Bad Time to Be a Veteran QB in AFC South

Watch your back, Matt Hasselbeck.   You’re the last known quarterback to start the 2011 pre-season as your team’s quarterback who is still standing in that position, and even you could be seen as something as a scrub.  After all, you replaced the inimitable and retiring cum unretiring Kerry Collins in Tennessee, so you’re hardly a fixture.    If the fates of the other QBs in your division are any indication, you may not be long for this season.

Peyton Manning is apparently headed to the Ole Miss retirement home, where he can spend his golden years knitting a new neck.   David Garrard is floating in the ether after the Jacksonville Jaguars decided that they just couldn’t stomach his steady presence for another year, but that they could, indeed, embrace the stylings of Jack Del Rio for a while longer.  Now, Matt Schaub is out for at least a couple of weeks, just when the Texans appeared to have finally figured out this silly little game.

So, don’t feel too smug about your 5-4 record and heady standing in the Nashville firmament, Mr. H.   Jake Locker is just a heartbeat away.   Don’t worry, though.   If you lose your hold in Tennessee, maybe you can follow Kerry to Indy.    If you do, be sure to bring your turbo, super-ultra, mega-padded head gear, because the turf here is hard, and so are the landings.