Jake Locker's future with the Titans is cloudy. (Don McPeak-US Presswire)
NASHVILLE, Tenn. — The Tennessee Titans soon will have a quarterback controversy on their hands, whether they want to admit it or not.
As the 2014 season circles the drain following Sunday’s loss to the Washington Redskins that dropped the Titans to 2-5, some of the questions about the quarterback position are shifting. The question is no longer just when will Jake Locker return and is he the long-term answer under center, but also whether rookie Zach Mettenberger get a real look from the coaching staff as an audition for 2015.
Locker provided inconsistent performances to accompany his penchant for injuries. He already has missed three games this season, one with a wrist injury and the past two weeks with a bruised thumb.
Locker has missed 17 of 39 starts since being named the Titans’ starting quarterback in 2012. He is scheduled to throw Tuesday to determine if he will be able to practice this week and perhaps return to the lineup Sunday against the Houston Texans.
The problem is, time is running out for Locker, who is in the final year of his contract after the Titans declined his fifth-year option earlier this year. With Locker’s missed time, journeyman backup Charlie Whitehurst has run the offense with modest success, though he hasn’t been overly impressive. Whitehurst is a serviceable backup, but it doesn’t go much farther than that. And what is worse is that Locker may have unwittingly placed his future in the hands of Whitehurst with all his missed time the past few weeks.
With the Titans already three games back in the AFC South standings, it would probably take Locker playing lights out and playing in all the remaining games to change the team’s mind about his future in Tennessee.
On the other hand, Mettenberger, the team’s sixth-round pick, flashed a lot of promise in the preseason. While that is a far cry from regular-season success, if the Titans slip completely out of contention in the coming weeks, they owe it to themselves to give the former LSU star a shot over the final few weeks of the season. That way, they will know if he can be a potential starter beginning next season or if they have to go back into the draft or look somewhere for a free agent or trade pickup to find their starter in 2015.
For now, Whisenhunt is sidestepping the Mettenberger talk.
“That seems to be a question you guys are saying more than I am,” coach Ken Whisenhunt said. “I’m focused on trying to prepare our team each week.”
REPORT CARD VS. REDSKINS
–PASSING OFFENSE: D — QB Charlie Whitehurst completed 17 of 26 attempts with two touchdowns and one interception, but he threw for only 160 yards with only one pass play over 16 yards.
–RUSHING OFFENSE: D — RB Bishop Sankey ran for 56 yards on 16 carries, but the offensive line didn’t open a lot of holes and also committed seven penalties.
–PASS DEFENSE: F — The overall numbers weren’t that bad, but when a team allows RB Pierre Garcon to take a 5-yard pass and go the distance for a 70-yard touchdown because of a missed tackle from CB Blidi Wreh-Wilson and a poor angle from FS Michael Griffin, there are no passing grades.
–RUSH DEFENSE: C — Tennessee held the Redskins’ running game in check. Washington RB Alfred Morris was injured early, making that task a little easier.
–SPECIAL TEAMS: D-minus — Dexter McCluster fumbled a punt, and it cost the Titans a field goal. That was the only real hurtful play, but Tennessee’s special teams didn’t do anything to help either.
–COACHING: F — The Titans keep finding ways to lose. Not all of that is on the coaches, but head coach Ken Whisenhunt promised a culture change, and this team still looks undisciplined and not very confident.
