Posted by Josh Katzowitz

Part of the reason we all follow sports is for all the insult material. I insult your team. You insult his team. You all insult my intelligence. There’s nothing better than a solid day of watching football and insulting all your buddies and having them insult you right back.

Unless it’s watching other people insult each other. Which happens ALL the time in the NFL. I’m not necessarily talking about players woofing at each other on the field, though that obviously has its place on any top-ten insults list. But I’m talking about the crowd insulting a player, a team insulting one of its own or a player insulting a coach in front of the rest of his teammates (psst, this last one might have occurred this past week).

So, let’s explore the best of what the NFL has to offer as far as metaphorically slapping people in the face. And if you choose to ignore this story, your mother wears Army boots.

10. Jonathan Stewart to Panthers offensive line: We’ll start it off relatively mild. After Stewart rushed for 30 yards on 14 carries vs. the Rams in Week 7, he complained about how his offensive line wasn’t opening enough holes. Sure, Stewart has a rushing average of 3.0, but unless Mike Goodson (220 combined yards in the past two games, 12 yards MORE than Stewart’s season total) is rushing behind a different offensive line, I’m not buying Stewart’s argument.

9. Thirty one NFL teams to Marc Mariani: The rookie, drafted in the seventh round this year as the No. 222 overall pick has been a breakout performer for the Titans. Listen, just because he played at Montana doesn’t mean he can’t hang in the NFL. Look at his stats as a punt returner. He’s third in the NFL with a 17.1 yards per punt average and his 87-yard TD return Sunday was his second score of the year.

8. Carson Palmer to Chad Ochocinco: Palmer has found a new play toy with Terrell Owens – who’s got 12 more catches and four more TDs than Ochocinco. Partially, it’s because Ochocinco, at times, doesn’t run the most technically-proficient routes. Of course, Owens gives up on plays some of the time, but there’s little question Owens has been much more effective this season. And Palmer knows it.

7. John Fox to his bosses/fanbase: I’m not sure this qualifies as an insult because I’m not sure exactly what’s going on in Fox’s head. But here’s what I know: he won’t be back as coach in Carolina next year and he decided not to use backup QB Tony Pike and started Brian St. Pierre last week instead, although St. Pierre was a stay-at-home dad the week before. Pike, a rookie, probably wouldn’t have done much better, but this was an odd move.

6. San Francisco’s Week 2 MNF crowd to Alex Smith: When you call for David Carr to replace your starting quarterback, Candlestick Park crowd, you insult EVERYONE.

5. Michael Vick to dog lovers everywhere: This is an interesting dynamic. If you’re a dog lover, is it impossible to root for Vick? I love dogs, but I think Vick has paid his debt to society and he shouldn’t be scorned for the rest of his life. I also have friends who would like to see Vick ripped limb by limb by one of his former pets, and they always will hope for that moment. Is it me, or do people make a bigger stink about Vick than they do about, say, Ravens WR Donte Stallworth who pleaded guilty to DUI manslaughter and then served only 24 days in jail?

4. Dallas Cowboys to Wade Phillips: Weird how, as soon as Jerry Jones pick-slips Phillips, Dallas suddenly plays some of its finest football of the season. Interim coach Jason Garrett probably should get a tiny bit of credit, but why suddenly are the Cowboys on a two-game winning streak? Probably because they all hated Phillips and wanted him to fail and fail hard (I kid, I kid).

3. Terrell Owens to Donovan McNabb: It’s beyond me why Owens would feel it necessary to comment on McNabb’s new contract with the Redskins, asking how the new deal could be justified while Washington and McNabb were taking a beating by the Eagles. McNabb came back and basically asked why a guy playing on a 2-7 (now 2-8) team was criticizing anybody. And it was a good point. A better point: why do we listen to Owens at all when he talks this kind of trash?

2. Vince Young to Jeff Fisher: Just one paraphrased quote when Young departed the Titans locker room Sunday while Fisher was giving his postgame talk said it all. “I’m not walking out on my teammates; I’m walking out on you.” The repercussions of that statement will be felt by Fisher and Young for years to come.

