Marcus Mariota’s time as the Tennessee Titans‘ starting quarterback may have come to an end. On Tuesday night, NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport and Tom Pelissero reported that Mariota, who was benched during the Titans’ Week 6 loss to the Denver Broncos, will remain on the bench for Tennessee’s Week 7 game against the Los Angeles Chargers.
Ryan Tannehill, who relieved Mariota during Sunday’s 16-0 loss, will make his first start for the Titans, who are 2-4 six games into the 2019 season.
The second overall pick in the 2015 draft, Mariota — who helped lead Oregon to the 2015 College Football Playoff — has completed a career low 59.1 percent of his passes this season. He was just 7 of 18 for 63 yards with two interceptions against the Broncos before being replaced by Tannehill, who went 13 of 16 for 144 yards with an interception during his first significant action as the Titans’ quarterback.
In March, the Titans traded a 2020 fourth-round pick while exchanging 2019 sixth and seventh round picks to the Miami Dolphins in exchange for Tannehill, the 8th overall pick in the 2012 NFL Draft. In six active seasons as Miami’s starting quarterback, Tannehill completed 62.8 percent of his passes with a 123/75 touchdown/interception ratio. He went 42-46 as Miami’s starting quarterback that included a career best 8-5 record in 2016 while helping lead the Dolphins to the playoffs.
Tannehill, however, was unable to convince the Dolphins that he was their long-term solution at quarterback, prompting Miami to trade him this offseason. He will now get another opportunity in Nashville, as it appears that the Titans are prepared to go in another direction with regard to their starting quarterback.
Mariota, who is slated to become a free agent this offseason, is 29-32 as Tennessee’s starting quarterback. In 2017, he helped lead the Titans to an upset victory over the Kansas City Chiefs in the AFC Wild-Card round before falling to the New England Patriots in the Divisional Round.
Tennessee failed to make the playoffs last season after going 9-7 for a second consecutive year, as Mariota threw just 11 touchdowns in 14 games. Mariota continued to regress this season while being sacked a league-high 25 times through six games.
