The Titans returned to practice on Wednesday during their bye week before the playoffs without either Kyle Vanden Bosch or Albert Haynesworth as participants.

Vanden Bosch underwent surgery approximately three weeks ago for a groin injury that has bothered him since October, while Haynesworth suffered a sprained MCL in his left knee against Houston on Dec. 14 and has not played since.

Titans coach Jeff Fisher had said when both were out with two weeks remaining in the regular season that the timetable was for both men to return for the postseason when the Titans play the lowest remaining seed on Jan. 10.

On Wednesday, it sounded as if both players were progressing toward that, but not yet close to 100 percent ready to play.

"Everything is going as planned. It's healing up nicely and feels good. I'm able to do more and more things every day," Vanden Bosch said. "Hopefully, (I will practice) early next week. That'll put me at about three weeks out from surgery, and hopefully, I'll be all healed up and ready to go."

Vanden Bosch said he has been pain-free since the surgery was performed in mid-December and expects to play when the Titans take the field for the playoffs. But he won't make any certain declarations until he tests the groin next week in practice.

"That's the plan. I don't see why I won't be able to play, but I don't know what will happen between now and game time," said Vanden Bosch. "I have to get out there and practice and see how it feels and see how I do at practice. That will be the thing that will really determine it. That's where I'm at.

"Hopefully, I can go out there next week and do some things and feel good and not have any setbacks. Hopefully, the decision will be made before the game, but at this point we'll just have to see. It has to keep improving for me to go out there and help this team win."

He did say his confidence has been growing since testing the injury and running in recent days without any pain.

"When I went in, the doctor told me I could be back in four weeks from the surgery. I kind of had my doubts, but every day the way it's been progressing, it keeps building my confidence," said Vanden Bosch, who has been running for the past few days.

Haynesworth sounded a bit frustrated by his lack of progress thus far, as he has yet to run to test the knee injury and was still walking with a slight limp in the locker room on Wednesday.

"It's just slow to me. It ain't quite there. When I'm not out there practicing and playing, I feel like I'm just wasting my time, but I guess that's just part of football," Haynesworth said. "They haven't even asked me to run yet, so I don't know."

Haynesworth is going to employ the same strategy as last year when he employed Atlanta chiropractor Michael Hatrak, who helped him return from a hamstring injury that cost him three games.

Asked what Hatrak will do for him, Haynesworth replied, "Just a bunch of different stuff. I tell him what hurts, and he helps fix it. He helped me last year with my hamstring."

Haynesworth said he is making some progress and expects to play when the Titans go in the divisional playoffs. But he also said he could not play if the game were held now.

"We've made strides, but I can't go 100 percent right now. If the game was tomorrow, I couldn't play," Haynesworth said. "(But) I would be surprised if I wasn't out there Saturday."