Marcus Mariota questionable for Falcons game
By Les Bailey
Tennessee Titans rookie quarterback Marcus Mariota is questionable for a week seven matchup with the Atlanta Falcons after suffering a sprained MCL against the Miami Dolphins on Sunday. Mariota was sacked six times in the 38-10 loss at Nissan Stadium last week.
More at Titan Sized: Titans lose ugly to the Miami Dolphins
Dolphins defensive lineman Cameron Wake got to Mariota four times, but it was two questionable late hits by defensive end Olivier Vernon that drew the ire of head coach Ken Whisenhunt and did most of the physical damage.
The second quarter hit sent Mariota to the side line for a knee brace and was called Bullsh__ Football…! by the Titans second-year coach.
After Mariota’s MRI , Whisenhunt told reporters in his Monday presser:
“He’s walking around the facility today just fine,’’ Whisenhunt said of Mariota. “As the week progresses we’ll see how it goes and see if he has a chance to play.”
“We are not going to do anything to put him in any kind of jeopardy,’’ Whisenhunt said. “That will be determined with how he progresses during the week.”
Since the Titans 42-14 win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on opening day, it has been a rough road for the former Oregon Duck.
GIFs were provided by Owned Sports. Check out more of the best plays of the week in the NFL.
The Cleveland Browns were the first to show the NFL and Titans opponents how to defend against the rookie quarterback with a fierce pass rush.
Mariota has been sacked 19 times for a 4.0 sacks per game average and share 30th and 31st place in the NFL with Alex Smith from the Chiefs.
Only Russell Wilson from the Seattle Seahawks has been sacked more at 4.3 times per game.
The Tennessee Titans are 1-4 on the season and have lost three in a row at home and have failed to move the ball on offense in the last two games since the bye week break.
They couldn’t move the ball in week five against the Buffalo Bills, and came out flat on both sides of the ball on Sunday against the Dolphins.
With the team unable to put up points and getting behind early in game six, the Dolphins pinned their ears back and teed off on our rookie quarterback.
The Titans have only scored 23 total points since the break, and Whisenhunt said after getting down 17-3 by halftime in the Dolphins game, with the team being flat, it was tough to get back in the game.
“It was a bad day,’’ he said. “It happens in this league every once in a while. We had a bad day yesterday. It is not easy, but we are a better football team and you can see that in a lot of areas.
“You have to fix it based off of that and go forward, and we’ll do that.”
I don’t know about you, but I’ve heard this before, and nothing seems to change.
Things will not get better when the Titans tee it up against the 5-1 Atlanta Falcons next Sunday, and unless we see some of the changes promised, the Titans will hit the road 1-5 and well on the way to another 2-14 season.
If this were the Dallas Cowboys or another football team with prominence and some kind of ownership, we would have heard from someone with authority about changes in the coaching staff.
But with the Tennessee Titans, Ken Whisenhunt is the voice of the franchise, and he may well be the problem!
Next: It's Time for Titans ownership to come out of hiding