It was my understanding that Kerry Collins was now the Tennessee Titans starter, come hell, high water, or Merrill Hoge getting "I ♥ Vince Young" tattooed on his forearm. 

But if that was the case, I don't know why Vince Young would've been taking reps with the first team at Titans practice yesterday. I guess it's possible that Jeff Fisher, who's been super-protective of Vince Young throughout this whole deal, was throwing Young a bone by letting him practice with the big kids. Kind of like at Thanksgiving, when you let a whiny kid sit at the grown-ups table, so he can feel special.

Fisher says that the starting job belongs to Collins as long as the Titans keep winning, which is the right move, of course, But to me, it's a bit too vague and leaves too much wiggle room. Any wiggle room at all is too much, in my opinion.

Commit 100% to Collins. Say it's his job. Say it's his team. Not only is it the truth, because the team responds to Collins, and he clearly gives the Titans a better chance to win, but you've got to let Vince Young know that it's time to earn some things.

If he wants to be a starting quarterback for the Titans, it's no longer good enough to have been good in college, been a high draft pick, be making a lot of money. He also should have to be better than Kerry Collins. And he's got a lot of work to do to that end.

Also of note on Young and Collins:

• Collins made it known yesterday that he doesn't want to be a backup next year. So if there's not a Titans quarterback controversy at any point this year, there will be in the offseason.

• Peter King had this tidbit in his MMQB column this week:

I think I'm hearing that Vince Young is rebuffing Kerry Collins' attempts to be a mentor. What a waste. Collins has seen too much, and he's a selfless person at this stage of his career. Whoever's advising Young should tell him Collins would be a smart addition to his inner circle.

Couldn't agree more.