Football Titans stand behind QB Collins despite 0-4 start

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A week after struggling against the New York Jets, Kerry Collins didn't fare much better Sunday as the Tennessee Titans dropped to 0-4.

But the Titans, who finished the 2008 regular season 13-3 before their ouster in the first round of the playoffs, were adamant Collins would remain as starter.

"Kerry gives us our best chance to win,'' coach Jeff Fisher said Sunday after a 37-17 loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars.

With Vince Young as an option off the bench, Collins completed 29 of 48 passes for 284 yards, with a touchdown and two interceptions, his fifth and sixth of the season.

Collins hooked up with Nate Washington for a 14-yard score late in the third quarter, cutting the lead to 30-9, but it was too little, too late.

Fisher said he never thought about bringing Young into the game.

"That was my decision today, to stay with him and try and find a way to win," Fisher said of Collins.

The Titans are among six teams in the NFL without a win.

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers, St. Louis Rams, Cleveland Browns and Kansas City Chiefs have also started the season 0-4. The Carolina Panthers are 0-3.

During the 24-17 loss last week, Collins, 36, threw 13 consecutive passes without a completion at one point, finishing 15-of-37 for 170 yards with a touchdown and two interceptions.

"Kerry's the same quarterback who went 13-3 last year," running back LenDale White said, according to The Tennessean. "The spark needs to come within ourselves. It's all of us. We all need to look at ourselves and make plays."

Fisher replaced Collins with Young in 2006 after the Titans started 0-3. They finished 8-8, and Young won offensive rookie of the year honors.

That scenario was far from the minds of several Titans players, including Young.

"I am not the coach. I am not going to get involved in that," said tight end Bo Scaife, a college teammate of Young's at Texas, according to The Tennessean. "Whatever Coach Fisher wants to do, that's his call.

"But Kerry isn't the only guy out there. ... A lot of guys out there are supposed to help him and do their job whether it is O-line, running backs, tight ends or receivers. And everybody is accountable."

Young fell in line with Fisher, too.

"I'll talk to you during the week," he told a reporter for The Tennessean. "I don't want to get into any of that.''

Collins has completed 56.9 percent of his passes on the season, going 87-for-153 for 914 yards with five touchdowns, six interceptions and a passer rating of 68.9.

On Sunday, he said he wasn't throwing in the towel.

"Every man has to take it upon himself to figure out what he needs to do,'' Collins said, according to The Tennessean. "As a team we need to collectively come together, and not listen to the criticism from the outside, and keep believing in what we're doing.

"I take it upon myself to not give up and I know the leaders on this team will take it upon themselves to not give up as well.''
 
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