Kevin Dyson will become the Titans' best deep threat if Yancey Thigpen can't play Sunday.

Now, before all you Thigpen fans start reaching for your keyboard with fury in your fingers and a good mind to fire off some flaming hot e-mail to the dot-com headquarters, consider a few things.

First, the Titans offense doesn't revolve around the wideouts and the deep passing game. Tennessee likes to pound Eddie George into the line and dump short passes off to tight ends Frank Wycheck and Jackie Harris. Wycheck and George ranked No. 1 and No. 3 on the team in catches during the regular season, and Harris was fifth.

Second, Tennessee already has played six games without Thigpen this season, going 5-1 and scoring an average of 23 points. Yes, Thigpen caught 38 passes -- fourth on the team -- in the games he played, but the offense proved it can get by without him.

And finally, the Titans quarterbacks and other receivers, while careful not to diss their friend and teammate, say rather matter-of-factly that the team won't need to make any major adjustments to account for Thigpen's absence.

The fact is, as good a receiver as Yancey Thigpen is, Tennessee has plenty of juice at the position for the offensive scheme they run. When someone goes down, even a starter, the Titans just plug someone else into the lineup and go out and play.

In the six games Thigpen missed this season, Titans receivers caught 40 passes (6.7 per game) and tight ends and running backs caught 64 (10.6 per game). In the five games since his return, three of them in the playoffs, wideouts caught 34 passes (6.8 per game) and tight ends and backs caught 47 (9.2 per game).

Bottom line: Don't expect any changes to the game plan on account of Thigpen.

"It doesn't change at all," quarterback Steve McNair said. "We've got some great guys behind Yancey."

That list starts with second-year man Kevin Dyson, the team's No. 1 draft pick in 1998 who was second on the team this season with 54 receptions. Coach Jeff Fisher hasn't said who will start opposite Dyson, but Isaac Byrd will see plenty of time, as will Chris Sanders, Joey Kent and even Derrick Mason.

	Since you've been gone
	In six games without Yancey Thigpen this season, the Titans passing game didn't miss a beat:
	Date	Game	WRs	TEs/RBs
	Oct. 17	@ N.O.	7-92	5-32
	Nov. 21	vs. Pitt	4-98	10-52
	Nov. 28	@ Cle	9-87	9-88
	Dec. 5	@ Bal	9-106	23-209
	Dec. 9	vs. Oak	2-15	10-99
	Dec. 19	vs. Atl	9-16	7-81
	Totals		40-594	64-561
	With or without you
	In five games since Thigpen returned, the numbers don't look a whole lot different:
	Date	Game	WRs	TEs/RBs
	Dec. 26	vs. Jax	10-151	16-177
	Jan. 2	@ Pitt	9-112	6-104
	Jan. 8	vs. Buf*	3-23	10-53
	Jan. 16	@ Ind.*	7-82	6-30
	Jan. 23	@ Jax*	5-47	9-69
	Totals		34-415	47-433
	* Playoff games

But Dyson said they won't do anything different.

"We've prepared the same way all year long," he said. "The biggest difference is I'd play both sides of the ball, flanker and split end. That's about the only difference. The bottom line is, we'll have to step up. We've stepped up all year long."

Sanders led the backup receivers with 20 catches this season -- followed by Byrd (14), Mason (eight) and Kent (three) -- and despite the modest totals, Sanders said each receiver is going to have to be ready to contribute.

"When your number is called, you just gotta step up and make that play," he said. "We just gotta win the one-on-one battles."

Even Rams cornerback Todd Lyght, a guy who will be assigned to prevent Dyson, Sanders and Co. from winning those battles, doesn't expect to see anything from the Titans he didn't see in their first meeting or on film. That means a lot of short passes to backs and tight ends, followed by an occasional gadget play. That makes the challenge for the St. Louis defensive backs one of simply paying attention.

"It's going to be hard to stay alert and not get lulled to sleep," Lyght said. "They beat us on a flea-flicker the last time. We took away the deep threat, which was Yancey Thigpen, but they hit Frank Wycheck on the check-down for about 20 yards."

That's about as inventive as the Tennessee offense gets, at least to hear offensive coordinator Les Steckel tell it.

"I know there are some games that are pretty boring to watch," Steckel said, "because we're going to pound it 30 or 35 times, but our objective is to keep the defense off the field and keep their offense off the field."

And the Titans still might see Thigpen on the field. He hasn't been ruled out, and in fact was upgraded from "doubtful" to "questionable" after Wednesday's practice. Besides, veteran backup quarterback Neil O'Donnell, who played with Thigpen in Pittsburgh, says you can't underestimate the desire of a veteran receiver to be on the field in the Super Bowl. The two ex-Steelers played in Super Bowl XXX.