Titans Coach Mike Vrabel Talks Challenges of Facing New Orleans Saints in Week 1

The Tennessee Titans will take on the New Orleans Saints on Sunday with a full offseason to prepare, but uncertainty as to what they might see.

The Tennessee Titans have had nearly eight months to prepare for the New Orleans Saints, but with it being the first game of the season, the prep time may not matter as what the Saints might do on the field can't be known.

That won't stop the Titans from trying to find all that they can to get a leg up on New Orleans. The Saints' coaching staff has remained intact, so previous year's game film can help plus new Saints quarterback Derek Carr may bring some of what he did with the Raiders. Meaning that film can become a tool as well.

Titans head coach Mike Vrabel talked about preparing for this matchup and what it looks like.

"An emphasis on fundamentals," Vrabel said. "We can all say they're going to do this and they're going to do that and pull stuff out of the sky, but really we don't know. We have no idea. We have to go down there and play fundamentally sound, play with great effort."

"Being able to get back to center, they hit a play, knowing whatever we see early they'll probably come back to later on and figure out if there are some wrinkles we have to adjust to and being great recognizing things. Not trying to say 'hey this is what they're going to do' because we may have an idea, even defensively since there's been some consistency over the years, but I'm sure they'll have some things we haven't seen as well."

It won't just be the uncertainty the Titans are battling on Sunday, they also have to worry about the noise. The Saints play in a dome and that present certain challenges when the home crowd gets rocking. Mike Vrabel is trying to prepare for that also.

"Any dome and certainly opening week in New Orleans, they have a passionate fan base. Any time you play indoors you have to be conscious of that. Certainly on opening week."

"(Non-Verbal Communication) will be a large part of what we do, a large part of how we prepare. The road environment is something that we will have to handle early in the game based on the success we have. On third down, making sure we are in and out of the huddle, quarterback is putting the protection how he wants it and then being able to adjust to them." 

Whether it be a lack of game film to use, the Saints' changed roster or the noisy environment, the Titans must be prepared for anything and everything if they want to start the season with something they haven't the past two years, a win.

Titans Related Stories

• TITANS OL UNCERTAINTY: The Tennessee Titans' roster is set and after an offseason of shakeups, the success or failure of this year's team comes down to the remodeled offensive line. CLICK HERE
• TITANS ROSTER RANKED: Now that the Tennessee Titans are down to their 53-man roster — at least for now — it's a good time to rank them all from No. 1 to No. 53 in their value to helping this team win games in 2023. CLICK HERE
• VRABEL WON'T NAME QB2: The Tennessee Titans' backup quarterback battle has been a hot topic all preseason, but with less than a week until the first game of the year, head coach Mike Vrabel is still not ready to declare a winner in the race. CLICK HERE