Turron Davenport, ESPN 5y

Titans' beleaguered Malcolm Butler: Patriots just another game

NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- Cornerback Malcolm Butler, who went from being benched in last season's Super Bowl by the New England Patriots to being a prized free agent for the Tennessee Titans, calls Sunday's meeting against his former team "just another game."

"I know I used to play there. I just have to pick up my performance," Butler said. "It went great there. It didn't end well, but those people showed me nothing but love. I love them back. There's no bad blood."

As for greeting Patriots coach Bill Belichick, Butler says he will mirror whatever greeting his former coach has for him.

Butler has struggled in the first half of the season, but coach Mike Vrabel made it clear his $61.3 million offseason addition will be in the lineup Sunday.

"I don't think [LeShaun Sims]'s as good as Malcolm," Vrabel said. "We'll continue to evaluate that, like we do all the positions on the roster."

Perhaps his worst outing came on the team's biggest stage in Week 9. He gave up a four-yard touchdown to newly acquired Dallas Cowboys receiver Amari Cooper and a 23-yard score by veteran wideout Allen Hurns.

Sunday's game will be another big stage, but Butler said it doesn't change his approach: "I am not overhyped. ... It's just another game. No matter who I play, people are throwing the ball, so I just have to be ready."

Vrabel says he feels he knows what went wrong for Butler in Dallas.

"When you play man coverage, you have to look at your man," Vrabel said. "Malcolm knows that, and we've talked about that, and we continue to practice it, we continue to coach it and we try to show it to him. When he does that, it's pretty good, it's competitive. He challenges the receivers. When you look back at the quarterback, your man has a tendency to go in another direction."

Man coverage was a specialty for Butler in the past. However, it has become an area where he has been exploited at times in Tennessee. In Butler's mind, he has to get back to how he was when he first broke into the league as an undrafted free agent with nowhere to go but up.

"You gamble and do things you shouldn't, just need to get back to the basics," he said. "I need to get back to my doggish ways. I'm going to get back to being really nasty, man. How things are going now, I don't have anything to lose. I just have to do what I do. I'll turn it up."

According to NFL Next Gen Stats, on the first five touchdowns Butler allowed this season, the receivers had only 1.69 yards of separation. However, Butler was turned around badly by Hurns' double move on his touchdown reception, giving up 5.05 yards of separation. Butler's six touchdowns allowed are the second most for any cornerback this season.

However, Butler has put some solid play on film -- especially defending deep passes along the boundary this season.

Things won't get any easier this week with Patriots wideouts Josh Gordon and Phillip Dorsett lining up on the outside. Butler needs to relax and play ball the way he did when he was a little-known cornerback who made the biggest play in Super Bowl XLIX when then-safeties coach Brian Flores substituted him into the game by yelling, "Malcolm go!"

The glory days in New England are a thing of the past for Butler, but Flores -- now the defensive coordinator and linebackers coach in New England -- says he thinks Butler still has some greatness in him.

"It takes me back to a great memory," Flores said of Butler's big Super Bowl play. "Obviously, I have a good history with Malcolm. I think he's a great player, an incredible player. He was a joy to coach, a joy to be around." -- ESPN Patriots reporter Mike Reiss contributed to this article.

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