Titans win, but what about Vince?

Bo Scaife had a 44-yard reception to set up the Titans' game-clinching TD. Mike Strasinger for The City Paper

The Tennessee Titans won their season opener against Jacksonville 17-10 Sunday, but may have lost starting quarterback Vince Young in the process.

Exactly when they lost Young, however, may be up for debate. Young left with a sprained left knee with 4:17 to play and exited the locker room on crutches.

But it appeared the quarterback had to be coaxed back onto the field by head coach Jeff Fisher before he was injured, one series after throwing his second interception of the game.

It was the questions regarding Young that seemingly overshadowed a key AFC South victory, a strong performance from the defense and the sterling debut of running back Chris Johnson.

With 8:28 to play and the Titans nursing a 10-7 lead, cornerback Cortland Finnegan snagged his second interception away from Jacksonville’s David Garrard, giving Tennessee possession of the football at the Jaguars’ 43.

On the next play, a Young pass in the flat was picked off by Jaguars rookie Derrick Harvey, leading to boos from Titans fans.

The Titans’ defense, which posted seven sacks against Garrard Sunday, rose to the occasion with an 11-yard sack from Tony Brown and an eventual three-and-out.

But when the Titans’ offense took the field with 5:57 to play after the punt and a TV timeout, Young was not in the huddle and backup Kerry Collins was frantically practicing taking snaps and dropping back.

Fisher could be seen near midfield speaking emotionally to Young, who eventually put his helmet on and trotted back on to the field.

When asked about the delay in Young getting to the huddle, Fisher wrote it off as a hamstring issue, something that cropped up on the injury report on Friday.

“Just regarding the hamstring, he said, ‘It’s tight,’” Fisher said. “And I said, “If it’s tight, we’ll go with Kerry [Collins] and try to talk him back into it and he felt good. When he got out here, he didn’t have any issues with the hamstring.”

Four plays into the series, on a dropped pass by LenDale White, Young’s knee buckled on a hit from Jacksonville’s Daryl Smith.

He lay on the ground for a bit and watched most of the remainder of the game from Tennessee’s bench before being carted to the locker room with 59 seconds to play.

Meanwhile, Collins came off the bench, and with help from tight end Bo Scaife, played the role of hero.

The 14-year veteran hit Scaife in the flat with a screen to beat a Jaguar blitz on third-and-15, and the play went for 44 yards. Collins then hit Justin Gage with a 21-yard pass to the 1, where White cashed in putting the game away at 17-7.

“That’s one of those where if you can get it off, it can be a big play, and they brought the house basically on a blitz,” Collins said of the play to Scaife. “Bo did a great job setting the guy up, and released just as I was releasing the ball. I knew if we could get it off, it had the potential to be a big play.”

Scaife, who had a career-best six catches for 105 yards, said he had never seen such open running room.

“I’ve run that play since I was a little boy, and it’s never been as open as it was today,” Scaife said.

Meanwhile, the defense was already in midseason form, harassing Garrard into two interceptions, plus a key fumble on a sack by Kyle Vanden Bosch, who not only had the strip, but also recovered the loose ball.

“I think scheme-wise, we are ahead of where we have been. We are real comfortable with what we are doing,” Vanden Bosch said.

It was Garrard and the Jaguars who were uncomfortable, as Fred Taylor and Maurice Jones-Drew had just 31 yards rushing combined.

For Tennessee, rookie first-round pick Johnson came as advertised. He got the start over LenDale White and took a counter pitch to the left on his first play and ran for 18 yards on his way to a 93-yard rushing debut. He also added 34 yards on three catches, including a nice grab on a low pass from Young in the flat that he converted into a 7-yard touchdown and a 10-7 Tennessee lead.

As for Young, the questions that linger now will deal with the severity of the knee injury. The severity is not exactly known, but it thought that Young could miss some time. Another former Texas quarterback, Chris Simms, is someone the Titans are believed to be interested in taking a look at. Young did not speak to reporters after the game and was apparently unable to put much weight on his left leg.

As for the other issue, regarding the discussion on the sideline before the injury, real or perceived, the Titans’ players at least outwardly said it had no effect.

“It’s one of those deals where you can’t think about why he’s not out there,” center Kevin Mawae said. “You’ve got to go out there and play ball. There are things that happen on the sideline or in a game where if somebody goes down or you don’t know what the situation is, for me, if 10’s not in there, I’ve got to find the next guy and get some snaps and get ready to roll. Again, we’ve got to play regardless of who is behind us or not.”

Young finished the game 12 of 22 for 110 yards with one touchdown and two interceptions. His first pick, by Jacksonville’s Gerald Sensabaugh that was returned to the 5-yard line, set up the Jags’ only touchdown.

“I don’t worry about Vince. I’ve known him long enough,” Scaife said. “He’s a competitor. He’s a winner. He’s still growing as a quarterback. Everyone in this locker room still believes in him, and that’s all he needs.”