Titans Coach Mike Vrabel tested positive for COVID-19 and has quarantined pending further results. Jason Behnken/Associated Press
NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Tennessee Titans Coach Mike Vrabel said Sunday he has tested positive for COVID-19 and has quarantined pending further testing.
Vrabel told reporters he woke up with a sore throat and an earache. He went to the team headquarters Sunday morning to be tested, and the result came back positive. Another rapid test also turned up positive, so Vrabel was given a PCR test, which he expects will return Monday as positive.
“This isn’t the first time that we’ve gone through this, so whatever the protocols are, we’ll follow them exactly how they’re laid out,” said Vrabel, who disclosed this spring that he was vaccinated.
The Titans beat the Tampa Bay Buccaneers 34-3 in a preseason game Saturday night. They traveled to Florida on Tuesday and practiced jointly with the Buccaneers on Wednesday and Thursday.
Vrabel originally was scheduled to meet with reporters in person, but the availability was pushed back an hour and conducted remotely by Zoom. Vrabel wouldn’t say if others also were in quarantine. He said the Titans would have updates on Monday.
“As of now, I don’t think that anybody that has been tested this morning has tested positive,” Vrabel said.
Under NFL protocols, Vrabel must have two negative test results within 48 hours to go back to work inside the Titans’ headquarters or remain in quarantine for 10 days. That could keep him away until Sept. 1. The Titans open the season on Sept. 12, hosting Arizona.
Vrabel said he would figure out who would run the team while he’s limited to attending meetings remotely, though he is comfortable with special teams coordinator Craig Aukerman filling the role. Inside linebackers coach Jim Haslett and senior defensive assistant Jim Schwartz both are former head coaches.
“So there’s a lot of guys that we could lean on in that capacity,” Vrabel said.
The Titans had the first COVID-19 outbreak during the NFL season last year. The NFL postponed two Tennessee games and later fined the team $350,000.
EAGLES: Jalen Hurts returned to practice, three days after the second-year quarterback was scratched minutes before kickoff of a preseason game against New England because of a stomach illness.
Coach Nick Sirianni said that Hurts also participated in a walkthrough Saturday that was closed to the media. The team practiced indoors Sunday night after a public workout at Lincoln Financial Field was canceled because of rain.
Hurts went to the hospital and was checked for abdominal pain before being released Thursday night.
Sirianni said Hurts has been “just resting his body, as you would with any illness, and getting himself back. Recovering his body, and obviously was out there slinging it around today at practice.”
The Eagles head up the New Jersey Turnpike this week for two joint practices with the New York Jets ahead of the preseason finale Friday night. Sirianni hasn’t decided whether Hurts or other starters will play.
SUNDAY’S GAMES
BROWNS 17, GIANTS 13: Case Keenum showed why Cleveland invested in him to back up Baker Mayfield, throwing a touchdown pass and leading the Browns to a preseason win at home.
Keenum tossed a 7-yard TD pass to wide receiver KhaDarel Hodge to end Cleveland’s opening possession. He finished 9 of 12 for 74 yards with an interception while playing most of the first half.
The Browns (2-0) rested Mayfield, running back Nick Chubb, All-Pro defensive end Myles Garrett and most of their starters for the second straight week.
So did the Giants (0-2), who got a 1-yard TD plunge from Devontae Booker in the first half when both teams played second- and third-stringers.
49ERS 15, CHARGERS 10: Trey Lance threw two touchdown passes and continued to make his case to be San Francisco’s starting quarterback as the 49ers rallied for a win in Inglewood, California.
Lance, the third overall pick in April’s draft, had a rough start. He completed only one of his first six passes and was picked off in his first three series before settling down. He was 7 of 8 for 93 yards on his final three drives, which included the two TDs.
Lance, who finished 8 of 14 for 102 yards, also won the duel of former North Dakota State quarterbacks. Easton Stick, who mentored Lance in 2018 when the Bison won their seventh Football Championship Subdivision title in eight years, got the start for the Chargers and was 10 of 14 for 85 yards and a touchdown.
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