Young practices, status for Sunday still uncertain

Quarterback Vince Young made his return to the practice field Wednesday, participating with his teammates for the first time since suffering a sprained MCL in his left knee in the season opener.

Young has missed the three games since the season opener and has only watched practice from the sideline after the injury and the bizarre circumstances that followed in the day after when he skipped a schedule MRI and had Metro Police searching for him, locating him after four hours.

Titans coach Jeff Fisher has already said that Kerry Collins will remain the starting quarterback after Young returns from the injury. It is not known if Young will be the No. 2 or No. 3 quarterback once he is active again.

Young, wearing a white compression sleeve on his left knee, briefly took a few snaps with the first-team offensive unit and also with the scout team on Wednesday.

“He was kind of limited today, and we’ll just pick up the pace as the week goes on,” Fisher said. “He looked just like I expected to see. The arm strength is good, the legs are good, and he moved around. He had a really good workout yesterday.”

Fisher said he wants to see exactly how Young does when his workload is increased on Thursday and Friday before deciding whether to move him ahead of Chris Simms into the No. 2 role behind Collins.

“We’re going to pick the pace up tomorrow, and see how he is. I probably won’t make that decision until Sunday,” Fisher said. “I need to see him continue through the week to progress physically. He’s into the game plan, that’s not a concern of mine.”

Young was not available to the media on Wednesday.

VIVID MEMORIES: The Titans and this week’s opponent, the Baltimore Ravens, have a storied history between them, and linebacker Keith Bulluck reminisced about the good old days of the one-time AFC Central rivalry, fueled by a somewhat acrimonious relationship between Fisher and then-Ravens coach Brian Billick.

“I think I miss the Billick and Fisher rivalry just because they always used to take good shots at each other during the week. That was always fun,” Bulluck said.

There were reports after Sunday’s game that Fisher told his players that the Titans “hate” the Ravens, but Bulluck denied that Wednesday, putting his own spin on the situation.

“No, Jeff didn’t say anything like that. Someone else said something,” Bulluck said.

So did Bulluck remember who uttered such a thing in the Titans postgame locker room?

“It was me!” Bulluck said, drawing a roaring laugh from reporters. “You had to be there to hear what I said.”

Was the H-word uttered? “There was an F-word in there,” Bulluck replied.

This is the first meeting between the clubs since 2006 when former Titans quarterback Steve McNair rallied the Ravens to a 27-26 win after trailing 19-7.

“Last time they came in here, they stole one, when our quarterback was playing for their team, along with our wide receiver, Derrick Mason, and all that,” Bulluck said.

Asked if having former teammates on the Ravens roster made it more difficult to “hate” the Ravens then, he replied, “No, it made it real easy, just because we sucked at the time, and they were 13-3. It definitely made it easy at the time, but no hard feelings.

KINDER, GENTLER: Mason, now with this week’s opponent, the Baltimore Ravens, said one of the few people he keeps in touch with in the Titans organization is equipment manager Paul “Hoss” Noska.

Most of Mason’s teammates from that era are no longer in Tennessee, but his old offensive coordinator Mike Heimerdinger has returned, and has mellowed somewhat. That notion surprised Mason.

“Oh man, I would be surprised,” said Mason, whose career blossomed under Heimerdinger’s tutelage. “I think the older you get, you have to mellow out a little bit. If he was still ranting and raving like he was, it would probably cause an ulcer by now. … Dinger’s Dinger, man. He’s going to get fired up, I guarantee, he’s going to get fired up when he needs to. But for the most part I think he’s going to keep it on the down low and just call the plays and put guys in position to make plays.”

INJURIES: Titans receiver Justin Gage sat out practice Wednesday while wearing a brace on his right knee. Gage is Tennessee’s second-leading receiver with 12 receptions this season, despite missing one of Tennessee’s four games.

Also, running back LenDale White sat out with a shoulder problem, while cornerback Reynaldo Hill missed practice with a hamstring injury.