Malcolm Butler saw and heard it all: the negative press, the scathing headlines, the harsh criticism.

“I got social media,” the Titans cornerback said ahead of Saturday’s game (3:30 p.m. CT, NFL Network, NBC) against the Washington Redskins at Nissan Stadium. “Everybody’s got social media. Try not to look at those things, but that’s the life we live, man. We live on social media.”

It was the biggest thing working against Butler earlier this season, according to Titans defensive coordinator Dean Pees.

“To be bluntly honest with you, I think Malcolm’s biggest problem was reading the stuff that was written about him,” Pees said. “I don’t care who you are, and especially when you’re a young man, you don’t want to disappoint anybody. That was his biggest hangup, was he just didn’t want to disappoint anybody. He’s a good player, he’s an aggressive player, and sometimes aggressive players get beat for being aggressive. But the other thing is he’s fought through it… Now he’s got to maintain it and keep doing it.”

He has.

Pees shared that thought on Nov. 29 after what was a dismal first half of the season for Butler, the 28-year-old cornerback who signed a five-year, $61.25 million contract with $30 million guaranteed in the offseason. Through the first eight games of the season, he was the nearest defender on a whopping seven touchdown passes, which was the worst figure in the league for a cornerback at the time, according to Pro Football Focus. Thirty-nine of 54 passes (72 percent) thrown his way were caught.

In his last six games, though, Butler has allowed just 48 percent of passes thrown at him to be caught (12 of 25) without surrendering a single touchdown pass.

"Just adjusting to the defense. Going back to the basic fundamentals. And just playing, man," Butler said of how he's turned his season around. "Going out there fearless and whatever happens, happens. Just stay positive. I just been playing, man. Just having fun. Being free. Playing.

"It’s most definitely a big relief. It’s not over yet. Just want to continue doing great and bring momentum to the postseason and next season and as long as I’m here."

Titans secondary coach Kerry Coombs credited Butler's resiliency.

"I think he’s playing well," Coombs said on Dec. 10. "He’s playing hard. He’s been a competitor from the day he showed up. Things weren't going great but when things don’t go great and you’re a competitor, you keep fighting, you keep scratching, you keep clawing, you keep finding ways to have success, and I think that he has.

"We’ve worked on a lot of things together and I think that mainly it’s Malcolm’s determination to keep fighting every play, every game, and I appreciate that about him. And it's showing up, I think, on Sundays."

The continuation of it will be crucial as the Titans make their final push for the playoffs. With cornerback Logan Ryan on injured reserve with a broken fibula, more responsibility falls on the shoulders of the healthy members of the secondary, including, of course, its $61 million man

"Logan is not that easy to replace," Butler said, "but we got good players in this locker room. Great DB room. So the play shouldn’t drop off. Things should keep rolling."

What if teams go after him again? What if they try to bury him back into his early-season hole?

"Oh, come on with it. I’ll be waiting," Butler said with a smile. "I ain’t going nowhere."

Reach Erik Bacharach at ebacharach@tennessean.com and on Twitter @ErikBacharach.