Tennessee Titans quarterback Jake Locker was once expected to make his return to the starting lineup this week after missing plenty of time with a thumb injury, but it looks like the Titans never intended to play him in the first place. In fact, I’ll take things a step further by stating that this whole thumb injury was overblown, and that Locker could have easily played sooner. I have this feeling that Ken Whisenhunt milked the injury in order to buy time for Charlie Whitehurst to start, Zach Mettenberger to soak up a bit more info, and reversed course when he realized that Whitehurst wasn’t good enough. It just seems interesting how the Titans conveniently kept pushing back his return date. While it looked like it was to be cautious with him, it may have simply been to buy more time. But I guess I should stay away from conspiracy theories.
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Anyway, Titans head coach Ken Whisenhunt confirmed that the team has indeed made the switch to LSU Tigers rookie Zach Mettenberger, and it appears that they aren’t going to deviate from that for the rest of the season. According to Pro Football Talk’s Michael David Smith, “We’re going with Zach and we’re going to stay with Zach.”
Mettenberger has impressive physical tools despite his statue-esque play in the pocket, but detractors point to his inconsistent decision-making, elevation of play from elite college receivers-and standout rookies- Odell Beckham Jr. and Jarvis Landry, and his inability to locate the safety on deep throws over the middle (OK, that’s just something I pointed out).
It can’t hurt to see what Mettenberger has in him, because, if he fails, the Titans will probably have one of the highest picks in the draft and will be in a position to draft someone like Marcus Mariota.