Tennessee Titans Jake Locker off to rocky start as offence leader but QB race is on – NFL News
A day after quarterback Jake Locker had been tipped to be leading the Tennessee Titans’ offence starting job competition, the player failed to make an impression on coaches and onlookers on the starting line after winning the opportunity in the game against
the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Friday.
It is definitely too early to label Jake’s performance a failure but as per numbers of the game he managed to complete only four out of 11 passes, measuring mere 21 yards. Further, he had an interception as well.
This was not the start Jake had expected and he clearly looked gutted after the match, which, thanks to superb performance of the defence, Titans convincingly won 30-7.
Coach Mike Munchak was not a happy man either but he did not offer any comments about the QB’s performance soon after the game, which could be down to the fact that it is too early to ascertain the performance and say a final word about it.
His competitor, incumbent Matt Hasselbeck, on the other hand was rather successful in first start in the preseason opener, which can add to pressure on Jake to perform better during the next opportunity.
It was nevertheless a disappointing outcome for Locker as a local newspaper had a day earlier rated him to be leading the QB competition. The paper as a matter of fact had claimed that it was now Locker’s starting job to lose.
Since Locker himself refrained from commenting on his performance of the day – he avoided facing media after the game – it is difficult to determine what went wrong for him.
He is expected to evaluate the poor showing later and note down the mistakes he made. The coach is also likely to contribute to the assessment of the player’s below-the-mark performance on the starting line.
Munchak was happy that the defence had timely clicked, helping Titans to record the impressive victory over Buccaneers. He said:
"It was about defence. These guys came out and got a bunch of three-and-outs. They got two turnovers and it led to points for us. That's encouraging for us to see."
As reflective in the coach's remarks, it is a great development that the team’s defence is regaining the lost touch, which was a subject of hot discussion last season.
Tags: