Drexel recently wrote about the possibility of benching Kerry Collins and the benefits of starting Vince Young. Thanks to all of you who joined in the discussion which followed.
Now I’ll play devil’s advocate and take the other side of that argument, one reason why Jeff Fisher won’t bench Collins in favor of Young. At least not yet. Maybe after the Titans are 0-6 entering their bye week, Bud Adams will make that call. But for now, Fisher is sticking with Collins.
Fisher has said Collins isn’t the reason for the Titans’ poor start and he’s right, at least partially. Collins didn’t miss any field goals against the Steelers, play pass defense against the Texans, drop any passes or fumble any returns against the Jets. On the other hand, Collins’ interceptions have contributed to the losses.
So if Collins isn’t playing that well, why does Fisher think he gives Tennessee the best chance to win?
For the time being, let’s put aside the fact that Fisher seldom benches a starter.
Other than Collins’ body of work, I believe the main reason he’s the starter is because Fisher doesn’t have much confidence in Young. Why not? Is it because of Vince’s poor 2007 season? Or because he quit on the team in the 2008 season opener? It’s not hard to believe that Fisher, as a former player, is strongly influenced by the latter.
It makes you wonder if Fish thinks the team has also lost confidence in Vince. After all, players reportedly said things like, “now we have a chance to win” when Collins replaced Young in that fateful Jaguars game.
Young didn’t help himself any when he criticized his teammates after the Cowboys game this preseason:
“There were a lot of mistakes from pretty much everybody, just don’t point fingers at Vince.”
Earlier this week, Vince made some more prudent comments, indicating he’s a team player. It’s a good sign, even though it may soon be moot.
What’s your opinion? Does Fisher have confidence in Vince and does Fisher think the other players have confidence in him? Could that be a reason, other than Fisher’s reluctance to bench starters and Collins’ body of work, why Vince isn’t starting?
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