Tennessee Titans head coach Mike Vrabel, like a lot of his fellow NFL head coaches, doesn’t like to get into specifics when discussing injuries.
I’ve typically assumed that Vrabel, and his mentor, New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick, are purposefully vague when talking about injuries because they don’t want to give potentially useful information to the opposition.
And maybe that’s part of the reason. But it’s not the main reason that Vrabel is usually mum when it comes to injuries.
Vrabel doesn’t typically address injury recovery time because he feels it’s unfair to the player (since every player recovers at a different rate).
It’s also the same reason he doesn’t compare his players to other players. Or make predictions.
Titans’ Mike Vrabel emphasizes not making comparisons to other players, or making predictions, or talking about injuries in media, says, ‘It’s not fair to the player’ references how everyone’s recovery time is different from various injuries
— Aaron Wilson (@AaronWilson_NFL) June 22, 2020
(Vrabel made the comments during a Black College Football Hall of Fame quarterback coaching summit webinar on Monday.)
I never thought about it from this angle. But it makes a lot of sense. It also shows that Vrabel cares about his players as more than just “football players”.
There’s no doubt that football coaches are paranoid by nature, but it sounds like Vrabel’s reluctance to discuss injuries is mostly rooted in a desire to protect his players.
Featured image via Denny Medley-USA TODAY Sports
