Tennessee Titans starting QB Jake Locker is expected to play into the second quarter in Thursday's preseason finale vs. the New Orleans Saints.
It will be Locker's third time facing the Saints early in his career. In December, Locker went 13 of 29 for 282 yards and a touchdown in a 22-17 loss to the NFC South champions. Locker's passing total ranked second-highest in franchise history for a rookie quarterback and the most since the Oilers' inaugural season in 1960.
Titans coach Mike Munchak expects the Saints to present Locker with a vanilla defense similar to the one he saw in practice for the majority of training camp.
“This won’t be real complicated,” Munchak said. “It’s probably not going to be a lot of fooling you and disguising you as much as it’s going to be once the season starts.”
Locker will likely remain in the game for four to five series, Munchak indicated. In last season's preseason finale in New Orleans, then-starter Matt Hasselbeck was lifted after one series.
Opportunities abound for DLs on bubble: Several reserve defensive linemen are expected to see extended playing against the Saints with a number of prominent linemen on the mend with a variety of injuries.
Defensive lineman Jurrell Casey (elbow), defensive end Dave Ball (concussion-like symptoms) and defensive tackle Sen'Derrick Marks (knee) are expected to miss the game and defensive lineman Leger Douzable could be out with a shoulder injury. It could provided added reps for defensive end Keyunta Dawson, defensive lineman Malcolm Sheppard and defensive tackle Zach Clayton. All three appear to be on the bubble for the 53-man roster.
“The young guys will get to play a lot, we still have about 11 defensive linemen that are healthy,” Munchak said. “ Hopefully, the offense will fix that problem by controlling it. Maybe the offense gets 80 plays, and they get 40 this week, which would be nice.”
Hawkins' spot likely secure after injury to Mariani: Fifth-year WR Lavelle Hawkins is a virtual lock to make the 53-man roster after WR Marc Mariani was placed on IR with a compound leg fracture.
Hawkins is coming off a 2011 season when he set a career-high with 47 receptions. In Hawkins' previous three seasons, he had a combined 19 catches. Hawkins said he excelled mostly on hooks and comeback routes last season but has been working with receivers coach Dave Ragone on developing his route-running on the outside throughout the preseason.
“I've mostly been working on go routes and deep in-routes,” Hawkins said.
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