll admit it this week, the Titans who were on last season's team have to feel as if they owe the Bengals. They were embarrassed in Cincinnati, and they haven’t been embarrassed much under Vrabel.
