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New England Patriots linebacker Jamie Collins sacked Tennessee Titans quarterback Marcus Mariota in the first half Sunday in Foxborough, Mass. Mariota was injured on the play. (Charles Krupa / Associated Press)
Marcus Mariota is out for this week’s game against Houston and will be re-evaluated before next week’s regular season finale, Tennessee head coach Mike Mularkey said today.
Mularkey refuted several media reports that said Mariota is out for the season.
Mularkey said on the Titans’ website, “Marcus wants to play, and we want to give him as much game experience as we can. But we have to get him healthy, too.”
Mariota, the No. 2 overall pick of the 2015 NFL Draft, suffered what is being described as a medial collateral ligament sprain of his right knee in Sunday’s loss at New England. He left the game in the second quarter after running back Antonio Andrews failed to block linebacker Jamie Collins.
Mariota missed two games in October due to an MCL sprain in his left knee after an illegal hit by Miami’s Olivier Vernon.
Zach Mettenberger, who emerged as the Titans’ starter last season, will start at quarterback in Mariota’s absence this week. Mettenberger finished Sunday’s game.
Wow, sad to hear that. Get a lot of rest, rehab the knees and come back stronger next season. IMUA, Marcus…
The coach is not telling the truth. Mariotta is done for the year. Why risk his long-term health for a nothing season? Get him out of there.
Tennessee needs to invest in their frontline pronto. It’s not the prettiest of position(s), but OL is crucial to a well-functioning offense.
Well said, he needs to be protected …………………..
It has been mentioned that with their record the Titan’s may be in position for the top or near top draft pick for next year. If so, they should give it up and trade for some mid first round selections or later and use them to draft O-line. Their first priority should be protecting him. Coach Mularkey hasn’t forgotten how he got this job. If he played Marcus later in the game his butt would have been fired.
OL is crucial to keeping your franchise QB in one piece.
Not a good way to start his NFL career. Hope he can come 100% next season.
That’s the price you pay for being a top 5 pick quarterback. Inevitably you are end up on a team that cant protect you.
Antonio Andrews may be history. (See Below)
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“He left the game in the second quarter after running back Antonio Andrews failed to block linebacker Jamie Collins.”
Better RBs than Andrews have failed to block Collins. Unless you’re a Pats fan, he’s probably the best LB you’ve never heard of.
The replay showed that Andrews was in the correct position with respect to the formation, but he went inside to help the guard and center block their man, leaving the linebacker with a free, clear path to Marcus. If Andrews simply stepped forward instead of making a diagonal beeline to help the inside blockers, he would have been in the perfect position to at least attempt to block Collins.
If Collins had a clear path to Mariota, then Andrews was not in the correct position.
This has been the Titans problem all year. They have been unable to protect the qb and so Marcus takes unnecessary hits. I know that Mariota wants to play but I think for the long term they should sit him out the rest of the season to heal and hope to draft and trade for a better line that will protect the qb next year. If he continues to play for a mediocre team like the Titans his NFL career may not last very long. Let’s hope that he doesn’t suffer any concussions from hits caused by a line that cannot protect him.