NASHVILLE — Punter Brett Kern will not play in Saturday's final preseason game for the Titans, according to multiple sources. The veteran has been locked in a training camp battle with rookie undrafted free agent Ryan Stonehouse this year.

Kern will dress and go through pregame warm-ups before Tennessee takes on the Arizona Cardinals.

Kern has been a staple of the Titans franchise since his arrival in 2009. Originally signed by the Denver Broncos as a rookie free agent out of Toledo, the New York native arrived in the NFL ahead of the 2008 season. Denver waived Kern in October of the following year when the Titans promptly snagged him.

14 years with one club is almost unheard of in the NFL.

Kern will have a market

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Should Tennessee end up releasing him next Tuesday, Kern will absolutely find a landing spot for a team in need of special teams help.

A decision to move on from the longest-tenured Titans player would not be results-based at this point. Kern has punted five times in four quarters of the two previous exhibition games. He's averaged 48.5 yards on those attempts and has had four land inside the 20-yard line. The outlier being a 58-yard bomb that went out of the back of the end zone.

"They're both competing," coach Mike Vrabel said of Kern and Stonehouse after a win against Tampa Bay. "They both have had some really good days. I think that Brett (Kern) is punting better than he did last year from what I've seen. I don't think we're ready to make a determination on who is the punter."

The difference in practice and preseason: Stonehouse's physical abilities is not something the veteran has at this stage of his career.

Is Stonehouse the best option for the Titans?

Long term, absolutely.

Tennessee's staff has split the workload for both punters up to this point by halves. Kern has handled first-half duties with the rookie coming in to close things out. Stonehouse has gotten one more attempt than Kern in his efforts up to this point. In those six punts, the new arrival has averaged only just slightly under the veteran's yardage totals at 48.

Stonehouse's longest was a 68-yard missile, but he lacks Kern's nuance and directional skills at the position. There has been little drop-off, however, when it comes to the two as holders for the field goal unit. The lone exception came a week ago in practice when the Titans let Stonehouse take the reps with kicker Randy Bullock, who missed as many attempts that day as he had in all of training camp to that point (3).

"Stoney (Ryan Stonehouse) doesn’t have as much experience as Brett (Kern) does (holding," said Vrabel. "But that's why we're working him in there and trying to get him as many of those opportunities as we can."

The team will make its final roster cuts next Tuesday, Aug. 30 at 3 PM CT.

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