Tennessee Titans head coach Mike Vrabel spoke about a clip that surfaced showing him getting run into by an official during the divisional round game against the Baltimore Ravens.
A clip surfaced on Wednesday showing Tennessee Titans head coach Mike Vrabel getting run into by an official during the divisional round win against the Baltimore Ravens.
In the clip, Vrabel can be seen standing near the sideline when an official comes out of nowhere and inadvertently lays a big hit on the Titans head coach.
In case you missed it, here’s the clip.
https://twitter.com/FanSided/status/1217522872102588417
Of course, Vrabel, who is a former linebacker, absorbed the hit just fine, although his headset, which appears to have flown off his head from the contact, might not have taken it as well.
On Thursday, Vrabel was asked about the incident during a press conference before practice, per Jim Wyatt of Titans Online.
"“Well that’s why we get up in the morning; Stretch (Assistant to head coach, John Streicher) and I get up so early in the morning to go and get in the weight room set. When you get illegally blocked in the back like I did, it doesn’t hurt.”"
The clip cuts off before we can see where Vrabel actually ended up, but he did confirm that he didn’t get knocked to the ground.
"“I didn’t go to the ground, he didn’t knock me down. Eugene (the official) can run and he’s big and he’s fast, and I was just embarrassed because if I get a penalty, the players… after all this stuff I tell them and all this crap I talk to them about penalties and being disciplined and keeping your composure, and here I am halfway out on the field looking up at the play on the Jumbotron.”"
Vrabel then went on to say he has to do a better job of not wandering onto the field to put himself in that position in the first place, and he also admitted he tried to get out in front of the clip with his own team by showing the players what happened to him.
"“The get back coach gotta do a better job, I gotta do a better job of getting the hell out of the way, but I showed the team this morning because, you know, I knew they were going to laugh at me anyway so I might as well show them first.”"
Vrabel on getting blindsided by official during Ravens game @Titans pic.twitter.com/sLznzXrqyj
— Jim Wyatt (@jwyattsports) January 16, 2020
While the clip is hilarious to watch, the Titans are lucky it didn’t turn into a penalty that could have cost Tennessee yardage. It would have been quite an ironic situation given the fact that the Titans have a head coach who preaches discipline and not committing penalties.
But what’s past is past and now Mike Vrabel and the Titans are moving on to the AFC Championship Game to face the Kansas City Chiefs on Sunday at 2:05 p.m. CST.