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News » Culpepper not alone on comeback trail


Culpepper not alone on comeback trail


Culpepper not alone on comeback trail
ALLEN PARK -- Kerry Collins, Kurt Warner, Jeff Garcia and Brett Favre belong to a club of older NFL quarterbacks who recently were ushered to the sideline but have bounced back in a winning way.


Could Daunte Culpepper of the Detroit Lions join that group?

"Definitely. I'm a guy who has an opportunity," said Culpepper, who will get his fourth start Thursday as the 0-11 Lions host the 10-1 Tennessee Titans at Ford Field. "Those are guys who had an opportunity and took advantage of it. I'm in the same boat and I'll take advantage of every opportunity I get.

The Lions faced Garcia last week, and now will see Collins, who began the year as the backup to starter Vince Young in Tennessee. Young struggled early and then sprained his medial collateral ligament, so Titans head coach Jeff Fisher went to Collins and, when Young got healthy, Fisher stuck with the 14-year veteran.

Collins has been steady for the Titans, completing 58 percent of his passes, throwing nine touchdowns against just four interceptions, and has a passer efficiency rating of 81.9.

Collins said experience has been one of the main reasons the gray-bearded quarterbacks have done so well.

"I think it has to do with playing the position," said Collins, who will turn 36 in December. "When you've played as much as we all have, I think we've seen it all and we've been through almost every conceivable situation that you can face on the Football field. Because of that, nothing surprises you."

Fisher agrees with that assessment, adding that it's not just the experience of what they see on Sunday afternoon, but learning how to deal with the job the rest of the week.

"They've played in so many games, so they know how to bring the game to practice, to the meeting room, to the walkthroughs and then to carry it over on Sundays," said Fisher, adding that he believes Culpepper could have the same kind of success in Detroit.

"(Older quarterbacks) command respect and you can read between the lines with what Daunte's doing there. You can see the change in the Football team.

Collins said Culpepper simply needs time to adjust to the system before he can become successful.

There is one other factor, though, that has lumped Collins, Favre, Warner and Garcia together, and one that might keep Culpepper from joining that club just yet: They're all playing with some pretty good talent around them on both sides of the ball.

"Any quarterback that's successful, more times than not, is going to be on a good team and I'm certainly a strong case in point," Collins said. "If you look at some of the other guys, like Brett and Kurt, we're all fortunate to be on a good team at this point in our career."

Injury update

Quarterback Drew Stanton (concussion), defensive end Dewayne White (calf) and cornerback Keith Smith (groin) are not expected to play Thursday. Meanwhile, quarterback Dan Orlovsky (thumb) and center Dominic Raiola (thumb) already have been ruled out of the game.

No blackout this time

The Lions sold out their remaining tickets Tuesday, so Thursday's game will not be blacked out on local television.



Author:Fox Sports
Author's Website:http://www.foxsports.com
Added: November 27, 2008

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