Wiedmer: Brown says Titans have ‘focus back’

NASHVILLE — Ten paces clear of the Tennessee Titans’ LP Field locker room last week, Tony Brown ripped a protective brace from his surgically repaired right knee and tossed it over his shoulder.

The team’s final exhibition game against the world champion New Orleans Saints just completed, it was as if ripping off that brace not only represented Brown’s return to good health but also the official end to the most frustrating year of the former City High standout’s five in Music City.

“I’m not saying we needed last year,” the defensive tackle said of the Titans’ 0-6 start and 8-8 final record in 2009. “But some of the young guys needed to see how important hard work is to winning. I think everybody’s got their focus back this year.”

In an AFC South that includes Peyton Manning and the Super Bowl runner-up Indianapolis Colts, the improving Houston Texans and always nettlesome Jacksonville, focus will be crucial for the Titans from the first minute forward when the Oakland Raiders visit LP Field this Sunday at 1 p.m. EDT for the start of the 2010 campaign.

“We know how last year started off,” said tight end Bo Scaife, who was injured much of the season. “We know we’ve just got to focus on one game at a time, beginning with the Raiders. But I also think we’ve got all the pieces in place to have a great season.”

The pieces begin with the schedule. Unlike last year, when the Titans played four of their first six games on the road, they will host three of their first four this year.

There’s also only one trip to the West Coast — at San Diego on Halloween — instead of two cross-country flights last season. And the Titans’ off week falls immediately after the Chargers game.

Beyond that, defensive coordinator Chuck Cecil no longer is adjusting to a new position but is fine-tuning a system that held opponents without a touchdown against the starters through the entire exhibition schedule.

As for the continuing maturation of quarterback Vince Young, Brown said, “You can see progress being made every day. Vince is getting here early and staying late, just like a Peyton Manning and Tom Brady. I think once Vince figured out he didn’t just want to play in the NFL but wanted to be mentioned in the same sentence with those guys, everything changed.”

Of course, the biggest change could come in the return of Albert Haynesworth, the former Titans All-Pro defensive tackle reportedly hoping his current employer, the Washington Redskins, can make a deal to return him to the Volunteer State.

What shouldn’t change is the constant threat of 2,000-yard rusher Chris Johnson again going the distance any time he touches the ball.

Nicknamed “CJ2K” after his 2,006 yards last season, Johnson has raised his expectation level by making 2,500 yards his rushing goal this season, which would easily surpass Eric Dickerson’s 26-year-old record of 2,105.

Yet Scaife doesn’t doubt Johnson’s ability to reach 2,000 again for a second.

“I don’t know why he can’t,” he said. “Nobody else in this league has CJ’s speed.”

What the Titans haven’t had in recent years is a game-changing receiving corps. For all of Young’s struggles in the pocket, his receivers — other than former University of Texas teammate Scaife — haven’t helped him out much.

And that would again appear to be in question after Titans coach Jeff Fisher called out second-year wideout Kenny Britt earlier this week, saying his play was jeopardizing the team.

The 6-foot-3, 215-pound Britt later told The Associated Press, “I realized right then and there, ‘Yeah, this could really hurt the team, me not being focused out there.’”

If Fisher’s critical words work, the Titans receivers could give Young enough dangerous targets to further free running lanes for the quarterback and Johnson. If not, expect the defense again to be forced to carry the load, as it was for much of the 13-3 season in 2008.

And that’s where Brown comes in.

“He’s our man in the middle,” defensive back Cortland Finnegan said. “Tony’s one of our leaders out there.”

Added fellow defensive tackle Jason Jones: “To have Tony next to me is a big lift. Just to have his spirit out there. To have him laughing and joking and keeping us loose. We need T.B. out there to be our best.”

Brown — who was held out of Wednesday’s practice as a precautionary measure — shrugs off such compliments, saying only, “I’m not much for telling guys, ‘Do it like this.’ I just hope I can show them by example what a true pro acts like.”

So who taught Brown how to act like a pro?

“I think you start with Coach Fisher,” he said. “He treats everyone like a grown man instead of a kid. He respects you as both a man and a player and expects you to act that way.”

The current dean of NFL coaches has guided the Titans to six playoff berths in his 15 full seasons, which trails only Indianapolis and Philadelphia in that span. His teams are always tough, sound and determined.

But even Fisher would probably agree with Scaife on the No. 1 key for the Titans returning to the playoffs for the third time in four years.

“I think we’re going to see some great things from Vince this season,” he said of the fifth-year QB. “We’ve got to see great things from Vince to be successful.”