Is VY a coach killer?

This was supposed to be the year that VY quieted the critics and became an NFL QB, a guy who could win a game with his arm and not his legs. Well, things aren't working out that way. In fact, it looks like Young might be heading the other direction. In the 4th quarter he was sitting on the bench and had to be coaxed abck into the game by Field Goal Fisher. Fisher was in full damage control after the game saying he was just asking Young about his hamstring and if it was too tight then did they need to go to Kerry Collins. Young eventually went back out onto the field and was later injured on a hit from the Jags Daryl Smith.

After the game Young pulled his usual, "I'm upset so I am going to mope and sullk and blow off the media like a 5 year-old." Grow up and stop acting like a baby, the millions you are getting paid come with responsibility. One of those responsibilites is to play QB, another is to answer questions from the media after the game. Every coach, QB, WR, RD, DE, LB, DB has to answer them, it's part of the job. It's not a black/white thing, Steve McNair always answered the questions, Donovan McNabb answers the questions. Guess who didn't always answer them and guess who acted immature and sulked on the sidelines and was defended by coaches and teammates when he played poorly, was never the one to blame when the offense was terrible it was always the WRs; Michael Vick.

This is a recap of the 4th quarter drama from the City Paper:

With 8:28 to play and the Titans nursing a 10-7 lead, cornerback Cortland Finnegan snagged his second interception away from Jacksonville’s David Garrard, giving Tennessee possession of the football at the Jaguars’ 43. On the next play, a Young pass in the flat was picked off by Jaguars rookie Derrick Harvey, leading to boos from Titans fans.The Titans’ defense, which posted seven sacks against Garrard Sunday, rose to the occasion with an 11-yard sack from Tony Brown and an eventual three-and-out.

But when the Titans’ offense took the field with 5:57 to play after the punt and a TV timeout, Young was not in the huddle and backup Kerry Collins was frantically practicing taking snaps and dropping back.

Fisher could be seen near midfield speaking emotionally to Young, who eventually put his helmet on and trotted back on to the field. When asked about the delay in Young getting to the huddle, Fisher wrote it off as a hamstring issue, something that cropped up on the injury report on Friday.“Just regarding the hamstring, he said, ‘It’s tight,’” Fisher said. “And I said, “If it’s tight, we’ll go with Kerry [Collins] and try to talk him back into it and he felt good. When he got out here, he didn’t have any issues with the hamstring.”

Young’s knee buckled on a hit from Jacksonville’s Daryl Smith and he left with a sprained left knee with 4:17 to play and exited the locker room on crutches. He was driven home by a friend. The extent of the injury is not yet known but it will be interesting to see if the offense is better with Collins than with Young, it couldn't be much worse.

This is a column from David Climer of the Tennessean:

"Welcome to Titans ’08. If the game is dull, just focus on the sideline. That’s where the real drama unfolds. It took only one game — a victory over Jacksonville, no less — for the season to take a strange turn. This team has issues at quarterback, be it a tight hamstring, a sprained knee, a bruised ego, a bad attitude or all of the above. Frankly, it’s hard to see the Titans taking flight if Vince Young doesn’t get his act together — physically and emotionally. Playing great defense is one thing; having to constantly defend your quarterback is another.

By now you know the score: For whatever reason, Young appeared unwilling to take the field midway through the fourth quarter on Sunday afternoon following his second interception and a resulting cascade of boos from the fans at LP Field. Eventually, he re-entered the game, only to suffer a knee injury four plays later. His day was done. But the real story was just beginning.We’ll never know exactly what happened. Titans Coach Jeff Fisher immediately shifted into damage control. Young’s teammates were guarded in their answers to questions about the quarterback. As for Young, he was observed in the locker room on crutches more than an hour after game’s end but left without speaking to reporters. Mum’s the word.

But there was no hiding the chaos when Young failed to join the rest of the offense on the field with 5:57 remaining and the Titans clinging to a 10-7 lead. As we piece the story together, it appears that Young began to experience some tightness in his hamstring after a short pass to his right was intercepted by Jacksonville defensive end Derrick Harvey. Proper sideline protocol is for the player to notify a trainer about an injury, no matter if it’s a tight hamstring or a severed limb. That way, he can get immediate treatment and the coaches are made aware of the situation and can prepare accordingly. But after throwing the interception and being roundly booed, Young went to the bench and sat down. No medical personnel were summoned. When the defense forced a punt three plays later and the offense returned to the field, Young was AWOL. That’s when things grew frantic. It’s hard to run a play without a quarterback.“I came on the field and 10 wasn’t in the huddle,” said center Kevin Mawae. “I didn’t know what the situation was.” Fisher then made a beeline to Young, standing several yards away. After the game, Fisher recalled that his conversation with Young centered solely on the quarterback’s hamstring.“He said, ‘It’s tight,’ and I said, ‘If it’s tight, we’ll go with Kerry,’ and try to talk him back into it and he felt good,” Fisher said.

But considering how animated Fisher appeared as he talked with Young, it’s hard to believe some other matters weren’t discussed. From the outside looking in, Fisher seemed to all but throw Young back onto the field. But it’s no surprise that Fisher soft-pedaled this in the post-game interview. In two seasons, he always has been overly protective of his quarterback. It doesn’t appear things are changing in Year 3. It’s time to get with the program. Young has to grow out of this.

Sulking is no longer an option.

This is the toughest part of the learning curve for Young. At the University of Texas, he could do no wrong.

The NFL is a different matter.

Titans safety Michael Griffin, who was Young’s teammate at Texas, gets it.“Hey, fans are going to be fans. Boos are going to happen,” Griffin said. “Everybody has their opinions.”Yes they do. And opinions are beginning to change where Vince Young is concerned. He made believers when he was NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year in 2006. Despite some slippage last season, he quarterbacked the Titans to the playoffs. But with a lousy preseason and the ugly residue of the season-opener, Young now has some catching-up to do. His teammates still voice their support in interviews but you can sense some concerns creeping into the locker room. “Part of playing quarterback in this league is the ups and downs,” said Kerry Collins, who finished what Young started. “For a young guy, it’s a hard thing to learn sometimes. It’s not easy.“There are times when you’re going to get booed. There are times when things aren’t going the way you want it to go. You’ve got to fight through it, and I believe he will. It’s just part of the whole process. No quarterback has ever been immune to it.”

Sounds like the real drama is just beginning."