Tennessee Titans head coach Mike Vrabel took a shot at fans during his Tuesday press conference.
When asked about the Tennessee Titans being underdogs to the Baltimore Ravens in the AFC divisional round matchup on Saturday night at M&T Bank Stadium during his Tuesday press conference, head coach Mike Vrabel threw some serious shade at his team’s fans.
Vrabel says he thinks the Titans are used to this type of situation because it happens almost every week, but not for the reasons one might expect.
Instead of going into the strength of their tough schedule or something along those lines, Vrabel took a shot at Titans fans for their lackluster attendance during the season as being the reason (Vrabel’s comment starts at the 11:30 mark of his presser video).
"“I would imagine we’re the underdogs every week, that’s kind of… I mean, you go to our games, there’s 20,000 of the other team’s fans.”"
Ouch.
While that seems like a pretty harsh thing to say, especially with the biggest game of the season coming up, he isn’t wrong; although I don’t think it’s the smartest thing for a team’s head coach to diss its fans like.
The Titans have had attendance issues this season, which isn’t much different than most seasons. The worst example of this was when they faced the Buffalo Bills in Week 5, and the Bills Mafia was out in full force to make it sound like Tennessee had a road game at Nissan Stadium.
Prior to the team’s Week 15 game against the Houston Texans, Vrabel and running back Derrick Henry had to urge fans to come out in full force for what was easily the biggest game of the year, and one that ultimately decided first place in the AFC South.
I certainly can’t speak for all fans, but I know the ones I engage with on social media on a regular basis are some of the most dedicated and passionate there are. Of course, that doesn’t seem to translate to better attendance numbers at home.
Now, I can’t say I disagree with Vrabel necessarily, but some things are better left unsaid by a team’s head coach — and that’s one of them.