He held the script tightly in his hands, poring over the words as sweat began to accumulate on his brow.

He wet his lips, took a deep breath and exhaled tentatively.

Marcus Mariota is used to the glare of the bright lights in football, but these were the hot lights right on top of him, microphones and cameras of a shoot for an Island Insurance TV commercial Monday, a whole new ballgame as it were for the Tennessee Titans’ quarterback.

Truth be told you got the feeling in the makeshift studio at the Saint Louis Alumni Clubhouse that he’d just as soon face a safety blitz instead. At the moment an encounter with the Houston defense seemed preferable to being the center of so much doting attention.

“It is kinda hard to talk in front of a camera and I mean, for me, I found a new respect for actors and actresses and how they handle themselves and how they are able to do their jobs, ’cause it is not very easy,” Mariota said.

Asked how he’d rate himself as an actor, Mariota paused and said, “probably 70 out of 100. It is still new to me. I mean it is kinda surreal. I’m still getting used to it.”

Indeed, 26 months earlier he was in the same room to watch the Titans select him with the second overall pick in the 2015 NFL Draft.

Now, with a New York-based agent handling his accounts and overseeing the shoots, the commercial productions are regularly part of his trips home in the offseason, drawing the deeply tanned Mariota away from some of his precious last days at the beach before heading back to the continent.

“I mean, you get used to the same people year in and year out and a lot of the spots are really funny and I do enjoy being part of it,” said Mariota, relishing the opportunities to be just another guy.

When another actor portraying a coach blew a whistle to signal the start of a scene, Mariota had trouble containing a smile. Several times they erupted into laughter when somebody blew a line.

But if Mariota has learned how to smile on cue and bring a dab of sincerity to a corny line in the script, he also retains his humility, making a point of thanking attendants for every task, bringing him water or patting extra makeup over the moisture on his brow. Thanking the crew, too, for taking a celebratory picture with him as if it were his idea and fondest wish.

Mariota, as we’ve come to see, is nothing if not dedicated to the mission at hand, whether it be a fourth-quarter drive, rehabbing an injury or shooting a commercial.

Still, his voice perked up in the surrounding press conference when he was given the opportunity to talk about the opening of training camp later this month back in Nashville, where he and the veterans plan to assemble a week early. “I feel great. I’m pretty close to 100 percent. I got cleared to kinda do everything working out I need to do to get ready, so my body feels good.”

Mariota said, “We want to try and get back a little early (to) get the chemistry rolling and make sure we’re clean and crisp first, before we start camp. That way we’re not wasting (repetitions) when we’re out there. It will be good. I think guys are excited. We’ve just got to continue to focus on how we can continue to get better, and I think we’re all excited.

“Our goal is to go out there, win our division, get in the playoffs and make a run at a Super Bowl. That’s everybody’s goal at this time of the season, but none of that matters until you are out on the field.”

Those are the kind of lights where Mariota is really at home.