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BOSTON -- From his den in Huntsville, Alabama, Onree Jackson will quietly root to see Jacoby Brissett under center when he watches New England host Houston on Thursday night.Almost 50 years have passed, but Jackson still remembers his excitement when he was drafted out of Alabama A&M in 1969 by the Boston Patriots -- the franchises first black quarterback.Back then, the team hailed his potential to be the Willie Mays of pro football. But he never played in a regular-season NFL game.Now, Brissett could establish a footnote for a franchise born in a city with a complicated racial past, its first African-American player to start at quarterback. While the Patriots have been racially progressive in other ways, the New York Giants are the only other NFL team to have never started an African-American quarterback.Brissetts opportunity comes because of two unusual factors. Tom Brady, the teams cornerstone, is suspended four games for his role in using underinflated footballs in the playoffs in 2015. And Bradys backup, Jimmy Garoppolo, has a shoulder injury and is listed as doubtful for Thursday.While none have started a regular-season game, the Patriots have drafted eight African-American quarterbacks. Michael Bishop played the most, appearing in eight games in 2000.The potential distinction shows how much things have changed in 50 years.When I got there, there was a baseball player with the Red Sox and he said in the paper, `You know theyre not going to have an N-word quarterback here in Boston, Jackson, 69, recalled in an interview with The Associated Press.It was funny to him, I think, because they had a picture of him laughing in the papers, Jackson said. I had a shot, and I didnt make it under their rules.Bostons professional teams -- like the citys neighborhoods -- had different reactions to the civil rights movement and the integration of professional sports.While the Celtics and Bruins broke barriers in pro basketball and hockey, the Red Sox were the last Major League Baseball team to field a black player. Pumpsie Green took the field at Fenway Park in 1959 -- more than a decade after Jackie Robinson played for the Dodgers and even after Willie ORee took the ice for Boston in the all-white NHL. The Red Sox gave both Robinson and Mays tryouts in the 1940s before opting not to sign them.Meanwhile, the Patriots neither led nor trailed the pack on such issues.Jackson was drafted by Rommie Loudd, the AFLs first black assistant coach before he joined the Patriots in 1966. He moved to the teams front office and became its personnel director in 1969, one of the first black personnel directors in the NFL.Jackson said he thought everything was fine until he drew consistent ire from then-coach Clive Rush, who told Jackson: Joe wouldnt do that.He was talking about Namath, Jackson said. Me being who I am, and where I was from and all, I just accepted that and went on.Jackson was waived after a few months. Rush told the Frederick Daily Leader at the time that Jackson was behind three other quarterbacks.As Ive grown older, I can see little signs that said, `You arent going to make it because youre a black quarterback. Thats the way I interpreted it, anyway, Jackson said.Rush was fired after a losing season in 1969 and 1-6 start in 1970.New England has never had a black head coach. Romeo Crennel, now defensive coordinator in Houston, held that job in New England before he was head coach in Cleveland and Kansas City. Bobby Grier, who is black, was an assistant coach with the Patriots who rose to be vice president of player personnel from 1997-2000.Richard Johnson, curator of the Boston Sports Museum, said while the quarterback milestone would be unintentional, there has never been talk of race influencing the Pats personnel decisions.Under Bill Belichick, the best player has always played, Johnson said.Richard Lapchick, who has pushed for diversity across college and professional sports from The Institute for Diversity and Ethics in Sports, said the Patriots under owner Robert Kraft have consistently pushed for inclusion in several ways.They were working in the community on gender violence prevention in the early 1990s, 20 years before Ray Rice or even before O.J., Lapchick said.The Patriots were also one of the first teams to help NFL players finish their degrees.Josh Johnson, who is black and one of three Giants quarterbacks, was surprised when told his team could be the last to cross this particular racial benchmark.It shows progress, he said. Thats all you want to see, progress. Good luck to (Brissett), I hope he goes out and takes advantage of it. Opportunities come far and few.Though it didnt work out for Jackson, he said hes proud to have played a part toward seeing a day when no one notices who is or isnt under center.Its a pride thing now, he said. Im proud of what happened. Though I didnt make it, it was kind of a foot in the door type-thing.