Former Patriot Logan Ryan had plenty of ‘bulletin board material’ ahead of Titans’ playoff victory

FOXBOROUGH — Logan Ryan didn’t know what to expect when he reached for his phone in the visiting locker room at Gillette Stadium. 

Minutes earlier, the Titans cornerback put an emphatic stamp on Tennessee’s 20-13 victory over his former team in the Patriots, picking off Tom Brady’s final throw of the night. Hopping into New England’s end zone, Ryan’s pick-six snuffed out any chance of the Patriots orchestrating those late-game heroics that fans have relished in for close to two decades now.

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But as he fielded questions, Ryan admitted that a missed pick against his former signal-caller just ahead of halftime was still going to draw the ire of many on social media — given that it could have provided the knockout blow much earlier than the final minute of play. 

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“I didn’t do anything special," Ryan said of his fourth-quarter pick. "I was at the right place at the right time. Trying to make up so I didn’t get killed on Twitter for dropping the first one. Half of my mentions are that ‘I’m terrible’ and the other half, ‘I’m great.’”

Of course, on the night in which the Patriots failed to win at least one playoff game in a season for the first time since 2010, Ryan wasn’t going to spend much time getting caught up on Twitter chirps.

But he was ready to send a few of his own toward the Patriots’ locker room.



Ryan, who won two Super Bowls over four seasons with the Patriots, wasn’t exactly dancing on the grave of his former team. However, after hearing Kyle Van Noy describe yet another New England playoff push as the start of a “revenge tour” earlier this week, Ryan was more than happy to gloat at the expense of his former teammate. 

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“I love those guys,” Ryan said of the Patriots. “I won two championships with them, but I’m here now, I’m trying to win a championship here. That organization has so much class, so my guy Kyle Van Noy calling it a revenge tour? Just play ball, Kyle. I’m sure you’re going to see this. 

“‘He’s one of the hyenas, he’s on a revenge tour. Why not start with the Titans?’ I understand he’s going to ride the wave of the Patriots, but Tom Brady doesn’t do that. Julian Edelman doesn’t do that. Devin McCourty, Gilly Lock (Stephon Gilmore) don’t do that. And Kyle Van Noy is running his mouth, giving us bulletin board material about his revenge tour. His revenge tour ended early. 

“I’m sure I’ll hear something in the group chat from my guys about it over there. But Dev, Duron, J-Mac, I’m sorry I had to say it — but my man Van Noy has been tripping. So his revenge tour ended early. Hope he enjoys it.”

Saturday’s defeat the hands of the Titans might be best remembered as the game in which Derrick Henry ran roughshod over the Patriots’ vaunted defense — accruing 204 of Tennessee's 272 total yards in the victory. 

But after taking a 14-13 lead with less than a minute to go in the second quarter, Ryan Tannehill and the Titans’ offense didn’t have to fret all that much, as Tennessee’s defense shut out Brady and Co. in the second half. 

Aside from a 38-yard pickup from Brady to Ben Watson in the third quarter — wiped off the board after Shaq Mason was ruled ineligible down the field — New England’s offense struggled to land many punches against Ryan and the Titans down the stretch.

During the Patriots’ final five drives of the night, they only picked up five first downs and 85 total yards. Even a trademark fourth-quarter interception from Harmon didn’t do much in terms of providing a spark for the offense. Despite starting at their own 41 following Harmon's pick, New England only gained seven yards off of four plays before punting away another quality chance at snatching back the lead. 

“The biggest thing about playing Tom Brady and the Patriots is poise,” Ryan said. “He’s going to make plays, he’s going to be a good quarterback, he’s going to put the team in a good place. They’re going to get the ball to the playmakers like (James) White and Edelman. We just had to have some poise. We had better poise in the second half, we executed and got them to punt, got them to kick field goals and stuff like that. That kept the score low and how we liked it.” 

The odds were stacked against Brady and New England on their final legitimate drive of the night — starting at their own one-yard line with just 15 seconds remaining on the clock. As New England’s usually bountiful luck dried up, Ryan finally had some fall his way.

After his first potential pick-six slipped through his grasp, he wasn't going to suffer the same fate once again — snagging Brady’s tipped pass and silencing the Foxborough crowd. 

“I always pride myself on having great hands and I dropped the easiest pick of my career," Ryan said. “But I had faith. I said if the ball is going to come back to me, I think every one of my teammates knew that was a fluke. They said, ‘Lo, the ball is going to come back to you again’ and I believed it. What do you know, it came right back to me again. So I appreciate TB12 for that one, man. That one is going on my mantle. “

Ryan and the Titans don't have much time to relish a victory over the defending Super Bowl champions, especially with a road matchup against the top-seeded Ravens on the horizon. 

As such, Ryan wasn’t going to spend too much looking in the past, especially when asked if his pick-six might have marred Brady’s final throw in a Patriots’ uniform.

“Who knows? Tom Brady has given everything he could to the franchise and I think he’s earned the right to do what’s best for him,” Ryan said of Brady’s future in New England. “I have no idea. Ever since I was playing football, I’ve seen Tom Brady in a Patriots uniform. From eight years old, he was in a Patriots uniform. I have no idea, but he has the right to do what he wants to do. He’s given his all to this city and this organization and has been built a champion.

“I’ll be watching the news just like you guys.”