DENVER >> This was new territory for quarterback Marcus Mariota, who stood silently on the sideline at Mile High Stadium on Sunday, hands clenched at the top of his grass-stained Tennessee Titans jersey.

He was there not because the game was already in hand, as it had been so many times at Saint Louis School, where he helped deliver a state high school championship, or at the University of Oregon, where he took the Ducks to the national championship game and won a Heisman Trophy.

And not because he had been injured in the line of duty, as had happened too often in his four previous years with the Titans.

For the first time in his football career — Pop Warner, high school, college or the NFL, Mariota said — he had been pulled for performance, or lack thereof, with a game still on the line.

It came when the Titans inserted previously unused backup Ryan Tannehill with 4 minutes, 49 seconds remaining in the third quarter of a game that Denver led 13-0 after cashing in on the second of two Mariota interceptions.

The eventual 16-0 Bronco victory posed the immediate question of whether Mariota, who is in the final year of his rookie contract with the 2-4 Titans, will retain his starting job.

Head coach Mike Vrabel would not provide any immediate answers, saying only the issue would be “evaluated.”

“It is hard,” Mariota said later biting down heavily on his lower lip. “For me, as a competitor, I would love to be out there with my guys. But, again, it is going to be completely up to the coaches and what they decide.”

On the adversity meter, he said, it was the hardest episode of his athletic career, “It is tough, especially because this is a first for me. But, I truly believe that things happen for a reason and that I’ll get better from it.”

Mariota, who completed seven of 18 passes for 63 yards with two interceptions and was sacked three times, did not look like even a distant facsimile of himself.

Mariota came into the game as the only NFL starting quarterback this season who had not committed a turnover, which included a string of 191 pass attempts. But, from the first play, a short screen pass he sailed high to running back Derrick Henry for an incompletion, Mariota seemed off, tentative and unsure, lacking crispness, touch or his usual authority.

“I was inaccurate today and I didn’t give our guys a chance to make plays and that’s some of the reasons I got pulled,” Mariota said, maintaining it wasn’t a confidence issue.

Tannehill, a free-agent signee who had been a seven-year starter for Miami, completed 13 of 16 passes for 144 yards with an interception but was sacked four times and also unable to guide the Titans to the end zone.

Several of the Titans’ recurring foibles remained, a porous offensive line and questionable offensive play-calling. They lead the NFL in yielding sacks — 29 in six games — and have scored just seven points in the last 10 quarters.

For the Broncos, who had managed a total of five sacks in five games entering Sunday, seven was their biggest single-game production since 2015.

But teammates said Tannehill seemed to provide a spark that had been missing.

“I think we moved the ball pretty well when (Tannehill) was in there,” said tight end Delanie Walker, Mariota’s favorite receiver.

Vrabel said he discussed making a quarterback change at halftime but would not elaborate on why he had stayed with Mariota.

Tannehill said, “These (quarterback changes) are tough, no matter how you cut it. And, I think the only thing that makes it somewhat tolerable is we do have a great relationship and we have a ton of respect for each other. And I have a ton of respect for Marcus.”

Mariota said wanted to remain the Titans’ starter. “I absolutely do. No matter what, though, I’m a team player. If they call my number, I’ll be ready to go. I’ll make the most of my opportunity.”

Reach Ferd Lewis at flewis@staradvertiser.com or 529-4820.