Titans confident offense still improving
Steve McNair said the other team deserves some of the credit for their struggles.
“The last two weeks we’ve been playing two of the best defenses in the NFL. They’re not going to give you too much. We have got to take and be patient,” McNair said of playing Pittsburgh and Baltimore.
“As far as the offense is concerned, we didn’t want to make any mistakes. We just want to control the ball, keep our defense off the field, and that’s what we’ve done.”
The Titans (1-1) have been busy trying to mesh new coordinator Norm Chow’s offense with three rookie receivers and two players — receiver Tyrone Calico and tight end Ben Troupe — coming off injuries.
Staying patient might be tougher against St. Louis (1-1) on Sunday with the Rams finally opening at home on their home field where they are very fast on their artificial surface. Left tackle Brad Hopkins said they must worry only about converting third downs and playing keepaway.
“It’s obviously very hard for them to score points if their offense isn’t on the field. We know our defense is up for the challenge,” Hopkins said.
The Titans had to settle for three field goals in their 25-10 victory over Baltimore, and they never scored after the opening drive in their season-opening 34-7 loss at Pittsburgh. Hopkins said the young players are working hard to improve every day.
“We haven’t even hit the benchmark where we want to be,” he said.
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INJURY REPORT:@ Receiver Drew Bennett (bruised heel) had a little bit of work in practice Thursday, but defensive tackle Albert Haynesworth (left knee), linebacker Peter Sirmon (right knee), receiver Courtney Roby (left toe) and safety Justin Sandy (ankle) did not practice.
“Albert made progress, Pete made progress and Drew got involved in some practice reps today, so it was good,” coach Jeff Fisher said.
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HORSE COLLARED:@ The Titans still aren’t happy with the outlawed horse collar tackle that Baltimore kicker Matt Stover used in yanking down rookie Courtney Roby at the end of his 59-yard kickoff return last weekend.
Roby is wearing a boot to protect his left toe, which he hurt at the end of that play. Whether he is able to play at St. Louis depends on his ability to tolerate the pain and how much the swelling goes down.
“I don’t think there’s anything I could’ve done,” Roby said. “I tried to outrun him. Personally, I feel like he did an illegal move, which it was. It’s something that comes with the territory.”
Coach Jeff Fisher said there is no question it was a horse-collar tackle. The NFL turned such tackles into a penalty in the offseason after players like Philadelphia receiver Terrell Owens and Titans receiver Tyrone Calico both were seriously injured by Dallas safety Roy Williams using the tackle.
” That is what we identified as the type of tackle we wanted to get out of the game,” said Fisher, the co-chairman of the league’s competition committee.
“And, in my opinion, it was. It is difficult to call. The officiating crew has been directed to be 100 percent sure, and it is difficult to call. It is new. But it is not difficult to enforce at a league level, from a fine standpoint.”
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WATCHING SIRMON:@ The Rams tried to steal away linebacker Peter Sirmon in April 2003 with an offer sheet to counter Tennessee’s one-year deal. That’s when the Titans locked Sirmon up with a four-year deal, and he hasn’t been out of the starting lineup since then with the exception of missing the 2004 season with a torn left anterior cruciate ligament.
Sirmon is listed as questionable for Sunday’s game with the Rams (1-1) because of a right knee injury, but he has 11 tackles and a sack in the first two games.
St. Louis coach Mike Martz remains just as impressed with the five-year veteran as he was in 2003.
“You are never going to fool Peter. There is nobody in the league that does his homework better than Peter does. He will know everything about you. Whether you sneeze, whether you wheeze, whatever you do. He is going to know everything,” Martz said.
“(He is) probably as good of a film guy as there is in the league on defense. Obviously he plays like that. He just doesn’t make any mistakes.”
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ROOTING AGAINST UT:@ St. Louis receiver Isaac Bruce is rooting against the Tennessee Volunteers on Saturday night against LSU with very good reason: Every time the Vols lose, teammate and former Vol Leonard Little is a very unhappy man.
“I think Leonard was a kind of upset with Tennessee losing to Florida last week, so he went out and had a great game,” Bruce said of Little’s sack, forced fumble and fumble recovery in the Rams’ 17-12 victory over Arizona.
“So, anytime Tennessee is losing, that’s beneficial to us, so hopefully the Tigers down in Baton Rouge can take care of business this weekend.”
Little was the 65th overall pick in the third round in 1998 by the Rams, and he came into this year with 51.5 sacks in his first seven seasons. He is off to the best start of his career with three sacks.
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EXTRA POINTS: The Titans rank sixth in the NFL with the most sacks since 1999 with 257 in that stretch. That’s behind Philadelphia (280), St. Louis (274), New Orleans (273), Pittsburgh (270) and Tampa Bay (269). … With Rob Reynolds’ tackle in the end zone for a safety last week, the Titans now lead the NFL with 10 safeties since the start of the 1995 season.