
Tennessee Titans head coach Mike Vrabel is normally a stoic man who doesn’t like to indicate his feelings, particularly in media availabilities.
Nevertheless, that modified after getting a query from the Tennessean’s sports activities columnist Gentry Estes on Tuesday forward of the workforce’s last recreation of the season in opposition to the Jacksonville Jaguars.
Estes introduced up Vrabel desirous to win on Sunday with a workforce that’s 5-11 following the Titan’s newest loss to the Houston Texans – a 26-3 blowout on the highway. He was interested by Vrabel’s causes, regardless of no playoff berth in sight, and the veteran head coach gave a stern response.
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Head coach Mike Vrabel of the Tennessee Titans in the course of the Jaguars recreation at TIAA Financial institution Discipline on Jan. 7, 2023, in Jacksonville, Florida. (Mike Carlson/Getty Photos)
“As a result of it sucks to lose, Gentry,” Vrabel mentioned sternly.
Estes went to maneuver on with one other query, however Vrabel wasn’t executed.
“It f—ing sucks shedding. Terrible,” he mentioned. “That’s why I need to win. Since you don’t sleep. You need to win for the gamers who bust their tail. That’s it. It’s not about, ‘Hey, we’re going to the offseason on a very good observe.’ No one is aware of what you probably did on Jan. 7, or 8, or 6 in April after we come again.
“However you need to see simply all of it come collectively and simply put 4 quarters collectively.”
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Vrabel began to quiet down a bit as he continued explaining why he needed his Titans to finish the season with a victory, including an apology for cursing.
He merely desires to see aggressive soccer performed, which wasn’t present in Week 17, as he identified. The Texans obtained forward early attributable to stable play by their offense underneath rookie quarterback C.J. Stroud, and Tennessee’s personal rookie, Will Levis, struggled.
Houston ran up the rating, which included a strip sack fumble taken to the home for six factors, and Tennessee couldn’t recuperate.

Tennessee Titans head coach Mike Vrabel on the sideline in the course of the Steelers recreation at Acrisure Stadium on Nov. 2, 2023, in Pittsburgh. (Justin Ok. Aller/Getty Photos)
The Titans personal a minus-70 level differential on the season, which is the worst within the AFC South.
“You simply put your self in a aggressive state of affairs, give you a option to make a play in a second half to win the sport. That’s what I hope for,” Vrabel mentioned.
“Tanking” has been a time period thrown round in sports activities for years now, which is a principle saying groups purposefully lose video games to extend their probabilities at the next draft choose, desirous about the way forward for the franchise whereas sacrificing the current.
However any coach or participant round any league in skilled sports activities will inform you they don’t need to participate in tanking as a result of it’s accepting shedding, which isn’t on the agenda ever.

Tennessee Titans head coach Mike Vrabel speaks throughout a postgame information convention, Dec. 12, 2023, in Miami. (AP Photograph/Lynne Sladky)
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Vrabel’s Titans actually received’t have that mindset on Sunday, the place they might play spoiler for the Jaguars, who want a victory to win the AFC South over the Indianapolis Colts and Houston Texans.