When the Tennessee Titans re-signed quarterback Kerry Collins to a two-year, $15 million contract last week, they effectively announced that they had no faith in Vince Young's ability to be a starter. Teams just don't sign 36-year-old quarterbacks to eight-figure contracts when they used the third pick in the draft on a quarterback three years earlier -- unless they think that draft pick was a mistake.
But while the Titans were sending a loud message about how they view Young, that's not the message Young heard. Young isn't talking to the media, but Young's agent, Major Adams, says that Young is getting himself ready to beat out Collins and be the Titans' starter:
That's both utterly unrealistic and exactly the right attitude. There really is nothing Young can do, short of pulling a Jeff Gillooly on Collins, to earn the starting job in 2009. But preparing like he's going to start is the only way to conduct himself like a professional. Even though it's not going to happen."That decision has no bearing on Vince's thinking,'' Adams said Wednesday. "He is just trying to get himself together, not worrying about what they are doing with Kerry. That doesn't matter to him.
"Vince is not upset. He is not asking for a trade or anything. He loves the organization, loves (Titans owner) Bud Adams, and he wants to be in Tennessee. But he still wants to play, and is approaching this offseason like he's going to. ...
"Vince wants to be the starter. He has started all his life, so he wants to start. And he is preparing like he is going to start."
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
3-05-2009 @ 9:20AM
rascal said...
Throughout the 2008 season did anyone see VY engaged in the game on the sidelines? When TC came off the field, did VY meet him and make any comments? Did anyone see VY shooting the ---- while the Offense was on the field? There is a lot of difference in the Pros vs College. In the Pros, if you're not winning, we aren't happy. I think Bud made a mistake on this one.
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3-05-2009 @ 9:26AM
I'llBecomeTheSea said...
That is TOTALLY the right attitude to have. Best of luck Vince on 2009 and beyond.
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3-05-2009 @ 9:43AM
A.J. said...
Don't shut VY out. Some guys are simply late bloomers. Personally, I don't think anything happened last year to help Kerry Collins keep his starting job except for the fact that Vince blew out his knee and the team won games under Kerry Collins. If you're coaching and management, since you've got a lot of money invested in both quarterbacks anyway, you might as well make sure the competition's fair and square. There's nothing worse than simply handing an aging QB a starting job after he had a decent year and watching him tank the following season. Then you've got egg on your face, a likely unhappy young starter who's lost his confidence, and an aging cap vampire on the bench. It might be one of the very things that actually slows the development of young QBs. While I believe that putting them out there too early is unhealthy, I think that having a guy that you pegged to be your starter sit on the bench for 4 years can sometimes be equally damaging.
Are the Titans seriously saying that Vince Young will never again be a starter for them? He's only started about 30 or so games. He made the Pro Bowl one year and the team got to the playoffs (however ugly it was) the following year. To say that Vince Young has no ability as a starter is suggesting that he has regressed since he made the jump to the NFL, which really calls into question the coaching if anything.
If the Titans are smart, they'll let Vince Young have a LEGITIMATE shot at competing for the job - and grab him or whoever is going to start for that team some real receiving help - something the Titans haven't had since VY got there.
I think the Titans' mistake was changing offensive coordinators and failing miserably to build a team around Young. They expected him to take them to the promised land, didn't give him a top-flight receiver target (something Leinart and Cutler both got several of where they went), and didn't even give him a truly effective running game until this year when they drafted Johnson.
While Bud Adams is no Al Davis by any stretch of the imagination, I think his and Jeff Fisher's slight gaffes in managing the offensive side of the ball are part of what is keeping the Titans from being a Super Bowl team.
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3-05-2009 @ 12:22PM
Bob said...
There's more to the QB position than just passing, handing off, or in VY's case, running. It's called leadership, and Vince hasn't been showing it. You can't slink off to the bench and ignore your team when you're not doing well, not if you want them to put you back in. I doubt this situation is about Young's physical prowess--this is about the all-important mental aspect of the game, and if you're not showing it to your teammates, they won't be led by you.
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3-05-2009 @ 2:22PM
charleybrown44 said...
Get Vince some receivers and he will be an elite QB, but to get rid of him is just plain stupid.
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3-05-2009 @ 3:18PM
CJ said...
Ive been saying that for awhile now charley44. I back VY and hope that he overtakes Collins for the starter position. Im a Titans fan, but not a Collins fan. I think yea of course he's earned being a starter, but VY is the better QB to me.
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3-05-2009 @ 3:33PM
PacoGerte said...
Wonderlik, anyone?
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3-05-2009 @ 5:55PM
A. J. said...
I for one would like to see Vince Young earn back his spot on this team. I wish him all the success he can have on and off the field. The media has had their fun with him. Now it's up to Vince to take back his starter position.
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3-08-2009 @ 8:45AM
donna kennedy said...
VY doesnt have the mental toughness it takes to be A starter. It will be great if he can turn himself around but i just dont think he can.
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3-10-2009 @ 10:34AM
vanentps said...
this fool was bad mistake, he does'nt have any leadership skills, no brain to be a quaterback, no passing ability, he has ghetto in his blood, thinks he gonna win with hie legs, he has all the ability a running back or reciever needs, which he should have been drafted as to begin with, all that money they wasted on his rear end...what a shame
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