NASHVILLE – Titans quarterback Ryan Tannehill has been selected as both the 2019 NFL Comeback Player of the Year and the 2019 Most Improved Player of the Year by the Professional Football Writers of America (PFWA).
Tannehill became just the second player since the Most Improved Player of the Year award was instituted in 2000 to receive both the Most Improved and the Comeback Player of the Year awards in the same season, joining Bengals quarterback Jon Kitna (2003).
The Comeback Player of the Year award was instituted in 1992.
Tannehill is the first member of the Titans franchise to receive either the Comeback Player or the Most Improved Player of the Year honor.
"It is definitely an honor," Tannehill said on Friday. "It's cool, and it's something that you really don't think about as things happen. But it's cool to be honored in such a way and it just makes me thankful for the guys I got to play with this year and how this team has responded to everything we've been through.
"We have a bunch of good guys on this team that love playing the game, that love working together and competing together, and I'm proud of our guys. I think the awards are just a reflection of the guys that we have on the team."
Tannehill led the NFL with a 117.5 rating in 2019, his first season with the team after playing previously with the Dolphins. He has a 114.8 passer rating, including postseason games, and he's won each of his first two career postseason starts.
During the regular season, Tannehill threw for 2,742 yards with 22 touchdowns and six interceptions. He's guided the Titans to a 9-3 mark since taking over as the starter in Week 7.
Tannehill spent his first seven seasons with the Dolphins, where his highest passer rating in a season came during the 2016 season, when he posted a 93.5 rating. In 2018, Tannehill threw for 1,979 yards with 17 touchdowns and nine interceptions with the Dolphins, with a 92.7 rating, before being traded to the Titans in the offseason.
"Statistically, obviously, it's better," Tannehill said of his improvement. "But I don't feel like I've changed a whole lot. How I approach to the game, and how I play the game, I don't think it's changed a whole lot. But it's definitely an honor."
The Titans face the Chiefs in the AFC Championship Game on Sunday.
