Vince Young said he still hasn't talked with Jeff Fisher about why the Tennessee Titans' coach benched him for the final quarter of Sunday's game. Young also insists he isn't dwelling over the move.
The quarterback spoke to reporters Wednesday after practice and said he's busy preparing to start when the Titans (1-1) visit the New York Giants (1-1) this weekend.
Young said he was upset about being benched for the fourth quarter in last weekend's 19-11 loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers when trailing 16-3. He said he isn't sure if it will happen again, but he isn't worried about it.
"I haven't the slightest idea man," Young said. "I go out and play the game. That's pretty much it. That's all I can do."
Fisher appeared on NFL Network and told host Rich Eisen that Young is Tennessee's starter.
"Vince is going to return as our starter this week against the Giants," Fisher said Wednesday. "There's no need for him to look over his shoulder and wonder if it's going to happen again."
Fisher said his decision to go with Collins was a strategic one and not meant to send any message to Young.
"I see this as no different than me making the decision to go for it on fourth-and-1," Fisher said. "It was a decision that I made. It was a gut feel. There were some contributing factors, and they are as follows: No. 1, we were struggling as an offensive unit. Secondly, we needed to throw to catch up. Thirdly, Kerry had a great deal of experience against this defense, against other defenses, and I just felt like that was the best thing that gave us a chance to get back into this ballgame. We came close, we fell short. We lost the game for a number of resasons -- specifically we turned the ball over."
Three of those turnovers came from Young, who threw two interceptions and lost one fumble. As poorly as Young played, Fisher said he wouldn't have benched the quarterback if he didn't believe the fifth-year pro could handle it.
"I would not have done this had I not had confidence in his ability to bounce back," Fisher said. "He's come a long way in a short period of time and he's done a great job. I just felt like this is what was going to give us the best chance to win the ballgame."
Fisher said Young had a great practice Wednesday and will play well Sunday. The coach plans to talk to his quarterback sometime this week and that Young easily can prevent being benched again.
"Just execute the game plan and play well. Like he's been doing for the last couple years," Fisher said. "This was a one-time thing, and I discussed it. There is no sense in rehashing it."
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
