The franchise quarterback was locked out, then traded. His backup was also traded, then blasted by the coach for dissing the team as he left town.

The starting running back asked to be traded, then lost his job. A five-game skid started the season. An Internet site called for coach Jeff Fisher to be fired.

Then came the low point _ the now-infamous stomp by defensive tackle Albert Haynesworth. He sliced open Dallas Cowboys center Andre Gurode's forehead and got a five-game suspension from the NFL, a punishment more than twice the previous high for an on-field act.

Talk about ``The Young and the Restless.''

Despite the drama, a franchise that went 9-23 the past two seasons is showing some signs of life. The Titans are 1-5 going into their bye week, but three losses were by a combined 11 points. They are coming off their first victory, a 25-22 win at Washington, and Houston (1-4) visits on Oct. 29.

``You see other teams in the league with distractions and not being able to deal with it and perhaps folding under some of the pressures,'' defensive end Kyle Vanden Bosch said. ``I think we can see improvement, and we haven't taken any steps backward.''

The best football move they've made is starting Vince Young, the No. 3 pick overall in the draft, even if they waited until the fourth game. The quarterback who led the University of Texas to a national title in January may still be raw, but he oozes confidence, competitiveness and leadership.

Young won his third start, a week after he had the Titans protecting a 10-0 lead at Indianapolis until two-time MVP Peyton Manning pulled out a 14-13 victory. Receiver David Givens, who won two Super Bowl rings with Tom Brady at New England, has been impressed.

``Vince is progressing very fast. ... He's come into this league as a very, very young guy and at one of the most crucial, critical positions on the team that's very tough to learn, very hard position to grasp and be a starter at,'' Givens said.

Young was drafted to replace Steve McNair, his personal mentor since high school. McNair was traded to the Ravens in June after Baltimore offered more money to the veteran quarterback than the Titans were willing to spend.

Billy Volek, whose agent asked for a trade before last season, didn't impress the coaching staff as McNair's successor, so they brought in veteran Kerry Collins. Once Collins was signed in late August, Volek again demanded a trade and was swapped to San Diego after a 40-7 loss to the Chargers on Sept. 17.

Chris Brown's agent also asked that the running back be traded, unhappy at the prospect of Brown sharing a backfield with former Pro Bowler Travis Henry and rookie LenDale White. Henry now has the job after boosting the rushing offence more than 40 yards a game to 114.8 yards.

Playing Young hasn't been the Titans' lone youth movement. An injury to veteran left guard Zach Piller has pushed Tennessee into moving third-year veteran Jacob Bell from right tackle to left guard and David Stewart, a 2005 draft pick, into right tackle.

The saving moment of this season may wind up being a players-only meeting two days after Haynesworth's suspension. Vanden Bosch said the players decided to fix things that were going wrong, and the entire defence started watching film together.

The Titans responded by nearly shocking the Colts at home, then came through with that elusive first victory at Washington.

Still no consecutive victories _ the Titans haven't done that since the end of the 2003 season _ but it marked a measure of improvement for a team that trailed by double digits in 19 straight losses until a 13-10 loss at Miami on Sept. 24.

``I give a lot of credit to coach Fisher through all the distractions,'' Vanden Bosch said. ``He kind of kept us on an even keel and headed in the right direction.''

Panic would have been easy for Fisher in the final season of his contract. Owner Bud Adams went from saying in August that Fisher was staying to saying that a decision would be made at season's end, and hinting that he didn't want to pay a coach for not working.

His angry explosion at Volek has been the only unusual outburst from Fisher, who said he was defending the team.

``The organization and the staff's equipped to deal with distractions. Nobody went through them more than we did in the late '90s,'' Fisher said of playing in four different home stadiums in four straight seasons.

``We deal with them and put them behind. I think the Indy test was a great test for us considering what we were able to do. We've settled down.''

The Titans have reason for optimism with Young growing each week. They have six of their final 10 at home, and US$41 million in salary cap space in 2007 to go with possibly another high draft pick.

``We've got something really good,'' Henry said.