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Titans' playbook construction near completion

mdi construction barORLANDO, Fla. -- Playbook authorship fascinates me.

Piecing together philosophies built from years in different places at different levels with different people and combining all that with a roster viewed only on film is a tough job.

There will be a lot of tinkering as the Titans go forward.

But while Mike Vrabel fulfilled his obligations as the owners' meetings, Dean Pees and Matt LaFleur continued to work on the Titans playbooks.

My video report:

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One small Titans' uniform clue

mdi construction barTitans 20th Season LogoORLANDO, Fla. -- It's come to my attention that you people are insane and any tiny nugget of uniform information will blow up.

I'm about to put that to the test as I made a bet.

Will a story that Jon Robinson's contract has been extended be more or less popular than the small thing I've learned through way too much poking and prodding around about the Titans' new uniforms?

They will be unveiled on April 4 in downtown Nashville.

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Amy Adams Strunk extended Jon Robinson's contract to line him up with Mike Vrabel

mdi construction barStrunkOwnersORLANDO, Fla. -- Jon Robinson and Mike Vrabel are working toward the same goal, and they are now doing it on the same timetable. 

Amy Adams Strunk told me at the NFL owners meetings that she signed Robinson to an extension three weeks or a month ago.

"I've put them on schedule," she said with a laugh.

Vrabel got a five-year deal through 2022. Robinson's initial deal ran through the 2019 draft but now matches Vrabel's.

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Mike Vrabel on getting involved in pro day drills: 'I just pop out there'

mdi construction barORLANDO, Fla. -- Mike Vrabel's appeared in videos from pro days at USC and Alabama lately, and he's not shy about jumping into the fray and getting hands-on experience with prospects.

At the owners meetings I asked him about why he likes to get involved and the protocol for stepping up to run a drill. My video report:

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Early indications from Mike Vrabel on Derrick Henry-Dion Lewis division of labor

mdi construction barORLANDO, Fla. – The division of labor between Dion Lewis and Derrick Henry is one of the biggest curiosities about the 2018 Titans.

While Mike Vrabel shared a lot during a nearly hour-long breakfast conversion with reporters at the Ritz-Carlton Orlando, Grande Lakes he generally steered clear of scheme specifics.


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But as he fielded questions about running back workload, he did indicate the team’s early thinking on the default.

 

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Jeff Fisher: If Vince Young did write me a letter, he didn't even spell my name right

NASHVILLE, Tenn. – In June of 2017, Vince Young told Greg Bishop of Sports Illustrated he’d written an apology letter to Jeff Fisher attempting to make amends.

Jeff FisherPer Young, he never heard back.

Saturday at 104.5 The Zone’s SportsFest at First Tennessee Park, Fisher was a featured speaker, reminiscing as the Titans approach their 20th season.

And I had a chance to ask him about the letter.

“Yes, I got a letter from Vince,” Fisher said. “And I didn’t respond. My name was spelled wrong on the letter, the letter came from the University of Texas, and I had no way of knowing if it was (really) from him. It came from the athletic department. But my name was spelled incorrectly.

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At Nashville SC's home debut, I saw what I expected

NASHVILLE, Tenn. – I’d hoped to see something different than I expected. But in their home opener at Nissan Stadium, Nashville SC looked like what I suspected it would look like: A middling minor league soccer club.

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Sure, it’s the ground floor for professional soccer in Music City. Still, on another wet day in front of a pretty good crowd, they gave us good goalkeeping and really nothing else to be remotely excited about en route to a scoreless draw with Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC.

Early on Nashville boomed hopeful, fruitless balls into the box. It wasn’t only uninventive, it didn’t hint at any desire to be creative.

It came out of that eventually, but had little to no success building any sustained possession and couldn’t move the ball around to test different areas of Riverhounds SC’s defense.

Rather Nashville rarely made any significant, threatening connecting pass that got it in position to threaten real danger. There was a lack of offensive skill beyond a pretty, sidewinding volley from Lebo Moloto off a corner that was the home team's best look at the goal. It bounced harmlessly off a defender.

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