NASHVILLE, Tenn. - Can "the Freak" be even freakier?

That's the question facing Titans DE Jevon Kearse as he heads into his second pro season. Last season, in a dominating debut, Kearse set an NFL rookie record with 14½ sacks, earned a starting spot in the Pro Bowl and won Defensive Rookie of the Year honors.

Yet the resounding answer at team headquarters is "Yes."

Kearse will play 5-10 more plays a game this season, and 5-6 times a game he will shift away from his spot at left defensive end. That means offensive coordinators - who already will be spending a week plotting how to minimize the damage Kearse can inflict - will have to make more mid-game adjustments.

Those who faced Kearse last season already know what he brings to the field.

	Titans defensive end Jevon Kearse has "freaky" ability.

"Havoc," Titans Pro Bowl RB Eddie George said. "It's chaos."

Kearse expects to play at about 255 pounds this season, and the talk of beefing him up has subsided. He didn't appear to wear down at all last season, when the Titans played three playoff games and the Super Bowl.

He is what he is: the best undersized pass rusher since Lawrence Taylor.

During the offseason, Kearse watched video of his pass-rushing predecessors, looking for hints, tips and tricks.

"I studied some smaller pass rushers, like Charles Haley, Lawrence Taylor, other 250-, 260-pound guys to see what they did to have something besides the speed rush," Kearse said. "Because people know I have the speed rush to the outside, I have to come up with something else."

According to Fred Miller, that shouldn't be a problem.

Kearse embarrassed Miller into numerous false starts and holding penalties last season when the Titans beat the Rams at Adelphia Coliseum in Week Eight. The right tackle redeemed himself with a strong performance against Kearse in the Super Bowl. After jumping to the Titans as a free agent this offseason to replace the departed Jon Runyan, Miller now works against Kearse on a daily basis.

"I think he can be a lot better than last year," Miller said of Kearse. "Teams really know they've got to account for him. Most will be geared towards stopping him, and it's a challenge for him to find ways to overcome those obstacles, when two or three different guys may be on him. He definitely has the ability to beat those.

"I think he's showing more stuff, he's reacting to mistakes tackles will (make) versus just using all that speed to get around the corner."

Just as Kearse studied pass rushers on film this spring and summer, he also watched breakdowns of the offensive tackles, right and left, the Titans will face this season.

"It was so I could learn their moves, see what they do," Kearse said. "But it was other players going against them; they have different speed and get-offs, different from me. They're not used to my speed."

Defensive coordinator Gregg Williams said the Titans will try to move Kearse from left end periodically for three different purposes.

"He'll rush against any of the five linemen across the board, we'll know he can get on a running back, or we'll know he's got to cover a tight end or a back," Williams said. "We'll have him cause a little bit of confusion and doubt in the offense's ability to figure out where he'll come from or what his responsibilities are.

"We won't do anything more than that. An offense will have to decipher what he's doing. All of the sudden, when he's in coverage, does that free up Kenny Holmes, John Thornton, Terry Killens in the pass rush? Possibly."

The Titans will be very cautious in their approach to changing Kearse's role.

"You don't want to mess up the good things he's got going," Williams said.

Titans general manager Floyd Reese agrees.

"I moved a linebacker, Matt Blair, in Minnesota from the left side to the right side, and he was half the player," said Reese, recounting his days as a position coach with the Vikings. "It seemed so simple. Do exactly the same stuff, except instead of using your right arm, use your left arm. The dumb coach got smarter and moved him back in about a half season.

"If you take a great player doing one thing and add other things to it, if it expands his ability to make plays and to be a great player, if it increases his sacks from 14½ to 20, it's worth it. But if he goes from 14½ to 7½, you have to re-evaluate. You have to consider that."

Last season the Titans asked Kearse to do just one thing - rush the passer from the left side.

His development surpassed anything they could have expected, and they believe that happened largely because they resisted the temptation to overburden the former Florida linebacker.

Not only did Kearse rack up 14½ sacks, he also had 18 QB pressures, led the defensive line with 85 total tackles, forced 10 fumbles - recovering one himself and taking it 14 yards for a touchdown - and defensed six passes.

The highlight of Tennessee's 1999 season-in-review video is stop-and-go footage, complete with arrows, pointing out Kearse (as if he could be missed) on two plays. On both, he started upfield to chase the quarterback before turning to catch the ballcarrier way downfield. One was Raiders RB Napoleon Kaufman, the other Ravens WR Qadry Ismail - both swift of foot.

Kearse said he feels ready for his second time around and is eager to pick up where he left off.

"I've come a long way. I'm just waiting for game time to make something happen," Kearse said. "I'm going to see a lot of gaming, double teams, stuff to look at this year. I've got to be ready."

Material from Pro Football Weekly.
Visit PFW's web site at http://www.profootballweekly.com