1. NFL owners/players to NFL fans: This one hasn’t happened yet, but it’s been hanging over the entire season like a low-lying storm cloud that’s ready to unleash hell at some point soon. Of course, I mean the impending owner lockout, which would stop all work in the NFL. I have a hard time believing the owners and players won’t work something out before the start of the 2011 season, but it’s entirely possible they could give you the biggest insult of all: no football.

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Posted by Josh Katzowitz

Titans coach Jeff Fisher said this evening that Vince Young will need surgery on his flexor tendon injury in his thumb and will be placed on the Injured Reserve list.

Which means that no matter what owner Bud Adams says (psst, he said he wants Young on the roster in 2011 and that Young and Fisher will have to learn how to get along) , Young won’t play again this year.

And so, Fisher’s focus goes elsewhere.

“My focus is no longer on Vince Young,” Fisher said. “My focus is moving forward with the team. Rusty (Smith) will start, and we’ll bring in Chris Simms in the morning, and he’ll be our No. 2 until Kerry (Collins) gets better.”

Though Fisher isn’t sure when Collins will return from his calf injury, he said it might be another week or two.

He does know one thing, though. No matter what Young’s injury status was, he wasn’t going to be the Titans starter after Sunday’s game. That might not be what Adams wants, though.

“My concern is this week,” said Fisher, who did not speak with Adams about the Young situation. “I do have another year left on my contract. My hope is I finish my career here.”

As for repairing his relationship with Young and if this will take apart the locker room?

“My focus is on this football team,” Fisher said. “He’s not going to play any more games this year. We can deal with that when the season is over.

“The locker room knows what happened. The locker room is very much aware. On the field, guys are playing and they don’t know the facts. I shared with them the facts. Vince never came to me and said he wanted to come back in the game.

“Clearly our best opportunity to win the football game was with Vince on the football field. No disrespect to Rusty. He didn’t take starter reps. He hasn’t taken a snap in the NFL. If I thought Vince could have gone back in, he would have gone back in. I was not going to put him on the field, knowing ahead of time he had an injury.”

And even if Young did want to get back in the game, Fisher said he never knew about it.

“He may have told other people, but he didn’t tell the coach, the offensive coordinator or the quarterback coach. So as far as I’m concerned, he didn’t tell anybody.”

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Posted by Andy Benoit

Jeff Fisher must be thrilled to hear this: Titans owner Bud Adams spoke with Jim Wyatt of the Tennessean. Here’s what Adams said about his feuding head coach and high-priced quarterback:

“They are going to have to work together. I haven’t given up on Vince, and I am sure Fisher hasn’t either. Vince was upset and said some things he regretted after doing it, but you have to get to the bottom of it, straighten it out and move on.

“It is one of those things that happened. It has happened, it is all over with and we want to get Vince back and playing again for us … These things happen. I have been at this thing for a long time, about 51 years now. I have seen a lot of things happen and I don’t want to go jumping off the building over something happening one time.’’

Adams said all this via phone from his Houston home. Thus, we have an absentee owner publicly stating that his head coach must stick by the quarterback who threw a tantrum and called him out in front of the team less than 24 hours ago.

Originally, the thinking here was that no way would the Titans pay Young the $8.5 million ($15-plus million cap number) that he’s owed in 2011. But after Adams’ comments, perhaps they will.

“It is not anything real serious,’’ Adams said. “Vince was just so upset with himself getting hurt that he was running mad about everything. Vince is a young guy and a good player and he has never had an injury like this before, and it is getting to him. He told me he wanted to go back in the game but the doctors didn’t think it would be a good idea. He was hurting but he was going to play anyway.

“This will all go away pretty quick.’’

So Young and Adams have had a conversation already? Wonder what Fisher thinks of that. Adams said Young will absolutely not be released in 2011. Instead, the 87-year-old owner seems to content to keep issuing the same excuses and wishful thoughts for the troubled quarterback.

