Marcus Spears joins SportsCenter and weighs in on what the Titans will have to do to defeat the Colts in Week 10 of the 2020 NFL season.
The Titans enter play 6-2 as they are a game up on the Colts, and need to get a win to stay in first in the South.
Here’s what to look for in Thursday’s game.
Over the course of their history, the Tennessee Titans have had some rather forgettable quarterbacks. Sure everyone remembers Steve McNair and even Vince Young, but there has really been some stinkers that has lined up under center since the team moved to Nashville in 1997.
Today we take a look at five of these quarterbacks, going so far as to giving you the QB that we think was the overall worst QB of all-time in Titans history.
5. Zach Mettenberger
Zachary Rich “Zach” Mettenberger was a Titans draft pick in the 6th round (pick number 178 overall) of the 2014 NFL Draft, and had a unspectacular career in Tennessee.
His debut came on September 28th, 2014, coming in a blowout relief loss of Charlie Whitehurst, and going 2-of-5 for 17 yards with an interception against the Colts.
In 2014 and 2015 he played in 14 games, starting 10, and going 0-10 in those starts. He threw for 2347 yards, 12 touchdowns and 14 picks, not awful numbers, but frankly he couldn’t escape going 0-10 as a starter, and the team parted ways with him after the 2015 season.
4. Charlie Whitehurst
The quarterback otherwise known as “Clipboard Jesus”, Whitehurst was part of the QB club for the 2014 season for the Titans, starting five games and playing in 7, going 1-4 in those four starts.
His numbers were not half bad, throwing for seven touchdowns and just two picks, but like Mettenberger his inability to make throws at key times hindered him and the team’s ability to get wins and score points.
Whitehurst’s two shining moments came on 10/5/14 against Cleveland throwing a career-high two touchdown passes against the Browns and a career-best 287 passing yards against the Jacksonville Jaguars on 12/18/14.
3. Jake Locker
Drafted in the first round (8th overall) of the 2011 NFL Draft, Locker was given plenty of chances to be the Titans QB of the future, but ended up starting just 23 games in four seasons.
In those 23 games he went 9-14, with his “best” season coming in 2013 when he went 4-3 as a starter, throwing for eight scores with four picks.
In 2012 he was named the team’s starter prior to the start of the season, and in 11 games he finished with 177 completions, 2,176 yards, ten touchdowns, and eleven interceptions. He rushed 41 times for 291 yards and a touchdown, as the team went 6-10.
Injuries hindered Locker during his NFL career, and finally on March 10th of 2015 he announced his retirement, telling the media he had lost his passion for the sport.
2. Matt Cassel
By the time the Titans got Matt Cassel, his career as even a decent NFL quarterback had passed.
He played two seasons in Tennessee, primarily as the backup to Marcus Mariota, as he appeared in just six games in two seasons, starting two, going 1-1.
Cassel threw for three scores and four picks in his time with the Titans, with his one shining moment coming in the finale of the 2016 season, going 16-of-26 for 150 yards, a touchdown, and an interception in a 24-17 win over Houston.
He was sent packing by Tennessee on March 9th of 2018.
1. Blaine Gabbert
Following stints with the Jaguars, Niners and one-year with Arizona, the Titans inked Gabbert to a two-year deal before the 2018 season.
He went 2-1 as a starter in three games, and appeared in eight games overall in one forgettable year with Tennessee.
Gabbert threw for four TD’s and four picks over his one season with the Titans, and got his only win on 9/16 against the Texans after Mariota was unable to play due to injury.
The quarterback was supposed to add stability to the QB position, but his poor play is a huge part of the reason he latest just a year in Nashville.
The Titans fear left tackle Taylor Lewan tore an ACL in Sunday’s 42-36 win over the Texans, Erik Bacharach of the Tennessean reports.
Fox Sports’ Jay Glazer said Lewan will have an MRI on Monday to assess the severity of the knee injury.
Lewan went down after a play in the third quarter of Sunday’s game against the Houston Texans at Nissan Stadium, clutching his knee. He walked very slowly to the sideline before heading to the blue medical tent. The 29-year-old then went to the locker room, again moving gingerly.
Hours after Sunday’s game, left guard Rodger Saffold reacted to Lewan’s injury.
