In theory, playing a football game on the national stage is a positive development for a Tennessee Titans team hoping to make some noise in the AFC South.
But with Thursday night's game against the Pittsburgh Steelers fast approaching, the Titans' condensed week won't allow for the return of quarterback Jake Locker, on the mend from a separated left shoulder.
Titans coach Mike Munchak announced Monday that old-as-the-trees veteran Matt Hasselbeck will make his second start of the season, according to Jim Wyatt of the Tennessean.
The Titans are back where they started with Hasselbeck at the wheel. In Sunday's 30-7 loss to the Minnesota Vikings, the veteran passer looked nothing like the steady hand who started 16 games a season ago as Tennessee slowly groomed Locker from a distance. Hasselbeck threw for 200 yards, but most of this came in garbage time as the Titans struggled to crawl back into the game.
Locker pieced together a 90.2 passer rating in two starts before the injury. That number isn't entirely indicative of his play, but he looked comfortable in the role. We won't know much about this offense until he returns.
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