“He may have had a good reason to be upset because he wanted to talk to the players in the dressing room, and Vince wasn’t real happy with himself,” Adams said. “But he is a young guy and he is learning and he has been in the pro ranks for a while now. He has done a good job with us.”

That Young guy is 27 years old.

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Posted by Josh Katzowitz

Titans coach Jeff Fisher dropped a bomb following Tennessee's 19-16 overtime loss to the Redskins. He said, injury or not, QB Vince Young has lost his starting job.

Young injured his thumb during the game - Fisher said it was a flexor tendon problem and that Young might need surgery - and though he warmed up as if he was going back in, Fisher never reinserted him.

As the Tennessean writes, Young abruptly left the stadium immediately following the Titans 19-16 overtime loss, tossing his shoulder pads into the crowd before exiting the field.

After he changed into street clothes, he emerged from the locker room, and though safety Michael Griffin, clad only in shorts, ran after him, he couldn’t catch Young.

What happened there?

Said Fisher: "I really don't know because he left the stadium."

The reason this story is scary because of Young's past personal problems.

In Sept. 2008, Young disappeared for a few hours the day after he was booed by fans and tried to take himself out of a game against the Jaguars. Fisher urged him back in, but a few plays later, he injured his knee. The next day, Young was scheduled for an MRI, but he no-showed, and Fisher grew worried enough about Young's well being to call the police.  

Young's mother said then that he was "hurting inside and out" and that perhaps Young was considering giving up the game. Young's agent claimed then that the story about Young's possible emotional problems had been blown out of proportions, but still, that incident two years ago had to be in the back of some of his teammates' heads as Young walked out of the stadium.

So, how did Fisher feel about everything today?

According to Jim Wyatt of the Tennessean , he had "never seen Fisher so upset and willing to call out Vince Young."

UPDATED (5:26 p.m.): Some Fisher quotes from his post-game presser, via the Tennessean :

"Vince tore a flexor tendon in his thumb and I was not satisfied with his ability to control the ball so I stayed with Rusty (Smith)," Fisher said. "He never said to me he was OK and wanted to go back in, and I was told he was a little upset after, and I was also told he threw half his uniform in the stands.

"Clearly that is no way to respond, so we have some things we have to sort out with him. He may need surgery, and if that's the case, he is done for the year. If that's the case, Rusty is our guy."

UPDATED (7:23 p.m.): More info from the sources of Wyatt.

Apparently, there was a confrontation postgame between Young and Fisher. As Fisher gathered the team for the postgame talk, Young, who was dressing into street clothes, was muttering expletives. Fisher told him to pipe down, and as Young was set to leave the locker room, Fisher told him not to walk out on his teammates.

Young then informed the coach that he wasn't running out on his teammates. He was running out on Fisher.

That exchange almost certainly spells the end of Young's tenure in Tennessee.

UPDATED (7:29 p.m.): This just came across Vince Young's verified Twitter account.

"Just want to say I'm fine sorry to my teammates I just a cop ."

UPDATED (7:32 p.m.): He also wrote that he "just want(s) to play."

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Posted by Will Brinson

The already suspect Redskins secondary (you may recall something last week about giving up passing yards to this Michael Vick fella) will be hurting even more on Sunday, as both LaRon Landry and Carlos Rogers are out for Washington's game in Tennessee.

Chris Johnson is the biggest gamechanger for the Titans, of course, but this could mean a big day for Vince Young and possibly result in Randy Moss finally getting on track with his new(est) team.

For the Redskins offense, they'll be missing Ryan Torain but Clinton Portis will reportedly (according to Adam Schefter of ESPN) return to the field and make a start for Washington.

Chris Russell of ESPN 980 in D.C. says the decision for Landry and Rogers to sit was made "much earlier in the week than yesterday" but kept secret in order to maintain a competitive advantage for Washington.

