Think the Tennessee Titans don’t want to win despite being out of the playoff hunt?
Think again.
It’s been a pretty abysmal season for the Titans, who are sitting at 5-11 heading into the final game of the season against the Jacksonville Jaguars. Even star running back Derrick Henry has had a down year, rushing for “only” 1,000 yards and 11 touchdowns in 17 games.
But despite the fact that the game on Sunday doesn’t mean anything for the Titans’ playoff hopes, it still means something for the team and coach Mike Vrabel.
During a press conference earlier this week, Vrabel said that the team still wants to win for “a lot of reasons.” And when Gentry Estes, a reporter for The Tennessean, asked Vrabel what those reasons are, the coach didn’t hold back:
“Because it sucks to lose, Gentry. Did you have another thought, or…I’m just curious. It f*cking sucks. Losing, awful. That’s why I want to win. Because you don’t sleep, you wanna win for the players that bust their tail. That’s it.”
It probably doesn’t help that Vrabel is likely feeling his seat getting hotter after missing the playoffs two straight season. But even with an aging Henry in the backfield, the Titans have a promising young quarterback in Will Levis, a new stadium on the way, and plenty of cap room to bring in talent in the offseason.
But it’s understandable that Vrabel is feeling frustrated after this season – though he did apologize to Estes the following day for singling out the reporter:
And Estes even said he had no problem with Vrabel’s response, and enjoyed seeing some fire for the coach:
I guess we’ll have to wait and see whether Vrabel’s Titans are able to play spoiler to the Jags in a meaningless game on Sunday…but then again, it doesn’t sound like it’s meaningless to the Titans at all.
