NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- The verdict is in — Jake Locker has been named the starting quarterback for the Tennessee Titans, the team confirmed Monday.
Locker, the team's first-round pick (8th overall) in 2011, had been competing with veteran Matt Hasselbeck throughout the offseason and training camp with each player starting a preseason game.
Locker will now start this week's preseason game against the Arizona Cardinals and open the regular season against the New England Patriots on Sunday, Sept. 9 at LP Field.
Head coach Mike Munchak said Monday Locker will play 40 to 50 snaps Thursday night vs. Arizona and take the majority of reps in practice going forward.
Locker appeared in five games as a reserve in 2011, completing 34-of-66 passes for 542 yards and four touchdowns with no interceptions. He also rushed eight times for 56 yards and a touchdown.
Locker logged his first significant regular season action last season at Atlanta, completing nine of 19 passes for 140 yards and two touchdowns. Trailing 23-3 late in the third quarter, Locker relieved Hasselbeck (elbow injury) and nearly rallied the Titans to victory, throwing a pair of touchdown passes to Nate Washington in the 23-17 loss.
Three weeks later at home, Locker entered a game against the New Orleans Saints in the second quarter when Hasselbeck left the contest with an injury. He completed 13-of-29 passes for 282 yards and a touchdown, while rushing six times for 36 yards and a TD. Locker's 282 passing yards ranked second in franchise history by a rookie quarterback and the most since the Oilers' inaugural 1960 season.
The following week at Indianapolis Locker entered the game with less than six minutes remaining in the fourth quarter and completed 11-of-16 passes for 108 yards and a touchdown.
In four seasons at Washington, Locker started 40 games, completing 619-of-1,148 passes for 7,639 yards with 53 touchdowns and 35 interceptions, holding a career passer rating of 119.1.
As a senior in 2010, Locker completed 184-of-332 passes for 2,265 yards with 17 touchdowns, leading the Huskies to a bowl game for the first time since 2002.
He connected on a career-best 230-of-395 passes for 2,800 yards with 21 touchdowns as a junior in 2009, earning All-Pac-10 honorable mention and was a semifinalist for the Davey O'Brien Quarterback Award.
