Adam Schefter's "Around the League" reports and commentaries can be seen regularly on NFL Total Access.
(Sept. 26, 2006) -- Fans are calling for quarterbacks Vince Young and Matt Leinart to start. Reporters even have speculated that those starts will come as soon as Week 4.
But the biggest game each quarterback now is playing is the waiting game.
Neither, as it turns out, will start this Sunday. When they actually do is subject to speculation but the schedule provides clues.
Looks like Matt Leinart will have a little more time to warm up on the sideline.
Tennessee is in the midst of a challenging three-game stretch before its Oct. 22 bye. It hosts Dallas on Sunday, then plays back-to-back road games at Indianapolis and at Washington. Those would not be logical places to insert Young; the venues, and the opposing defenses, are just too tough.
More likely, Titans coach Jeff Fisher would be amenable to inserting Young into the starting lineup Oct. 29, at home, against the Houston Texans. But even before that decision is made, Fisher wants to be convinced that Young is ready because once he turns to him, he's not turning back. It's Young's job -- indefinitely.
But for now, the starting job belongs to Kerry Collins, at least for a little while longer.
"Kerry's our starter, and if you want see if Vince is going to play, you're going to have to watch the game," Fisher said. "He got plenty of playing time the first couple of weeks. I am prepared to put him in the game if we feel like it's necessary."
Similarly, in Arizona, Cardinals coach Dennis Green is not ready to insert Leinart in place of Kurt Warner. Despite the rampant speculation to the contrary, Green issued two statements on the topic this week, one much more concrete than the other.
On Monday, Green said he would not be discussing who would be his starting quarterback. And on Tuesday, in a rare and unusual step, Green issued a statement that said Warner would remain as his starting quarterback. Despite the reports, Green never changed his mind. He never made it up in the first place, not until Tuesday.
And once that statement came out, it instantly squashed the story that Leinart would be making his first NFL start in Atlanta. But let's be clear: Green never had a change of heart.
"Generally talking about the starting lineup is not something we do," Green said. "However, given the speculation that was out there we want to make it clear. We're disappointed after last week, but we still expect to be a playoff football team and we fully expect Kurt Warner to be the quarterback that leads us. That has not changed."
When it will is another question. After a road game at Atlanta, the Cardinals return home for back-to-back games against the Kansas City Chiefs and a Monday nighter versus the Chicago Bears. Those are two tough defenses, but they would be home games. Following the Chiefs and Bears, the Cardinals play Oct. 22 at Oakland and Oct. 29 at Green Bay.
Either of those games would be a friendlier spot for Leinart to make his first NFL start.
But despite reports to the contrary, Green is not ready to turn to Leinart.
At least not yet.
