Titans’ Stingily enjoys moment in spotlight

Who could blame Titans tackle Byron Stingily for being surprised when his name was called last Sunday against Indianapolis?

Since getting drafted in 2011, Stingily hadn’t played a single regular-season snap, which is kind of what one might expect when the players above you on the depth chart include Michael Roos and David Stewart.

Roos had played 119 straight games before missing Sunday’s contest and Stewart has missed just two games over the past six seasons.

But with Roos sitting out against the Colts and Stewart having suffered a knee injury on the Titans’ first possession against Indy, Stingily finally got his big chance.

“Oh, man, to be honest I really couldn’t believe it,” Stingily said. “I was like, `Oh, wow. I’m up just like that.’

“It was good. When I got in the huddle, Nate (Washington) and (Jared) Cook and everybody was giving me good support, so everybody was excited for me.”

Were there first-play jitters?

“Oh yeah. I was calm, but I wasn’t calm,” said Stingily, a soft-spoken, 6-5, 313-pounder. “I was like, `This is happening.’ But I just tried to stay relaxed and just take it from there.

“It was weird because I didn’t hear any crowd noise, I didn’t hear any music. I don’t know if it was tunnel vision or what. But I was dialed in. It was fun.”

For the record, Stingily did good work on his first play, keeping Colts linebacker Jerry Hughes far away from quarterback Matt Hasselbeck during a third-down pass.

On the Titans’ very next offensive play, Stewart came hobbling back on the field, bringing a quick end to Stingily’s moment in the sun.

“I thought I might play a little more but (Stewart) came back. They patched him up and he was right back out there,” Stingily said. “But it was something else. It was a good experience. For that one play, I guess I did alright.”

Posted In: Team News

Source: Titans Insider