Kyle Madson

TitansWire.com

Titans head coach Mike Mularkey was not complimentary of his wide receiving corps after the Titans' 12-9 win over the Browns. He noted that wide receivers got very few targets, and then criticized their playmaking on balls that were thrown their way.

Taywan Taylor had four targets, Rishard Matthews had six, Eric Decker had two, and Eric Weems had one. They accounted for seven of Marcus Mariota’s 21 completions, and 90 of his 203 passing yards.

Mularkey blamed some of that on the receivers’ inability to get open.

► Related:Jessie James Decker questions Titans' play-calling vs. Browns

Matthews later tweeted this:

"Receivers always get the blame here I gues," he wrote.

It’s unclear whether this was in response to an internal conversation, or Mularkey’s public comments. Either way, this isn’t a great thing to see from the team’s leading wide receiver.

Matthews is second behind tight end Delanie Walker with 27 catches, and leads the team with 393 yards. He’s also one of two wide receivers with a receiving touchdown this season.

Mularkey didn’t place the blame squarely on the wide receivers. He did have strong critiques for that group, but he also talked about some missed throws by Mariota.

One of those bad throws came on second-and-goal at the Cleveland 1-yard line when Mariota had Walker wide open and threw it short. The quarterback finished the game a 21-34 in the air, and his 5.97 yards-per-attempt were his fewest of the season.

The receiving corps does garner some share of the blame, but they certainly aren’t entirely at fault for the Titans sluggish offensive performance against the Browns. Mularkey wasn’t blaming the entirety of the offensive struggles on the receivers though, so for Matthews to say that is a little unfair to the head coach.

► More:Titans third-down struggles are disturbing heading into bye week

On the other hand, Matthews’ frustration is understandable. He had statistically one of his worst performances of the season, and there were plenty of issues with the Titans offense Sunday that had very little to do with the wide receivers. Like the team’s 2.5 yards-per-carry, for example.

So, the receivers do get some of the blame. But the Titans offensive performance Sunday does fall somewhat on them. Luckily for Tennessee, they’ve got the bye week to get this sorted out. Perhaps Mularkey’s comments will get the wide receivers fired up for a big performance in Week 9 against the Ravens.

More NFL content

Playoff bound?: Titans still control their own destiny

Titans report card: Kevin Byard, stellar defense bails out struggling offense vs. Browns

NFL Rankings: Pennsylvania takes over the top spots

Upon Further Review: Browns QB plan with DeShone Kizer is baffling

Sign up: USA Today's NFL Newsletter brings you best coverage from around league