Emotional QB says he’s learning to deal with NFL’s roller-coaster

 

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) -It’s pretty easy to tell what kind of game Vince Young, and his Tennessee Titans, have had just by watching the young quarterback.
Slumped on the bench? Bet on an interception or two and a loss.
Jumping up and down? He probably scored, made a big play and won.
Young is not afraid of showing his emotions. The second-year player who has started 24 of 26 games said dealing with the roller-coaster that is an NFL season is extremely hard for him.
“I can’t stand losing, so I’m still trying to get used to that,” Young said. “But just having fun, man, that’s the big key.
“Once you feel like this game is getting boring to you, it’s time for you to get out of here. I really feel like I’m really trying to get my teammates to keep having fun, laughing and joking around. When it’s time to get serious, let’s go to work and after practice we can have fun and joke around.”
No wonder Young finished practice Wednesday by tossing the ball ally-oop fashion to receiver Justin Gage, who dunked it over the crossbar of the goal post. He deserves to celebrate considering he personally has had the best four-game stretch of his career.
Young is enjoying quite the hot streak now with the most total yards of any NFL quarterback over the past month.
He has totaled 1,232 yards with 1,056 yards passing and 176 rushing, which is better than Jon Kitna of Detroit (1,166), Jason Campbell of Washington (1,137), Arizona’s Kurt Warner (1,119) and Matt Hasselbeck of Seattle (1,074).
But fans still complain about Young moping on the bench as the Titans lost 35-6 in Cincinnati on Nov. 25, worried he wasn’t trying to rally his team. Linebacker Keith Bulluck said not true.
The eight-year veteran has played against quarterbacks who don’t bother to try and rally their teammates. Not Young, who keeps the Titans trying to make plays even when 30 points down.
“Some people can lose and go to a comedy show and totally forget about it,” Bulluck said. “Other people take losses harder. They’ll mope on it for a couple days. He’s a competitor. He’s won at every level, so you know, I think it’s just what it is.”
That competitiveness is exactly what Titans coach Jeff Fisher wants. A former NFL player himself, he’s seen players forget a loss by the time they reached the parking lot while coaches stew for days.
“Vince is unique in that he can’t shake it off that quickly, and that’s not a bad thing to me. I see that as a positive and motivating factor for him to get better,” Fisher said.
Young heads into Sunday’s game with San Diego (7-5) having thrown for at least 246 yards in four straight games.
The Titans went 1-3 in that time, but they let Young throw more. He had his bad throws and his receivers dropped some good passes, but he has gotten better. Over the past month, he has had his first 300-yard passing game, his longest pass (73 yards) and his longest TD pass (43).
Young credits offensive coordinator Norm Chow with giving him more leeway at the line of scrimmage to adjust routes and protections.
“It’s paying off a whole lot in the game. Our receivers are doing a great job. We’re on the same page,” Young said.
When Young has a passer rating of 80 or above, the Titans are 6-1. Young is coming off his best passer rating this season with 99.9 in Tennessee’s 28-20 win over Houston, and he threw for 248 yards with two touchdowns.
“Anytime your quarterback can play like he has been playing, it definitely boosts your ego and boosts your confidence,” Titans center Kevin Mawae said. “He’s been doing a great job, and I think everybody feeds off of that.”
Chargers coach Norv Turner said there is no question that Young has improved. He compared Young’s struggles to what San Diego quarterback Philip Rivers went through with three good games, then one where he struggled that had people asking what happened.
“There are going to be ups and downs,” Turner said.
“If as you go, like with Vince right now, you’re on a rise and you can see it happening like last week, I think what you say is that this is a work in progress and when it gets to this point where it’s consistent every week, it’s going to be very special.”
Even if it’s an unpredictable trip.