NASHVILLE – Mike Vrabel knows Houston coach Bill O’Brien pretty well after spending the past four seasons working as a Texans assistant, including as defensive coordinator last season. Now Vrabel has his own team in Tennessee, and today he will square off with his former boss while looking for his first victory as an NFL head coach.
Vrabel hopes his familiarity with the Texans helps in the Titans’ home opener, but he cautioned against seeing that as a major advantage.
“They’ve added some new stuff, and they’re doing new things and they’ve got some new personnel,” Vrabel said. “Hopefully we can get prepared enough to go out and win a game on Sunday.”
When Vrabel worked for O’Brien, the Houston coach says they didn’t talk about whether the former NFL linebacker wanted to be a head coach. O’Brien said Vrabel was too busy coaching linebackers or coordinating the defense.
“Smart guy, leader, very hard worker, played in the league for a long time, knows the game,” O’Brien said. “He’s got all the qualities of a head coach.”
Vrabel went winless in the preseason as he and the Titans focused on trying to get to the regular season healthy. After a 27-20 loss to the Miami Dolphins last Sunday in the opener, the Titans put tight end Delanie Walker on injured reserve, and two-time Pro Bowl left tackle Taylor Lewan is recovering from a concussion. Quarterback Marcus Mariota also hurt the elbow on his throwing arm, and backup Blaine Gabbert could be needed even if Mariota starts.
Houston has dominated this AFC South rivalry lately, but the teams split the season series last year, with each winning on its home field. Houston visited Nashville last December with quarterback Deshaun Watson healing up from a torn ACL, and Mariota left the Titans’ loss in Texas with an injured hamstring.
Watson was back for the Texans’ opener, but Houston lost 27-20 at New England. The Texans are back on the road for a second straight week, and neither team can afford to fall to 0-2, raising the stakes even higher.
“We want to win very badly,” Titans linebacker Derrick Morgan said. “It’s a divisional game. You don’t want to start out 0-1 in the division. You want to get some momentum and go from there.”
On Saturday, the Titans signed offensive tackle Tyler Marz from their practice squad and waived cornerback Kenneth Durden.
Marz was on the Los Angeles Chargers’ active roster for six weeks last season but didn’t appear in a game. The 6-foot-7, 316-pounder originally signed with the Titans in 2016 as an undrafted free agent out of the University of Wisconsin. He made 40 consecutive starts at left tackle for the Badgers.
The Titans will be without their top offensive tackles against the Texans. Left tackle Taylor Lewan didn’t practice this past week after sustaining a concussion against the Dolphins, and right tackle Jack Conklin is still recovering from ACL surgery on his left knee in January.