NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- Taylor Lewan looked up and saw Tajae Sharpe on his feet and fighting to drive multiple defenders into the end zone. So the left tackle raced to the receiver’s aid, launched himself at the group and earned a flag for unnecessary roughness.

Instead of first-and-goal from the 3-yard line with 50 seconds left in a 17-10 game, the Tennessee Titans faced first-and-10 from the 18.

Mike Mularkey wants a tough, physical team but plays like the one Taylor Lewan was penalized for late in the game are not the kind of plays the Titans want. Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

“That’s a different play call, different philosophy,” Titans coach Mike Mularkey said. “You just lost a lot of time and yards at that position.”

They didn’t find a route to the end zone and fell to 1-2.

Quarterback Marcus Mariota, Mularkey and others raced to defend Lewan, who apologized to the team in the locker room but felt he was doing the right thing and said he would do it again.

“I was just trying to help my teammate and obviously, it hurt more than it helped,” Lewan said. "I'm disappointed because I got a penalty, and that's not what you want, but the play was still going."

Mariota offered his take.

"I told him don’t change," Mariota said. “That’s the type of mentality we want around here. We want that effort, we want that effort through the whistle. I told him don’t change, just continue to be yourself.

“It’s a call the referees thought they needed to make, and we just have to do our best and roll with the punches and do our best to kind of handle that.”

No offense to Mariota, but no, the Titans don’t have to do their best to roll with the punches there. They need to handle the situation differently so there aren't negative consequences. And yes, Lewan needs to change.

Feel some sympathy for Lewan. When he first saw the play downfield, he was compelled to assist and tried. At the root of the play are good intentions.

But ask him to assess on the fly, while he’s covering the ground needed to make his leap. What’s to be gained? What’s the potential reward from diving in with two defenders on top of Sharpe, another under him and two more behind him, with the receiver pointed away from the goal line?

The risk is far greater than any potential for reward.

And it’s not as split-second of a play as one might think. On the CBS telecast, Sharpe’s knee is clearly down, and Lewan isn’t even in the picture. He is at least three yards away. The whistle blows before he launches.

He’s not an innocent, try-hard victim. He's a culprit.

The play is a symbol of the sort of stuff the Titans did and still do that helps them secure high draft picks. They are simply not a smart enough team.

Mularkey and general manager Jon Robinson want a tough, physical, team-first group.

An unnecessary roughness penalty -- or anything that gives the officiating crew a chance to think about calling one -- at that stage of a close game is unquestionably not team-first.

Going forward, after they’ve had time to look at it, the Titans shouldn’t be using this as an illustration of effort. They should be using it as an example of a failure to evaluate a situation in real time and make the right choice. Doing so is at the very core of the their jobs.

Mularkey’s postgame comments suggested he will head that direction.

“I want them all down there,” he said. “I want them all helping the ball, their teammate that’s carrying the ball. They’ve got to make a good decision on when they do that. That was not a good decision. We weren’t going any further.

“But I don’t think it was too late on the hit.”

We haven't even discussed the target.

The whistle blew just before the Titans' overeager left tackle left his feet to fly into a pile to connect with DeMarco Murray, arguably the Tennessee's best offensive player.

That play was a gaffe on every level, though, and it needs to be the last of its kind.

At this point, there is zero cause to believe it will be.