Shoulder injury: Tennessee Titans might rest QB Jake Locker to try Matt Hasselbeck again – NFL News
The Tennessee Titans have said to clear the status of quarterback Jake Locker’s availability for selection for next weekend game by mid-week practice on Wednesday, although MRI scans results have shown that the player has not suffered a structural damage
to his left shoulder.
Coach Mike Munchak confirmed on Monday (Oct. 01) that the first-year offence leader has suffered the injury similar to the one he had suffered in the season opener against the New England Patriots, but they will determine if he is able to play next Sunday
by this Tuesday or Wednesday.
Mike said:
"The MRI was very similar. It popped out, and they popped it back in. He's real sore right now, so they're just waiting a couple of days to get a full examination."
Locker injured his left shoulder – the same he injured in the Patriots’ game – against Houston Texans on Sunday (Sept. 30) and was inspected on the sidelines. Although he did not return to finish the game, later scans showed he has not suffered a serious
blow i.e. structural damage, which could have almost ended the season for him.
The coach said the Titans might prefer to give the QB some rest so he allows a substantial amount of time for the shoulder to heal instead of rushing him straight into the side and risk reoccurrence of the injury.
He said:
"Obviously, rest is better than playing football with any injury. Not playing football would be good for all of us, but I don't know that he would sit out for that reason."
In case Locker misses the weekend game, former offence leader QB Matt Hasselbeck is anxiously waiting to replace him on the starting line. He had almost played three quarters of the previous game after Locker suffered the injury.
Hasselbeck is the main starter for the Titans and started for them for the entire past season. He lost the job to the new contender Locker in a competition between the two leaders in the preseason phase this year.
Apparently, Locker is yet to perform up to an optimum level and his injury might provide an opportunity to the team to try Hasselbeck again as a starter for a few successive games to see if he is able to get them out of the current losing streak.
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