“I want everyone to know I love my brother @TaylorLewan77,” Saffold tweeted. “It’s like both of us are doing rehab. I won’t let my brother do this alone! It’s all love on this side! The best side! #RUNLEFT”
Lewan, a three-time Pro Bowler, was the Titans’ first-round pick in 2014. In July 2018, he signed a five-year, $80 million contract extension, making him the highest-paid offensive lineman in league history.
Here are tonight’s inactives for the rare Tuesday night game between the Bills and Titans:
Buffalo Bills
John Brown WR
Jake Fromm QB
Zack Moss RB
Matt Milano LB
Lee Smith TE
Quinton Spain G
Tre’Davious White CB
Tennessee Titans
Kristian Fulton CB
Kamalei Correa LB
Kerick Roberson LB
Daniel Munyer OL
The Titans will not be in action again on Sunday after having their game against the Steelers last Sunday nixed.
Instead, the team will have to wait until Tuesday to take on the undefeated Bills, as the game was moved per Adam Schefter of ESPN.
Titans-Bills game scheduled for Sunday is being moved to Tuesday at 6 pm as long as there are no more positive tests with Tennessee, per sources.
Bills-Chiefs game being switched from next Thursday to Sunday but goes back it more positive tests in Tennessee, per source.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) October 8, 2020
I’m told by #Titans and #Bills players they were told there is an option of playing their Sunday game on Monday or Tuesday in Nashville. If that happens, Thursday night’s game between the Chiefs at Bills would be moved to Saturday. This all just being discussed.
— Dianna Russini (@diannaESPN) October 8, 2020
Things seemed to be on the upswing for the Titans all week when it came to Covid-19 tests, and according to ESPN’s Adam Schefter, that all has now changed, and it’s up in the air if Sunday’s game against the undefeated Bills is in jeopardy or not.
There is another Titans’ player positive test this morning and the inconclusive positive test from yesterday is now a confirmed positive, per source. The Titans’ facility remains closed and the prohibition on in person activities continues.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) October 8, 2020
Clearly this is not the news the team or the NFL wanted, and the league already has been looking to slap the Titans with some type of penalty for the outbreak that they had two weeks back which cost them their scheduled game against the Steelers.
Stay tuned to see if the NFL lays down a decision or what’s next for the Titans and their club in this tough situation.
It sounds like the Titans and Bills are a go for Sunday, this after there were no new positive Covid-19 tests on Tuesday.
A total of 20 Titans players and other staff members have returned positive coronavirus tests since Sept. 24.
Eight players last week, one this week and 11 overall this season — defensive lineman Jeffery Simmons, offensive tackle Isaiah Wilson, linebacker Kamalei Correa, cornerback Kristian Fulton, wide receiver Adam Humphries, defensive lineman DaQuan Jones, long-snapper Beau Brinkley, wide receiver Cameron Batson, tight end Tommy Hudson, fullback Khari Blasingame and cornerback Greg Mabin — have been placed on the reserve/COVID-19 list.
NFL commissioner Roger Goodell warned the league’s 32 teams Monday of penalties including potential forfeits of games for violations of COVID-19 protocols that force changes in the schedule.
The franchise has continued daily testing since the NFL told the Titans to close their facility on Sept. 29, and the league sent all 32 teams a memo Thursday with list of new protocols for clubs to follow when dealing with an outbreak or having been exposed to an outbreak during this coronavirus pandemic.
The Titans finally got some good news on Monday, as ESPN reported that the team received no new positive COVID-19 test results.
Right now the team has 20 members of the organization that have tested positive for COVID-19, which caused the game this last weekend between the Steelers and Titans to be pushed back to week seven.
Officials from the NFL and NFLPA have been in Tennessee since Friday, as they are looking to see what exactly caused the outbreak that forced the game to be pushed back a few weeks.
If the NFL and NFLPA find that at least one member of the Titans didn’t properly report being around someone with the coronavirus, it would be a violation.
It will be interesting to see if the league punishes the Titans for any reason, but as of now it looks like getting over the latest round and having no more positive tests is the big thing for the Titans so they can return to the field.
As of now it’s unknown if the team will be good to go Sunday as the club will host the Bills at home Sunday.
November 12th, 2020 
Matt Loede 
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