Mike Vrabel Shares Passionate Explanation About Why The Titans Winning Season Finale Against Jaguars Actually Matters

Outside of potentially keeping the Jacksonville Jaguars out of the playoffs, the regular-season finale for the Tennessee Titans on Sunday doesn't mean a whole lot. But don't tell that to head coach Mike Vrabel.

The 2023-24 NFL season for the Titans will be remembered as a never-ending struggle. The team never came close to finding any sort of momentum, still has question marks at quarterback, lacks playmakers at countless positions, and is the not-so-proud owner of one of the worst offensive lines in all of football.

If you asked Titans fans heading into Sunday's finale against Jacksonville, odds are the majority would tell you that they're hoping for a loss to improve the team's pecking order in the 2024 NFL Draft.

It's a position no franchise or fanbase wants to be in, but it's the reality for the Titans as the season comes to a close.

Outside of the players themselves, nobody understands that reality more than Vrabel.

During Tuesday's press conference, Vrabel let his emotions flow - something he rarely does standing at a podium - when asked what reasons there were to close out the regular season with a win.

"Because it sucks to lose," he told Gentry Estes of The Tennesseean. "Did you have another thought, I'm just curious, because it fu-king sucks, losing, awful."

While it appeared that he was going to move on to the next question, Vrabel settled in and gave one of the more thoughtful answers we've seen out of an NFL coach this season.

"You don't sleep, you want to win for the players that bust their tail, that's it" Vrabel stated.

"It's not about 'hey, we'll go into the offseason on a good note,'" but nobody knows what you're getting on January 7th or 8th or 6th or in April when you come back. You want to see it all come together."

One of the complaints this season among Titans fans was that Vrabel's lack of emotion, or in other words, looking as if he doesn't care all that much.

Well, that complaint can be put to rest after his showing at the podium on Tuesday.

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Mark covers all sports at OutKick while keeping a close eye on the PGA Tour, LIV Golf, and all other happenings in the world of golf. He graduated from the University of Tennessee-Chattanooga before earning his master's degree in journalism from the University of Tennessee. He somehow survived living in Knoxville despite ‘Rocky Top’ being his least favorite song ever written. Before joining OutKick, he wrote for various outlets including SB Nation, The Spun, and BroBible. Mark was also a writer for the Chicago Cubs Double-A affiliate in 2016 when the team won the World Series. He's still waiting for his championship ring to arrive. Follow him on Twitter @itismarkharris.