---This story has been corrected to show that Michael Bishop, not Rohan Davey, has played the most games for the Patriots as an African-American quarterback.---AP Sports Writers Jimmy Golen in Boston and Tom Canavan in East Rutherford, New Jersey, contributed to this report.---Follow Kyle Hightower on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/khightower Wholesale College Jerseys .S District Court against Major League Baseball, the Office of the Commissioner and his own union, the MLBPA. 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NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- Tennessee coach Mike Mularkey is taking an optimistic view of the Titans latest loss, a game in which they trailed by 16 points.Mularkey said Monday hes encouraged by how the Titans fought back to take the lead. The veteran coach and former player said hes been around a lot of teams that didnt fight back, especially after making their would-be comeback tougher with three turnovers -- two returned for touchdowns.We dont want to be falling behind, Mularkey said. But we also have the ability to come back, and nobody flinched. Nobody panicked. Nobody quit, and thats the heart of this football team.Tennessee went to San Diego trying to climb above .500 and move within a half-game of Houston in the AFC South. Instead, the Titans trailed 16-0 less than 16 minutes after kickoff in the 43-35 loss to San Diego. The turnovers came from Marcus Mariota on two interceptions and a fumble, and Mularkey said having turnovers returned for touchdowns can devastate teams but not these Titans.Mariota threw for 313 yards with three touchdowns and also ran for a fourth. Mularkey said Mariota made some very nice throws, including threading an 8-yard pass to Delanie Walker in the fourth quarter that pulled Tennessee within 33-28. But Mariota now has lost four fumbles this season with eight interceptions.I guess we have to take some bad experiences to maybe emphasize it like weve had, Mularkey said. He knows more than anybody what hes got to do when he turns up, and hes got to do a good job of getting that thing high and tight and put it away.Tennessee (4-5) has some other issues to fix before hosting the Green Bay Packers (4-4) on Sunday. Thats the Titans lone home game this month before road trips to Indianapolis (4-5) and Chicago (2-6) before their bye.The defense, which had been ranked sixth allowing only 82.5 yards per game this season, allowed its first 100-yard game by a running back --- and then some.ddddddddddddMelvin Gordon had 100 yards by halftime and just missed adding another in the second when he finished with a career-high 196 yards rushing. The Titans held Phillip Rivers to 99 yards in the second half but gave up 176 yards and two TD passes before halftime.Defensive lineman Jurrell Casey said the Chargers were running draws up the middle at him and teammate DaQuan Jones, and the Titans now need to tighten up their run defense quickly.Weve got to go back ... to try to figure out what were going to do to make sure we dont let this happen to us again, Casey said.Mularkey wasnt happy with the officiating of referee Brad Allens crew either. He cited three penalty calls immediately after the game, and Mularkey said Monday that he sent 11 of 15 plays to the league office he thought couldve been officiated better, including a defensive holding penalty on safety DaNorris Searcy when the receiver fell wiping out a sack by Casey on third-and-1. San Diego scored the go-ahead TD a play later.Im not using that as an excuse for the loss ... by any means, Mularkey said.Game notes The Titans played without Heisman Trophy winner Derrick Henry, who strained a calf muscle in pregame warmups. Mularkey said an MRI confirmed a strained calf and that Henrys pain tolerance will determine when the running back returns. But the Titans promoted RB David Fluellen from the practice squad and waived CB Cody Riggs a couple hours after the coach spoke to reporters. ... Mularkey said they will try to ease LG Quinton Spain (right knee) back into practice Wednesday and S Rashad Johnson (neck) should practice this week after missing two games.---AP NFL website: www.pro32.ap.org and http://twitter.com/AP-NFL---Follow Teresa M. Walker at www.twitter.com/teresamwalker ' ' '