Julio Jones had a forgettable debut with the Tennessee Titans on Sunday, and his most crucial mistake was a mental one. Mike Vrabel is not letting his Pro Bowl receiver off the hook for it.
The Titans were trying to respond after the Arizona Cardinals jumped out to an early 10-0 against them, but an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty from Jones made it even more difficult to do that. Tennessee would have had a 3rd-and-1, but Jones turned it into 3rd-and-16 when he got into it with a defensive player. You can see the video below:
Julio Jones’ unnecessary roughness penalty. #Titans pic.twitter.com/Tk1FQci5bE
— Paul Kuharsky (@PaulKuharskyNFL) September 13, 2021
Ryan Tannehill threw an incomplete pass on the next play. The Titans punted the ball back rather than killing Arizona’s momentum in an eventual 38-13 blowout. Vrabel ripped Jones when asked about the penalty on Monday. Beware that the video contains a curse word:
Mike Vrabel was rather critical of Julio Jones' personal foul call that resulted in a 3rd & 1 turning into 3rd & 16. #Titans pic.twitter.com/Bh8m60skuI
— TURRON DAVENPORT (@TDavenport_NFL) September 13, 2021
“That’s absolutely nothing that we coach or teach. That would fall under the category of doing dumb s— that hurts the team, right there in bold letters,” Vrabel said.
Vrabel could have deflected and talked about the Titans having an all-around terrible day, but he clearly wanted to send a message to Jones.
Jones caught just three passes for 29 yards on six targets. He also dropped two balls, one of which was intercepted after bouncing off his hands.
There was plenty of blame to go around for the Titans, and one of their best players acknowledged that. Vrabel was probably more bothered by Jones’ penalty than his play.
