It’s a bad sign that a head coach is having a rough start to the season as when each of your first two postgame press conferences has involved a moment when you had to confirm that you weren’t benching one of your high profile offensive starters.
It’s a downright terrible one when you have to do it about two of them after the second game of the season. Jim Wyatt of the Tennessean reports that Titans coach Mike Munchak vowed to stick with both quarterback Jake Locker and running back Chris Johnson after poor performances in Sunday’s 38-10 loss to the Chargers.
Munchak said that while Locker made mistakes in San Diego, there aren’t any guarantees that the team would be more successful with Matt Hasselbeck at quarterback. That’s true, although it will be hard to keep saying that if Locker turns in too many more performances like Sunday’s 15-of-30, 174-yard performance. Of course, Locker’s presence in the lineup is about the future as much as the present so the hook isn’t going to be coming too fast.
As for Johnson, Munchak said that all of the blame for his terrible start doesn’t fall on the running back. It’s also true, something Johnson pointed out as well, but you have to wonder whether the answer will remain the same once Javon Ringer is healthy enough to get back on the field.
The questions will have to stop eventually. It’s just a matter of whether they stop because the performances improve or because Munchak makes a change at either position.