Oh, to be young and a starting quarterback in the NFL.
Robert Griffin III is making people re-think the identity of "America's Team." Andrew Luck is an evolutionary Manning brother. Russell Wilson is the biggest thing in Seattle since Kurt Cobain. Colin Kaepernick has wiped poor Alex Smith off the face of the Earth.
And then there's Jake Locker. His first season as the Tennessee Titans' starter hasn't gone smoothly. The Titans are 3-7 in games he has started, with Locker progressing at a slower rate than expected.
"It's not how I would've wished they had gone," Locker said Wednesday, via The Tennessean. "But there are a lot of positives to be taken from it, and a lot of things that you can learn from and grow from to make you better going forward."
Locker's last five games have been particularly grisly. He has thrown four touchdown passes and nine interceptions, and he has struggled with his accuracy. The Titans have gone 1-4 in that stretch, likely sealing coach Mike Munchak's fate.
The coach hoped for patience from Titans owner Bud Adams in discussing his own job earlier this week. He feels the same way about his quarterback. He deflected blame away from Locker.
"I don't know if it's him being shaky; I think the team is shaky," he said. "The support around him isn't great. ... There are a lot of factors that go into it."
Despite getting a year of preparation time behind Matt Hasselbeck, Locker remains a raw talent who needs time to develop. This season didn't go as planned, but expect him to get another season to prove himself in 2013.
Follow Dan Hanzus on Twitter @DanHanzus.
