INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Tennessee defensive tackle Jeffery Simmons sat at his locker Sunday afternoon and took offense to the playful attitudes around him following a fourth consecutive loss.
He didn't think it was the time or place for such light-heartedness, and the two-time Pro Bowler wasted no time expressing his exasperation to the reporters gathering around him.
"At this point, and I said this a couple weeks ago, it's like, 'What are we really playing for? We're building for next year,'" Simmons said after a 38-30 loss to division rival Indianapolis. "If I see guys who want to quit, I don't want to be their teammate."
For a franchise that started this season with such promise — a new coach, a young quarterback with a seemingly bright future and a defense that has held up its end of the bargain most of the season — things seem to be unraveling rapidly.
And it's become increasingly frustrating to Simmons and others.
Tennessee (3-12) has now lost six of seven and has allowed two of its past four opponents to rush for 200 or more yards. On Sunday, Jonathan Taylor handled the Titans for 218 yards and three scores on 29 carries as the Colts rushed for 335 records, breaking a team record that was set in 1956.
How bad was it? The Titans allowed their highest rushing total since the franchise moved from Houston to Tennessee, and Simmons found nothing funny about it.
"Every week when we turn on the tape, it's the same (thing)," Simmons said. "Guys are out of position, they're not where they should be, the instincts aren't there. Stopping the run is not hard. But it does take all 11 guys. It's not just the defensive line. That's where it starts, but it just feels like the pieces aren't fitting right."
Simmons emphasized that last point more than once, and he knows it will be exposed again on the latest film.
Taylor went virtually untouched on a 65-yard sprint down the right side of the field to give Indy a 14-7 lead in the first half.
Then, after making halftime adjustments, the Titans returned to the field and on the first play watched Taylor sprint 70 yards down the left side of the field to make it 31-7. His third TD run, a 1-yard plunge midway through the third quarter put Tennessee in a 38-7 hole.
"Just look at the tape, there's no secret," said rookie defensive tackle T'Vondre Sweat, who left the game midway through the first quarter when he was inadvertently poked in the right eye by Taylor.
Sweat returned later in the half.
But the problems didn't go away.
Tennessee committed three more turnovers to the league-high 29 it had entering the game, which was a primary reason first-year coach Brian Callahan benched Will Levis and started Mason Rudolph.
Rudolph threw for 252 yards and two scores, but his interception late in the first half allowed Indy to extend a 17-7 lead to 24-7 at the half. His final interception, as time expired, sealed the outcome.
"We need to play cleaner," Callahan said. "The down-to-down consistency just isn't there. We put ourselves in a hole early but it's been an issue all year. It showed up again."
In between the errant throws, Taylor and Colts quarterback Anthony Richardson ran wild — something Simmons found so upsetting, he spoke out.
"It's frustrating as hell, 3-12? I didn't expect this," he said. "Coming out of camp, I felt like we had a great camp. At this point, we have to figure out what we're fighting for. Every guy in the locker room, every coach, needs to ask themselves what we're playing for."