Fisher, McNair pleased with debut of basic Chow offense

His boss and the quarterback — the two men who may matter most — don’t agree and are very enthusiastic about the Titans’ new Chow-time offense.

“He was not happy after the ball game because we lost,” coach Jeff Fisher said Saturday after a 20-17 overtime loss to Tampa Bay on Friday night.

“He’s not used to playing games that don’t count against your regular season record, and that’s what I like about him. He’s very, very competitive and frustrated at the mistakes in the second half, late in the second half, mistakes that weren’t made on the practice field.”

But Fisher, going into his 11th season as this team’s head coach, understands that preseason games are meant to see who can fill out the end of the roster. It’s a new experience for Chow, who spent the past 32 years in college.

What mattered was how Steve McNair and backup Billy Volek fared. Discount two first-quarter turnovers, and the offense managed to hold the ball for more than 17 minutes of the first half with good balance. The Titans rushed for 49 yards and threw for 72.

Chow was limited in mining his playbook because the preseason is for practice, not giving hints to Pittsburgh for the season opener on Sept. 11.

“He did a nice job,” Fisher said.

The Titans did take advantage of the new option McNair has at quarterback to change plans at the line of scrimmage if he thinks something else will work. Fisher said McNair had a number of chances to switch run plays, from run to pass or pass to run.

“He was really excited about the offense. When he came off, you got the impression he wanted to play more than he did,” Fisher said.

McNair lasted two series and played every offensive play in the first quarter. Fisher said he was tempted to let his quarterback play a little more even after a heartstopping moment when McNair put his shoulder into Tampa Bay cornerback Jermaine Phillips on his way out of bounds.

Fisher said McNair did land on the football, which put the co-MVP of 2003 into the hospital for two nights last season and wound up limiting him to just eight games. It proved his surgically repaired sternum held up well.

“He jumped up with a smile on his face,” Fisher said. “That’s a good thing.”

Could he have survived it last season?

“He wouldn’t have gotten up off of this one,” the coach said.

Fisher wasn’t happy with the running game. Chris Brown was held out with a sore hamstring, and Travis Henry averaged only three yards on four carries. The Titans finished with 83 yards on 25 carries, and Jarrett Payton had the best production of the running backs with 10 carries for 37 yards.

But even Chow sitting in the press box and calling plays out to quarterback coach Craig Johnson on the field who relays them to the quarterback passed muster. The Titans had a couple problems with the play clock, and one came when the play clock was inadvertently set to 25 seconds instead of 40.

“Believe me we had fewer than we’ve had in the past,” Fisher said. “I thought it went very smooth.”