There wasn’t much to like about the season opener for the Titans as they lost 38-13 at home to the Cardinals after coming into the year with high expectations.
One of the reasons for those high expectations is the arrival of wide receiver Julio Jones, but the most notable moment of his debut wasn’t one of his three catches. It was a 15-yard penalty for unnecessary roughness that turned a third-and-1 into a third-and-16 in the first quarter.
Jones shoved a Cardinals player at the end of a Derrick Henry run to draw the flag and head coach Mike Vrabel didn’t mince words when he was asked about Jones’ penalty on Sunday.
“That’s absolutely nothing we coach or teach. So that would fall under the category of doing dumb s--t that hurts the team. Right there in bold letters,” Vrabel said, via Turron Davenport of ESPN.com.
There was a lot of football left after Jones’ penalty, but much of it was just as frustrating for the Titans. That leaves plenty to clean up before they head to Seattle next weekend.
