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The Tennessee Titans have relieved special teams coordinator Craig Aukerman of his duties, head coach Mike Vrabel told reporters on Monday. Special teams assistant Tom Quinn will now take over the unit. Aukerman’s firing comes off the heels of a special teams collapse in Week 13 as the Titans fell to the Indianapolis Colts in overtime, which dropped them to 4-8 on the season.
The Titans allowed blocked punts on back-to-back possessions, which allowed Indy to take a second-half lead and help propel the game to overtime where it would eventually win. The first blocked punt was returned for a touchdown and the second gave Indianapolis possession inside the 10-yard line in the opening minutes of the fourth quarter. The miscues directly resulted in eight points for the Colts.
“You can’t have punts blocked and think that you’re going to win games,” Vrabel told reporters following the 31-28 defeat on Sunday. “
While those were the high-profile mishaps on special teams, the unit also surrendered a 36-yard kickoff return on Indy’s first possession of the game. That gave the Colts the ball at midfield and only required them to travel 56 yards to find the end zone and tie the game at seven.
Aukerman has been the Titans’ special teams coordinator since 2018 and was in his second stint with the franchise. He first served as the assistant special teams coordinator from 2013 to 2015 before departing to become the special teams coordinator for the Chargers in 2016. Aukerman returned a year later as the assistant special teams coordinator for the 2017 campaign and ascended to the top role the following year.
The 47-year-old first broke…
Source link : https://www.cbssports.com/nfl/news/titans-fire-special-teams-coordinator-craig-aukerman-after-tennessee-allows-two-blocked-punts-in-loss-to-colts/
Author : Tyler Sullivan
Publish date : 2023-12-04 18:32:02
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