NASHVILLE, Tenn. - Lost in all the fuss over Steve McNair's return to play his old team was the performance of the quarterback the Titans drafted to replace the veteran. And Vince Young definitely had his moments against the Baltimore Ravens.
The rookie threw for a career-high 211 yards, and if not for a blocked field goal he would have topped his mentor in the comeback department.
Young went three-and-out on his first drive after McNair put Baltimore up 27-26 Sunday, but he drove the Titans into range for Rob Bironas' attempted field goal to win.
The rookie tossed an 18-yard pass to Bobby Wade on the first play with 1:50 left. He was incomplete on his next attempt, then scrambled up the right side for 17 yards to the Ravens 31. He didn't return to the game, but he said it wasn't because he didn't want to.
"The ground popped me. Basically when you see a cartoon and you see the little stars, that's what happened," Young said. "It took me like five seconds and I was back in the game, but Coach Fisher said, `Hey get him out.'"
The Titans ran on the next three plays to set up Bironas for a 43-yarder that was blocked.
Young's record as a starter now is 2-4, but he bounced back nicely from a three-interception loss at Jacksonville last week. Receiver Drew Bennett, who caught six passes for 115 yards, said the rookie was great in the huddle.
"The first few drives he was right on where he needed to be. He was doing everything we asked him to do. He was making all the throws and all the reads. He did very well," Bennett said.
Baltimore defensive lineman Trevor Pryce was impressed with Young.
"A couple of times I got back there and hit him dead in the face and he stood back there like a man," Pryce said. "On that last scramble he had, I hit his hand with the ball in his hand and I looked down and the ball was still in his hands I was like 'Oh, my God.'"
That also doesn't include Young's improvisation while being tackled by Adalius Thomas and a couple other Ravens. He saw ex-Texas teammate Bo Scaife a few yards away and flipped the ball back to the tight end who ran untouched 13 yards for a touchdown.
"We'll take it," coach Jeff Fisher said. "Sometimes you don't design them that way. When you've got an athletic quarterback that's instinctive and talented as he is, you're going to get some of those."
PACMAN'S RETURN
Titans cornerback Adam "Pacman" Jones started and played in his first game back from a team-imposed suspension. His performance wasn't close to the level he played at in the game before he was suspended.
In that game, Jones intercepted a pass, his first in the NFL, and he returned a punt for a touchdown. Against the Ravens, Jones' first attempt to field a punt went through his hands, and he was lucky Colby Bockwoldt recovered for the Titans.
Coach Jeff Fisher also sent out Bobby Wade instead of Jones to catch the punt at the 2-minute warning. Jones did not look very happy about the move on the sideline.
"I wasn't necessarily worried about anybody's feelings. At the time, I wanted the ball fielded," Fisher said.
How Jones feels about Fisher's decision isn't known. Jones has not talked to reporters since October.
NEW GAME TIME
Flex scheduling in the NFL finally has shifted a kickoff for the Titans. They won't be playing in prime-time, but they will kick off at 3:15 p.m. on Nov. 26 when they host the New York Giants.
The change was necessary after NBC picked up Philadelphia-Indianapolis for the prime-time game that Sunday.
FOOD DRIVE
Titans fans came through with 9,966 pounds of food Sunday for the team's annual food drive for Second Harvest Food Bank of Middle Tennessee. Second Harvest is in need of food for its emergency food box program.
Upcoming drives include the Nurses for Newborns Baby Shower on Dec. 3 against Indianapolis and the U.S. Marine Corps Reserves Toys for Tots on Dec. 17.
