It sucks to lose.

I mean, it (expletive) sucks.

Mike Vrabel made that clear Tuesday. To me, yes, as the one who’d asked the question. But to everyone. He wanted it universally understood that with one final, relatively meaningless game remaining in a disappointing Tennessee Titans season, their coach remains highly interested and invested in showing up and beating the Jacksonville Jaguars on Sunday.

“We need to win for a lot of reasons,” Vrabel said.

If you’re curious about what “for a lot of reasons” means, you’re not alone.

We’ll get back to that.

During a couple of decades attending press conferences like Tuesday’s at the Titans’ facility, I’ve learned that when coaches get fiery, it typically isn’t directed at the media in attendance or a specific question. There’s more to it. Oftentimes, it’s about getting a point across to the team – players, coaches, staffers, fans, whoever might need to hear it.

Nick Saban, who I previously covered at Alabama, once explained that to me after a press conference in which he glared at me the way Vrabel did Tuesday. Wasn’t about me or my question. Was about sending a message to his team. Saban was and continues to be a master of this skill. That’s how phrases like “rat poison” get embedded into the lexicon of American sports.

And so Vrabel’s “losing sucks” soliloquy makes the rounds Tuesday, and suddenly, I’m receiving texts from people I hadn’t heard from in months or years. Wasn’t what Vrabel said necessarily, because obviously, a coach wants to win. It was the way he said it.

It was because, in the past, Vrabel has joked about how dull his press conferences tend to be.

Every once in a while, though, you'll get a peek behind the curtain with Vrabel. This instance was a glimpse of just how frustrating and hellish an experience this 5-11 season has been for someone like Vrabel who has won a lot in the NFL as a player and as a head coach.

“It (expletive) sucks, losing,” he said. “Awful. That’s why I want to win. Because you don’t sleep. You want to win for the players that bust their tail.”

It was a refreshingly genuine moment from Vrabel. Unfiltered. Raw. Wish we'd see that more often from him.

It was a good response, too, an effective counterpoint to fans who’ve been complaining about his demeanor and a perceived lack of emotion. Perhaps overdue, it was evidently triggered by last week's uninspired 26-3 loss to the Houston Texans.

ESTES: Best thing about this miserable Titans season is that it's almost over

My question, though, wasn’t about that dreary performance. It also wasn’t about what the Titans had to play for against the Jaguars when it’d benefit their draft status to lose, though it was portrayed that way by some who weren’t in the interview room.

I'd asked about Vrabel’s earlier quote in the press conference:

“For a lot of reasons.”

A line like that invites speculation when speculation is already rampant, which is what happens when a miserable season nears an end. It's speculation that dwells on, let’s say, people’s job status.

So I followed up and asked Vrabel about the "lot of reasons" he mentioned.

Stare.

“Because it sucks to lose, Gentry.”

Vrabel turned back to ask if I had another thought. I started to explain about the speculation and all that stuff, but why get in the way of this? No one was interested in hearing me.

“It's not about, 'Hey, we'll go into the offseason with a good note,’ ” Vrabel continued. “Nobody knows what you did on January 7th or 8th or 6th in April when you come back.

“But you want to see just it all come together and just put four quarters together. Win a game like we talked about. You come in, 'Well, close game.' Yeah, we feel the same way. And that game the other day, we've got to put ourselves into a competitive game where it's back-and-forth, back-and-forth, and there's some field position, and then you score, and you take care of the football. And we just hadn't done that in the opportunities that we had.”

Know what I heard in that answer?

A suggestion from Vrabel that he plans to be there when the Titans come back in April.

And for those who’d like to join him, they’ll want to try to beat the Jaguars on Sunday.

Reach Tennessean sports columnist Gentry Estes at gestes@tennessean.com and on the X platform (formerly known as Twitter) @Gentry_Estes.

This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Mike Vrabel gives rare glimpse into a rough Tennessee Titans season