Otto suddenly a man of great importance

With a smile, Titans quarterback Matt Hasselbeck spoke about the importance of tackle Mike Otto: “He went down last week in practice for a play, and no one really cared. He went down today in practice and it was big news.”

Funny, and in some ways, true.

Otto is on the spot this week. With starting left tackle Michael Roos recovering from an emergency appendectomy on Monday, Otto is working at the all important position of protecting his quarterback’s blind side. He’s preparing to start against the Colts on Sunday at LP Field.

“That’s the role of the backup,” coach Mike Munchak said. “And unfortunately, it’s a game where he could be going against Dwight Freeney, which is another tough draw because to me he is one of the best defensive ends in football, and has been a long time. So that’s another issue on top of just playing — you are playing against a guy who is pretty darn good in a game we have to win. But that is why we signed (Otto) and that is why he is here and if he has to play we are confident we can win with him in there.”

Otto, a seventh-round pick in 2007, has yet to play a snap this season. He’s been recovering from a knee injury that required surgery during training camp, and it’s the knee that had him down in pain on Wednesday for a few moments. Otto got up and finished practice.

In six seasons Otto has played in 41 games with two starts.

“He is a tough guy and a smart player, and just like all of us who are in a backup role at any point, your whole job is to be ready when called upon,” Hasselbeck said. “And if he is called upon, which is looks like he might be, he’s got to be ready to go and he will.”

Whether he’s called upon will depend on Roos, who has 119 consecutive regular season starts. Munchak said he doesn’t anticipate Roos practicing all week.

“You don’t want to make anything worse by playing,” Roos said, “so if I have to miss a week, I have to miss a week. If it happens that I have to miss, I’ll get over it and go from there.”

Posted In: AFC South, League News, Team News

Source: Titans Insider