NASHVILLE — As is always the case with teams going home with no playoff hopes, it could be the end of the line for a number of players in a Tennessee Titans uniform.

Included in that group this season are two old warhorses who have had their share of ups and downs with the Titans.

Former first-round pick Derrick Morgan is a free agent at season’s end, and even though he could be having the best season of his five-year career, thus far the Titans have shown no inclination toward re-signing the defensive end-turned-outside linebacker.

Morgan, the Titans’ top pick in 2010, has come to realize that the NFL is about business decisions and moving on sometimes when that is necessary. He has seen plenty of change in his five seasons with the franchise.

“My overall assessment is there’s just a lot of change. I’m the only guy left from my draft class. That in and of itself just signifies how much change is going on,” Morgan said. “This is my third head coach in five years and basically my third defense. There’s been a lot of change and a lot of different faces throughout the years. It’s not really what I expected the league to be, but I was introduced to what it really was pretty early in my career.”

In that time, Morgan has gone from being heralded as the answer as a pass-rushing end to wrecking his knee to being a serviceable starter to moving to an outside linebacker spot in the 3-4 and now being a free agent with 6.5 sacks this year.

Another free agent-to-be is receiver Nate Washington, who is a rarity in that he signed a six-year contract in 2009 with the Titans and lived to play out every minute of it. But now that he can be a free agent again in the offseason, he doesn’t know exactly what the future holds.

At this late stage of his career, surely Washington would like to be back with a winner — he has not sniffed the playoffs since leaving a Super Bowl champion in Pittsburgh in 2008.

“That’s not even a thought that’s come to my mind actually. I’ll have to sit down with my family in the offseason and assess it then. I’ll try to sit down with my agent and my family and try to understand what’s going on with it then,” he said. “I haven’t really thought about it either way, whether I’m coming back or leaving. I’ve been trying to literally cherish every minute that I have here, and the only way I know to do that is to continue to focus on that minute.”

–This is the 40th regular-season meeting between the Titans and Colts. Indianapolis leads the series, 26-13. The Titans have lost 11 of the past 12 games to the Colts, including 41-17 back on Sept. 28.