Fisher: Titans couldn't wait on safety of QB Young

[September 10, 2008]  NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) -- Jeff Fisher said Tuesday night the Tennessee Titans didn't have the luxury of waiting to be sure about the safety of their quarterback Vince Young before calling police for help in finding him.

That led to four hours' of uncertainty Monday night before Young contacted the Titans and met with Fisher, a psychologist and police crisis negotiators at the team's headquarters before driving himself home. Combined with Young's reaction to being heavily booed in Sunday's opener, his mental state has been questioned heavily the past two days.

Fisher addressed all those questions on his radio show Tuesday night.

"We can never be too careful sometimes, and sometimes you can't jump to conclusions. You have to wait on information and be patient," Fisher said. "The information I had didn't afford us any patience."

The only thing known for sure? Young has a sprained medial collateral ligament in his left knee, and Fisher said on his TV show that the quarterback will not play Sunday at Cincinnati. The coach would not give a timetable past that, calling the test results good news and that Young needs to heal up his leg.

What prompted the call to police? Fisher wasn't saying.

"I was given some information from people that were close to him late afternoon, early evening that was quite honestly very concerning to me. I'm not going to go into specifics, but it was concerning to me," Fisher said.

The quarterback was booed by hometown fans in the Titans' opening 17-10 win over Jacksonville for throwing two interceptions. He didn't look like he wanted to go back into the game and then sprained his left knee four plays later.

His knee was sore enough Monday that Young didn't have an MRI exam as scheduled, a test postponed to Tuesday. Then people close to Young so worried about him after he sped off from his home, they called Fisher for help.

The coach called the Nashville police for help checking on Young's "emotional well-being," according to police spokesman Don Aaron. Young was located at a friend's home and agreed to come by the Titans' offices. Police had used SWAT officers in unmarked cars in the search, and those officers checked him for weapons when arrived around 11:30 p.m.

Aaron said Young had an unloaded handgun in the glovebox of his car. Tennessee law permits unloaded firearms in vehicles as long as no ammunition is present.

Young talked to officers and a psychologist, according to a statement released Tuesday night by Nashville police. Young left about 30 minutes later and drove himself home.

After talking to Young, Fisher called it a "complete misunderstanding."

"I'm happy to report he's home. He's resting. He's completed the MRI. Don't have the results yet, and we're hoping he can get that knee healed up and can get back on the field as soon as he can," Fisher said on his radio show about an hour before the results came in.

With only veteran Kerry Collins healthy and Kansas City preparing to sign Ingle Martin off the Titans' practice squad, Fisher said they had agreed to terms with Chris Simms after working out Quinn Gray, Joey Harrington and Doug Johnson earlier Tuesday.

Young's agent said there was no need for concern because the quarterback was at a friend's house watching football and eating chicken wings during the four hours when no one could find Young.

"When people were worried about him, I was on the phone talking to him," agent Major Adams said. "I didn't know there was any confusion about where he was as if he was missing or whatever. He just said, 'Hey, I'm over here watching the game.' ... Then I start getting all these frantic calls."

Fisher was asked if he was concerned by Young's sideline demeanor. Fans have been upset thinking Young didn't want to go back onto the field following his second interception, and the Titans have defended him as an intense competitor.

"It is an issue, and it is something we're working with him to kind of correct," Fisher said of Young's emotional reactions. "Our game is a very, very emotional game. There's going to be ebbs and flows at times, good plays and poor plays and negative things that happen. Different players deal with it differently."

[Associated Press; By TERESA M. WALKER]

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