Funkerstation » the Titans host the Minnesota Vikings in

NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- Marcus Mariota says he probably wouldnt throw the ball again in the same situation, not after seeing how close his pass came to being intercepted.Luckily, Tennessee rookie Tajae Sharpes focus never wavered.Instead, Sharpe caught the pass that Oakland cornerback Sean Smith just missed and finished off a 60-yard run in what Titans coach Mike Mularkey called a very impressive play.He doesnt know if the guys cutting in front of him, or hes about to take his head off, Mularkey said.So to sit there and concentrate on the football coming to you when you probably dont have good vision on it is very impressive on his part.That kind of attention to detail is what has turned a fifth-round draft pick out of Massachusetts into a receiver likely to start his first NFL game Sept. 11 when the Titans host the Minnesota Vikings in their season opener.Not bad for a wide receiver whose small hands helped drop him further than Sharpe thought he should be drafted.Leading the Football Bowl Subdivision with 111 catches last season couldnt help the 6-foot-2, 194-pound Sharpe improve his draft status past 104th overall despite playing at the same school that produced Giants wide receiver Victor Cruz.I kind of expected to drop a little bit coming from a smaller school, Sharpe said of a program that moved up to FBS and didnt become bowl eligible until 2013.Im not going to agree with it myself. I feel like I deserve to be up there with the rest of the top receivers. But anybody has their own opinions and decisions to be made.Sharpe convinced the Titans new general manager Jon Robinson with his production and precise route-running.Sharpe started 43 of 47 games in college and is UMass all-time leading receiver with 277 catches and 3,486 yards. As a senior, he had 1,319 yards receiving.Once in Tennessee, Sharpe has worked his way up the depth chart quickly. He has been with the first-team offense since the end of the offseason program, a spot he hasnt budged from since.The native of Piscataway, New Jersey, now is poised to start along with veteran Rishard Matthews.Im just happy I wound up here being a Titan, Sharpe said. I wouldnt rather be anywhere else. I ended up in a place I was supposed to be. Im just thankful for this opportunity and just go out and make the most of it.The Titans went looking to give Mariota, the No. 2 pick overall in 2015, more help at wide receiver this offseason after tight end Delanie Walker led the team in both receptions (94) and yards receiving (1,088).That helped Walker get to the Pro Bowl, but no wide receiver had more than 36 catches. Rookie Dorial Green-Beckham led the group with 549 yards receiving.Robinson addressed the receiver group by signing Matthews from Miami in March, drafting Sharpe and then signing veteran Andre Johnson at the start of training camp. Those additions allowed Tennessee to trade Green-Beckham two weeks ago for a backup offensive lineman.Through three preseason games, Sharpe has nine catches for 163 yards, averaging 18.1 yards per reception, to lead Tennessee (2-1) with the exhibition finale Thursday night at Miami (2-1).From the moment hes got here, hes been incredible, Mariota said. I mean hes stepped on the field, he knows what he has to do. He knows his routes, and he consistently finds separation.It makes it easier on us quarterbacks because hes a pretty wide target in terms of just his ability to catch a football and his ability to get open. Expectations with us are high for him, and we look forward to the season.Game notes WR Kendall Wright was sent home Tuesday with a high fever, so Mularkey said no update on the receivers left hamstring was available. Wright will stay in Nashville for treatment rather than go to Miami for the final preseason game. ... The Titans waived RB David Cobb, a fifth-round pick out of Minnesota in 2015, and WR Jarrod West to reach the 75-man roster limit.---Online:AP NFL website: www.pro32.ap.org and AP NFL Twitter feed: http://twitter.com/AP-NFL---Follow Teresa M. Walker at www.twitter.com/teresamwalker Swell Water Bottle Flowers .Y. -- Buffalo Bills coach Doug Marrone has drawn on his Syracuse connections once again by hiring Rob Moore to take over as receivers coach. Swell Bottle Green Jasper . Ferrer, trying to win his fourth title on Mexican soil, will next play South Africas Kevin Anderson, who eliminated American Sam Querrey,7-6 (2), 6-4. Also Wednesday, Gilles Simon (6) of France beat Donald Young of the United States 6-4, 6-3, Ukraines Alexandr Dolgopolov downed Frenchman Jeremy Chardy 6-3, 6-4 and Croatias Ivo Karlovic defeated Dudi Sela of Israel 7-6 (4), 6-2. http://www.ukswellbottle.com/black-swell-bottle-sale-uk.html . 1, meaning problems for the doping controls at both major international sports events next year. The World Anti-Doping Agency provisionally suspended the Moscow Antidoping Center on Sunday, saying its operations must improve or a six-month ban on the facilitys accreditation will be imposed. Swell Water Bottle Sale . Michell Burger, a woman who lives on an estate next to Pistorius gated community, said she and her husband were awoken by the screams in the pre-dawn hours of Feb. 14 last year, when Pistorius killed Reeva Steenkamp by shooting four times through a door in his bathroom. Swell Water Bottle Sale Uk . With the short-handed Warriors needing help from someone -- anyone -- to stop a three-game skid, ONeal returned from right knee and groin injuries that had sidelined him for four games and put up season highs with 18 points and eight rebounds. It was just enough to help lift Golden State to a 102-101 victory over the New Orleans Pelicans on Tuesday night. Perth will be sweating on scans to key pair Diego Castro and Josh Risdon over the next 48 hours after the pair picked up injuries in Thursdays A-League loss to Central Coast.Castro lasted just 16 minutes before limping off with a hamstring strain, while Risdon didnt even make it onto the park in Gosford after picking up a quad issue in the warm-up.Coach Kenny Lowe said scans will determine how long, if at all, either player will be out for.Well know more in the next couple of days. Well just ice it now and see how it goes, he said.After picking up a strong win against defending champions Adelaide last-start, Perth struggled against a Mariners line-up that ran them ragged from start to finish.Lowe refused to use the early setbacks of losing Castro and Risdon as an excuse for a poor performance, and admitted Central Coast deserved the full three points.I thought we came out a bit sluggish, but youve still got to cope with those things, he said.ddddddddddddWe had a great chance early on to go one up that we didnt quite take, but I thought we huffed and puffed, to be truthful. We had a couple of little half chances. I thought there was nothing in the game but at the end of the day, I think they deserved it.Lowe conceded the only bright points were the extended minutes handed to Shane Lowry and Adam Taggart after recently returning from respective hip and calf injuries.Lowry deputised at left back, while Taggart came on for Castro.Its good we get Shane back, we get 90 minutes into him... both of them have got through the game, so out of the dark clouds is a summer cloud, Lowe said.Lowes men have now won just one of their past five games, but can remain in fourth spot upon completion of the round or drop to fifth depending on other results. ' ' '