Jones can’t wait for first NFL game with hometown team

Napoleon Richard Cooper

Ricky Lapolian Cooper

Napoleon Richard Cooper

Ricky Lapolian Cooper

Rookie year paperwork kept Adam ?Pacman? Jones from playing the one NFL team he couldn?t wait to face as a professional.

The sixth pick overall in the 2005 had a contract holdout that didn?t end until less than 48 hours before the Tennessee Titans visited Jones? hometown team, the Atlanta Falcons. The Titans flew out the day after Jones reached a deal but the papers weren?t signed until Aug. 22.

That meant Jones missed the chance to play in the Georgia Dome in front of his family and friends. So with the Falcons (1-1) visiting the Titans (0-2) in an exhibition Saturday night, Jones is doing his best to make up for lost time.

?I?ll probably have about 60 tickets at this game. It?s going to hurt my pockets a little bit. I just want my whole family to be here. This is a dream come true. For me to play against my hometown, it?s always what I wanted to do,? Jones said.

?Hopefully, we can come out with a W.?

Jones went to Westlake High School where his No. 5 jersey is retired, and the cornerback who started 13 games for the Titans last season said his Tennessee No. 32 is a hot item back home.

?From Bankhead to Hollywood, that?s all they?re wearing. If we were playing there, you?d see a lot of Pac jerseys there. They support me a lot,? Jones said.

PASSING DEFENSE: The Titans still are auditioning cornerbacks for their nickel and dime backs, the fifth and sixth defensive backs on the field in passing situations. Vincent Fuller got the first look followed by Antoine Harris with rookie Cortland Finnegan and veteran Andre Woolfolk in the mix.

Coach Jeff Fisher said Finnegan, a seventh-round pick out of Samford, has got good fundamentals and speed.

?When you take a guy who played the safety position in college and move him out to corner, it?s going to take some time. He?s played two games at corner. We?re going to get him some opportunities to play at the nickel this week and continue to help him improve,? Fisher said.

Fisher said the more options they have at the position, the better the Titans will be. But the Titans are asking more of Fuller, a fourth-round draft pick last year out of Virginia Tech only to break his right fibula in the second game of 2005.

?He was coming on last year. We all knew it, and we were all high on him, then the injury set him back. He?s had a good offseason and right now, in the middle of this training camp, he?s right where we expect him to be,? Fisher said.

So, is a final decision on the nickel and dime coming soon?

?I think we have a pretty good idea where we are in our mind right now,? Fisher said.

LAST CHANCE: Saturday night?s game is the last chance for some Titans to impress the coaching staff because the first cut deadline of this preseason is Tuesday, when NFL clubs must trim rosters to 75 players.

The Titans currently have 86 players on the roster, including cornerback Michael Waddell who is on the non-football injury list for hurting his patellar tendon during the offseason. Coach Jeff Fisher said the change to 75 instead of 65 for the first cut is big.

?We can afford to keep some more players around, which is important. It?s going to allow us to practice, allow us to heal up. Nonetheless, we have 10 to 12 or so, this will be their last go-around at least for the time being,? Fisher said.

Some of the players released at the first cut in 2005 were signed again during this offseason.

?It?s been good work for them, and they?ve all gotten better,? Fisher said.

EXTRA POINTS: FB Troy Fleming, who had arthroscopic surgery on his right knee on Aug. 7, may return to practice next week. … This franchise hasn?t gone 0-4 in the preseason since 1997, the team?s first season in Tennessee. The last time the Titans started 0-2 was 1999 when they beat, yes, the Atlanta Falcons in the third exhibition in Nashville.