By Teresa M. Walker
The Associated Press

NASHVILLE, Tenn. - Steve McNair finally feels like a co-MVP of the NFL now that he has the trophy in his hands. It's another reward he really wants.

"I don't have the Lombardi, and I'm not going to speculate on trying to trade it," McNair said Tuesday. "I'm going to take this one right now. But in the future, I'm going to work hard to get that Lombardi."

The Tennessee Titans quarterback, who shared the league's MVP award with Peyton Manning in January, was presented The Associated Press NFL Most Valuable Player trophy Tuesday after a minicamp workout.

McNair tied Manning with 16 votes from a nationwide panel in only the third tie since the award was first given in 1957. Now, he faces the challenge of following up a season in which he was the NFL's top-rated passer.

Known as much for his ability to play through pain and injuries as his strength as a runner and passer, McNair knows he will be a target, but he has confidence in the teammates who helped him become co-MVP.

"I don't think we have to prove to anybody we can do it two years in a row. We've just got to play our style of football. I've got to play mine and go out and compete each weekend," he said.

The Titans talked in January of trying to find ways to keep McNair healthier throughout a season.

He didn't practice all of December 2002 and led the Titans into the playoffs with five straight victories. He missed practice and two games in the final month of the 2003 season with a strained right calf and sprained left ankle.

Doctors removed a bone spur from that ankle in February, and McNair was limited to throwing in individual and seven-on-seven drills Tuesday as he worked on getting ready for training camp in July.

But McNair said nobody has talked to him about changing his aggressive style to protect his body.

"How I play the game is how I play the game. You go into a ball game and try to think about what position you might be put into and try not to be hurt is going to take away from your game," he said.

Coach Jeff Fisher would like to go through a season without the nearly traditional pregame worries of whether McNair can play or not.

"That's a goal of ours and a goal of his," Fisher said.

The Titans know how good McNair is when healthy. He helped them become only the third NFL team since 1970 to score at least 30 points in six consecutive games last season, and they have gone to the playoffs four of the past five years.

He was healthy during that scoring streak, completing 62 percent of his passes and finishing the season with 3,215 yards.

Right tackle Fred Miller said he'd love to watch McNair play healthy late in the season after watching him nearly rally the Titans on a painful ankle on their final drive in the 17-14 playoff loss to eventual champion New England.

"Still, an unhealthy Steve McNair is a lot better than a lot of these guys who are healthy. He still finds a way to win. He's a winner. He understands he's going to sacrifice his body just to make a play," Miller said.

McNair, who came up a yard short of potentially forcing overtime in his only Super Bowl appearance in 2000 is entering his 10th season. He isn't ready to talk about retirement or his place in NFL history.

"My legacy's not through yet," he said. "I've still got some things to get accomplished, and that's win the Super Bowl."

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