“Igniting the Fire” Final Episode Recap

Tonight marked the final installment of the Titans behind the scenes video series “Igniting the Fire”. The episode focused on the relationships and bonds formed between teammates.

If you’ve missed the rest of the series, I would highly recommend catching up via the links below. Each episode is only 12-18 minutes so you can get through all of them in less than 2 hours total.

Episode 1: Who is Mike Vrabel?

Episode 2: Taking Flight

Episode 3: Implementing the Run Game

Episode 4: The Fury of the Secondary

Episode 5: Blitz and Hard Hits

Here is tonight’s new episode for your viewing pleasure.

The episode opens with Mike Vrabel and Jon Robinson offering some thoughts about the importance of being a good teammate. One quote in particular stood out to me.

“Players are more important than plays, and teammates are more important than players.”

Robinson credited Vrabel with saying that in the clip, but I think it rings true to the way that Robinson has built this team since his arrival. He’s brought in nearly exclusively high-character players who have bought in to the “we before me” mindset.

Another exchange that stood out to me from the episode was when Vrabel was speaking in front of the team and Taylor Lewan answered a question about publicity by saying that it “didn’t help them play football”. Vrabel was quick to point out that he doesn’t really care about playing football, he wants to win at football. It seems pretty clear what the standard is going to be around this team under Vrabel’s leadership.

The episode also introduced us to the Titans Director of Player Engagement Chic Ejiasi who is responsible for, among other things, the rookie development program. We got some sneak peeks at what that looks like and how the team offers rookies — and veterans as well — guidance when it comes to finances, community engagement, and NFL rules and policies.

The rest of the episode primarily featured small interactions between the players themselves both at practice and at events away from the team facility. It’s a bit cheesy to say this, but it’s hard to recall a more united Titans locker room from the outside looking in. Veterans like Wesley Woodyard, Rishard Matthews, Derrick Morgan, and Brian Orakpo are all shown working extensively with younger players on the practice field. Again, I’ll say that Harold Landry couldn’t have landed in a better spot for his development than working as a 3rd rusher behind Orakpo and Morgan.

Rashaan Evans has a pretty great mentor as well in Woodyard, who got a lot of screen time in this episode. The Titans veteran leadership, especially on defense, is outstanding.

I don’t know if anyone from the team will read this, but I’d like to thank the Titans for giving us this series during a time when there really isn’t much going on around the NFL. Each episode brought some new information and some good insights in to the team. Hopefully they bring the series back again next offseason.