Brown's Big Day was Last Straw for Robinson

Controlling owner Amy Adams Strunk made a major change to the Tennessee Titans' front office after the team was lit up by a former player.

George Walker IV / USA Today Sports

NASHVILLE – It’s hard to imagine the timing of Tennessee Titans controlling owner Amy Adams Strunk’s decision to fire general manager Jon Robinson on Tuesday – two days after A.J. Brown and the Eagles whipped Tennessee 35-10 – is coincidental.

Robinson’s failure to find a way to get Brown a new deal – and his decision to trade the Pro Bowl wide receiver to Philadelphia – was a huge blow to the franchise that was magnified 100 times over the past 10 days.

We all know the story by now.

After topping the 1,000-yard mark twice in his first three seasons, Brown – the Titans’ second-round draft pick in 2019 – was looking to capitalize on the league’s fast-rising market for wide receivers. But Robinson determined that Brown’s price tag was too high, and when a new deal wasn’t quickly forthcoming, Brown cut off communications with the team and pushed for a trade that eventually happened.

Since then, Brown has thrived, posting 61 catches for 950 yards and 11 touchdowns in 11 games. A chunk of that total came last Sunday, when Brown had eight catches for 119 yards and two touchdowns against his former team.

It's not the first time Adams Strunk has reacted quickly to what took place in a game. Back in 2016, special teams coach Bobby April was fired a day after a disastrous performance in the kicking game during a loss to the Houston Texans. 

In 2015, her first season as controlling owner, she fired coach Ken Whisenhunt immediately following a 20-6 loss at Houston, her hometown.

There were other missteps in recent years by Robinson as well.

The Titans’ first-round draft pick in 2020, tackle Isaiah Wilson, was a colossal bust, playing just a few NFL snaps in his career and embarrassing the team repeatedly with his off-field actions.

Robinson’s overall drafts in 2020 and 2021 have offered little, with cornerback Kristian Fulton the only standout among either group so far.

There were certainly free-agent and trade misses, too, with players like edge rusher Vic Beasley and wide receiver Julio Jones coming quickly to mind.

That said, this is still a stunning decision, especially in the middle of the season when the Titans (7-5) are sitting atop the AFC South and primed for another trip to the playoffs.

Why pull the trigger on Robinson at this particular moment, after he has guided the Titans to six straight winning records, four straight playoff berths and a 69-47 record (including playoff games) since getting hired in 2016?

The Titans had recorded one winning season in their previous seven before Robinson was hired, and they’d reached the playoffs zero times during that stretch.

That kind of turnaround – despite recent missteps – makes an in-season move to fire Robinson look very much like a knee-jerk reaction, taking too much of what happened last Sunday into account. Maybe we’ll learn there is more to the story here, but in the big picture, Robinson gave this franchise a huge boost.

It was only 10 months ago, let’s remember, that Adams Strunk was announcing a multi-year contract extension for both Robinson and Titans coach Mike Vrabel.

This is what she said at that point:

"I am proud to say that Jon and Mike will be leading our football team for years to come. I have seen the team improve on a yearly basis under their direction, and I know their singular goal is to deliver a championship for our fans. Together they have developed a culture within our organization that has been essential to our success. Their values align with mine and what I want the Titans to be."

It doesn’t seem possible that enough could have gone wrong in the course of one season – a winning season – to completely change Adams Strunk’s thinking on Robinson.

But apparently it did.