The Titans' season may have just ended. All they had to do was win out and they would make the playoffs. Instead, late in the third quarter, with Tennessee trailing Jacksonville, 25-10, quarterback Marcus Mariota was sacked from behind by Sheldon Day. It looked innocuous enough at the time, but the Titans' medical staff reportedly had to apply an air cast to Mariota's leg, and he left the field on a cart.
The Titans are calling it an ankle injury.
Mariota's day -- and perhaps his season -- look to be over.
In his place: Veteran journyeman Matt Cassel, who has appeared in just two games this season, and thrown just one pass. Mariota, meanwhile, leaves the game having completed just 8 of 20 passes for 99 yards and a touchdown.
It would have been interesting to see if the fans would have been all in for a 9-6 team playing for a title and the Titans’ first playoff berth since 2008. And now we’ll have to wait until next season to see how close this team is to getting a growing city behind it in force.
Saturday’s terrible performance won’t help. But it doesn’t change what was fairly obvious all season and realized by the entire NFL by the time that Kansas City game ended with Ryan Succop’s 53-yard bomb to win — the Titans are set up to win big in the next few years.
General manager Jon Robinson’s first draft and spin through free agency yielded big returns, and now he will get a top-10 — possibly top-5 — pick thanks to last year’s trade with the Rams, to go with the Titans’ regular first-round pick.
Robinson didn’t look especially pleased as he watched in the press box Saturday. This was a total breakdown on the field, and also the latest reminder that the Titans need to upgrade at cornerback and find Mariota a big-play threat at receiver.
And it was a reminder that every offseason roster adjustment is critical. Just look at how the Indianapolis Colts have fallen off.
The Jaguars took the field Saturday with a 2-12 record, but that team has some talent. Smyrna’s Jalen Ramsey wore out his hometown team and has a lot of years as an elite cornerback ahead of him. First place in the AFC South is attainable for the Titans in 2017, but so is last place.
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) -- Tennessee Titans quarterback Marcus Mariota will have surgery Wednesday for his broken right leg, and coach Mike Mularkey says the recovery process will take four to five months.
Mularkey said Monday that Mariota will have a plate inserted over the break by Dr. Bob Anderson in Charlotte, North Carolina.
The Titans coach didn't share any other details, but Mularkey has had Anderson repair his feet and says there's no other doctor he trusts for this surgery.
Mariota was hurt Saturday when sacked during a 38-17 loss to Jacksonville. Trainers placed an air cast on his leg before he was carted off the field. This is the second straight season Mariota has missed the season finale because of an injury.
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Marcus Mariota Taken Out On Cart
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