Titans’ offense under microscope in opener

No more preseason vanilla. No more excuses.

As the Tennessee Titans turn the page on preseason and turn their attention to Sunday’s regular-season opener against the Jacksonville Jaguars, one major issue still lingers: How much have Vince Young and the offense improved from last season?

In the preseason, the Titans did not score an offensive touchdown with Young under center in parts of four games. But at least outwardly, the Titans’ offense is confident it can flip the switch now that the games are meaningful.

“We’ve definitely got things in our offense this week that can take advantage of their defense, if all 11 guys are on the same page, and that’s what it’s going to take,” said Young, whose play has come under the most scrutiny, along with his receivers. “It always comes down to us as a team, period. If we take care of our responsibilities we should be all right.”

It is taking care of those responsibilities that presented a problem last season, as the Titans’ offense ranked 21st overall, 27th in passing and last in red-zone efficiency. Young’s season went south statistically as well, with just nine touchdown passes to 17 interceptions in his second season as the starting quarterback.

Now, with Mike Heimerdinger back as coordinator, he is trying to revamp Young’s footwork and confidence and instill in him to make good decisions with the football.

Through the preseason, it was a slow go, but now that the regular season is here, there focus shifts to maximizing production and perhaps more importantly, minimizing mistakes. And that is not just for Young, but for the entire offense.

“I think that’s a job for not just Vince, but for all 11 guys,” Heimerdinger said. “Our turnover ratio last year, we were zero, and our defense got a lot of turnovers, and our offense gave it back at the same rate. We can’t do that if we’re going to go back to the playoffs.”

Indeed, for a defense that forced 34 turnovers a year ago, it was canceled out by 34 giveaways by the Tennessee offense.

So, consider the Titans’ offense perhaps honing the basics with the long-range goal to make the system more complex and explosive.

“We’ve got a pretty simple scheme right now, and we’re going to be able to throw more things in as the year goes on,” tight end Bo Scaife said.

Young gets the message that for now small steps of success with smart decisions will outweigh bad risks nearly every time.

“I want to be a leader for my guys. I want to be consistent on third down and in the fourth quarter, and I want to be a leader for my guys and manage the game like a quarterback should,” Young said.

As to what that entails, Titans coach Jeff Fisher explains, “It’s just making good decisions. When people say manage the game, you take what they give you and if you end up in an unfortunate situation where it’s third-and-15, rather than try to throw a ball downfield and try to convert, just check it down and wait until the next series. That’s smart football.”