Tennessee Titans quarterback Matt Hasselbeck says he'll start this weekend against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, and coach Mike Munchak agrees after watching the veteran go through a limited practice Wednesday.
Hasselbeck was injured midway through the third quarter during the Titans' 23-17 loss at Atlanta when he hit his arm on a defender's helmet during a pass attempt. Titans coach Mike Munchak said tests Monday were negative and Hasselbeck's injury is more of a muscle strain in the forearm. The injury initially was announced as an elbow sprain, but Hasselbeck doesn't have any structural damage to his right forearm or elbow.
Munchak said Hasselbeck looked good Wednesday.
"We didn't ask him to throw a lot of deep balls today," he said. "He'll start doing that tomorrow, just want to be cautious there. If it was up to us, we probably wouldn't have practiced him at all like we hadn't the last few weeks just to rest him in general and not necessarily because of the arm. He wanted obviously to be out here and get some throws and do some things.
"I think he feels good. It's all about confidence. I don't think he has an awful lot of soreness."
Hasselbeck worked behind a shuffled offensive line Wednesday, with left tackle Michael Roos (groin), center Eugene Amano (hip flexor) and right tackle David Stewart (right calf) not practicing. Munchak said Roos and Amano should practice Thursday, and Stewart might be limited, but the coach expects all three to be available Sunday.
Defensive end Derrick Morgan (ankle), defensive tackle Karl Klug (bruised knee) and linebacker Barrett Ruud (groin) didn't practice.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
