Vrabel Downplays Connection to, Familiarity With Patriots

NASHVILLE – Mike Vrabel is not interested in revisiting his personal history this week.

That won’t stop media outlets across the country from doing it for him.

As the Tennessee Titans prepare for their wild card playoff game against the New England Patriots on Saturday (7:15 p.m., CST, CBS), there will be many mentions of the fact that Vrabel spent more than half his 14-year playing career with the Patriots, that he was a Pro Bowl and All-Pro linebacker in his next-to-last season with that organization and that he was a part of three Super Bowl winning teams there. There will be discussion of what he learned from Patriots coach Bill Belichick and the good times he had with Patriots quarterback Tom Brady when the two were teammates. And more.

It is a storyline that is impossible to ignore. That does not mean Vrabel, the Titans’ second-year head coach, won’t try.

“This is about the players and the preparation,” he said Monday. “This isn’t about my career, my eight years in New England. It’s 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 the postseason] in that span. They have the No. 1 defense. They’ve got the best coach, the best quarterback. So, it’s quite a challenge.”

The connections between the Titans and Patriots go beyond just Vrabel. In fact, they reach into just about every level of the organization.

General manager Jon Robinson was a part of New England’s front office for 12 years. Defensive coordinator Dean Pees spent six seasons (2004-09) on Belichick’s staff. Cornerback Logan Ryan and running back Dion Lewis were signed as free agents after having played for the Patriots.

“Our preparation and our execution is going to be what will determine how we handle that road environment,” Vrabel said. “At night. The weather. I don’t know how many cold weather games we’ve played. If it’s going to rain or it’s going to snow or whatever it’s going to do.

“But we can try to talk them about it and try to prepare them the best that we can just from our experiences up there.”

The teams even held two days of joint workouts in Nashville this summer as a prelude to their preseason matchup on Aug. 17.

“Those are good practices. They were competitive practices,” Vrabel said. “The personnel, a lot of it is the same. What you saw in those practices were a lot of base schemes in all three phases, trying to improve technique and fundamentals. Some of those same plays carried through most of the year. Some of them may show up on Saturday night.

“But there will be a lot of new things and a lot of new players on both teams.”

One thing that never seems to change is the Patriots’ presence in the postseason. They have won their division a record 11 straight times and have won at least one playoff game each of the last eight years. They have played in the Super Bowl more than any other franchise (11 times) and share the record for the most wins (six).

The last time Tennessee reached the postseason (2017), it advanced to the division round and earned a trip to New England, where it lost 35-14. The Patriots ultimately reached the Super Bowl that season but lost to the Philadelphia Eagles.

“They’ve had a lot of success,” Vrabel said. “That’s well-documented. We’re excited for the challenge. I know the guys … they understand the type of challenge that’s in front of us, the type of preparation that’s going to have to go in and the execution that’s going to be needed to go up there and win.”