NASHVILLE — Someone made the decision that the Tennessee Titans (4-8) needed to fire special teams coordinator Craig Aukerman after losing 31-28 in overtime to the Indianapolis Colts (7-5) on Monday. Exactly whom is the question that fans and discerning media need to be asking themselves in the wake of Monday's announcement.

Coach Mike Vrabel had never let go of a member of his staff in the midst of a regular season before Aukerman since coming to Tennessee in 2018.

"No, there's no real precedent to anything," said Vrabel of the firing. "You try to get a feel for what's best and what's needed. Whether we've done something in the past, there's times we haven't run a certain coverage, or we hadn't run certain plays. And I think those decisions are about timing and feel. 

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"So that's the decision that was made and again, we're going to get back to work here moving forward and trying to get as healthy as possible and go down and win a game against a very good opponent on the road in a big stage."

It is the least Vrabel-like decision Tennessee's coach has ever made. 

Former offensive coordinator Todd Downing was arrested on suspicion of DUI last November. Vrabel correctly did not comment on an investigation that was on-going, but did allow Downing to finish out the remainder of the 2022 season before parting ways with him and several other members of the coaching staff on Jan. 9 2023. The announcement came in an email hours after Vrabel met with reporters and said that he would take the rest of the week to evaluate his staff. 

This latest news comes in the least Vrabel-like press conference ever. 

Not only did Vrabel announce Aukerman's firing off the top, but he went on to give something that could almost be mistaken for a timeline of "a couple of weeks" on defensive tackle Jeffery Simmons knee injury. Vrabel even disclosed that corner Kristian Fulton's "hamstring got him again there" in overtime against Indianapolis when the player went down after a play.

All of these things are quite benign, of course. For those of you familiar with Vrabel's injury policy, two quotes like that felt like Titans media had damn near broken into Fort Knox. 

There has been enough reckless speculation in recent weeks about the hierarchy of Tennessee's org chart. Vrabel has been the subject of more than one unsubstantiated rumor this year and was not asked on Monday whether the decision to fire Aukerman was his or came from above him. On nearly a year to the date, however, that controlling owner Amy Adams Strunk fired longtime general manager Jon Robinson, it is impossible not to wonder where the Aukerman decision actually came from. 

Vrabel gave a press conference on Nov. 20 saying he had no intentions to make changes to his staff. 

No one will or should passionately argue that Aukerman should have been retained beyond the current season. Coming off a divisional loss at home where the Titans were previously undefeated and a missed extra point, allowed a long kick return, and had two punts blocked – one of which went for a touchdown seems as good a time as any to do it. The second of those two blocked kicks saw NFL record-setting punter Ryan Stonehouse knocked out for the season.

Still, firing Aukerman in Week 13 seems reactionary, and no one would ever accuse Vrabel of being that.

Titans suffer heartbreak in overtime loss to Colts

NASHVILLE — The Tennessee Titans (4-8) fell to the Indianapolis Colts (7-5) on Sunday in one of the most bizarre games played this NFL season. Two blocked punts, an two-point conversion picked off and returned for a score and a play that featured the rare double fumble on a single play does not even describe […]

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