His words have spoken louder than his on-field actions.

Beginning with the Hall of Fame game tonight against the Bills, however, the Titans quarterback should be on display for the next five weeks.

It's a chance for Young to show just how much progress he's made since his difficult 2008 season. It could also provide his skeptics with more reasons to believe he hasn't come very far.

"There will be a lot of eyes, definitely a lot of eyes,'' Young said. "But I can't really think about that. I just have to go out there and play my game and stay relaxed and execute the offense. I need to show coaches I am reading the defenses like I am supposed to, making progress.

"I'm excited about it. There's no pressure, not at all. It's football, and I'm looking forward to playing.''

This time last year, Young was the unquestioned starter. His preseason stats — 29-of-64 for 290 yards, no touchdowns and one interception — were hardly dazzling. But who knew he would end up throwing more passes in the preseason than in the regular season?

The events of the regular-season opener and its immediate aftermath are well documented. The injured and dismayed Young didn't react well and wound up behind Kerry Collins the rest of the season, appearing in only two more games.

Now it's Collins who will spend much of each preseason game standing around on the sideline while Young and other reserves try to impress their coaches.

"I want him to have fun,'' Coach Jeff Fisher said of Young. "And go out there and lead drives and make good decisions and score points for us.''

Others believe there's much more to it.

Young's confidence is at stake. So is his job, and not just for this season.

Job evaluation

Over the next five weeks, Young has to hold off veteran Patrick Ramsey in order to remain the No. 2 quarterback.

Down the road, Young's contract comes into play.

It's a lot to invest in a player if you're not sure he can be your No. 1 quarterback. If Young is not showing improvement, the Titans could run out of patience with the player they made the third overall pick in 2006.

"From a business standpoint I'm sure you can say that it's important for Vince to play well,'' said Titans tight end Bo Scaife, one of Young's closest friends. "But I think it is more important for himself, to perform better for himself so he has that confidence back in him, take some of that pressure off that he puts on himself.''

Former NFL defensive back Solomon Wilcots, an analyst with CBS and the NFL Network, said words can hardly describe just how vital it is for Young to perform well in the preseason.

These games could serve as a jump-start, Wilcots said, or could set him even further back.

"Success breeds confidence. If he has success in the preseason his confidence will return,'' Wilcots said. "No one can tell me that his confidence hasn't been shaken, because anyone who has played ball and tasted failure knows the only remedy to that is success, and good positive moments on the field of competition brings it back.

"It's a huge preseason for him because he has to develop as a quarterback. And what he can't do is try and get out there and do too much. Don't try and impress anybody. Just read your progressions, deliver the ball, have good technique, good mechanics and read defenses and the rest will come.''

'He's been fine'

So far in training camp, Young has appeared more confident and more accurate throwing the football than in preseasons past. He's thrown fewer interceptions in practice.

"And his leadership, it has picked up,'' veteran receiver Justin Gage said. "You can see his confidence has picked up. He is a competitor and he is going to keep fighting. I think he has fought harder this year than I have seen him fight in the past few years.''

He said Young has improved in some areas — pulling the ball down and running instead of forcing a throw into tight coverage, and correcting mistakes within a day of making them — but hardly raved.

"He's been fine,'' he said.

As for Ramsey, Heimerdinger said the eighth-year pro has been making some "great decisions" and has a good feel for the offense. Heimerdinger and Ramsey worked together when they were with the Broncos in 2007.

The good news for Young and the Titans is they have five preseason games to figure it all out.

"We have to see him get back out there and make good decisions,'' Heimer-dinger said. "I don't know if I can put an importance on the preseason. I hope any time anybody goes out there they'll execute what we want them to do and produce how we want them to produce. It is not just him. …