Tennessee built with Patriots in mind
Vrabel-led team surged after Tannehill promotion
FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — When Tennessee general manager Jon Robinson fired coach Mike Mularkey after he lost to the Patriots in the divisional round of the playoffs after the 2017 season, he leaned on his past to plot a course for the Titans future.
Five days later Robinson, who got his NFL start as a scout with New England from 2002-13, hired Mike Vrabel — winner of three Super Bowl rings as a linebacker with the Patriots — as his new coach.
With former Patriots cornerback Logan Ryan already on the roster, Vrabel added more players and staff with ties to New England. That group included former Patriots assistant Dean Pees as his defensive coordinator, 2015 Super Bowl savior cornerback Malcolm Butler, and running back Dion Lewis.
It seemed like a transparent effort to plant seeds in Tennessee of New England coach Bill Belichick’s disciplined, teamfirst “Do your job” culture that has come to be known as “The Patriot Way.”
“Isn’t that the street the movie theater is on?” Vrabel joked this week when asked what the moniker meant to him.
Two seasons later the efforts of Robinson and Vrabel, combined with a boost from former Miami Dolphins quarterback and Patriots AFC East Division nemesis Ryan Tannehill, have culminated in a wild-card matchup Saturday with the franchise the Titans appear to be striving to emulate.
True or not, Vrabel said the ties between the teams aren’t on his mind.
“This isn’t about my career, my eight years in New England,” said Vrabel, who coached the Titans to a 34-10 win over New England in Nashville last season. “This is about the Titans and our preparation to go up there and face a team that’s won three Super Bowls in the last five years. They’re 8-0 at home in that span. They’ve got the No. 1 defense, they’ve got the best coach, they’ve got the best quarterback, so it’s quite a challenge.”
The Patriots will face one of the hottest teams heading into the postseason. The Titans won seven of their final 10 games to earn their second playoff berth in three seasons and first under Vrabel.
Ryan was drafted by the Patriots in 2013 and spent the first four seasons of his career in New England, winning Super Bowl rings in the 2014 and 2016 seasons. He said he’s carried lessons from his time with the Patriots that stick with him.
“It’s a new season, and we have to play well on Saturday. That’s the one thing I learned from being a Patriot,” he said. “It doesn’t matter what you did, it doesn’t matter if it’s ‘on to Cincinnati’ or whatever it may be. It’s one game at a time in the playoffs. You’ve got to give all you got. It’s not a best of seven, it’s not a best of five.”
New England’s loss to Miami in its regular-season finale relegated it to the wildcard round for the first time since 2009, when it lost, 33-14, to Baltimore. The Patriots are 2-1 in wild-card games under
Belichick and that “best quarterback,” Tom Brady, but have never made it to the Super Bowl when opening the playoffs as a wild-card team in their era.
“We have a chance to go on a revenge tour,” Patriots linebacker Kyle Van Noy said. “What better way than to start out with Tennessee, who we lost to last year. It’s a big motivation. We weren’t happy about our performance. They’re coming into our house. What better way to get it started for the playoffs.”
As Brady prepares for his 17th postseason, he says he isn’t thinking about the future beyond Saturday.
The 42-year-old has more playoff victories (30) than each of the 11 other projected starting quarterbacks in this year’s playoffs combined (26). But he also has a contract that expires following the season and could face entering free agency for the first time in his 20-year career.
“I’m not much for nostalgia,” Brady said. “I’m just pretty focused on what I need to do. This week has felt just like every other week for the last 20 years . ... I haven’t thought about those things. I wouldn’t be thinking about those things anyway. It’s felt like a normal week for me.”
Tennessee found a different gear when Tannehill moved into the lineup. The Titans have averaged 6.94 yards per play since he moved into the starting lineup in Week 7 — best in the NFL in that span. They’ve averaged 406.2 yards of total offense with Tannehill as a starter, third behind Dallas (424.1) and Tampa Bay (416).