The Tennessee Titans haven’t gotten a full 16-game season out of Marcus Mariota since taking him second overall in 2015. Yet based on the injuries he suffered last year, it’s remarkable that the quarterback missed just three games.
There were more than anyone knew.
According to Paul Kuharsky, Mariota injured his Ulnar nerve, suffered a neck stinger, cracked a vertabrae, tore his plantar fascia ligament in his foot, broke a rib, sprained an oblique, and sprained his AC joint.
Goodness.
Obviously, Mariota is one tough dude, and respect to him for playing through that lineup of injuries.
Yet there’s still the matter of Mariota’s continued inability to stay healthy, which has been a problem since his rookie season. And his extensive injury history has done more than just keep him out of games, it’s kept him from developing.
In fact, it’s not hard to argue that Mariota has regressed big time in the past two seasons, throwing 24 touchdowns and 23 interceptions in 29 games.
Tennessee is stuck with him at this point, at least for one more year after picking up his fifth-year option ($20.9 million in 2019). Yet more and more it seems like the team will be forced to look elsewhere for its franchise quarterback.