Mike Vrabel played 14 years in the NFL and the first-year Tennessee Titans coach is more than willing to pick up a pad for drills to get his point across.

And if someone knocks off his sunglasses during the process Hayden Hurst Jersey Elite , not a problem.

"Yes, that's fun," Vrabel said Thursday after the Titans' first day of training camp. "That's when you know it was a good punch. I use that as a barometer when the sunglasses go flying off. But, they're doing it the right way. They're delivering a blow and trying to transfer power to stop a guy's charge, in that case, the punt team and get out and cover."

The Titans' season opener and Vrabel's debut as a head coach in a regular-season game is just 45 days away on Sept. 9 in Miami. His preseason debut comes Aug. 9 in Green Bay, and Vrabel was starting to drive his wife and son crazy being at home waiting for the start of training camp.

"You wake up in the middle of the night thinking about should I call a time-out in this situation? Then I'm like, I'm really losing my mind. It's just good to have the players back," Vrabel said.

Not only did Vrabel play in the NFL and win three Super Bowl rings, he's been an assistant at Ohio State and with the Houston Texans. That means he got to watch some of football's best make crucial decisions during games, including Bill Belichick Chargers Uchenna Nwosu Jersey , Urban Meyer and Bill O'Brien.

Now it'll be Vrabel's turn to decide, and he's been doing his best to prepare for kickoff by doing what he did so much of as a player: watch tape to help figure out what he can and can't challenge, figuring out how to use his timeouts, defending an opponent trying to run clock at the end of a game.

"We've got a library of 10 years," Vrabel said. "You can go back and pretty much get whatever game we want and pull up a scenario and play it out."

For now, Vrabel is trying to improve a Titans team that is coming off consecutive 9-7 seasons and the franchise's first playoff victory since January 2004 鈥?all of which wasn't good enough to keep Mike Mularkey on the job . Music plays throughout practice to help simulate game-day noise, and his assistants spent parts of Thursday's session working on fundamentals like tip drills.

The Titans saw their coach throw himself into camp with the same participation and intensity he displayed during offseason organized team activities.

"Oh man, that feels good all the time when you get to hit the coach a little bit," three-time Pro Bowl defensive lineman Jurrell Casey said. "It just shows you know the stuff that he was doing OTAs wasn't a fluke. He's continued to do it."

Rookie linebacker Rashaan Evans joked that going up against a coach could be a way to work out some frustration. He said it was impressive to see Vrabel working in the trenches, and his new head coach already has given him a tip on how to play better.

"He's always told me not to think so much but just to play ball," Evans said. "He says you're going to make mistakes. But you play fast and aggressive Rich Hill Los Angeles Dodgers Jersey , everything else goes that'll get corrected."

NOTES: Two-time Pro Bowl left tackle Taylor Lewan reported for training camp Wednesday with his agents talking with the Titans about a contract extension past this season . Lewan did not take part in team drills, and he said that might be the Titans waiting until the new deal is done. Vrabel disagreed, noting Lewan already is under contract but missed the team's mandatory minicamp in June . The coach said the left tackle will rejoin team drills when the Titans feel he's ready.
A strong power play and penalty kill can carry a team deep into the Stanley Cup playoffs. Right now, the Los Angeles Kings hope their special teams can do what it takes just to reach the postseason.

Anze Kopitar scored one of his team’s three power-play goals, Jonathan Quick made 23 saves and the Kings moved back into playoff position with a 3-0 win over the Calgary Flames on Monday night.

”Obviously, scoring three power-play goals goes a long way,” Kopitar said. ”I guess this time of year it doesn’t really matter how you do it but you’ve got to figure out ways to win, and we did that tonight.”

Jeff Carter also scored and Dion Phaneuf had a goal and an assist for the Kings, who tied Anaheim for third place in the Pacific Division at 91 points. They also passed Colorado (90 points) and St. Louis (89) in the Western Conference wild-card race.

Phaneuf gave the Kings a 1-0 lead 4:04 into the second period, scoring on a long shot from the blue line five seconds into a power play. All four of Phaneuf’s goals since being acquired from Ottawa in a Feb. 13 trade have come on the man advantage.

Adrian Kempe got the lone assist for winning the faceoff against Troy Brouwer, and Tyler Toffoli set a screen that kept goalie Mike Smith from seeing Phaneuf’s shot.

”The key on power play Authentic Josh Sweat Jersey , if you get people to the net and you get opportunities for lanes to the net and you shoot the puck early, it really forces the penalty killers to turn and face their net,” Kings coach John Stevens said. ”Once Dion shot the first one there, it really had a ripple effect where guys were looking to move the puck quick and get it to the net.”

Kopitar made it 2-0 at 11:55 with his seventh power-play goal of the season. Scoring on a wrist shot from the left circle, Kopitar matched his career high of 34 goals during the 2009-10 season. The Kings captain has five goals in his last three games.

Flames forward Sam Bennett committed three penalties in the opening 30:21, with his infractions for high-sticking and tripping leading to the Kings’ first two power-play goals.

Carter put Los Angeles in front 3-0 by following up his own rebound from close range at 8:24 of the third. He has 10 goals in 16 games since returning from surgery to repair a cut tendon in his ankle.

Los Angeles scored three power-play goals in a game for the third time.

Smith stopped 26 shots for the Flames, who were eliminated from playoff contention. Calgary has been outscored 28-7 during a six-game losing streak.

”It’s tough to create against LA at the best of times, but I thought we limited them. Again, 5-on-5, there weren’t many chances out there. Just the specialty teams came into play,” Flames coach Glen Gulutzan said.

Already without forwards Sean Monahan and Matthew Tkachuk because of injury Authentic Saquon Barkley Jersey , the depleted Flames had to play without top scorer Johnny Gaudreau, who was not with the team after his father had a cardiac event on Monday.

The lack of scoring punch beyond those three, who have combined to score 78 of Calgary’s 203 goals, is something the Flames will have to address to get back into the playoff chase next season, Gulutzan said.

”You can see that we’re a little bit dependent on some of our top guys to create most of our offense, and that’s an issue that is coming to light a little bit,” Gulutzan said.

NOTES: Kings D Jake Muzzin did not return after sustaining an upper-body injury in the second period. Muzzin fell awkwardly into the boards following a hit by Micheal Ferland. … Dustin Brown had two assists.

UP NEXT

Flames: Host the Columbus Blue Jackets on Thursday night.

Kings: Host the Arizona Coyotes on Thursday night.

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