Collins settles in with Titans; Volek?s unhappiness evident
The Tennessee Titans wanted to create competition by signing veteran quarterback Kerry Collins. They?ve already succeeded in stirring up the man who thought he would be the starter.
Collins practiced Tuesday for the first time since signing a one-year deal with the Titans on Monday. Billy Volek said that because Vince Young also needs more reps, the snaps Collins took came from Volek?s share of the work.
?They brought Kerry in here to learn the offense, and he needs reps. They?re going to take them from me,? Volek said.
The six-year veteran was given the starting job when Steve McNair was traded away in June. Now Volek doesn?t sound very happy at the prospect that he hasn?t done enough to earn the job despite throwing for more yards in his first 10 NFL starts than any other quarterback since 1970.
?I guess they want a quarterback who?s perfect in every throw and every read, and that?s going to be hard to find,? he said. ?I guess they?re unhappy with my production. It?s hard when you?re only getting a quarter a game.
?And when you get two quarters in a game last Saturday against Atlanta and throw for 140 yards and they?re still disappointed in you. I don?t quite understand it. Like I said, it?s out of my control. Everyone knows I like to push the ball down the field. That?s what I?m good at.?
Volek is 24-of-38 for 266 yards with one interception this preseason. The one-time undrafted free agent has completed 312-of-517 for 3,505 yards with 26 touchdowns and 13 interceptions in his career.
Coach Jeff Fisher faces what he called a ?very, very delicate? challenge of dividing work among his quarterbacks, and he said they have to be smart.
?Basically what we?re going to do is we?re going to try not to eliminate any of Vince?s reps, to continue to develop Vince. So we?ll have to split them as best we can between Billy and Kerry. That will also include walkthrough, mental reps and those kinds of things,? Fisher said.
The coach said Collins, an 11-year veteran, performed well in his first practice after signing with the team Monday.
?He has a feel for the concepts,? Fisher said. ?Keep in mind, there are different centers, different huddle calls, different cadences and receivers, so for the first day, he?s just trying to get used to it.?
Collins was a salary cap casualty in March after spending the past two seasons with the Oakland Raiders. He said he felt he did all right for his first practice, considering his offseason work included throwing at stationary targets and conditioning work.
His 33,637 yards in passing rank 17th in NFL history and he trails only Brett Favre (53,615) and Drew Bledsoe (43,447) among active quarterbacks. He led teams to the playoffs three times, including an NFC championship game with Carolina and the Super Bowl with the New York Giants.
Collins doesn?t think it will take him too long to pick up the offensive of coordinator Norm Chow.
?The one thing I don?t want to do is put a timetable on this thing. I know what I?m going to do day in and day out to get ready to play. I feel encouraged that I don?t think it?ll take very long whether it?s a week or two weeks or whatever it is,? Collins said.
?I definitely feel that I could pick this offense up and be able to execute it in a game type of situation fairly quickly.?
Roster trimmed to 75
NASHVILLE (AP) ? The Tennessee Titans released eight players Tuesday to trim the roster to the NFL-mandated 75 players.
They released quarterback Cody Hodges of Texas Tech; receivers Sloan Thomas, O.J. Small and Tramain Hall; linebackers Jared Newberry and Colin Allred; and defensive ends Adam Roberts and Garrett McIntyre.
The Titans also waived-injured defensive tackle Marcus White and guard Derrick Warford, both with injured knees.
Cornerback Michael Waddell, recovering from a torn patella tendon suffered at home playing with his son in the offseason, was placed on the reserved non-football injury list.
Notes: The Titans also will be using Andy McCollum to scout upcoming opponents. McCollum was fired as coach at Middle Tennessee State University last November after going 4-7.