Climer: Have Titans waved white flag?

Make no mistake:

The Titans punted.

And now they’re on defense.

The decision to start rookie Zach Mettenberger at quarterback in Week 8 was not one of desperation. It was one of surrender — at least in the near term.

For reasons known only to the Titans brain trust (They do have a brain trust, don’t they?), they changed course before the midway point in the season, benching Jake Locker just when he was healthy enough to play in favor of Mettenberger.

It was like waving a white flag. It would be interesting to know how this played in the locker room, particularly among veteran players.

I’ve heard from a lot of fans who saw the move for what it was. TV ratings are down. Empty seats at LP Field are up. Prepare for more of the same.

Does anybody outside the Titans’ bunker really believe Mettenberger gave the team a better chance to beat Houston last Sunday than Locker? And even with extra practice time due to the open date, does anybody think Mettenberger is better prepared than Locker for the upcoming challenge in Baltimore?

Yes, you can make the argument — as coach Ken Whisenhunt has — that the Titans need stability at quarterback in order to improve as a team. Because Locker is undeniably injury-prone, you can’t count on his being available game after game. It’s a fair point.

It’s not like Mettenberger is a first-round draft pick with a big-money contract. If that were the case, it would make sense to get him on the field ASAP. That’s why Blake Bortles is starting in Jacksonville. And it’s only a matter of time before Johnny Manziel takes over in Cleveland.

But Mettenberger is a sixth-round pick. He was the 10th quarterback drafted. And he was as surprised as anyone when he was named Week 8 starter.

He was caught so off-guard by the sudden development that he had to undergo an extreme makeover. He lost the red headband. He shaved the beard. He cut the hair. And he chronicled each change with a selfie on social media, a move that did not go unnoticed by Texans star J.J. Watt.

“If I was a rookie quarterback being named the starter for the first time in the league, I feel like I’d be a little bit more focused than that,” Watt said. “Maybe he’ll learn from it. Maybe not.”

Whisenhunt later indicated the change in grooming protocol was not necessarily Mettenberger’s idea.

“I would not say that that was a decision he made on his own,” Whisenhunt said.

But Mettenberger said the new look was something he had planned all along — when he became a starting quarterback in the NFL.

“The plan was always to clean myself up when I was named starter,” he said. “That came a little sooner than I anticipated.”

So there’s one look that works if you’re a third-teamer who is inactive for six of the first seven games and another look for a starting quarterback? Interesting.

Some point to Mettenberger’s 93.4 passer rating against the Texans as an indication that he played well. To his credit, the 93.4 passer rating is the second-best of the season for a Titans quarterback who has started and finished a game.

It should be noted, however, that Mettenberger had a low (34.8) rating in the first half, when Houston went up 13-3 and established total control of the game. Mettenberger’s numbers went way up when the Texans backed off in pass coverage, giving up short throws that running backs turned into decent gains while the clock ran.

ESPN.com’s total quarterback rating, which takes into account such factors as impact on the outcome of the game, provides a more telling statistical analysis of Mettenberger’s performance. Against Houston, he checked in at 22.7, sixth-lowest in the NFL for last week’s games.

None of this is meant to suggest that Mettenberger can’t be a good NFL quarterback in time. He fits the profile physically. He has a big arm. He is comfortable in the pocket. He has an air of confidence. He should get better as he gains more experience.

In time, we’ll know if he is the Titans’ quarterback of the future or if the franchise will spend its first-round draft pick on a quarterback for the second time in five years.

At this rate, it should be a very high draft pick.

David Climer’s columns appear on Wednesday, Friday, Sunday and Monday. Contact him at 615-259-8020 and on Twitter @DavidClimer.