Rookie Vince Young fighting frustration
TERESA M. WALKER
Associated Press
NASHVILLE, Tenn. - Rookie quarterback Vince Young is feeling the pressure, the expectations that a first-round draft pick not only perform well, but win.
In other words, life in the NFL isn't quite like what he enjoyed back in Austin.
"It's hard being the quarterback. People don't understand, but they expect you to go out and be perfect every week. You can't when you've got this, you've got that. You've got to come in and study your offense. There's a lot going on for a quarterback," he said.
"At the same time, as the years go on, as the games go on, you get better and better."
Quarterback wasn't as hard at the University of Texas, where Young went 30-2 as a starter. Now, even more people are watching the first quarterback in this year's draft prepare for his third NFL start with Tennessee, a winless team at 0-5 going into Sunday's game at Washington (2-3).
And Young has never, ever been 0-5 before.
"It's kind of crazy, right? So I'm kind of adjusting to that. I'm trying to adjust to a new offense as well," Young said.
Young became the first of this year's rookie quarterbacks to start, one game ahead of Matt Leinart of Arizona and Tampa Bay's Bruce Gradkowski. But he lost on Oct. 1 to Dallas 45-14, preventing him from joining quarterbacks Ben Roethlisberger, Michael Vick, Steve McNair or John Elway, who won their first starts.
Bobby Wade couldn't catch the perfect 30-yard pass Young lofted late in the third quarter last week, and the Titans lost his second start 14-13 at Indianapolis. So his name won't join Byron Leftwich and Kyle Boller as quarterbacks who won their second starts.
Still, Young has time.
He can equal Charlie Frye, who won his third start, with a victory against Washington. And two-time MVP Peyton Manning didn't win until his fifth start, his brother Eli's first victory came in his seventh outing, and Troy Aikman never won as a rookie, going 0-11 and not winning until Week 1 of his second season.
Redskins quarterback Mark Brunell counsels patience, pointing out there are not a lot of Dan Marinos who take their teams to the Super Bowl as a rookie. He thinks Young has a bright future without question.
"He's very impressive. He's got a bright future in this league. I think he's really going to be a good one," said Brunell, who did not start until his third season.
Young is trying to channel the competitive nature that has frustrated him so much after losses this season that he twice left the locker room without talking to reporters. He apologized for that Wednesday and said he's not used to losing.
He's busy talking to veterans, including quarterback Kerry Collins, looking for tips on how to handle losses.
"It's part of being a professional. I'm understanding all that. But in the meantime, I was upset about that loss," Young said.
Coach Jeff Fisher is pleased with Young's progress and expects weekly improvement. He credits offensive coordinator Norm Chow with easing Young's transition, and Fisher said Young has proven his grasp of the offense by executing plays he had not necessarily practiced.
"We all know it's not easy ... ," Fisher said. "Even the best have had difficult weeks. We are going to continue to develop him, and we know that he's going to be able to do the things we drafted him to do."
Young's best asset may be his confidence. His teammates see him as their quarterback of the future and like that the rookie always feels he can make a play, even if there's the occasional mistake.
"He's definitely not going to crumble," linebacker Keith Bulluck said. "He's one of those fighters. V-Y, he's going to be the quarterback that people believe he's going to be, and also he's going to shock a lot of people who don't believe in him as a quarterback. I'm in his corner, man. I've got his back."
Young is 34-of-74 for 351 yards with two touchdowns and four interceptions this season with spot duty in two other games. His passer rating of 46.6 is below that of Leinart (80.4) and Gradkowski (97.2).
But Young has those dangerous legs, which he used last week on a 19-yard touchdown run that was his first in the NFL.
Washington coach Joe Gibbs said Young did things in college that nobody had done in 100 years.
"I think he's a complete player, and he actually brings something to the quarterback position that most people don't have," Gibbs said.