NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- Vince Young has his sights set on being a starter for an NFL team.
Young said in a segment aired by ESPN on Wednesday night that he will work to let his next team know he's an elite quarterback who just wants to win games and be the best. Asked if he could work as a backup, Young laughed.
"I'm going to go into the organization, the team, and compete. That's all I can do, and let them make their own decision after that," Young said. "Definitely, I am a starting quarterback, an elite quarterback in the NFL. I want to go ahead and start. But like it always is, the coaches have the last word."
Tennessee Titans owner Bud Adams actually had the last word Jan. 5 when he announced that the team would either release Young or try to trade him away because he's not in their plans for 2011. Adams agreed with Titans coach Jeff Fisher that the quarterback drafted No. 3 overall in 2006 had to go after an incident Nov. 21. That's when Young cursed at the coach and blew out of the locker room.
The Titans placed Young on season-ending injured reserve two days later, and Young had surgery to repair a torn tendon in his right thumb. But the team can't release Young until Feb. 7, and a trade won't happen until the NFL has a new labor deal.
A trade isn't likely, considering the rest of the NFL knows the Titans aren't keeping Young for 2011, and his contract has him due $8.5 million in salary for this season.
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Young said he believed he and Fisher had a great relationship but didn't get along with different personalities. Young told a reporter Jan. 5 that Fisher could have trusted him more. Asked about that, Young said he could have used better words. He said their chemistry should have been better for the rest of the team.
"It goes back to communication," Young said. "Our chemistry should've been a little bit better ... That's why the season kind of finished like it was."
As for Adams choosing Fisher over Young, the quarterback said he didn't have the slightest idea why.
"It's a business decision he had to make for his organization, which I'm OK with, and I think it'll be the best for both of us. Me starting off fresh, getting a chance to play for someone else," Young said. "To be a starting quarterback, that's what my focus is on right now."
Copyright 2011 by The Associated Press