There was plenty of blame to go around in the Tennessee Titans’ 38-13 home loss to the Arizona Cardinals on Sunday. But Titans head coach Mike Vrabel had a blunt message for wide receiver Julio Jones after a costly penalty.
Speaking to the media on Monday, Vrabel addressed a personal foul penalty Jones drew that turned a 3rd-and-1 into a 3rd-and-16 in the first quarter. On the play in question, Jones shoved a Cardinals player after a Derrick Henry run, drawing the flag.
Vrabel made it clear that actions like that are not the things he teaches. He called it something that would “all under the category of doing dumb s–t that hurts the team.”
“That’s absolutely nothing we coach or teach. So that would fall under the category of doing dumb s–t that hurts the team. Right there in bold letters,” Vrabel said, via ESPN’s Turron Davenport.
It’s not the first time Vrabel has made a comment like that about one of his players. Though for a veteran like Julio Jones, it definitely hits differently.
Mike Vrabel was rather critical of Julio Jones’ personal foul call that resulted in a 3rd & 1 turning into 3rd & 16. #Titans pic.twitter.com/Bh8m60skuI
— TURRON DAVENPORT (@TDavenport_NFL) September 13, 2021
In the grand scheme of things though, Julio Jones’ mistake was far from the Titans’ biggest problem. Mike Vrabel’s defense couldn’t stop Cardinals QB Kyler Murray, who had a five dazzling touchdowns in the 38-13 win.
The offense similarly struggled to get going, with star running back Derrick Henry limited to just 58 rushing yards. That mark would have been his second-lowest of the entire 2020 season.
The Titans won’t get a breather in their next game. They head west for another NFC West opponent in Week 2 – the Seattle Seahawks.
Hopefully the rest of the Titans players get the message before that game.
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