Kevin Byard wants to make Tom Brady ‘look like Blake Bortles,’ but not the one who just won a playoff game

The Patriots had a first-round bye this postseason, which is something that’s not exactly new to them since Tom Brady took over at quarterback nearly two decades ago.

Despite this, Tennessee Titans safety Kevin Byard has some big plans for his team’s defense on Saturday night.

“It’s a playoff game, so it’s not like it’s the preseason where I can go out there, ‘Oh, it’s Brady,’ and I’m chillin,” Byard said, via the Tennessean. “This is a playoff game. So I don’t really care if it was Joe Montana. You know what I’m saying? I’m trying to go out there and win the game.”

But then he took it to the next level. “I want to make him look like Blake Bortles if I can and try to catch a couple picks,” he said. “Tom Brady is a great quarterback, but it’s a playoff game. I’m not really looking at it like that.”

Byard was named a first-team All-Pro last week, and had intercepted Bortles twice in Week 17. It gave him eight picks on the season, and his third game of the season with at least two interceptions.

One of his multi-interception games came against the Ravens, so Byard knows a thing or two about picking off elite quarterbacks.

If the Titans hope to pull off the upset on Saturday, it might take a multi-pick game from Byard. Which — as we’ve seen this season — isn’t at all impossible.

Titans left tackle Taylor Lewan had a pretty good quote about being the underdog in the game, too.

“It’s standard, dude. It’s standard. Like pickles on a sandwich,” Lewan said. “That thing just comes all the time. So it is what it is. We’ve just got to focus on what’s important, and that’s these guys in this locker room. It’s 11 guys on the field at a time and making sure that our 11 plays better than their 11.”

As far as Bortles goes, I’m sure at this point he’s tired of being on the wrong end of some smack talk.

He had a decent season, having his highest completion percentage at 60, along with 3,687 yards, 21 touchdowns, and 13 interceptions. He had a three-game stretch in December where he actually looked good, completing 71 percent of his passes for 903 yards and seven touchdowns with no interceptions. He’s even got a playoff win under his belt!

Either way, Byard is hoping to replicate his Week 17 performance against Brady this coming Saturday.