Fisher: Jones has chance to play Sunday

Jones, the sixth pick overall in April, was deactivated for the season opening 34-7 loss to Pittsburgh. He became the team’s first No. 1 pick not to play in his first game since receiver Kevin Dyson, the 16th overall draft choice overall in 1998 who was inactive for his first two games.

Fisher said Jones really must “buckle down.”

“We’re going to place him in some key roles on special teams. He’ll accept them. He’ll have to excel there and really buckle down on defense, become familiar and convince us he has a really good understanding,” Fisher said.

The Titans had hoped Jones would come into training camp and win one of their two open spots at cornerback. He didn’t sign a contract until three days were left, and the cornerback from West Virginia hasn’t had much time to catch up.

“The hardest thing to do in this league as I’ve said time and time again is to back up because you don’t get the reps,” Fisher said. “You have to mentally put yourself in position on the practice field as if you were there in person. That’s something that takes getting used to.”

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MISSING KICKS:@ Rob Bironas had one opportunity at a field goal in his NFL debut, and his 47-yarder in the second quarter went wide right. Coach Jeff Fisher called it a huge miss.

“He’s got to kick it between the uprights. He did a great job kicking off … He’s been told. He understands that. If he can do what he does on the practice field in a game, we won’t have any problems,” Fisher said.

Matt Stover, a 17-year NFL veteran, missed three field goals Sunday night in Baltimore’s 24-7 loss to Indianapolis. Fisher said that doesn’t make Bironas’ miss excusable, even from 47 yards.

“He’s got to make it,” Fisher said.

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HOPKINS READY:@ Veteran left tackle Brad Hopkins should be ready to play Sunday against Baltimore when he returns to the roster from his one-game suspension. He missed the final two exhibitions after having cartilage repaired in his right knee.

Coach Jeff Fisher said he talked with the people who worked with Hopkins last week when the veteran wasn’t allowed to come to the team’s headquarters and was told they believe he’ll be ready to play.

Hopkins’ absence forced the Titans to move rookie Michael Roos to left tackle and use lineman Jacob Bell at right tackle. Hopkins’ return will allow the Titans to switch the 6-foot-7 Roos back to right tackle.

Fisher said Roos did a good job aside from two false start penalties against Pittsburgh linebacker Joey Porter in the Steelers’ 3-4 defense.

“Beyond that, he knew what to do and battled. Now we’ll obviously flip him over to the other side,” Fisher said.

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ROBY’S RETURNS:@ Rookie Courtney Roby has room for improvement returning kicks. But he still helped the Titans start drives on average of 30.3 yards, which was better than their 27.2-yard average in 2004 or 27.3-yard average in 2003.

Fisher said they will give Adam “Pacman” Jones a chance on special teams, and that might include kickoffs because he averaged 25 yards with one touchdown while at West Virginia.

But Fisher isn’t planning on letting anyone think he’s satisfied with their play, even Roby.

“He can still improve. Yes, he’s catching balls as well as anybody we’ve had catch … He needs to pick his feet up, pick up another 10 or 15 yards. … We all expect him to get better with experience,” Fisher said.

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INJURY REPORT:@ Linebacker Keith Bulluck didn’t finish the game because of a strained right calf, but coach Jeff Fisher said the linebacker is a quick healer and should practice Wednesday. Tight end Ben Troupe played at least 10 more plays than the Titans had expected in his first game since breaking his left foot in May, and lineman Jacob Bell lasted the entire game after tearing his right anterior cruciate ligament last Christmas.

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EXTRA POINTS:@ Steve McNair, who was 18-of-26 for 219 yards, has been intercepted in seven of his nine season openers. He also was credited with a tackle after Travis Henry’s fumble. … Drew Bennett’s 53-yard catch matched his career long. Sunday’s opener featured five plays of 30 or more yards, but four were by Pittsburgh.

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QUOTABLE:@ Coach Jeff Fisher on whether he expected a 34-7 loss at Pittsburgh in the opener:

“No, I don’t go into a game thinking that this one is going to be tough. I went into the game thinking that we had a chance to win this one. I fully expected that.”