The Sports Xchange

NASHVILLE — Tight end Delanie Walker had a banner year in 2014, even as the Tennessee Titans wilted on the vine.

Walker was one of few bright spots for the Titans, hauling in 63 passes for a team-record 890 yards. But those accomplishments went largely unnoticed outside of Titans fans because the Titans went 2-14.

Walker said he worked hard last season and will continue to do so, knowing that the only way for true individual recognition is for the team to be vastly improved this season.

“Last year, I felt like I did more and no one cared,” Walker said. “I broke records and scored touchdowns and no one cared. We’ve got to win more as a team.

“I think even if I have a good year and we don’t have a good year as a team, who cares, right? But if we win together, then the individual guys get the accolades they deserve.”

Walker said the idea is for the Titans to be better as well as him as an individual.

“My focus is always on getting better every year,” Walker said. “I probably say this every year that I’m just trying to get better. I try to do something more than I did last year. That’s more catches, more yards, more touchdowns. My goal is to get better. But as a team goal, we’ve got to be better at winning games, finishing games, That’s what I’m going to set my goals at this year — to be better individually, but also as a team, we’ve got to win more games.

“If I’ve got to be pushing and communicating more and talking more to the team, then that’s what I’ve got to do. At the end of the day, we don’t want to win just two games again.”

–Running back Shonn Greene, who is certainly not a cinch to make the Titans’ roster, continues to be absent from the Titans OTAs this offseason. Greene is entering the final season of the three-year, $10 million contract he signed with the Titans in 2013 and will be challenged for his roster spot by rookie David Cobb, whom the Titans drafted in the fifth round after coaching at the Senior Bowl.

Greene is the only veteran Titans player not taking part in OTAs, which are voluntary. Greene, though, is expected to be in town for mandatory minicamp June 16-18.

Tight end Taylor Thompson was present at the start of OTAs, but left for a few days to tend to a personal matter and had not returned as of June 4.

–Titans linebacker Colin McCarthy, who entered free agency in 2015 after four seasons with the club, announced his retirement via Twitter on Thursday. McCarthy, a fourth-round pick in 2011, had a fast rise and fall with the Titans. He became a starter at middle linebacker in his rookie season and was once defensive player of the week. In 2012, McCarthy was named the Titans defensive captain, but a nagging ankle injury and concussion limited him to seven games.

By 2013, he was relegated to a backup role and in 2014, trying to hang on to his roster spot as the Titans moved to a 3-4 defense, McCarthy suffered a preseason shoulder injury that required surgery and landed him on injured reserve.