Vrabel On Decision to Sign Siemian

Titans liked backup quarterback's 'intelligence, his decisiveness, and overall accuracy.'

NASHVILLE – Mike Vrabel can’t say that Trevor Siemian is everything the Tennessee Titans want in a quarterback. Not yet, at least.

If recent history is any indication, though, the Titans will need the five-year veteran – or somebody like him – at some point during the season.

The last time one quarterback started all 16 games for Tennessee was 2011, when Matt Hasselbeck did it. Since then, the closest anyone came was when Marcus Mariota started 15 games in 2016 and again in 2017. In Jake Locker’s three years as the primary starter, he never logged more than 11 games.

“I think his intelligence, his decisiveness, and overall accuracy when we worked him out,” Vrabel said this week, when asked about Siemian’s strengths. “After one day it's going to be hard to give you the State of the Union on him, but he's played in games and he's functioned pretty well for just having a couple Zoom meetings (Wednesday) and a quick meeting (Thursday) morning.”

Siemian, signed by Tennessee on Wednesday, practiced with the team for the first time Thursday and was on the field again Friday when the entire roster went through a workout at Nissan Stadium. While he still has a lot to learn about his new teammates and the offense, it is his NFL experience, 27 games played (25 starts), that makes him the likely backup to Ryan Tannehill.

“You want to make competition at every position,” Vrabel said. “Guys that have had experience in this league, it certainly probably helps them to come in in the middle of this thing, or at the beginning of it then once we've already started. (Siemian) will get every chance like all the other players. He'll get an opportunity to compete and move on from there.”

As a member of the Miami Dolphins, Tannehill started all 16 games in each of his first four seasons in the league (2011-15). Over the next three years, he missed one full season because of an injury (2017) and at least three in two others.

Last year, he started the final 10 games (plus three in the playoffs) after he replaced Mariota.

Siemian has played one game in the last two seasons. That was last season with the New York Jets, and in it he sustained a significant ankle injury that caused him to spend the rest of the season on injured reserve. The Jets did not offer him a new contract after the season, and he remained a free agent until Tennessee added him.

“We're going to continue to work with him, see how he progresses in our offense,” Vrabel said. “… I know that there's a lot of terminology that takes place from team to team, and from the snap count to what we call the plays, and what we call the positions. There's a lot of things that have to happen. You're getting in there with players that have already been in the system and they're used to it a certain way. (Siemian) is working hard.”