Tennessee Titans 2020 first-round pick and offensive lineman Isaiah Wilson has no doubt had a rough start to his tenure in Nashville, but head coach Mike Vrabel certainly isn’t ready to give up on him.
Wilson was arrested on suspicion of DUI on September 11 in what was the latest and most serious misstep in a series of them that the rookie has made.
On Tuesday, Vrabel addressed the situation, saying that he believes Wilson isn’t a bad person, and as long he is willing to improve himself off the field moving forward, the team is going to continue working with him, per Terry McCormick of Titan Insider.
“We’re comfortable with the person that we brought in here. Mistakes, again, we’ve been through this. Me personally, obviously kids being in college, coaching in college, there’s good people that make mistakes and there’s bad people. I don’t think that Isaiah’s a bad person,” Vrabel said. “I do think that part of what we do as coaches is to be able to get these guys to help us and help the team win, but it’s also about helping them off the field and their growth and the maturity and the men that they become.
“Certainly we don’t condone that type of behavior whatsoever. It’s unacceptable. But as long as there’s an honest effort to improve, we’re going to put forth that effort as a coaching staff and as an organization to help any player with any issues that they have.”
Wilson, who is currently on the Covid-19 list for the second time, also had a run-in with Tennessee State University police back in August after an off-campus party he was attending was broken up, leading to his receiving a trespass warning. Wilson considered jumping off a second-story balcony to evade police, per the report.
The Titans invested a lot in Wilson with taking him No. 29 overall and there is a lot of potential there, so it comes as no surprise the team isn’t giving up on him. Had he been a mid- to late-round pick, things might be different.
The important thing now is for the Titans to help Wilson in any way they can so he can get his life — and less importantly, his career — on track and avoid the kinds of mistakes he has made already.
The 21-year-old needs guidance in order to help him mature, and thankfully he’s on a team with a strong culture that can provide it to him.
