The Tennessee Titans have been one of the worst teams in the NFL over the past two years, and their players are starting to get fed up. After the Titans gave up 37 points in a loss to the San Francisco 49ers on Sunday, starting linebacker Arden Key called out his defensive coordinator, Dennard Wilson, for not adjusting during games.

“We’ve got to adjust. We don’t adjust enough,” said Key. “We don’t adjust, that’s what it is, we don’t adjust.” When asked whether that’s a coaching issue, Key responded by saying they all need to do better, but his message was clearly directed to Wilson.

When players start going after their coaches in the media, it’s never good, but what’s even worse is when the coach fires back instead of handling things internally.

Dennard Wilson fires back at Arden Key

On Wednesday, Dennard Wilson took to the podium to speak to the media. He was quickly asked about Key’s comments after the game, and he said that they adjust all the time, but what cost them against San Fran was a lost 50-50 ball and a missed tackle. Other than that, he thought they played well in the first half and didn’t need to make many adjustments.

“We adjust at all times,” Wilson said. “You look at it in the second half, and what other adjustments did we need? We lost a one-on-one ball in man coverage, and we missed a tackle. I don’t know what other adjustments we needed. Everyone has an opinion on everything. Everybody needs to stay in their lane and focus on what they need to focus on.”

This is the last thing you need when you’re 2-12 and trying to avoid picking first overall for the second year in a row. It’s one thing when a player is frustrated after a game and says something dumb to the media, but for the coach, who’s had multiple days to think about this, to fire back in front of cameras? That’s just idiotic and points to poor leadership in the building.

Arden Key and the Titans’ struggles this year

I’m not going to pretend to be some defensive mastermind and know how to make adjustments mid-game, but Key has a point here. The Titans’ defense gives up 14.2 points per game in the first half, which ranks 26th in the league, and in the second half, they give up 13.9, which ranks 29th. While most other teams are improving their defense in the second half, the Titans aren’t making any progress.

However, for a guy like Key to be talking all this nonsense is a bit ridiculous. He’s been a really solid pass rusher for the Titans over the past four years, but this season, he has been absolutely nowhere. He ranks 82nd in pressures (30), tied with guys like Dante Fowler and Jaylen Redmond, and just above the likes of Jadeveon Clowney and Tyree Wilson (also, nine of his pressures are from one game against Cleveland, which has a quarterback who holds onto the ball too long and a bad offensive line). His four sacks this season also rank 69th in the league, tied with guys like Tyrel Dodson, Jonah Laulu, and Ja’Quan McMillan (who is a cornerback, by the way).

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This situation is just a mess. I understand if you’re a player saying something stupid after a big loss, but you’ve got to immediately go apologize to your coach and clear things up. For Wilson to come out and say what he did to the media three days later just shows there’s very little respect between the two, and when you’re trying to rebuild, you can’t have situations like this in your locker room.