Injuries have unfortunately defined the young career of Tennessee Titans quarterback Jake Locker, preventing the 2011 first-round pick from reaching his potential.
Amid a landmark 2014 season where he has the opportunity to establish himself as the face of the franchise, Locker has suffered yet another ailment. The talented signal-caller suffered a wrist injury in Sunday's loss to Cincinnati.
Mike Sando of ESPN reported on the matter:
Paul Kuharsky of ESPN and Terry McCormick of TitanInsider.com passed on more comments from Whisenhunt on Locker's injury:
Locker, 26, played in five games as a rookie, then was handed the reins in 2012, starting 11 games behind a banged-up offensive line with middling results. After a strong beginning to last season that featured seven starts overall, a Lisfranc injury to Locker's right foot shut him down for the year in November 2013.
ESPN Stats & Info highlighted before 2014 just how much health issues have prevented Locker from proving himself one way or another:
Missing the last seven games could have sent Locker's career into a tailspin, but he refused to give up. Before training camp, he instead reflected the Titans' positive outlook at the outset of last season, per Jim Wyatt of The Tennessean :
I feel very comfortable with where we are. It's a good unit for us at receiver because the group gives us a lot of different types of players, and that is awesome for an offense. [...]
It's my fourth year, and that's crazy. It doesn't seem like it's been that long. It's gone by fast. But I am excited about it. You always want to start out fast, and last year I did individually and we did as a football team. We want to do our best to recreate that and surpass that.
All of these factors make Locker's situation in Tennessee all the more difficult to assess. Locker has an undeniable amount of arm talent and unique athleticism that allows him to extend plays and set up big-chunk plays as a runner and a passer.
The Titans have surrounded Locker with plenty of weapons, but he must prove he can stay healthy to warrant staying with the team that once drafted him No. 8 overall.
Locker possesses a lot of toughness and has shown flashes of brilliance to suggest he can be a long-term NFL starter. Consistency has always been a big knock on him, though, be it his performance on the field or his ability to remain on it.
from Bleacher Report http://ift.tt/1mDUaTN
via IFTTT September 22, 2014 at 01:39PM
0 comments:
Post a Comment