Matt Hasselbeck and Jake Locker have been splitting reps right down the middle during Titans practices and they will probably keep doing that a while longer.
Coach Mike Munchak outlined the team’s plans for their quarterback competition on Thursday and said that the players will continue doing that through offseason workouts and into training camp. They will also be playing with a mixture of first and second-team players while the coaching staff evaluates their work. In a perfect world, Munchak said that the decision about a starter will be made before the team’s third preseason game.
“Sure we would. We would like that for all positions. Going into that third game you would like to have an idea of what your plan is,” Munchak said, via Jim Wyatt of the Tennessean. “I feel so good about both of them I am not necessarily leaning either way on it. I feel like either way it is going to be a good situation for the team.”
Handicapping the race isn’t easy. Unless Hasselbeck is clearly better, there will be pressure to go with Locker so that the Titans can start getting a return on the investment of the eighth overall pick of the 2011 Draft. But the schedule to start the year isn’t easy — Patriots, at Chargers, Lions, at Texans — and that might help Hasselbeck since Tennessee will surely want to get off to the best possible start this season.
Munchak called it a “good problem to have,” but that’s only true if the Titans wind up making the right choice when the games start counting.