Titans Laugh Off A.J. Brown's Latest Comments

Now with the Philadelphia Eagles, the fourth-year wide receiver says he is having more fun than he did during his first three NFL seasons.

George Walker IV / Tennessean.com / USA Today Network

NASHVILLE – It’s not as if A.J. Brown insulted his former coach, challenged Mike Vrabel’s manhood or anything outrageous like that.

It’s just that Brown’s comments last week had the negative ring of an unnecessary – and surprising – jab, especially considering the supportive role Vrabel played during some of Brown’s most difficult moments in Nashville.

To recap, Brown was a guest on The Crew podcast, which features NFL reporter Josina Anderson, actor Morris Chestnut and former NFL defensive back Fred Smoot.

That’s when Brown, who the Titans traded to Philadelphia during last April’s NFL Draft, was asked – naturally – to compare his current and former places of business.

Brown, Tennessee's second-round pick in 2019, had spent his first three seasons under Vrabel, twice topping 1,000 receiving yards and earning a Pro Bowl berth during that stretch. He’s now playing for Nick Sirianni in Philadelphia, where Brown is off to a great start with 25 catches for 404 yards and a touchdown in four games.

“You know, (Vrabel), I got a lot of respect for him,” Brown said on the podcast. “But he’s the (New England coach Bill) Belichick way. Everything is lock in, no fun over there. You going to get the job done.

“But over here, (Sirianni is) just letting us have fun, do what we do, let us express our personality. I think that’s huge. You want somebody to express themselves and be themselves.”

In some ways, it was more of the same from Brown, who – despite getting the trade he requested, getting the opportunity to play with quarterback and close friend Jalen Hurts, and signing a four-year $100 million contract – still seems inclined to needle his old fanbase on social media from time to time.

But throwing a little shade at Vrabel was a first.

It seemed an unlikely course for Brown to take, especially considering the gratitude Brown had expressed to Vrabel last November. That’s when Brown publicly revealed he’d been depressed enough to have contemplated suicide a year earlier. Brown indicated that Vrabel’s willingness to listen – and to offer assistance – were factors in Brown's getting help.

“I appreciate (Vrabel) so much,” Brown said at the time. “People like that, no matter how this business may go, forever I'll be a friend of his and he'll be a friend of mine.

“I appreciate him so much, just opening his door and just listening and trying to help me as much as (he) can. It doesn't go unnoticed with me. He's definitely family in my book.”

But family bonds apparently weren’t enough for Brown, who wanted more fun from his coach and more opportunity to express himself.

Do Brown’s comments about Vrabel’s “Belichick way” carry weight in the Titans locker room?

Vrabel does have a no-nonsense reputation, but there certainly haven’t been a lot of public complaints – especially considering the Titans have gone 43-26 on his watch, posting four straight winning records and earning three straight playoff berths.

If anything, Vrabel’s persona appears to appeal to players.

That was the case with wide receiver Robert Woods, who was traded to the Titans last offseason -- after the Los Angeles Rams more or less allowed Woods to pick his destination.

Vrabel is Woods’ fifth NFL head coach in 10 years.

“I would say every coach and team has their own style, has their philosophy,” Woods said. “Yeah, Tennessee, it is serious, and you want guys on the team that take winning serious. I think that’s just how it is at practice and at work in the workplace.

“(But) once you know your assignment, know what you’re doing, you can go out there on Sundays and that’s when you’re able to play, have fun, play fast and then play loose. Sundays are our day. Throughout the week, it’s the working week. But you go out there on Sunday, you make plays and win games. That’s when the fun comes in.”

Vrabel also fared well at the Pro Bowl last February, finishing only behind Pittsburgh’s Mike Tomlin when The Athletic anonymously asked players which coach they’d like to play for.

Titans defensive tackle Jeffery Simmons has never played for another NFL head coach, so he can’t offer a firsthand comparison of Vrabel’s style to anyone else.

But Simmons, who knew Brown well growing up in Mississippi, sounded a little irked that Brown had referenced Vrabel as – para-phrasing here – too much of a hard-ass.

“I didn’t really think much (of Brown’s comments) because I know for a fact that you have to be locked in to win,” Simmons said. “But also I know for a fact that me and Vrabel joked around several times on the practice field, in the locker room. We have a lot of fun around here. When you win, you’re supposed to have fun.

“When you’re losing, no one wanted that locker room to be all holly jolly. We shouldn’t be. That’s when things get tightened up around here. Because it’s supposed to be, from the leaders, the coaches, everyone.”

But what about expressing one’s personality, as Brown referenced? Is it possible for players to do so under such supposedly serious-minded conditions?

“For sure, 1000 percent,” Simmons said. “I can be me. Coach Vrabes knows that. Every player on this team knows they can be (themselves) in this locker room.”

Sounds like fun.