[FREE] Mike Vrabel's Preseason Decision
What to make of Mike Vrabel's decision to not play his offensive starters.
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Over the last few seasons, Mike Vrabel has been hesitant to let his starters play any meaningful snaps during the preseason.
And it’s understandable.
Over the last few years, the Titans have been dealt with one of the worst hands in the entire league when it comes to health, or availability from their most important players.
So to combat that, Vrabel has been leaving his starters out of preseason games. All to avoid unnecessary injury mishaps and lessen the traction on his players’ tires.
But while Vrabel might’ve been thinking with his players’ best interests at heart, it seems his newfound resting plan has finally broken down and compromised the start of the season for a specific player.
And that player is none other than Ryan Tannehill.
Tannehill himself hasn’t received a lot of preseason snaps over the last few years, all in an effort to minimize injury risk during these exhibition games and to give other quarterbacks on the roster a chance to play significant snaps.
And while this same plan hasn’t affected Tannehill’s start to the season in previous years, it seems this year his lack of reps in the preseason made it more difficult for Tannehill to ease into the season more smoothly.
Let me explain.
It is really that big of a deal?
To answer your question, yes it was a big deal. Rust for a quarterback is different from rust for another player, like a corner or a linebacker for instance.
During the season, your mind and body is drilled with the strenuous, yet basic natures an NFL quarterback should possess.
We’re talking the basic of basics here too, like timing throws on specific drop backs (3 step, 5 step, 7 step), the feeling of a live NFL pocket and the process of maneuvering through it in the midst of chaos, and in Tannehill’s case this year, chemistry with new receivers.
These things are drilled into you so often, that they become a part of your mannerisms, thoughts, etc. to the point where it all becomes muscle memory for you.
But here lies the problem.
When you take a break from that for 6-7 months — the time of a normal NFL off-season between your last possible game (the Super Bowl) and the start of the preseason (August) — you can lose some of that peak mental performance necessary to play quarterback at the highest level.
It’s only temporary though, because in the end you’ll usually get all of that back into your body by the time the regular season starts.
Mostly due to you acclimating yourself back into the groove during the preseason.
But if you skip that acclimation period, you can run into some problems like Tannehill had on Sunday against the New Orleans Saints.
Now some quarterbacks don’t need that preseason action to get acclimated back into the swing of things.
But for most — like Tannehill — preseason is a necessary time to slowly seep yourself back into the new normal.
How was Tannehill affected
Like mentioned before, the mental performance can drop a few levels during the off-season.
And if you’re not careful, you can end up with the same confusing performance Tannehill had to start the season on Sunday.
Rust was apparent during Tannehill’s showing, as he missed on easy throws to wide open targets, while skipping past usual reads he’s made in the past with ease.
These mistakes can be glossed over if they don’t significantly impact the game. But unfortunately for Tannehill, his mistakes potentially caused by rust came on big plays the Titans needed to make at that point in time.
The missed throw across his body to Tyjae Spears? If that’s placed on target, it’s a big gain for the Titans and potentially a touchdown if all things go well.
The missed throw to Chig Okonkwo off a well designed flea flicker? That throw leads to a touchdown too if it’s placed correctly. Okonkwo found a lot of space in the secondary with a well executed wheel route, if he’s given a better chance, who knows what happens.
Even one of Tannehill’s 3 INTs, the downfield interception in the direction of Chris Moore, if Tannehill hits Okonkwo on the over route that’s trailing just underneath Moore’s deeper route, that’s a big gain in itself.
Granted that throw to Moore looked DOA, but that’s a story for another day.
All of these plays, along with Tannehill’s insistence on running out of clean pockets into pressure, not feeling the pressure well enough, can be tied to rust and the lack of ramp up snaps.
But these cases are usually temporary, which leads to the next portion.
But relax…..
With more playing time, this slow acclimation should begin to normalize for Tannehill.
He’s shown in the last that he can be a necessary force for the Titans’ offense. So there’s no reason to doubt that it's ever changing right now.
So there shouldn’t be any worry about Tannehill’s rusty Week One performance. Instead there should be regret, regret in terms of Tannehill potentially starting off in the right foot if ramp up snaps were given during the preseason.
Overview
Tannehill isn’t one to let rust get the better of him. He’s too resilient and too smart to let it affect his game long term.
As a matter of fact, it’s hard for rust to stay with a player over the course of time anyways.
So there shouldn’t be any worries there.
What you should be worried about is the concerning amount of “dead” throws Tannehill had on Sunday. There were some throws throughout the game, that looked lifeless and lacked the zip were usually seeing from Tannehill’s throws.
The Moore interception is one example, while Tannehill’s alert throw to Treylon Burks leading to an interception is another example as well.
That’s something that rust can’t fix, no matter how hard you try.
But for now, it’s only Week One, so we’ll see how the rest of the season goes and if that’s a problem that needs to be monitored.
In the meantime, Tannehill’s rust should begin to thin, leaving the usual Tannehill behind in its wake.
Which should only encourage Titans fans movint forward.
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