Titans coach Vrabel out after six seasons
Browns' Hopkins likely out Saturday
The Tennessee Titans fired coach Mike Vrabel after six seasons with the franchise having won only six of the past 24 games, including blowing a third straight AFC South title in the 2022 season finale.
Titans controlling owner Amy Adams Strunk said in a statement that she told Vrabel of her decision Tuesday morning. She said it was a decision “as difficult as any I've made.”
Strunk said she believes teams best positioned to win must be aligned and collaborate across the board. The Titans started that shift a year ago, hiring Ran Carthon as the franchise's first Black general manager and expanding its analytics staff. More changes were needed to “fully achieve our vision.”
Hired in January 2018, Vrabel, who played 14 seasons in the NFL, went 5648 overall, including a 2-3 record in the playoffs.
He led the Titans to the AFC championship game in the 2019 season as part of three straight playoff berths. Tennessee lost at home in a wild-card game after the 2020 season and as the AFC's No. 1 seed capping the 2021 season.
The Titans contended for a playoff spot in the season finale of his first five seasons until they were eliminated from postseason contention for this season in December. Vrabel wound up coaching a team that used the most players in the NFL in each of the past three seasons because of injuries.
Vrabel signed a contract extension after a 2021 season where he won the AP NFL Coach of the Year award.
The Titans wrapped up Vrabel's sixth season with a 6-11 record in his first year with Carthon. They beat Jacksonville 28-20 on Sunday to deny their oldest division rival a second straight AFC South title.
Browns kicker Dustin Hopkins is expected to sit out Saturday's wild-card playoff game at Houston with a hamstring injury he sustained while chasing a kick returner in Cleveland's win over the Texans on Dec. 24.
Coach Kevin Stefanksi said that it was “unlikely” Hopkins will play this week. Hopkins, who was one of the NFL's most accurate kickers all season, missed the final two regular-season games with the injury.
Hopkins is 33 of 36 on field-goal tries and made all eight attempts beyond 50 yards. Acquired just before the season in a trade with the Chargers, he's also made four game-winning kicks.
Riley Patterson will handle kicking duties for the Browns (11-6), who signed him to their practice squad on Dec. 25. Three days later, he made a 33-yard field goal as Cleveland clinched a playoff spot with a win over the New York Jets.
Patterson is 6 of 7 on extra points with Cleveland. He played in 13 games for Detroit, making 15 of 17 field goals and 35 of 37 PATs before being released.