Hawkins signed to new contract
--The Titans are keeping a key offensive contributor in the fold.
The team announced Feb. 10 that it had agreed to terms with wide receiver Lavelle Hawkins on a multi-year contract. Hawkins, who will be 26 this fall, was due to become an unrestricted free agent agent on March 13, the beginning of the 2012 league year.
Hawkins, the Titans' fourth-round draft pick out of California in 2008, had a career-high 47 catches for 470 yards in 2011, including his first NFL touchdown in a 24-17 loss to the Bengals on November 6. He was fourth on the team in receiving yards.
In his career, Hawkins has 66 catches for 709 yards.
The Titans had previously reached deals with tight end Craig Stevens and offensive tackle Mike Otto to keep them off the free-agent market. Fifteen other Titans are still set to become free agents next month.
--New GM Ruston Webster said the Titans could have WR Kenny Britt, who suffered a torn ACL in September and had surgery in early October, back in time for training camp in 2012. He said Britt appears to be a fast healer and is ahead of schedule in his recovery.
"Kenny has been working hard and he's coming fast, probably even a little faster than I thought he would. So I'm real happy about that," he said. "We expect to have him out there for training camp. The good thing about his injury, is there is a good thing, is it happened early, and he's a very strong young and bounces back very quickly. We're hoping and planning to have him back for training camp."
--Speaking of Britt, he put one of the legal issues he dealt with last season behind him when he entered a guilty plea of disturbing the peace and paid a $1,500 fine in a New Jersey court over an incident in 2011 when he allegedly crushed out a marijuana cigar at a car wash and disposed of the evidence which police were unable to find.
--The Titans have hired Jon Gannon, who has spent the past three seasons as a scout for the St. Louis Rams, as their new quality control coach on defense. Arthur Smith, who had that role last year, slides over to be the quality control coach for offense, a role held last year by Curtis London. London left in January to become the running backs coach at Penn State.
--Forget the Peyton Manning talk in Tennessee. If the Colts cut their star quarterback, he won't be coming back to the state where he played college football. General manager Ruston Webster made that abundantly clear in a conference call with season-ticket holders, voicing support for Matt Hasselbeck and Jake Locker.
"Obviously, Peyton is a great player, but we also feel like we're in good hands," Webster said.
QUOTE TO NOTE
"Jake showed enough during the season to warrant a chance to win the job and he'll have a good shot to do that. He's a very talented player. He brings a lot of excitement to the game, and we are as excited as you are about bringing him out there. It'll be a good competition. It won't just be Matt's job, and Matt knows that. The best man will win." - GM Ruston Webster on the impending quarterback competition between Matt Hasselbeck and Jake Locker.
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