What Vrabel Said About Schedule Change, COVID Outbreak
NASHVILLE – Mike Vrabel called it a “smart and safe decision.”
The Tennessee Titans coach informed his team at an 8:30 a.m. meeting Thursday that the NFL had postponed indefinitely this week’s scheduled contest against the Pittsburgh Steelers due to the increasing number of Titans players and staff members who have tested positive for COVID-19.
As a result, Tennessee is now considered to be on a bye week and its next game, Oct. 11 against Buffalo, will be the start of 13 games in 13 weeks to get to the finish of the regular season, provided – of course – there are no more interruptions.
Here is a roundup of what Vrabel had to say about the current situation, the state of the team and what happens next:
• On his message to the team: “I reminded (the players) to not gather with each other – players and staff – until we can find a safe way to enter back into our building, hopefully which would happen Monday or Tuesday. … I told them to try to mentally recover from an emotional few days so that we can proceed with our season and build on a 3-0 start.”
• On the players’ reaction to the schedule change: “I think that they were somewhat shocked. They wanted to play. They were preparing to play. But I think that they understood and realized why the decision was made. And I think that they’ll handle this like they do everything else. They’ll handle it with professionalism, with understanding and a compassion not only toward ourselves but those people that have been effected, also Pittsburgh – the Steelers, they were preparing for a game and now will have their schedule changed as well.”
• On the impact on the team going forward: “How it effects the team, I think, is psychologically. We’re always going to be as prepared as we possibly can be – physically – to get the player or coach in there that is next in line, whether that be with an injury or a virus that would have them miss time. … We’ll find out where we go with the testing and the results and how they play out in the next few days to see who’s available and to see where we are at as a team.”
• On the remainder of the season: “What we’re focused on as a team is using these next few days like we would a normal bye week, to mentally and physically prepare ourselves for a push for the rest of the season. That’s what I explained to the team.” … However many we have to play in a row, that’s what we’ll prepare for. But our focus – our singular focus – is on next week, which would be Buffalo.”
• On dealing with something beyond his control: “That’s our job. That’s why we’re in these positions, [general manager] Jon [Robinson] and I and our head trainer, our doctors and the NFL. That’s our job, to be decisive, make decisions with the team’s best interests and the league’s best interests in mind. I think that that’s what’s going on here. I know that there’s disappointment, and there will always be second-guessing. But all I can do is do my best to respond to whatever situation we’re presented with as a team.”
• On the potential benefits of having the bye three weeks early: “That was my message to the team: If this is going to be our bye week, there’s a lot of players that can use this time and use it advantageously to possibly return [from injury], for us to continue to improve, to play better. We’ve played three games. We’ve won them all. We could have played a lot better, but we’ve won the games that we’ve played, which has put us in a good position. We’ll have to play much better and continue to improve. But … we have to now use time to our advantage that we’ve been given because of the situation.”
• On how he wants the team to approach the weekend: “I have asked the players to decompress mentally. To take care of their bodies. Those players that are on the injury report, to await [trainer] Todd [Toriscelli’s] instructions on when they would be able to go into treatment with just a small number of players at a time, with masks and with face shields. I asked the staff to get away. To not meet. To not worry about Buffalo. To relax. And to focus on moving ahead. That was what I asked them all to do.”
