Chow puts Young's progress on fast track
TERESA M. WALKER
Associated Press
NASHVILLE, Tenn. - Norm Chow knows a thing or two about quarterbacks. Vince Young is showing him something he's never seen before.
"I think he can almost, corny as it sounds, he can redefine what the quarterback position should be like because he's so big and he throws the ball well and he can run," Chow said Wednesday of the Tennessee Titans' rookie quarterback.
Want to accelerate the development of a quarterback in the NFL?
The Titans have done just that by pairing an offensive coordinator with a history of churning out Heisman Trophy winners with a physically gifted rookie. But Young has surprised even the Titans with how quickly he has learned, and he's very self-motivated.
"Basically, it's a work in progress for me. I'm not finished yet," Young said.
"I'm not satisfied."
The only question now seems to be how good will Young be eventually? For his part, Chow has been talking to Titans coach Jeff Fisher about how to help Young continue improving, and he sees seemingly unlimited potential.
"He's making such big plays. Maybe the plays come more in the frame of what happens, so these spectacular plays become less and less, and the ordinary, consistent type plays will get more consistent, get more plentiful," Chow said.
Young has provided plenty jaw-dropping plays leading three straight comeback victories.
He became the first rookie quarterback to lead his team to consecutive wins from 14 points down, including a 21-0 deficit to the New York Giants. He has the NFL record for yards rushing by a rookie quarterback with 458, topping the 408-yard mark set by Chicago's Bobby Douglass in 1969.
Young can't catch Ben Roethlisberger's league record of 13 wins as a rookie quarterback. But he can tie Hall of Famer Dan Marino and teammate Kerry Collins for fifth for most wins by a rookie starting quarterback since 1970 if the Titans (6-7) beat Jacksonville (8-5) on Sunday.
His most amazing play yet was his 39-yard touchdown run in overtime at Houston last week. It was the second longest TD in overtime by a quarterback, behind Michael Vick's 46-yard sprint on Dec. 1, 2002 at Minnesota, and sixth longest overall.
Veteran center Kevin Mawae said Young has what he calls a "WOW" factor.
"Hopefully, that's something he'll continue throughout his career, and it's just not Vince being new against everybody this year. He's definitely a special talent, and it's been a joy playing with him," Mawae said.
The key has been Young's ability to absorb the offense starting in training camp. The Titans prepared a package of plays just for Young. They didn't need them.
"He was right along with everybody else and did a nice job, along with everybody else," Chow said.
The 60-year-old Chow has tweaked the offense, using plays that use Young's arm and his legs or those the rookie has absorbed easily: more shotgun in the offense to give the rookie extra time to make decisions, or even some option runs like he used in college at Texas.
Young works with Chow and Johnson after practices each Thursday to improve his timing with receivers.
The Titans always planned to play Young, but by easing him in with a series here or there. They signed Collins to avoid having to start Young. But coach Jeff Fisher let Young play the fourth quarter of a 40-7 blowout loss at San Diego on Sept. 17, throwing plays at him that he hadn't practiced.
Young surprised Fisher with his progress, and the coach made him the starter on Oct. 1 against Dallas. Young has responded, taking a winless team to their best finish since 2003 and three straight comeback victories in stunning fashion.
"I don't think I've seen a young quarterback learn as fast as he did," Fisher said. "He's got the poise, composure and ability to stay calm in critical situations and make plays, and that's what he's done the last month."
Young went from completing an average of 45.7 percent of his passes the first seven starts to 65 percent the past three weeks. He's already pushed Dan Pastorini's name off most of the team's rookie passing records.
He also knows he can get better. He watches film and sees his mistakes. But the play Young made that impressed Chow last week wasn't the overtime TD. It was a checkdown pass for 8 yards to Travis Henry that kept a scoring drive alive.
"He has a good feel for getting the ball down the field," Chow said.
It's a relationship that works because both Chow and Young both know when to be competitive, when they can laugh and joke. Chow's contract is up after this season, and the Titans might want to extend it quickly to continue Young's development.
"We could have a long-term relationship if this thing goes like we planned," Young said recently.
