Can Titans turn it around on short week?

Chris Johnson and the Titans take on the Packers on Sunday. File

How focused are the Tennessee Titans on the task at hand as they put their 7-0 record on the line against the Green Bay Packers?

The Titans are on the verge of tying the franchise record for consecutive regular-season victories, and it seemed few if any inside the locker room even knew it.

With a win Sunday, the Titans would record their 11th consecutive regular-season win, dating back to the final three games of last year. But the subject is one that many players would just as soon avoid, along with questions of how long they can remain perfect in the 2008 season.

“I’m not sure I’ve really thought about it,” quarterback Kerry Collins said. “All that kind of stuff, I think those things take care of themselves when you take care of the things you need to take care of. Our focus is on what we’ve got to do this week. Obviously, those things happen, and they’re great, but we’re just trying to get another win.”

Added linebacker Keith Bulluck, who has seen plenty in his nine years with the club, both good and bad, “If that was our focus, it would be real impressive. That’s not necessarily our focus. It’s getting this eighth win. Green Bay has a real good offense. They’re a real good team. We’ve got our work cut out for us on a short week.

“The name of the game is to win as many football games as you can before the season is up. Right now, we’re doing pretty well, sitting with seven wins. We’re just trying to get as many as we can.”

That was the sentiment throughout the locker room, even as the Titans approach a milestone that would tie them with the 1993 Houston Oilers for the most consecutive wins in franchise history. (That ’93 Oilers team, however, is best remembered for defensive coordinator Buddy Ryan taking a sideline swing at offensive coordinator Kevin Gilbride in a game).

Not having those sorts of distractions are a key to success, says veteran center Kevin Mawae. Gone are the problems of Adam “Pacman” Jones that plagued the Titans for three years. And even the Vince Young melodrama of week one is a distant memory for the Tennessee players.

“We have no mega-superstars on our team, and no drama anymore. It’s just about football. It’s about the Titans,” Mawae said. “We do it the old school way. We play hard on defense and tough offense, and we step up and make the plays when we need to.”

The Titans’ focus has been on breaking each game down and trying to win, and thus far it has worked. In the process of that, milestones and personal accomplishments come, says Titans coach Jeff Fisher.

“We thought we broke the record when we won four consecutive [games to start the season]. That was a franchise record,” Fisher said. “We set a franchise record two weeks ago in rushing. It’s a good football game and we’re just trying to win the next one.”

Perhaps the most rewarding part of any such accomplishment could be found in the players’ and the organization’s ability to turn around a situation that from 2004 through the middle part of 2006 was as bleak as it had been since the move from Houston in 1997.

“Just being here when we were 4-12 and just seeing how the locker room was and the franchise was when we weren’t winning, it’s a big change,” tight end Bo Scaife said. “I know the young guys are getting a big dose of this early, because it wasn’t like that for everybody coming into the league. We’re 7-0 and just trying to get to 8-0 for everybody in the organization and the city.”

Mawae said the payoff won’t come until the end of the season, if the Titans can reach their desired team goals.

“There’s been plenty of guys in the locker room that have had big games before and had letdowns afterwards, or have had successful seasons that started off strong and fizzled out at the end of the year,” Mawae said. “It’s a combination of all those things that doesn’t allow for those negative things to happen in this locker room.

“We’ve got a lot of young guys that learned what it’s like to get in the playoffs last year, and I think they want a bigger taste of it this year.”

More Fatheads: The Fathead of Peyton Manning is gone, but apparently the folks at the company sent one of Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers to defensive line coach Jim Washburn for this week.

“Wash said they sent it to him, because it got so much attention in the papers,” defensive end Dave Ball said of the story last week that was first reported in The City Paper.

Albert Haynesworth said he discovered the Rodgers Fathead outside the door to the defensive line meeting room, and that it has not yet been posted on the wall for this week.

“It’s in a box. I looked,” Haynesworth said. “There was a Fathead sitting beside our door, and I thought it was Peyton and he was going to send it back and get his money back. I looked, and it was Aaron Rodgers. He hasn’t put it up yet. Maybe he’s got one for every quarterback we play.”

That brought a reporter’s question that asked if Haynesworth believed a Fathead existed of Chicago Bears quarterback Kyle Orton.

Injuries: Both Dave Ball and running back Quinton Ganther returned to practice after being knocked out of Monday night’s game with Green Bay with concussions.

Defensive end Kyle Vanden Bosch practiced a second straight day with as he tries to make his way back from a groin injury. Also, quarterback Vince Young, out Wednesday because off illness, was back, though defensive end William Hayes missed a second day because of illness. Kick returner Chris Carr (back) and linebacker Collin Allred (groin) missed a second day in a row.

Titans vs. Packers

LP Field

Sunday, noon

What to watch for on offense: Green Bay has struggled against the run this season, ranking 25th in that category. The Titans would like to get Chris Johnson, who leads the AFC in rushing, involved early and often to wear down the Packers. If Green Bay tries to put extra people in the box, or even an extra linebacker as the Colts did Monday night, the Titans are confident that Kerry Collins can adjust on the fly and take advantage of mismatches downfield.

What to watch for on defense: Tennessee must get pressure on Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers and not allow big-play receivers like Greg Jennings or Donald Driver to get in a seam or behind them for a potential big play. That means the secondary will have to have top-notch coverage the same as it did against Indy, and the defensive line, which should have Kyle Vanden Bosch back this week, must get pressure.

Worth noting: Quietly, tight end Bo Scaife is becoming the Titans’ most dependable pass-receiving target. His 28 catches thus far are far and away the best total on the team.

Prediction: The Titans should be concerned here, as they come off a short week from Monday night and face a Packers team that will be rested from its bye week. It won’t be easy, but the Titans should win the battle of the line of scrimmage and thus the game. Titans 21, Packers 20.