Quarterback Jake Locker played poorly for the second straight week as the Titans fell to the Bengals, leading to postgame questions for coach Ken Whisenhunt about whether or not he contemplated making a move to Charlie Whitehurst in an attempt to rally a struggling offense.
Locker was 17-of-34 for 185 yards and two interceptions. He also fumbled twice, although the Titans didn’t lose either of them, and has generally displayed little growth over the early part of this season.
Whisenhunt said after the game that such a move was never on the table. He also cited his own history running a quarterback carousel in Arizona as part of the reason why his focus is on fixing things rather than finding a new starter.
“Jake is still our quarterback. … One of the things that you asked me when I first go here was what would I do differently,” Whisenhunt said, via 247Sports.com. “One of the things was patience with the quarterback. Jake has to play better. Once again, we all have to play better.”
Patience is better than blindly picking between the likes of Kevin Kolb, Ryan Lindley, Max Hall and John Skelton, but it can’t be endless. Locker’s set to be a free agent after this season and the Titans owe it to themselves to find out about rookie Zach Mettenberger if they know Locker’s not going to be back next season. Three weeks into the season is probably too early to contemplate such a move, but it can get late early in the NFL when you don’t have good quarterback play and the Titans don’t have it right now.
