CINCINNATI -- In body language on the field, in spoken language at the postgame podium, Jake Locker simply didn't say much.
He was, of course, a key figure in the Tennessee Titans' 33-7 loss to the Cincinnati Bengals at Paul Brown Stadium. After a decent drive to open the game that ended with a 40-yard field goal that sailed wide right off the foot of Ryan Succop, it never felt like the visitors had a chance.
During the game and after, Locker had no answers.
He sailed passes high again, which seemed to be news to Ken Whisenhunt and for which Locker had no explanation. That is a concern. If something is regularly wrong, a quarterback should be able to identify why that is. Locker couldn't pin that element of his play down after last week's horror show against the Cowboys or this week's in Ohio.
Even worse, his first interception was the sort of throw quarterbacks are discouraged from making from the first time they throw a football.
Down 19-0 the Titans were gifted a possession deep in Bengals territory when Andy Dalton threw a looped pass to Giovani Bernard, that bounced off the running back's hand and was intercepted by safety George Wilson.
The Titans had a chance to score before the half.
But on second-and-8 from the Cincinnati 23, Locker moved hard to the left sideline. He had time to consider and reconsider what to do. And what he decided to do was throw back to the middle of the field, where he thought he could find Nate Washington in the end zone.
"I thought he was wide open," Locker said.
When did he realize Washington wasn't wide open?
"When the guy caught it."
Wow.
I mean bravo for the candor, but that's quite a depressing admission.
I expected something more along the lines of what coach Ken Whisenhunt offered on the play.
"That wasn't a good throw, you don't throw it in that situation back across the field," Whisenhunt said. "He saw Nate, thought he could make the throw. Just in that situation, where you are in the game, you've just got to be a little more judicious about not making that throw."
And I think by "a little more judicious" he meant a whole lot more judicious.
Locker's still trying to prove he's a starting caliber NFL quarterback.
Starting caliber NFL quarterbacks know they can't try that, that the odds of the miracle play are stacked heavily against them. They know if they are missing high a lot, how they can fix it, not just from one week to the next, but from one series to the next.
Whisenhunt was displeased with the receivers against Dallas and said so. In this game, Kendall Wright and Justin Hunter combined for eight catches for 81 yards, while Washington was shut out and the tight ends and backs combined for nine receptions.
Did the receivers respond or were the failures more on the quarterback?
"Even after we're able to watch film, that's a finger that none of us will point," Washington said. "We'll all be accountable for what we've done."
Those of us who cover the team didn't expect Whisenhunt to say he considered inserting Charlie Whitehurst to replace Locker or will consider changing this week.
But the questions had to be asked and were.
"I didn't think it was the time to do that," Whisenhunt said. "Jake's still the quarterback. ... One of the things you asked me when I first got here was what would I do differently (than I did in six years in San Diego). And one of the things was patience with the quarterback.
"So Jake's got to play better and we're going to work. We all have to play better."
Locker needs to provide answers. The postgame news conference isn't important. What he says in there can paint a better picture, but really doesn't matter.
What he does that prompts the questions is huge.
