A broken leg is one of the worst injuries for a football player. That’s exactly what former Tennessee Titans player Logan Ryan went through back in 2018. It hindered his momentum that season, but he came out of it stronger. Mentally and physically. Now, years later, he is finally pulling back the curtain and sharing the smaller details about the injury.

A curious Instagram fan wondered what happened to his Titans jersey, and in response, Ryan had a story to tell. 

“Late 2018, I broke my leg in a shutout vs the Giants,” he responded in the comment section. “Didn’t realize it at the time. So, I walked off the field. Back in the locker room, the trainers had to cut my jersey in half in order to take my uniform off.

“I couldn’t stand up. I attacked rehab and got back in time for the 2019 season. I decided to frame that cut jersey to symbolize all the work I put in to get back on the field for the 2019 season!”

During the fourth quarter of the Titans’ 17-0 win over the Giants at MetLife Stadium, the player stayed down after he attempted to tackle Saquon Barkley on a 7-yard run. He received medical attention and later hobbled to the sideline on his own. Later on, fans got to know he fractured his fibula. 

It was a season-ending injury.

It broke his heart. Announcing the extent of the damage his body had taken, he wrote on social media: “I poured my heart and soul into this season, so it is unfortunate. However, anyone who knows me knows how relentlessly I will train to come back as a better player with fewer weaknesses.”

Before exiting the season, the player started in all 14 games, notching 76 tackles, eight passes defended, and four sacks.

Losing Ryan was a huge blow to the Titans because the team was a strong contender for the playoffs. But his comeback in the next season lived up to the expectations. In 2019, he had 4.5 sacks, 113 tackles, and four interceptions. He made his mark as a Titan.

That said, it was hardly the first time the player faced an injury. In 2017, he experienced a concussion and an ankle sprain. It didn’t cost him much in time. But in 2022, he missed seven games because of a Jones fracture.

The injury that led to Logan Ryan’s ‘Mamba Mentality’

After his 2018 injury, Ryan credited Kobe Bryant as a turning point in how he approached the adversity. When he entered the NFL, he was already studying Mamba mentality. It wasn’t long before he got obsessed with the topic, and so, when he faced adversity in 2018, he adopted this mentality.

“I just feel like I’m letting other people down,” Ryan said about being injured. He dove into the Bryant’s scripture for his recovery. He started waking up at 4 a.m. just so that he could squeeze in a workout. Later in the day, he would spend time with his family.

“The Mamba mentality is how I wake up and am as a husband: attentive and alert and there for my wife and listening and [trying] to be better. And same with my kids and everything. It’s trying to be my best in every aspect.”

And so, when Cowboys’ QB Dak Prescott experienced a freak injury on the field with his foot pointing the wrong direction, Ryan felt his pain. As Prescott was carted off the turf, Ryan felt guilty, too. It was an accident, but he was the one who wrestled the QB on the play.

That night, he mailed Prescott two books: Kobe Bryant’s memoir, The Mamba Mentality: How I Play, and Relentless: From Good to Great to Unstoppable, by Tim Grover.

He wanted to help Prescott. And so, when the QB was on his way to recovery, Ryan was one of the happiest. He was able to help Prescott owing to his own experience.