Titans Granted Permission to Practice Sunday, After All

Session was conducted with limited coaches and staff, included two players removed from the COVID-19 reserve list.

NASHVILLE – Mike Vrabel said Sunday’s practice would be critical for the Tennessee Titans in their preparation for Tuesday’s game against the Buffalo Bills.

That workout took place – eventually.

After the team’s training facility was shut down earlier in the day due to another positive test for the coronavirus, this one in a staff member, the league granted the Titans permission to get together and conduct their scheduled work. According to a release from the team, it was a session “with limited staff – players, coaches and a handful of support staff. The hour and 45-minute practice took place outdoors.”

That workout included nose tackle DaQuan Jones and long snapper Beau Brinkley, two of the three first three players who tested positive during the current outbreak. The two were removed from the COVID-19 reserve list, where they had been since Sept. 29.

It was the second straight day of work for the Titans (3-0), who were prohibited from all in-person work for nearly two weeks due to a COVID-19 outbreak within the organization. The Titans and the NFL closed the facility on Sept. 29, and it remained that way until Saturday, when Vrabel said players would “move around a little bit” and “try to recreate some of those specific movements that they'll need to do their job.”

“We'll try to work with some speed (Sunday) in all phases, in all situations, and then have our normal day-before-the-game walkthrough Monday,” Vrabel said Saturday.

It is hardly the usual preparation a team gets for an NFL game, but at least it gives the Titans a chance to take the field Tuesday for a contest that already has been pushed back two days because of the franchise’s issues with the coronavirus.

Plus, even with the return of Jones and Brinkley, Tennessee does not have wide receivers Corey Davis and Adam Humphries, defensive lineman Jeffery Simmons and tight end MyCole Pruitt, among others, because of positive COVID-19 tests in the last two weeks. The team also is expected to be without some coaches.

“Our jobs aren't to come back in here and be excited about our return, it's about being excited about returning but also putting everything into the preparation that we possibly can in order to be in a position to win the football game,” Vrabel said Saturday. “That's what our focus is on, is about getting back in here and using the time allotted.”

Sunday, they got their time … even if it wasn’t when they had it scheduled.