JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- The Tennessee Titans probably would be more panicked, maybe even in desperation mode, if they weren't playing in Jacksonville this weekend.
The Titans feel right at home here.
Tennessee is 10-5 at Jacksonville Municipal Stadium, an impressive record that includes wins in five of the team's last seven trips to the River City.
If the Titans (0-3) are to avoid an even bigger hole, a seemingly insurmountable 0-4 start, they will need to extend their winning ways against the Jaguars (1-2) on Sunday.
"There's no time to panic," Titans linebacker Keith Bulluck said. "It's just time to play. If you panic, you just might make the situation worse."
In an effort to stay positive and remind everyone that the season is far from lost, Bulluck and coach Jeff Fisher already have mentioned Tennessee's 1-4 start in 2002 -- a campaign that ended with a trip to the AFC championship game. Coincidentally, the Titans turned that season around with a victory against the Jaguars.
"We got tough, and we just kept playing," Bulluck said. "We still have a lot more to play for."
Tennessee opened this season with Super Bowl aspirations, but close losses to Pittsburgh, Houston and the New York Jets have the Titans reeling.
"No one wants to start off 0-3, but you have to be realistic, you have to look at it, you have to sort through it, get past each week and just do the best you can to get ready to win the next ballgame," Fisher said. "You can't dwell on it. If you walk around like a 0-3 team, you're going to be 0-4, and that's almost assured.
"It's not about the record right now. Everyone can dwell on the record all they want, we're not. ... You don't want to start off the way we did, but we can't change it. All we can do is look ahead and look to the next week."
The Jaguars are feeling much better about themselves after winning at Houston last week.
The rebuilding team got its running game going behind Maurice Jones-Drew, didn't allow a sack for the first time in 16 games, and made enough big plays on defense to beat the Texans 31-24. It was just the second time in the last 22 games Jacksonville scored more than 30 points.
"It was big. It was huge for us," receiver Torry Holt said. "It erased the frown that we had for the past couple weeks and put a smile on our faces, I know that for sure. Now, we'll see what it has really done for us. We can obviously build momentum off this and go out and play with that much more confidence now that we've got that win under our belt."
The victory might have given players and coaches a lift, but it did little to boost ticket sales, so the game will be blacked out on local television.
Tennessee's record is much more surprising.
The Titans, who earned home-field advantage throughout the AFC playoffs last season, have endured countless mistakes in their slow start. Dropped passes, missed field goals, turnovers and third-down woes, Fisher has seen his offense and his special teams contribute to losses.
The defense might be even more alarming.
The Titans have allowed 891 yards and seven touchdowns through the air. Things could get worse against Jacksonville if Tennessee is without two defensive backs. Nickel back Vincent Fuller broke his right forearm last week and will miss at least a month, and standout cornerback Cortland Finnegan (hamstring) might not play.
The injuries could force rookies Jason McCourty and Ryan Mouton onto the field against Jacksonville.
Bulluck didn't seem worried. He even offered up the defensive game plan.
"Maurice Jones-Drew has been doing a tremendous job, but the way we feel around here, I would tell all fantasy people to bench Maurice Jones-Drew this week because that's our No. 1 task is to come out and stop him on defense and as a team to win the game," Bulluck said. "If it's bulletin-board material, it's bulletin-board material."
Maybe, but the Jaguars are more concerned about ending Tennessee's winning ways in Jacksonville. Jones-Drew even recalled Fisher's 10-year-old comments about this city providing his team an extra home-field advantage.
"We've got to do what we can to win. That's the attitude you always have to have," Jones-Drew said. "Coach Fisher has said many times before that Jacksonville is like a home game to them, so we've got to come out and defend our home turf and do whatever we can to make plays and pull out a victory."
