NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Titans receiver Kendall Wright underwent an MRI on his elbow on Monday, but he and Titans coach Mike Munchak said they think the rookie will be able to play Sunday at Miami.
Wright suffered the injury early in the third quarter while blocking for Chris Johnson on a play that gained 10 yards and preceded Tennessee's first touchdown, a 30-yard pass from Matt Hasselbeck to Nate Washington, by one play.
"I can move it fine. It didn't swell up. It was just killing me," Wright said. "I was blocking for CJ, and he ran into my elbow and extended it out. I've had my MRI. I think I'll be able to play."
Although Wright had not gotten the results back when he addressed reporters Monday afternoon, his confidence in his likelihood of playing was good news for the Titans, who will try to bounce back from consecutive losses.
Wright is leading the Titans with 42 catches this season and has emerged as a reliable option on third downs. Tennessee (3-6) went 3-for-12 on football's most critical down against Chicago (7-1), but it's bigger problem was caused by its failure to protect the football. The Titans fumbled six times, losing possession on four, and suffered a 46-yard interception return for a touchdown.
"We just shot ourselves in the foot the entire game," Wright said. "As players, all we can do is go out there and play. We're not just pointing fingers at each other or any phase of the game. We're just going out there and play hard every week."
When asked who deserved the brunt of the blame, Wright said "everybody."
"You can't blame it on one person," Wright said. "It's every player, every coach and every phase of the game."
Munchak concurred, saying, "We lost that game because of all of us: 53 of us, plus the coaching staff is responsible for where we're at right now, and that's the thing, I think, that they realize and that's the talk that you hear me say to them."
Munchak said everyone is disappointed that the Titans haven't yielded the results they anticipated at the start of the season, and said he wants his staff and players to take a professional approach that avoids pointing fingers as they work to correct problems.
"There's no doubt when you don't have success, or when things don't go your way, adversity, it's easy to join in the masses and start saying what everybody else is saying or what people are telling them they should say or what their neighbors are saying or what the media is telling them exactly what's going on with our team," Munchak said. "I think they're at least listening to what they think is really happening, and for us to get through this time, we're going to have to do that, or that makes it hard.
"When guys start splintering off, I don't see any merit in that," Munchak continued. "I don't see the advantage in doing that. Even when I played and you had a guy on your team that would do some of that, nothing good comes of it. I mean, it's not going to change anything for the positive."
HARRIS RE-EVALUATED: Munchak said right guard Leroy Harris is "more questionable" than Wright. Harris missed Sunday's game with a knee injury he suffered early against Indianapolis and underwent another round of evaluation on Monday.
"His knee was harder to examine when it happened because of the type of injury, because of how loose it was, it was swollen so it was hard to tell how loose or how strong it was," Munchak said. "I think, today, he's got an appointment to get checked on, so we'll get a better feel for where he's at."
DECISION ON MARTIN APPROACHING: The Titans anticipate making a decision on rookie safety Markelle Martin this week.
Martin, a sixth-round pick who tore his meniscus while preparing for the NFL Combine, started the season on the physically unable to perform list. Titans safety Al Afalava suffered an ankle injury on Sunday, and the Titans must further evaluate his status, Munchak said.
Martin has practiced the past three weeks and not counted against the 53-man roster so that coaches could further evaluate his progress, but he has not been able to play in a game since finishing his career at Oklahoma State.
"Unfortunately, he was limited in practices through OTAs, camp and even now the last couple of weeks, so it's hard to get a real good feel for him," Munchak said, "and then if you put a guy up, especially in that position, he has to go help on special teams right away, so those are the decisions we're going to have to make."
