Patriots coach Mike Vrabel returns to face the Titans for 1st time since being fired

NASHVILLE Tenn AP Mike Vrabel congratulated Brian Callahan when Tennessee hired him as Vrabel s successor as the Titans head coach Vrabel also texted Callahan after being fired six games into his second season I just remember all those coaches or people that reached out after I was let go Vrabel mentioned I think that that s crucial because nobody texts when you lose they all text when you win So it s a good reminder Vrabel returns Sunday to coach against the franchise that gave him his first NFL head coaching job He spent six seasons with the Titans and had three playoff berths two AFC South titles an AFC championship appearance and a - record With the New England Patriots - and sitting atop the AFC East in his first season Sunday is Vrabel s opportunity to remind Titans fans and ownership what they lost by firing him in January Being on the other sideline will be a little different This is the Patriots third straight road event and New England comes in having won three straight with the last a - success at New Orleans Vrabel and his Patriots face a Tennessee franchise in turmoil There s a lot there to unpack outside of the stimulating fact that I used to coach in Tennessee Vrabel declared Not only was Callahan fired after a - start and - record the Titans are - in a skid that started under Vrabel Mike McCoy will debut as the Titans interim coach his first head coaching job since being fired by the San Diego Chargers at the end of the season McCoy isn t worried about keeping the Titans attention with this franchise looking for their first home win since beating the Patriots in overtime Nov Tennessee is home after its own three-game road swing capped by a - loss at the Las Vegas Raiders This is the NFL McCoy reported We all have a job to do The Patriots will be following Vrabel s approach ignoring all the attention that goes along with the coach s return to Tennessee He s not treating it like a big deal so it s kind of bleeding into us Patriots quarterback Drake Maye disclosed We re treating it like another week another opponent and treating it the same The way he s handling it is the right way Stay focused The Patriots already have matched their win total for each of the past two seasons and are not thinking ahead Safety Jaylinn Hawkins announced he gets the sense that New England is doing a good job at prioritizing improvement and letting results stem from that We re not really worried about the he say-she say Hawkins noted I call it poison It reminds you of poison We re not getting too high or too low We re trying to stay ready It s also why Vrabel doesn t want his squad motivated to win in Tennessee because of him We re not trying to win one for the Gipper here Vrabel explained We re just trying to make sure these guys are focused on improving Watch for Simmons Three-time Pro Bowl defensive tackle Jeffery Simmons is the one performer the Patriots will have to watch with him off to the best start of his career He s just the third tackle in seasons with at least sacks and eight tackles for loss in the first six games joining Geno Atkins and and Aaron Donald And Simmons wants a win as a group captain to help McCoy in his new role We ve got to make sure we re doing our part of helping him out as leaders and captains to keep this locker room together Simmons stated And making sure we re ready to go play against a good football group that s coming in here I m sure that s going to try to embarrass us at home Run stoppers The Titans have placed a lot on the shoulders of rookie quarterback Cam Ward and now the No pick overall is working with a new head coach Ward might have to do even more this week against one of the NFL s top run defenses The Patriots rank fourth in the NFL against the run allowing only yards per competition New England is also allowing just yards per rush through the first six games the third-lowest mark in the NFL this season The Patriots are also the only organization this season that has not surrendered yards to a running back through the first six games Injury watch The Titans might get nose tackle T Vondre Sweat back from injured reserve for this championship to help Simmons with all the double-teams he s faced But wide receiver Calvin Ridley hurt a hamstring last week that knocked him out of the meeting Kicker Joey Slye could return Sunday after he missed a encounter with a calf injury AP Sports Writer Kyle Hightower contributed to this overview AP NFL https apnews com hub nfl Source