Five months removed from fractured fibula, Marcus Mariota returns to practice
Tennessee Titans star quarterback Marcus Mariota is back at practice after a lengthy offseason layoff following a fractured fibula.
December 24, 2016 is a day that will live in Tennessee Titans infamy. Okay, that might be a bit of an overreaction, but Week 16 of last year was easily one of the worst days to be a Titans fan, ever. The Titans lost a must-win game to the lowly Jacksonville Jaguars, knocking themselves out of playoff contention and losing their quarterback, Marcus Mariota, for the remainder of the season to a fractured fibula.
It was an eerie feeling. There was a sense of dread throughout the poor performance, but watching Mariota get carted off the field was an absolutely gut-wrenching feeling. The injury cast a shadow of negativity heading into the offseason, but early reports had him ahead of schedule in his recovery process.
Nearly five months removed from the serious injury, Mariota was back on the practice field on Tuesday for the first day of Titans OTAs. All in all, head coach Mike Mularkey said Mariota did the walkthrough, the individual period, and 7-on-7. The quarterback could’ve done more, but the team is being as cautious as can be with the face of the franchise.
There were reports and pictures of Mariota running in the sand and doing extensive rehab work throughout the offseason, but finally getting him back on the field is a welcome sight to every single Titans fan, player, and coach.
FIRST LOOK: #Titans QB Marcus Mariota rolling out and tossing a dart on his surgically repaired right ankle pic.twitter.com/u2f7i9ax68
— AtoZ Sports Nashville (@AtoZSports) May 23, 2017
That video is as encouraging as it can get this early in camp. If you follow the Titans’ official Instagram, they posted more videos of Mariota on their story. He can be seen taking snaps and going through quarterback footwork drills. After the practice, he said “it felt great”.
It’ll be interesting to see if Mariota gets off to a slow start and needs to shake off some rust to begin the season. Once he gets going though, there will be no ceiling for what the third-year star can do this year. With Corey Davis and Taywan Taylor added, a massive season is coming for Marcus Ardel Taulauniu Mariota.