The Tennessee Titans (7-8) are in a complete free fall. The team has lost five consecutive games, racked up a number of injuries to impact players, and managed to squander their massive lead in the AFC South.

Following Week 11 in the NFL, the 7-3 Titans had a full four games of separation from the 3-7 Jacksonville Jaguars in the standings. As of Saturday night, the Jags are now in first place in the division.

So what happened to this team? The injuries have been detrimental and maybe the talent level was never there to begin with, but how does a "find a way" team like the Titans manage to drop five consecutive games?

If you're going off of the most recent comments from Titans head coach Mike Vrabel, perhaps the Titans' players and coaches are not doing enough outside of the facility to win. When speaking to the media following Saturday's loss, Vrabel raised a few questions about the team's work ethic.

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"You hear, ‘Man, I hate losing…’ I hate losing too," Vrabel said. "So, maybe we should love preparing and love focusing before the game and doing as much as we possibly can so that we don't make mistakes in critical times or mental errors. Things that could be avoidable avoided. That's part of the job."

Vrabel clarified that it's not about players buying into the locker room or the culture, but more so the need to remain self-motivated and put in the work outside of the team facility.

"It's not the buy-in. It's how much are we doing outside of the time that we're at the facility? I don't know," Vrabel said. "If you as a professional athlete just work at eight to four, or eight to 4:30, then I don't know how much you get out of it. Maybe God gifted you with some really cool talents. We just have to all do a little bit more. That's with me and preparation and that's with the coaches and players. Just a little bit more of everything."

The fifth-year head coach, who has never had a losing season, was candid about his concerns and frustrated with the direction of his team. It's a lot like the often quoted proverb about taking a horse to water, but not being able to make the horse drink. Vrabel can install all the game plan he wants, but if players are not working to be great behind closed doors, you will get the same defeated feeling on Sundays.

It's hard to know for sure if the Titans are really dealing with work ethic issues, but the team's inability to break bad habits and change their tendencies certainly suggests a disconnect somewhere. Vrabel, who typically keeps things close to the vest, voicing this concern unprompted is alarming as well.

Usually where there's smoke, there's fire, and the Titans need to put it out if they want to have any chance of salvaging their season.

Image via Denny Medley-USA TODAY Sports