Tennessee Titans: Jake Locker Speaks on “Injury Prone” Label

Tennessee Titans young, hopeful franchise QB Jake Locker, who is currently on season-ending injured reserve, finally broke his silence on the comments being made since his Lisfranc injury.

Jim Wyatt, official beat writer for the Tennessee Titans via the Tennessean, published these Locker comments on Tuesday after asking him if the injury prone label irks him.

QB Jake Locker running back to the locker room after victory. Mandatory Credit: Jim Brown-USA TODAY Sports

"“It does bother me. I feel like I have always done everything in the offseason, and put in the preparation to be as healthy and as strong as possible to prevent things from happening. And I’ve just had some freak deals that have unfortunately been major injuries for me.”"

The injury prone label seems justified when a player only three years into his NFL career has missed as much time as he has already. In his rookie campaign during 2011 he played student/back up behind veteran QB Matt Hasselbeck.  He had his number called and appeared in five games in 2011. In 2012 he competed with Hasselbeck and earned the starting quarterback job over the aging veteran.  He played in only 11 games due to more injuries.

Fast forward to 2013. We anticipated seeing Locker play in his third season after going through some obvious growing pains while getting acclimated in the National Football League.  The season started with a road win against the Pittsburgh Steelers.  Week 2 was an OT loss against the Houston Texans but Locker played admirably. Week 3 was an electrifying moment in his young career when he connected with rookie wide receiver Justin Hunter with less than 20 seconds remaining against the San Diego Chargers.

Week 4 was the beginning of the injury scares.

Locker played an absolutely brilliant first half against the New York Jets as the Titans sat on a healthy 24-6 halftime lead.  It was only when in the 3rd quarter when Locker took a hard hit and injured his hip and knee.  Based on his reaction, or lack thereof, it appeared that his season was over as he was carted off the field.  Although he returned, his injury appeared to derail his early-season heroics.  Then we lost him for the season in a loss to the previously 0-8 Jacksonville Jaguars.

Locker is expected to miss five to six months for recovery.

We all know it will be a long road to recovery.  I am a huge fan of Locker but I need him to be on the field.  He is a very athletic guy that can be a dual threat. He is no threat when he will be on bed rest for the duration of the season.

I truly hope he comes back bigger, better, and stronger.  I don’t want the Titans to dump him or give up hopes on him this early.  The sample size has been too small.  I have a feeling with the new ownership that there will be a veteran coming in next year, perhaps even a rookie quarterback from this year’s draft class, to challenge Locker next summer.

Hopefully Locker’s road to recovery won’t take as long as Maurice Jones-Drew or Matt Schaub who suffered the same injuries in the past.

Lastly, let’s end it on something that we can control.  Let’s go out and beat up some Oakland Raiders.  We don’t need  Ryan Fitzpatrick to do anything sensational; just don’t throw away the game.

Until next time, Titan Up!