Why Tennessee Titans joint practices with Vikings matter more than you think | Estes

Two years ago on a sizzling Florida morning, Tennessee Titans coach Mike Vrabel watched as his own wide receivers practiced against Tampa Bay Buccaneers defensive backs.

After some playful jawing between him and the DBs during the drill, Vrabel saw something and couldn’t help himself. The coach began coaching, offering them a quick pointer or two.

One of those DBs was Sean Murphy-Bunting. He's now a member of the Titans.

Murphy-Bunting signed in March, and that practice exchange in 2021 stood out so much to him that he mentioned it to Vrabel on his first day with the Titans. Vrabel “barely remembered it,” said Murphy-Bunting with a laugh, but the cornerback sure did.

It was just an example of the type of unplanned, unfiltered interactions that can transpire and resonate when two NFL teams share a single practice.

“I just remember how fierce and fiery he was,” Murphy-Bunting said. “Looking back on it now, now that I've been around him, it wasn't him coming at me. It was him just being a football player. He's a football guy. He's a football mind. … I think, for him, it's just being around the game. He's always going to be a coach now. So that mentality, you see a player, you just want to make him better.”

Hello there, Minnesota Vikings

We’re nearing the best part of the preseason. Joint practices start this week for the 2023 Titans.

They’ll visit the Minnesota Vikings for practices Wednesday and Thursday in advance of Saturday’s preseason game. The following week, the Titans will similarly host the New England Patriots for practices, followed by a game at Nissan Stadium.

Veteran players usually don’t look forward to these joint practices. They can be notoriously intense and a breeding ground for scuffles. No one wants to get shown up by another team.

It’s often great work, though. That’s why franchises do it. And for an onlooker like myself, joint practices can be the most revealing part of an NFL training camp. The Titans' two weekdays in Minnesota will be far more interesting than the preseason game up there. Unlike the preseason game, the practices will feature first-string units and most of the teams’ top players working against each other.

Informally, though, the intermingling offers rare insight in a league with widespread roster turnover. Players can get a feel for another franchise’s facility and how their coaching staff does things. Coaches and execs can get an up-close view of how another team’s player might practice. If a player has a good performance, he’s impressing two teams.

The Titans practiced the past two years with the Buccaneers and last year with the Arizona Cardinals, too.

In addition to Murphy-Bunting, the Titans have since added players who were a part of last year’s Cardinals preseason: wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins, running back Jonathan Ward and linebacker Ben Niemann.

It can work the other way, too. Scan the roster for first-year Cardinals general manager Monti Ossenfort, formerly of the Titans’ front office, and you’ll see some familiar names – linebacker David Anenih, defensive lineman Kevin Strong, tight end Geoff Swaim – who took part in the Titans’ 2022 training camp.

How to choose an NFL practice partner?

The NFL gives “some leeway,” Vrabel said, in scheduling preferred opponents – and practice partners – in the preseason.

The Buccaneers weren’t going to get another run with the Titans in 2023, because they play during the upcoming regular season. That’s the first way to rule out potential partners. Availability can be another.

“You look at teams that you feel like you'd work with, that maybe you don't play that you'd want to practice against,” Vrabel said. “Then you start working through when that would be and what time the game is and then work back.

“So you start with maybe three or four or five teams and end up with one or two that you end up practicing and playing.”

The Titans have practiced with the Patriots before. Vrabel, clearly, has ties to Bill Belichick and New England, but the Vikings were an intriguing addition this preseason, the link between them and the Titans not being so apparent.

“They've got good skill players,” said Vrabel when asked what made the Vikings an appealing option. “I think that's something that can help us. ... (quarterback) Kirk (Cousins) has always done a fantastic job at the end of the game, situationally, and so I felt like a lot of those factors could help us.”

So the Vikings are about to know the Titans much better, and the same for the Titans with the Vikings.

No guarantee, of course, that players from each would end up with the other one day.

ESTES: Malik Willis isn't there, but he's better – and other Titans-Bears observations

It may not matter down the road, these practices.

But, you figure, they can't hurt.

Reach Tennessean sports columnist Gentry Estes at gestes@tennessean.com and on Twitter @Gentry_Estes.

This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Tennessee Titans, Minnesota Vikings practices may impact 2024 rosters