Sunday afternoon, I jokingly wondered if the Titans might not have a quarterback controversy given that Kerry Collins had come into the game and led the team on a drive that scored what ended up being the winning touchdown. At the time, I figured it would be similiar to what we had ten years ago with the Steve McNair vs Neil O'Donnell debate.
Little did I realize that an entirely different kind of QB controversy was brewing and ready to explode....
The question of whether or not Vince Young "quit" on the team Sunday afternoon. For those of you who didn't see it at on TV or don't know, here's what the Tennessean reports happened.
The quarterback appeared reluctant to re-enter the game after throwing a
second interception and being booed by the home crowd. He sat on the bench alone
at one point and brushed off teammates and coaches attempting to console him.
When he went back in, he suffered the knee injury a few plays later.
Yesterday, reports were that Young had tweaked his hamstring and wasn't sure if he'd go back in. However, he didn't call over any of the coaches or training staff.
Now, I will admit that at the game, I was pretty annoyed when Young threw his second interception of the afternoon. It came right on the heels of the defense getting an interception from David Gerrard and setting up our offense with good field position and the chance to get some time off the clock and (hopefully) seal a victory. At the time, I recall saying, "Come on, let's get a touchdown and end this thing."
Some would say that the best strategy to employ would have been to go for the home run on first and ten. You've got the Jags demoralized and it's a time to put the final nail in the coffin. Yes, it goes against my hope to take some time off the clock, but if you can put them away with a long bomb to the end zone (assuming our recievers would do something silly like catch the ball, mind you), then you may have the Jags at a point that they simply roll over.
Instead, we go out and give them momentum right back. Recall that at this point, we're up by three and the interception is around mid-field. We've gone from the height of excitement to complete frustration in one play. And, there were boos. I'm sure a lot of them were for Vince and I'm sure a lot of them were for the circumstances.
And then Vince did...well, whatever he did. No one of the Titans' front will come out and say anything really. They're circling the wagons and protecting Vince, though that's not really flying with the fans. The worst part is that Vince is injured now and will be out two to four weeks. If he could play Sunday, he might have a chance of erasing the bad taste that a lot of people have right now. Instead, he'll be sidelined with Collins in there. Should Collins win a few games, I only expect the buzz to get louder and the debate more intense.
Labels: Titans
posted by Michael Hickerson at 9/09/2008 12:00:00 PM |
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