Not that it needed any explanation after what we saw in Week 17, but Tennessee Titans head coach Mike Vrabel explained his decision to start Joshua Dobbs instead of Malik Willis on Thursday night.
The results spoke for themselves, as Dobbs clearly provided an upgrade over Willis and now gives the Titans the best chance to win going into a do-or-die Week 18 game against the Jacksonville Jaguars for the AFC South.
Based on his explanation, Vrabel and the Titans were trying to do what’s best for the team as of this very moment and aren’t focused on anything beyond that.
“In the end, it’s the same at every [position]: Who gives you the best chance to win, to win one game,” Vrabel said after the 27-13 loss.
“That’s where we’re at — that’s the only thing that matters, is winning one game, getting healthy, getting recovered and then winning one game, and finding out who is going to do that.”
Vrabel’s quote should give caution to those who are almost completely out on Willis after what transpired this week.
Of course, Dobbs coming in off the street and out-performing Willis isn’t a good look for the rookie, but it’s pretty much what should’ve been expected. After all, Dobbs has a six-year advantage in terms of development.
In reality, nobody in their right mind believed Willis would be ready to take over an NFL team in his first year, and especially not with all the obstacles around him.
Now, that’s not to say that Willis is going to definitely work out, but talk of his demise is premature and the Titans taking a win-now approach shouldn’t be an indictment on his future.
That said, the Titans will have an interesting situation on their hands going into the offseason, as Willis simply hasn’t shown enough for the team to put all of its eggs in his basket for 2023.
But that’s a story for the offseason.
As for Dobbs, Vrabel was happy with what he saw but also rightly pointed out there are things the signal-caller needs to improve, something Dobbs wasn’t shy about admitting after the game.
“A lot of positives, a lot of things we have to improve on,” Vrabel said of Dobbs. “We’re excited [Josh] is here, and I thought he took advantage of his opportunity. We’ll see where that leads — we’ll see where we go next week.
“Every decision that we make we want to put some thought into it and make sure it is thought out, and we’ll see what goes after this weekend.”
Vrabel wouldn’t go as far as to confirm that Dobbs is the starter for Week 18, but it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to see that’s the way Tennessee will go.
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