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 of Tennessee 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.
“Kerry did a nice job and that’s why Kerry’s here,” Titans coach Jeff Fisher said. “We’re very, very fortunate that we have two very good quarterbacks.”
Collins completed 11-of-16 passes for 110 yards and a touchdown, directed five consecutive scoring drives. Tennessee, which also got 111 yards rushing and a late score from Chris Johnson, moved into a three-way tie with Indianapolis and Houston atop the AFC South.
“Not the night we were looking for,” Jaguars coach Jack Del Rio said. “We turned it over four times, lost our quarterback. . . . Not the kind of night we wanted to have.”
Young threw a 23-yard touchdown pass to Kenny Britt on the opening drive, then sprained his left knee on the next series.
“He’s a little sore,” Fisher said, adding that Young also sprained his left ankle. “He could have finished in shotgun.”
Collins replaced him and threw a short touchdown pass to former Mullen High standout Bo Scaife, then led the Titans (4-2) on time-consuming drives to keep control.
The Titans turned three short fields into 13 points, taking advantage of two interceptions and a short punt. Making matters worse for Jacksonville (3-3), tight end Marcedes Lewis fumbled at the Tennessee 10-yard line in the second quarter and receiver Tiquan Underwood let Vincent Fuller rip a pass out of his hands in the end zone in the fourth.
Garrard, hit several times early, completed 7-of-12 passes for 49 yards, with an interception. He suffered a concussion in the second quarter after getting rocked by Will Witherspoon. Edwards, claimed off waivers three weeks ago, was 11-of-20 for 115 yards, with two interceptions.
