Wait for Vic Beasley Continues

Titans coach Mike Vrabel says he still wants the free agent linebacker 'to be a part of the football team.'

NASHVILLE – Mike Vrabel says he has not heard from Vic Beasley since the Tennessee Titans training camp. The third-year coach, however, delivered a clear message Wednesday during a video press conference.

“I want to coach him and want him to be a part of the football team,” Vrabel said. “That’s where I’m at.”

Beasley, one of the Titans’ most significant 2020 free agent additions, unexpectedly was a no-show at the start of training camp and has been on the Reserve-Did Not Report list for more than a week. General manager Jon Robinson released a statement late last week in which he said Beasley planned to arrive “in the near future,” but the wait continues.

When (or if) the 28-year-old who was the eighth overall pick in the 2015 NFL Draft does show up, he won’t be able to step right in and get to work alongside his teammates. Procedures that have been put in place due to the COVID-19 pandemic mean there is no fast track to getting on the field.

“There’s a testing procedure that has to take place,” Vrabel said. “And (players) have to go through three (negative) tests in the course of five days and [there is] a physical that has to happen like every other player. So, he’s going to have to come and take a test to start that process.”

Beasley spent his first five seasons in the NFL and led the league with 15 1/2 sacks in 2016, when he was named a first-team All-Pro and earned his first (and to date only) Pro Bowl invitation. With 37 1/2 career sacks, he ranks just outside the league’s top 20 over that span.

His addition on a one-year, $9.5 million contract was meant to enhance a pass rush that tied for 13th in the league in sacks last season.

Over the past six years, Tennessee has had one player record 10 or more sacks in a season. That was Brian Orakpo with 10 1/2 in 2016.

“We still look forward to getting (Beasley) in here and coaching him when he gets here,” Vrabel said. "... He's not here. Everybody else is. He's under contract to be here. [I] have reached out. Have not had much conversation with him."