But a quick in team passing defenses for the season shows that for Washington -- who ranks next-to-last in the NFL, ahead of only the matador-like Houston Texans -- it really might not matter who they put back there.

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Posted by Josh Katzowitz

- Not only does Steelers WR Hines Ward think he should play next week vs. the Raiders following his concussion Sunday vs. the Patriots, he thinks he should have gone back in the game after his injury. Ward’s mistake, he said, was getting up too early from his collision and stumbling across the field. Instead, he thinks he should have stayed on the turf in an effort to clear his head. Instead, he proved, without a shadow of a doubt, he should not return to the game.

- His Jets teammates were awfully impressed by WR Jerricho Cotchery’s diving overtime catch Sunday, despite hopping around on a bad groin. Damien Woody said the Jets were in awe of Cotchery’s dedication.

- After a Titans debut in which he was targeted just four times (and caught one pass for 26 yards), coach Jeff Fisher said there would be more opportunities for WR Randy Moss in the future. Speaking of Tennessee, it’s Vince Young’s team to run again. Kerry Collins will be out several weeks with a calf injury.

- Chiefs coach Todd Haley to Broncos coach Josh McDaniels: Um, sorry about that.

- With Giants Tom Coughlin announcing Monday that WR Ramses Barden has a fractured left ankle and significant ligament damage, making him likely done for the season, New York only has three healthy receivers to play. That would be Hakeem Nicks, Mario Manningham and (let me know if you’ve ever heard of …) Duke Calhoun.

- Making matters worse for Seahawks DE Raheem Brock, who was arrested on a DUI charge last weekend, he didn’t tell his coaches about it before playing in Sunday’s game. That likely won’t sit well with the decision-makers in Seattle.

- Anybody wanting to take a bet on whether Dolphins LT Jake Long will play this Thursday, despite suffering a torn labrum in his shoulder, should consider this: In the first 42 games of his career, he’s played 99.4 percent of his team’s snaps (missing only 18 out of 2,838). That said, his injury does not sound so good.

- Former Buccaneers guard Arron Sears is battling mental issues. And it’s not like he’s far removed from his playing days.

- The Panthers did not appreciate Tampa Bay’s helmet-to-helmet hit on Carolina QB Jimmy Clausen that might have led to Clausen’s concussion. Especially WR Steve Smith.

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Posted by Josh Katzowitz

As we progress through the fourth quarter of the Miami-Tennessee game, six different players have taken snaps in the contest.

For the Titans, it’s been Kerry Collins and Vince Young, which we told you about here. For the Dolphin, it’s been Chad Pennington, Chad Henne (who hurt his knee toward the end of the third quarter), and RB Ronnie Brown. No. 6 was Miami’s emergency backup QB Tyler Thigpen.

Henne was hurt with less than a minute to play in the third quarter after his leg buckled on a sack, and because Miami would have to play Thigpen the rest of the game if he entered BEFORE the fourth quarter began, Miami ran offensive plays out of the Wildcat formation.

The first, a trick play that gave WR Brandon Marshall a shot down the field, resulted in an incomplete pass, but the other two were runs that gained a combined 36 yards.

As the fourth quarter began, Miami stayed in the Wildcat, but on the third snap of the quarter, Thigpen trotted out to the field. His pass was nearly intercepted, but K Dan Carpenter’s 42-yard field goal gave the Dolphins a 23-17 lead.

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Posted by Josh Katzowitz

I guess we’ll get to see how healthy Vince Young really is. He’s on the field as the Titans offense begins its opening drive of the second half.

Although Kerry Collins got the start for the Titans – as Young worked through an ankle injury that caused him to miss Wednesday’s practice (and to be limited Thursday and Friday) – Young was active and listed as the backup.

On the final play of the first half, Collins came up limping with a calf injury. He’s listed as questionable to return, but until then, Young will play.

He handed off the ball on first down, had his pass deflected on second down and fumbled on third down. Miami recovered at Tennessee’s 13. Young’s ankle looked fine as he ran off the field following the turnover.

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