Tennessee Titans quarterback, Marcus Mariota, got some grief from his teammates for his flip into the end zone on a successful two-point conversion try.
Tennessee Titans quarterback, Marcus Mariota, doesn’t regret diving and flipping into the end zone on a two-point conversion play, despite his teammates understandably giving him grief for it.
Mariota’s acrobatic play occurred on a two-point conversion attempt after the Titans scored their first touchdown of the Preseason Week 2 game against the New England Patriots.
After nothing developed in front of him, Mariota decided to take it in himself, but was forced to dive for the end zone, and was flipped in mid-air as he went airborne for the conversion.
https://twitter.com/Titans/status/1162872953387700224
While obviously a risky move in a meaningless preseason game, Mariota had no regrets, per John Glennon of The Athletic.
“No, I wouldn’t have changed anything I would have done there.”
Mr. Mariota: the ultimate competitor.
Mariota did hear it from his teammates after the play, though, according to Jim Wyatt of Titans Online.
“I was getting more grief from my teammates – they told me not to do it again,” Mariota said. “I was trying to make a play. In the moment, I played instinctively and tried to get the points.”
Titans tight end, Delanie Walker, loves the competitive nature Mariota has, but also advised his teammate to be careful, per Wyatt.
“I went up to him and I was like, ‘Bruh, you can’t do that,” Walker said. “But he’s a competitor, and I know he is going to give it all he’s got.”
Backup quarterback, Ryan Tannehill, also noted how much of a competitor Mariota is, even though he also wants to see the Oregon product use more caution in a preseason game, via Erik Bacharach of the Tennesseean.
“I asked him what the heck he was doing,” Tannehill explained. “It’s a preseason game, let’s not break our neck going into the end zone. … He said, ‘It’s two points,’ so that kind of shows you what kind of competitor he is.”
If you were to ask Mariota, he’d probably tell you, “two points is two points.”
Whether or not you agree with Mariota trying to make such a play, one thing’s for certain: he scared the crap out of all of us who were watching.
The Titans need Mariota to get to the regular season in one piece, and have him stay that way for the entirety of a 16-game schedule if they’re going to go from “good to great” in 2019.
After likely enjoying a huge sigh of relief after the play like the rest of us, head coach Mike Vrabel pulled Mariota, who finished with six completions on nine attempts for 63 yards and a touchdown.
Mariota will likely get a bit more action in the team’s third preseason game when they host the Pittsburgh Steelers in Nashville on Sunday, August 25th. Let’s hope he keeps the acrobatics at home.