Mike Vrabel insisted that the New England Patriots’ matchup with the Tennessee Titans on Sunday was just another game. However, Stefon Diggs and the rest of the Patriots’ roster sensed deep down that their head coach wanted to secure a victory over his former team.
The Patriots were able to do just that, dispatching the Titans 31-13. Afterward, Diggs was among several Patriots players saying they were playing for their head coach on Sunday.
“I don’t care what he said,” Diggs remarked. “Sunday was the first time Vrabel coached a game at Tennessee since the Titans fired him at the end of the 2023 season.”
While Vrabel mostly had success over his six-year tenure with the Titans, reaching the playoffs three times, the team let him go amid some tension between him and owner Amy Adams Strunk.
With an inspired Patriots team playing behind Vrabel, the result was one of their best performances of the season. Quarterback Drake Maye continued to play at an elite level, completing over 90 percent of his passes. But the defense also had one of its better games of the year.
K’Lavon Chaisson’s strip sack of Titans quarterback Cam Ward and his return for a touchdown in the third quarter proved to be a dagger in the win. Chaisson, too, sensed how badly his coach wanted to beat the Titans on Sunday, which inspired the defensive unit to play with extra intensity.
“All week, we obviously tried to emphasize it just being a regular game, a regular week,” Chaisson said. “But man, when you gain such a bond with your peers and obviously with your coach, they try not to make it more than it is to keep their guys level-headed, but you know that it’s personal for them. We just want to play hard for them and give it everything we’ve got to make sure they come out on top and feel exactly how they would like at the end of the game.”
Chaisson added, “So, it definitely was some extra juice on the defensive end to make sure that anybody who came from this team or was a part of this organization got their revenge and that we came out on top.”
The Chaisson touchdown made the fourth quarter largely uncompetitive, allowing the Patriots to pull Maye and some starters in the middle of the frame. As the Patriots were essentially running the clock out, chants of “Vrabel!” began to rain down from the crowd at Nissan Stadium.
“That’s pretty cool,” Maye said of the Vrabel chants. “I think that’s always cool. He downplayed it all week, which we appreciate. He was focused on us and worried about us, and that’s what matters. But I know it feels good for him.”
### What Patriots HC Mike Vrabel Said of His Titans Return
Vrabel continued to downplay the revenge factor of Sunday’s game even after the win. He also made a lighthearted joke about those who were chanting his name at Nissan Stadium.
“I didn’t get that many tickets,” Vrabel said about the chants. “I don’t know. But that’s neither here nor there. I’m happy for our players. I think these guys, they’re figuring out how to win. They’re figuring out how to practice. I guess it’s humbling to have these people want to — whoever that is — cheer for us. Whether that’s the Patriots, or Drake Maye, or me, or anybody else.”
https://clutchpoints.com/nfl/new-england-patriots/patriots-news-stefon-diggs-doesnt-care-mike-vrabel-titans-game-comments
