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Tennessee Titans quarterback Matt Hasselbeck says he will start Sunday against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

Hasselbeck was injured midway through the third quarter during the Titans’ 23-17 loss at Atlanta when he hit his arm on a defender’s helmet during a pass attempt. Titans coach Mike Munchak said tests on Monday were negative and Hasselbeck’s injury is more of a muscle strain in the forearm. The injury was initially announced as an elbow sprain, but Hasselbeck doesn’t have any structural damage to his right forearm or elbow.

Munchak said Hasselbeck’s status would be determined by his comfort level in throwing the ball. 

“He’ll be smart about it to tell us where he’s at,” Munchak said Monday. “It’s different when you’re throwing the football. He’ll know pretty good how that arm feels and if he can make all the throws or not. If it gets to that, I’m sure the right decision will be made by us and Matt.”

The Titans planned to limit Hasselbeck in practice Wednesday.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

The Tennessee Titans missed a chance to move closer to the AFC South lead,
but rookie quarterback Jake Locker(notes) showed he can produce when given the chance.

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers need to make the most of this opportunity or they
could fall further back in the NFC South race.

With starter Matt Hasselbeck(notes) questionable after suffering an arm injury last
week, Locker could make his first NFL start Sunday when the Buccaneers try to
snap a four-game losing streak.

Trailing division-leading Houston by 1 1/2 games, Tennessee (5-5) lost more
ground to the idle Texans and dropped into a pack of four .500 teams in the
conference with Sunday’s 23-17 loss at Atlanta.

With the Titans down 23-3 late in the third quarter, Locker entered after
Hasselbeck was struck by a Falcons defender. The eighth overall pick finished 9
of 19 for 140 yards and a pair of TD passes to Nate Washington(notes), who caught a
career-best nine passes for 115 yards.

Locker helped Tennessee convert a season-high 57.1 percent (8 for 14) on
third downs.

“I thought he handled himself very well there, good pocket presence, and
good job in the huddle calling the plays and running the show,” coach Mike
Munchak said. “He checked protections, he is very comfortable doing that. You
may have noticed him at the line of scrimmage making some adjustments, he felt
very good doing those things.”

That’s a good sign for the Titans if Hasselbeck can’t go. Tests on Monday
did not reveal any structural damage to Hasselbeck’s right forearm and elbow,
and Munchak described it as more of a muscle strain.

“He’s been injured in the past. He’s a savvy vet,” Titans fullback Ahmard
Hall(notes) said. “I think it’s 13 or 14 years for Matt. He’s been there, done that.
He’ll be ready to go next week.”

Buccaneers coach Raheem Morris needs his team to be ready Sunday, and for
each of the next six weeks. Tampa Bay (4-6) has dropped five of six and is three
games behind South-leading New Orleans and two back of the Falcons.

“We’ve got six more (games),” Morris said after Sunday’s 35-26 loss in Green
Bay. . “… There’s still time to get hot. We can still finish with the same
record we had last year (10-6) if we get our minds right, go out and play hard,
fast, physical and smart.”

Third-year quarterback Josh Freeman(notes) hasn’t had the most impressive season -
he’s already been picked off 15 times – but he threw for a career-best 342 yards
Sunday with two fourth-quarter TD passes to help Tampa Bay rally from 14-0 down.

Freeman knows it’s going to take more of these types of efforts for the
Buccaneers to make a late-season push.

“You have to go out and approach every week from here on out as a much-win
situation,” he said. “You try to win them all, but right now it’s very crucial
that we go out and take advantage of every opportunity.”

LeGarrette Blount(notes) has made the most of his chances since the Titans cut him
last September, supplanting Cadillac Williams as Tampa Bay’s starter and running
for 1,548 yards in 21 games.

“It looks like he is doing a great job for them and it ended up being a
great fit for him last year with them picking him up and getting a chance to
play and he has taken full advantage of it,” Munchak said of Blount, who had a
54-yard TD and 107 rushing yards Sunday.

Munchak wishes his backfield was that opportunistic. One of the main reasons
the Titans are averaging a league-low 77.3 rushing yards is the play of Chris
Johnson. The three-time Pro Bowler is running for a career-low 3.2 yards per
carry after being held to 13 on 12 rushes Sunday.

“You go back to the last game (a 30-3 road win over Carolina on Nov. 13) and
I got 130 (yards) and everything was good,” Johnson said. “You come back to
this game and nothing is working. It goes back to the offense not executing, not
being consistent.”

Munchak is looking for better offensive line play, but that unit could be
without right tackle David Stewart(notes) after he suffered a calf injury Sunday.

Former Buccaneer Barrett Ruud(notes) (groin) is also questionable. Titans rookie
linebacker Colin McCarthy(notes), who forced a fourth-quarter fumble against Atlanta,
would be the likely replacement if Ruud can’t go.

The last time these teams met, Tampa Bay won 13-10 on Oct. 10, 2007, to snap
a five-game skid to the Titans franchise.

The Buccaneers have lost both games in Tennessee – 33-13 in their last visit
on Dec. 23, 2003 – after going 0-4 when playing in Houston.

