As Week 18 and the end of the 2023 regular season beckon, the Jacksonville Jaguars, Houston Texans and Indianapolis Colts all have paths to the AFC South title.
Once perennial division heavyweights and playoff contenders, the Tennessee Titans are the only AFC South squad eliminated from postseason contention.
At 5-11, the Titans' prevailing discussions surround draft position rather than playoff positioning.
It's been an arduous campaign for a proven winner like Mike Vrabel, who passionately underscored Tuesday how difficult a losing season can be.
"It sucks to lose," Vrabel said emphatically.
After a brief pause, the coach, who's won two division titles and three Super Bowls as a player, elaborated.
"It f------ sucks -- losing," he said, having gone from a rather downtrodden manner to an impassioned one. "Awful. That's why I want to win [on Sunday]. Because you don't sleep. You want to win for the players that bust their tail, that's it. It's not about, 'We'll go into the offseason with a good note.' Nobody knows what you did on Jan. 7th or 8th or 6th in April when you come back. But, you want to see it just all come together. Just put four quarters together, win a game."
Vrabel, who apologized for his language shortly after, is dealing with the worst season of his six-year coaching career, which began with four winning campaigns.
The Titans have lost four straight and face an offseason of change.
Vrabel wasn't ready to talk about that yet, though. He was focused on Sunday's matchup with the Jacksonville Jaguars and one last chance this season to put it all together for a victory.
Thus, when he was asked if rookie quarterback Will Levis had shown enough to be tabbed as the team's future starter, he declined to opine.
"I'm not ready to talk about our future or anybody else other than what's happening this week with Jacksonville," he said. "I think at the right time we'll be able to try to have those conversations. I really just want us to finish strong."
Sunday could also stand as the final game in a Titans uniform for running back Derrick Henry, who just posted his fifth career 1,000-yard season with the club. Henry, 29, perhaps the face of the franchise during Vrabel's tenure, is an impending free agent.
Asked if he would have time for sentimental thoughts regarding the predicament, Vrabel said no. Those, too, will wait.
"No. I think we all will have time to sort some of those things out after the season," he said. "We are all disappointed and frustrated by how this went this year, but we're just trying to make sure that it's as professional and as classy as we finish, that we put the players in the best position to go out there and win, but then also there's still a lot of guys that are playing for personal accolades as well, and I am absolutely OK with that. We've always said that when you get enough guys that have personal success within what we are trying to do as a team, we are going to have plenty of team success. Those things have to co-exist, and I want them to, one more week."
