QB Mariota dealing with injury … again
Quarterback Marcus Mariota was limited to individual work in Wednesday’s Tennessee Titans practice with the stinger he suffered in Sunday’s loss to the Indianapolis Colts.
“I’m feeling good. I was able to go through individual. I have to take it one day at a time, but I felt pretty good today,” Mariota said. “It was a stinger, pretty much. Basically, it’s one of those deals again with your nerve and the feeling down my right arm wasn’t totally there. So, it was one of those deals where you have to wait and see for the nerve to calm down and things should be good.”
Titans head coach Mike Vrabel is hopeful that Mariota will be able to increase his workload as the week goes on.
“He was limited. He did a little bit, but didn’t take the normal reps that he would take. We’re hopeful that he’ll progress as the week goes on,” Vrabel said.
The good news for Mariota is that the injury is not related to the nerve injury he suffered in the season opener that caused him to miss the first meeting with the Houston Texans the next week. Mariota went through his work on Wednesday and did not have to use the half glove that he needed after suffering the first injury where he lost feeling in some of the fingers on his throwing hand.
The other good news for Mariota is that the Titans have an extra day to get ready as their rematch with the AFC South leading Texans is on Monday night.
“It definitely helps. We have an extra day to get healthy and to get our bodies right. We’ll definitely take advantage of it,” Mariota said.
Vrabel indicated that he is hopeful his quarterback would be able to go even if he does not take a full complement of reps this week in practice.
“At some point in time, there are guys that can play with limited practice reps throughout the week. Hopefully, Marcus could fall into that category of someone who probably wouldn’t need every single rep. He doesn’t take every single rep throughout the week anyways. We think that practice is important, but certainly there is a fine line when trying to get a guy back and practicing,” Vrabel said.
The Titans did not have Mariota available the first time the teams played this season and managed to take a 20-17 win, thanks to a fake punt touchdown pass and some trickery with the Wildcat formation using running back Derrick Henry.
But the Texans are a vastly different team from the one that visited Nissan Stadium in September. After starting 0-3, Houston has reeled off seven straight wins and holds a two-game edge in the AFC South.
“They’re on a hot streak. I think that they’re a confident football team. They’re winning four games by three points or less. They’re playing the situations well at the end of the game,” Vrabel said. “In the most critical situations they’re executing, whether that be a two-minute drill defensively, or getting a stop, or the four-minute offense running the clock out. They’re doing those things well in the close games.”
SERIES HISTORY: 34th regular-season meeting. Titans lead series, 18-15. The Titans used trickery in Week 2 to take a 20-17 win over the Texans as a fake punt pass from Kevin Byard to Dane Cruikshank went for a 66-yard TD pass and helped the short-handed Titans to the victory.
