Tennessee beats Jacksonville as backup QBs finish game

Associated Press

JACKSONVILLE, Fla.

Tennessee’s Vince Young watched from the sideline. Jacksonville’s David Garrard was in the locker room.

Both starting quarterbacks were knocked out of Monday night’s game, turning things over to veteran Kerry Collins and recently signed Trent Edwards.

The backups performed as expected, with Collins leading the Titans to a 30-3 victory and Edwards looking mostly like a guy who joined the team three weeks ago.

Collins completed 11 of 16 passes for 110 yards and a touchdown, directed five consecutive scoring drives and put the Titans (4-2) atop the AFC South. Tennessee, which also got 111 yards rushing and a late score from Chris Johnson, moved into a three-way tie with Indianapolis and Houston.

The Jaguars (3-3), meanwhile, were left in a familiar position. They finished last in the division the last two years and are again in chase mode.

Young threw a 23-yard touchdown pass to Kenny Britt on the opening drive, then left the game with a sprained left knee when he fumbled a snap on the next series. Collins replaced him and threw a short TD to Bo Scaife and led the Titans on time-consuming drives to keep control.

Garrard, hit several times early, completed 7 of 12 passes for 49 yards, with an interception. He was knocked out in the second quarter with a concussion after getting rocked by Will Witherspoon.

Edwards, the former Buffalo starter who was claimed off waivers three weeks ago, stepped in for his first action with the Jaguars. He was 11 of 20 for 115 yards, with two interceptions.

Jacksonville finished with 225 yards, as Tennessee’s defense stuffed Maurice Jones-Drew, blanketed Mike Sims-Walker and kept steady pressure on whoever lined up at quarterback.