The Associated Press

NASHVILLE, Tenn. - Tennessee Titans quarterback Steve McNair doesn't mind playing through injuries.

It's not that he enjoys the pain. He says he concentrates better when he's hurt.

"It's something I thrive on," McNair said. "It doesn't faze me. It's something mentally I can knock off and continue to play the game."

That ability to ignore pain made McNair nearly unstoppable this season despite a sprained right toe, sore right shin, sore ribs and tightness in his surgically repaired back. He couldn't practice for five straight weeks but didn't miss a start, leading the Titans to a 5-0 record in that stretch.

"My goal is to get this team to the Super Bowl regardless of how I do it," McNair said. "That's what I've got to do, regardless of how much attention I get or this team gets."

McNair did it yet again last weekend, getting the Titans into the AFC championship Sunday against the Oakland Raiders for Tennessee's second championship game appearance in four years.

He banged his right thumb against a helmet in the fourth quarter, and doctors had to cut some hanging skin off the first knuckle. His thumb was numb.

Once bandaged, McNair returned and drove the Titans down the field twice before Joe Nedney kicked the game-winning field goal for a 34-31 overtime victory over the Pittsburgh Steelers.

"He amazes us each and every week," Tennessee tight end Frank Wycheck said of McNair. "He goes out there and lays it all on the line."

It was the fourth time this year and 16th in his career that McNair led a scoring drive that tied or put the Titans ahead in the final two minutes of regulation or overtime.

"He's a guy who's going to create plays when there's not a play there," Oakland coach Bill Callahan said. "He's going to find a way to push the pocket, he's going to find an escape lane, and he's going to get down the field and make something happen."

Pain is nothing new for McNair. Since becoming a starter in 1997, he has missed only seven games to injury - five came after surgery to repair a disc in his lower back in 1999. He returned and led Tennessee to the Super Bowl.

When turf toe eventually meant surgery to remove a bone spur in February 2000, McNair played with a hole cut in his shoe. He also had an infection in his right throwing shoulder in February 2001 that required flushing it with 15 gallons of sterilized water.

McNair was on the bench in Pittsburgh in 2000 with a bruised sternum when backup Neil O'Donnell was hurt on the Titans' final drive. McNair came in and led Tennessee to the game-winning TD.

"The list goes on," Titans cornerback Samari Rolle said. "It's kind of getting old now. It's Mac the warrior. He's going to be there."