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — The Tennessee Titans’ strategy was simple — put on spy on Cam Newton and try to confuse him.

It worked to perfection.

Tennessee’s defense left the rookie shaking his head in disbelief after its 30-3 rout of the Carolina Panthers on Sunday.

The Titans (5-4) sacked Newton five times, intercepted him once and took away Carolina’s downfield passing game. Carolina came in ranked fifth in the league on offense and first in plays of 20-plus yards, but the Titans limited Newton to 209 yards passing and held Steve Smith’s, the NFC’s leading receiver, to 33 yards.

Chris Johnson ran for a season-high 130 yards and scored a touchdown, most of his yards coming in the second half after the Tennessee defense had set the tone.

The Titans sacked Newton four times on first down and put the Panthers in several third-and-long situations.

“(Newton) holds the ball,” said defensive tackle Jurrell Casey. “If a quarterback is going to hold onto the ball like that, we’re going to get to him. We kept him in the pocket. He couldn’t do anything but sit there. Having the spy on him meant he couldn’t run, and our guys got to him.”

After the game, Newton still seemed confused over what the Titans did exactly to disrupt what had been a potent offense throughout the first half of the season. Newton said he couldn’t remember playing quarterback in a game in which his team didn’t score a touchdown.

“Never, ever, ever,” Newton said.

Newton’s longest completion was 19 yards, and the Panthers failed to pick up a first down on seven of their 13 possessions.

“This is embarrassing, man,” Newton repeated three times while shaking his head. “This is as poor of a performance as a team as I’ve ever seen. Poor performance by myself. There’s no pointing fingers without looking at yourself and asking yourself what you could have done better. I know I could have done a lot of things better. It’s a reality check, that’s what it is. “

The Panthers (2-7) came in averaging 415 yards and more than 23 points per game behind a big-play offense, but Tennessee’s defense completely took away their downfield passing game — and just about everything else.

At times Newton rolled out in the pocket and couldn’t find anyone to throw the ball to.

“The thing is, Cam has the ability to extend plays, then slingshot one down the field 50 or 60 yards,” said Titans safety Jonathan Babineaux. “We knew coming into the game they had some down-the-field threats, and we couldn’t let No. 1 get comfortable. We did a good job of harassing him and making sure he didn’t have time to get back on his feet and make accurate throws.”

The Titans finally got Johnson involved in the offense.

He came in with only 366 yards rushing, but had 174 yards from scrimmage and eclipsed 100 yards rushing for the first time since Oct. 2. Johnson had 104 yards rushing in the second half and scored his second touchdown of the season on a 1-yard run late in the fourth quarter.

Johnnson’s touchdown was set up by Matt Hasselbeck, who scampered 21 yards on a quarterback bootleg before getting knocked out of bounds at the Carolina 1 without much of an effort from the veteran to score.

As Johnson entered the media room, Hasselbeck walked out and yelled, “Fantasy points!”

“Matt told me I was on his fantasy team, and that he stepped out at the 1 to help me get in the end zone,” Johnson said with a laugh. “So everyone has to thank Matt and all the fantasy owners.”

Said Titans coach Mike Munchak: “We finally gave him carries. This was one of those games we have been waiting for.”

The Titans piled up 172 yards on the ground.

“We were on the same page as an offense, executing plays,” Johnson said. “Some of the plays we ran in the second half, we’d run in the first half and didn’t have a lot of success. There are those situations as an offensive line and as a running back to get more of those opportunities to run the same plays, and eventually, it will work out.”

The Panthers appeared to be sleepwalking early on after coming off a bye week.

After Carolina went three-and-out on its first possession, Marc Mariani returned Jason Baker’s punt 79 yards for a 7-0 lead. It was the third long punt return for a touchdown allowed by the Panthers this season and the 11th against Baker, the most of any active punter in the NFL.

Tennessee quickly made it 14-0 on its first possession when Damian Williams turned a short pass from Hasselbeck into a 43-yard scoring play after defensive backs Sherrod Martin and Darius Butler missed tackles. Williams finished with 107 yards receiving.

Hasselbeck was 15 of 27 for 219 yards with his only mistake, a third-quarter interception, leading to a Carolina field goal. Even then, the Tennessee defense held after the Panthers took over deep in Titans territory.

Five of Carolina’s eight first-half drives ended in three-and-outs and two others were halted by costly mistakes by tight end Greg Olsen.

Olsen fumbled in the red zone early on then dropped an easy 16-yard reception late in the first half that would have made for a short field goal attempt by Olindo Mare. Instead, Mare missed the ensuing 50-yard kick on the final play of the first half, and the Titans took a 17-0 lead into the locker room.

“We didn’t do anything right,” Olsen said. “There isn’t one thing that we can hang our hat on. It was just an overall pathetic effort by us.”

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Wide receiver Nate Washington, tight end Jared Cook and fullback Ahmard Hall were back on the practice field for the Tennessee Titans on Friday and will be listed as questionable for Sunday’s game in Carolina.

