In a season where very little has gone right for the Tennessee Titans, first-year head coach Brian Callahan is still fiercely defending his team against outside criticism.
The 3-11 Titans lost to the Cincinnati Bengals on Sunday after winning just one of their last five games.
While there weren’t high expectations for the Titans this season, their play has led some people to criticize the team’s competitiveness.
When this came up at a press conference on Wednesday, Callahan walked away from addressing accusations that the team was “soft as bulls**t.”
“Do you really want to get me started today?”, Callahan started before he elaborated. “Yes, I think it’s complete and utter bullshit to be honest, if you want my honest opinion. These guys are tough motherfuckers, man. They go after it every day. They play hard.
“At no point this season have we put it on tape that this is a soft football team. I can’t even imagine how that would even be a conversation.
WARNING: VIDEO CONTAINS EXPLICIT LANGUAGE
The Tennessee Titans’ rough season has led some to question just how strong the team is
Titans coach Brian Callahan said accusations that his team was ‘soft’ were ‘bulls**t’
‘The fact that we don’t win games doesn’t mean we’re soft. These guys, they play their thing. They play hard. They play physically.
“You can ask any team that plays against us that when they come off the field, they know they played against us. Yeah, that makes me relatively angry that that would be an assumption. That means you just don’t look at the shit. You don’t do anything about it, you don’t know what you’re talking about. I don’t know what you’re looking at.
“I don’t agree with anyone calling this football team soft. I think that’s nonsense. If there are any opinions that feel this way, they know nothing about NFL football.
He continued, “I’d like you to walk in, give one of these guys a soft call and see what happens. This is definitely not a soft football team, either mentally or physically. I think one of the things that’s really impressive about the team mentally is the way they continue to fight throughout the season.
‘At no time have they shown that they are not up to the task. They come out and work every day. You’re really going to get me going now. These guys come here and do everything they can to win games.
“If there is an assumption somewhere that is outside of this building, we don’t focus on all those things, but there is no possible explanation to say that this team is soft in any way, mentally or physically. The way they do their job is insulting to me, to them and to everyone who works here.
“I’m not… there’s no way I would ever admit that that’s the case, and neither would anyone in this locker room. Honestly, you could just shove it right up your ass.”
It’s been a tough campaign for the Titans, but it became even more difficult when Callahan was benched for starting quarterback Will Levis on Sunday.
The Titans even benched quarterback Will Levis after he threw three interceptions on Sunday
Levis was replaced after throwing three interceptions against Cincinnati, which led to Mason Rudolph taking over.
What made matters worse was that Levis struggled while his ex-girlfriend, Gia Duddy, watched from a luxury suite.
Additionally, Levis was officially benched for the season in favor of Rudolph in a decision Callahan announced on Wednesday.
The Titans have already been eliminated from the playoffs. They close out their season against their three division rivals: at the Indianapolis Colts, at the Jacksonville Jaguars, and then close out their season at home against the Houston Texans.