The Tennessee Titans claimed linebacker Zach Cunningham off waivers after the Houston Texans waived him on Wednesday. Just don’t talk to Titans head coach Mike Vrabel about it, at least not yet.
Cunningham was waived after he was inactive for the team’s Week 13 game against the Indianapolis Colts because he was late for a COVID-19 test. That was the second team violation of the year for the linebacker, which outweighed the 67 tackles and forced fumble he racked up so far this season.
Cunningham will not be active for this Sunday’s Titans game against the Jacksonville Jaguars and head coach Mike Vrabel didn’t want to discuss the addition during his Friday press conference with reporters. However, given that it’s a notable transaction, reporters wanted to know what plans the franchise had for the new player.
Those two opposing forces came to a head when, following the third question about Cunningham, Vrabel walked out of the press conference and did not return to finish answering anything else.
“This is ridiculous,” Vrabel mutters as he exits, stage left, upon hearing the third Cunningham question. As Ari Meirov notes, the entire press conference lasted less than two minutes.
It’s possible that Vrabel just really didn’t want to get into anything with Cunningham given the issues he had with the Texans organization. Or he might have just been in a bad mood and wanted to focus on Sunday, as NFL coaches are wont to do. We’ve certainly seen more than a few NFL coaches up the ante in antagonistic relationships with reporter gaggles.
Whatever the reason, Vrabel should be excited to get a player like Cunningham. Last year he notched 164 total tackles (106 solo), three sacks, a forced fumble, and two passes defended. Assuming he’ll want a little payback for getting cut, we can assume Cunningham will be extra motivated to get back on track with Tennessee.
That should make Vrabel happy. Or maybe nothing will. We’ll see.
About Sean Keeley
Along with writing for Awful Announcing and The Comeback, Sean is the Managing Editor for Comeback Media. Previously, he created the Syracuse blog Troy Nunes Is An Absolute Magician and wrote 'How To Grow An Orange: The Right Way to Brainwash Your Child Into Rooting for Syracuse.' He has also written non-Syracuse-related things for SB Nation, Curbed, and other outlets. He currently lives in Seattle where he is complaining about bagels. Send tips/comments/complaints to sean@thecomeback.com.