Fisher: No panic, fingerpointing good sign for young team

Sure, his Titans (1-2) turned the ball over three times in the second quarter, including twice within three plays, and blew a 10-0 lead into a 17-10 halftime deficit. But he prefers to focus on the positives, like how his very young team didn’t quit in losing 31-27 at St. Louis on Sunday.

“Nobody panicked. Nobody pointed fingers,” Fisher said Monday. “We went into the locker room at halftime, settled down, knew what we needed to do.”

That might prove to be a big growing step for a team that had the NFL’s youngest roster on opening day and for a franchise in the midst of rebuilding.

That’s good because AFC South rival Indianapolis (3-0) visits on Sunday.

But this is a team that never rallied after four turnovers led to a 34-7 rout by Pittsburgh in the season opener. Fisher was just as curious as everyone else to see how a team filled with 12 rookies and 11 players in their second season would react after beating Baltimore 25-10 on Sept. 18.

“We needed to come back, off a big win, and play hard and play with emotion. And we did. And I have no problem whatsoever with the effort level all the way to the last play. They fought, scratched, and clawed, did whatever they could,” Fisher said.

They also aren’t taking pleasure in coming close, having a chance to win that ended when Steve McNair overthrew Drew Bennett in the end zone in the final 30 seconds.

Cornerback Andre Woolfolk said that doesn’t count as a moral victory.

“We have to come away knowing that we are a physical team that will be there in the fight, and we are lot better than the team in week one,” Woolfolk said.

Running back Chris Brown said the Titans have to finish teams off when they get the chance. The Titans hurt themselves with those three turnovers and having to settle for field goals instead of scoring touchdowns after an interception in the first quarter and linebacker Peter Sirmon’s pickup of a lateral in the fourth.

“It was not what they were doing, but what we were doing. We had a lot of penalties, and we have to correct that and get on the right track,” Brown said.

Penalties didn’t help either. The Titans were flagged 11 times for 80 yards, and two couldn’t have been more costly. A holding call on rookie tight end Bo Scaife wiped out a 10-yard touchdown run by Brown at the beginning of the second quarter that would have given Tennessee a 17-0 lead.

Officials flagged receiver Tyrone Calico for a false start on third-and-2 on the final drive, pushing it back to third-and-7. McNair threw incomplete on the next two passes, turning the ball over on downs.

McNair said they have preached about not turning the ball over.

“We need to protect the football and continue to get better,” McNair said.