Linebacker Barrett Ruud sat out again Friday with his injured groin, but will be questionable and will be a game-time decision for the Titans.

Rookie linebacker Colin McCarthy, just back from a hamstring injury, could get his first NFL start if Ruud cannot go.

Safety Chris Hope, who has practiced fully this week in returning from a broken forearm, will be listed as questionable. Quarterback Matt Hasselbeck (knee) will be probable, while defensive end Dave Ball is out with a concussion.

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NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP)—The Cincinnati Bengals are on a roll unlike anything
seen by this franchise since 1988 with five straight wins, and coach Marvin
Lewis says it doesn’t matter.

“Half of these guys weren’t even alive 23 years ago,” Lewis said.

Rookie Andy Dalton(notes) threw for three touchdowns and 217 yards, and the
Cincinnati Bengals rallied from a 10-point deficit and beat the Tennessee Titans
24-17 Sunday for their fifth straight victory.

The Bengals (6-2) last won five in a row in 1988 when they took the AFC
championship and went to their second Super Bowl. They also improved to 4-1 on
the road with the rookie quarterback leading the Bengals to 17 unanswered points
as he tossed TD passes to three different receivers.

“Our quarterback has done a nice job,” Lewis said. “It was loud out
there, louder than we expected. I think he’s done a nice job of handling that.
He doesn’t get unnerved, he just keeps coming back and just playing.”

Tennessee (4-4) has lost two of three to wrap up a three-game homestand.
Chris Johnson had 110 yards from scrimmage, but the Titans blew a 17-7 halftime
lead when the offense shut down in the second half.

Tennessee managed just 95 yards in the final 30 minutes with 30 on the final
play that came up well short of the end zone. The Titans also held the ball just
4 minutes, 38 seconds of the fourth quarter in what coach Mike Munchak called a
very disappointing loss.

“We didn’t make a play the whole second half, and then the defense took
their turn and we couldn’t make a stop,” Munchak said.

Cincinnati came in with the fourth-stingiest defense in the NFL, and the
Bengals helped shut down the Titans in the second half. Carlos Dunlap(notes) had two
sacks, and Nate Clements(notes) stripped the ball for the lone turnover. Clements
forced Titans tight end Jared Cook(notes) to fumble at the end of an 8-yard gain to
give Cincinnati the ball at the Tennessee 20 with 3:49 left.

Mike Nugent(notes) kicked a 36-yard field goal for the final margin.

Tennessee got the ball back with one last shot, but struggled with two
10-second runoffs and no timeouts. Lavelle Hawkins(notes) was tackled after a 30-yard
gain to the Cincinnati 32 after time expired with Johnson nearby ready for a
lateral.

“I guess he just didn’t see me,” Johnson said.

Now the Bengals head into the toughest part of their schedule two wins ahead
of their total of last season. Cincinnati faces the Steelers twice and the
Ravens once in its next four games.

“We’re at where we want to be now, and that’s in the thick of things in our
division,” said Bengals rookie receiver A.J. Green(notes), who caught seven passes for
83 yards.

“We’ve got some division games coming up that are going to be tough, but I
feel like this team right here is going to fight and compete in every game.”

They took over after halftime, outgaining Tennessee 97-8 in total offense in
the third quarter. Dalton took advantage of a defensive pass interference play
to set up his second TD pass, a 15-yarder to Jerome Simpson(notes).

The rookie QB from Texas Christian then drove the Bengals 75 yards using up
6 minutes, 55 seconds before finding Andre Caldwell(notes) for a 5-yard TD with 10:52
left and a 21-17 lead that Cincinnati never lost.

“We’re doing whatever we have to do to win the game, and that’s the biggest
thing for the season,” Dalton said.

Johnson ran pretty well at times and finished with 64 yards rushing and 46
yards receiving. But the Titans wasted their best field position at the
Cincinnati 49 on the opening possession of the third quarter.

In a sign of how much they would struggle, they wound up going backward with
a penalty and went three-and-out.

The Titans had all the momentum at halftime after scoring two touchdowns in
the second quarter. Matt Hasselbeck(notes) was 10 of 13 for 117 yards with a 143.3
passer rating in the quarter, tossing an 8-yard TD pass to Damian Williams(notes) where
the second-year receiver tapped his toes in at the back of the end zone before
falling out.

Hasselbeck then found Hawkins in the back right corner for a 16-yard TD pass
8 seconds before the half for a 17-7 lead.

Notes: The Bengals missed scoring a defensive TD for a fourth straight week
when officials overruled a call that Hasselbeck’s pass was backward when Dunlap
knocked it down and recovered it in the end zone. Replay showed Hasselbeck’s
pass was going forward when Dunlap hit it. … The Titans are 5-3 against
Cincinnati since moving to Tennessee, but the Bengals have won two straight in
Nashville. … Titans DE Dave Ball(notes) had a concussion. Munchak said WR Nate
Washington(notes) hurt his hip, and Hawkins dislocated a finger before returning to the
game. TE Jared Cook hurt his lower leg on the fumble.