NASHVILLE, Tenn. — The Tennessee Titans feel very, very good about their secondary.

How good?

Well, secondary coach Chuck Cecil wouldn't trade right cornerback Cortland Finnegan for any other cornerback in the NFL. Finnegan's the guy who filled in for Adam Jones last season.

There's also Michael Griffin, a rookie playing cornerback a year ago, who's now firmly entrenched as the starting free safety.

At strong safety Chris Hope is healed from spinal cord surgery and hitting once again with abandon, while cornerback Nick Harper is ready to remind his teammates never to take a play off.

"I think the sky's the limit," Griffin said. "We've all just got to go out and work hard."

It's a vast difference from this time in 2007. The Titans had Hope in his spot, had signed Harper as a free agent from Indianapolis and used their first round pick on Griffin knowing that Jones wouldn't be available.

After the Titans shuffled 10 players through three different spots, Harper grabbed the spot at left cornerback. Finnegan, the 5-foot-10 speedster from Samford, quickly earned the other cornerback slot with his own speed timed at 4.33-seconds in the 40-yard dash before the 2006 NFL Draft. Griffin finally was switched into the free safety slot for the final 10 games.

The secondary finished with 10 of the Titans' 22 interceptions as part of a defense that gave up the 10th fewest yards passing last season.

During the offseason, they followed up by working and spending time together often, especially Hope, Finnegan, Calvin Lowry and nickelback Vincent Fuller.

"You get to learn each other personally and not just necessarily on the football field," Fuller said. "The same thing happened this year. Nearly everybody being here in the offseason program, and that bond just grows stronger. Nick Harper, we didn't get the whole offseason with him last year, but this year we did. He worked hard with us, and I think all that helps."

They still have challenges. Griffin, as talented as he is, has lots of potential to be really good if he keeps pushing himself and working hard. Finnegan has some technique issues he's working with Cecil to refine for himself.

"I'm not just a coach, I'm a fan of football," Cecil said. "I love to watch football, and watching good players perform is a thrill for me. I look forward to watching him play."

And that's where Hope and Harper come in, as Super Bowl winners who can help remind their teammates never to take a play off. Harper said that they help show them the right way to work since quarterbacks to thread the ball into an opening at any moment.

"We're trying to instill in them you've got to go hard every play," Harper said.

It's a mix that is working quite nicely so far.