Texans-Titans will feature two of NFL’s top returners
Jerome Mathis, Houston’s fourth-round pick out of Hampton, ranks second in the NFL averaging 30.8 yards per return with two touchdowns. Tennessee’s Adam “Pacman” Jones is fifth with average returns of 26.8 and one touchdown wiped out by penalty.
Coach Jeff Fisher said they’re similar in that they’re both rookies with great averages per returns.
“They’re different style runners. Pac has more lateral quickness and Mathis is just faster than most people on the field. He can really run,” Fisher said.
Jones said he knows Mathis personally and calls him a great athlete, although he feels he’s still the best returner because he has the advantage with his ability to slide laterally and avoid tacklers.
“In the 100 and 200, the kid he’s got nothing but track speed,” Jones said. “Probably the first head to head, I don’t think he can beat me. 100, 200, he can beat me.”
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READY AND WILLING:@ Titans quarterback Steve McNair will be looking for someone to become his favorite target on Sunday with tight end Erron Kinney out because of knee surgery. Kinney is leading the Titans with a career-high 54 catches.
The candidates are receivers Drew Bennett and Courtney Roby and tight ends Ben Troupe and Bo Scaife. Troupe had a season-high eight catches at Houston on Oct. 9, the most any Titan has had in a game this season.
Bennett, Roby and Scaife each have had games with seven receptions most, matching the most Kinney has had in any game this season. Bennett said it’s probably pretty difficult on McNair with the changing cast of receivers due to injuries.
But Bennett promises to be ready to help as needed.
“I hope that I can fill any spot that he needs as far as someone he feels comfortable throwing to. I think I’ve been that guy before in a couple of games … I’d be fine with that,” Bennett said.
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LESS THAN FULL:@ One thing the Houston Texans will be prepared for Sunday when they hit the field at The Coliseum are empty seats. Going 1-11 has prompted fans by the thousands to avoid showing up at Reliant Stadium this season, and the Titans got a taste of such disinterest at their last home game.
When they beat the San Francisco 49ers, The Coliseum was barely half full with thousands of empty seats in the upper bowl. The good news for the Titans (3-9) is that each game technically was sold out in July, even if fans are choosing not to watch.
Texans running back Domanick Davis said it doesn’t matter.
“Once you’re on the field, you don’t really notice everybody anyway. You just focus on what you have to do. You have got to block that out and just do your job,” he said.
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TOYS FOR TOTS:@ The Titans are holding their seventh annual toy drive with the US Marine Corps Reserve’s Toys for Tots program on Sunday before kickoff with the Houston Texans. Fans are asked to bring new, unwrapped toys to The Coliseum, and the first 10,000 fans will receive a poster of the wide receivers and tight ends.
Fans have donated more than 50,000 toys to the Toys for Tots program since 1999, and collected toys will be distributed in Nashville and surrounding counties.
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EXTRA POINTS:@ The largest margin of victory in this series was 21 points, 38-17 by the Titans on Oct. 12, 2003. … The Titans have the second-best point-differential in the NFL in the first quarter at plus 234 since 1995. Only Denver is better at plus 478. … Steve McNair needs 391 yards to notch his fifth career 3,000-yard passing season, which would be his fourth in the last five seasons.