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Young's status iffy for clash against Texans

Oct 21, 2007 - 10:31 AM Tennessee (3-2) at Houston (3-3) Sunday 1:00 pm EDT

HOUSTON (Ticker) - The Tennessee Titans are holding out hope that Houston native Vince Young won't have to miss his homecoming.

Young, last season's NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year, is listed as day-to-day for Sunday's clash against the Houston Texans with a strained quadriceps muscle in his right leg.

The second-year quarterback suffered the injury in the third quarter of last week's 13-10 loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. But an MRI exam on Monday revealed no serious damage and Titans could Jeff Fisher has not ruled out Young playing on Sunday.

"There is no potential surgery required," Fisher said. "He is going to have to work through it. He has been a quick healer. We just hope he'll be able to bounce back from it quickly."

If Young does play, he will be hard-pressed to top his dramatics in his first professional appearance here last season.

Returning to the city where he was a high school star, Young scored on an electrifying 39-yard touchdown run in overtime to give the Titans a 26-20 victory over the Texans.

"That's his hometown," Tennessee tight end Bo Scaife said. "He loves it down there and they love him down there. I'm sure he's going to do everything he can to see that he can play."

Young played well before suffering the injury, completing 11-of-14 passes for 120 yards. If he is unable to play, the Titans likely will start Kerry Collins, who completed 10-of-20 passes for 125 yards in relief.

Young watched from the sidelines as Matt Bryant kicked a 43-yard field goal with 11 seconds remaining to give the Buccaneers the victory. The loss snapped Tennessee's five-game road winning streak.

The Texans are coming off a 37-17 defeat to the Jacksonville Jaguars. They dropped to 1-3 without receiver Andre Johnson, who remains sidelined with a knee injury.

Running game Ahman Green returned after missing a pair of games but looked rusty, rushing for just 44 yards.

The Titans have won eight of 10 meetings with the Texans, including the last four.