NASHVILLE, Tenn. – It's been a month since All-Pro Rob Bironas has kicked in public, at least in the view of someone outside of the Tennessee Titans.

He might not kick Thursday night in the preseason finale in Green Bay, but that's not what matters to the Titans or Bironas. The goal is having him as healthy as possible for the Sept. 7 opener against Jacksonville after Bironas injured his groin July 28.

Bironas and Titans coach Jeff Fisher agree they don't want to do anything that would cause the injury to linger into the regular season.

“I don't want to go up to Green Bay and have the risk of having a setback or pushing an injury just to get on the field to hit a couple balls where if I have that extra week and a half of rest that'll put me that much further ahead,” Bironas said. “That's what I'm wanting to do, and I'm sure that's what the coaches want to do.”

This wasn't what Bironas had in mind coming off his first All-Pro season. He has not kicked in a game since the Pro Bowl in February, which capped a season in which he led the NFL with 35 field goals and set a league record for most field goals in a game with eight against Houston.

That's why Bironas' cleats and the football used on the record-setting kick are in the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

Fisher said Monday that Bironas is getting closer and hasn't ruled out the kicker playing in Green Bay.

But this is a team that treasures its kickers. The Titans watched Joe Nedney suffer season-ending injuries in 2003 and 2004, and they lured Gary Anderson back out to fill the void. Bironas won the job in 2005 and has held it ever since.

He has the franchise record with most consecutive games with at least one field goal at 19 and the longest field goal with his 60-yarder that beat Indianapolis in 2006. He also has been valuable on kickoffs with 37 touchbacks in his first three seasons, ranking him sixth in the NFL in that stretch.

With 133 points in 2007, he ranked second in the AFC and fourth among NFL kickers. That total put him second in franchise history to Al Del Greco's 136 points in 1998.

Special teams coach Alan Lowry said Bironas had a good offseason until the injury, trying to improve his directional kicking on kickoffs just a bit and working on his concentration.

“The thing that he did last year, it's kind of funny because he did miss a couple short field goals,” Lowry said.

Bironas has been kicking at the Titans' indoor practice field, out of sight of reporters. He said he's been working hard in the training room, the weight room and keeping up his cardiovascular conditioning in the pool.

“I've been doing everything I can to keep the rest of my body in shape and just let this injury heal,” he said.

Bironas isn't worried about timing once he is cleared to kick in practice or a game, even if that game winds up as the opener. He said he needed only five to 10 kicks with Josh Miller the day before the punter filled in for Craig Hentrich at holder before a game against New Orleans.

“I'm not going to say it's not a problem. That's the least of my worries,” Bironas said.