Titans OC Arthur Smith Apologizes for Yelling at WR A.J. Brown After Injury

Brown limped off the field after slipping to the ground during receiver drills.

Titans offensive coordinator Arthur Smith made an awkward error during Titans training camp on July 26 when he chastised receiver A.J. Brown for a dropped pass.

Brown slipped on the ground in Nashville while running a button hook route, dropping a pass from Marcus Mariota on the process. Smith then yelled, "Stop f---ing falling down and finish!" at Brown before realizing Tennessee's young wideout had pulled his left hamstring, according to The Tennessean's Erik Bacharach.

Brown missed the following two weeks of Titans training camp before returning to the field on Sunday. Smith noted his mistake on Tuesday, adding he apologized to Brown shortly after the injury.

"I felt like a jerk for that, I didn’t know. I apologized to A.J," Smith told the media. “In the moment, you go back and you look at it and we were just trying to get him to finish. There’s a lot of rookies and you’re trying to set a culture. Coach Vrabel has done a great job of doing it and we’re trying to implement it. A lot of rookies, you’re trying to remind [them]."

Brown was drafted by Tennessee in the second round of the 2019 NFL draft. The Ole Miss product earned All-SEC honors in 2017 and 2018 and combined for 2,572 receiving yards and 17 touchdowns in his last two collegiate seasons. 

The Titans finished third in the AFC South in 2018 at 9–7. They have made the playoffs just once in the last 10 seasons.