NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Marcus Mariota is ready to execute whatever the Tennessee Titans’ gameplan is in their preseason finale Thursday night against the Minnesota Vikings.
Whether that means the rookie quarterback is just an engaged spectator, or he’s the starter.
Coach Ken Whisenhunt said Monday he might not make a decision on Mariota until he wakes up on game day.
“I think he’ll be prepared to play if we want him to play, and if we don’t play him, we don’t play him,” Whisenhunt said. “There’s just a lot going on as far as what we’re trying to get done in preparation for this week and even next week, so we’ll see how the week goes.”
Mariota has had a good preseason at least statistically.
The No. 2 pick overall out of Oregon and the Heisman Trophy winner has completed 70.4 percent of his passes and is 19 of 27 for 252 yards with only one interception playing 68 snaps over three exhibitions for the Titans (1-2). He has yet to throw his first touchdown with no turnovers since the opener.
That compares nicely to Jameis Winston, the quarterback taken ahead of him by Tampa Bay. Winston is 23 of 47 for 311 yards, a 48.9 percent completion rate. Winston has yet to toss a TD pass and has been intercepted twice.
Not playing Mariota even one series Thursday night would be a step toward ensuring the rookie is healthy for the opener Sept. 13 when the Titans visit Winston and the Bucs. Whisenhunt said he couldn’t recall having a player seriously injured in the fourth preseason game, but he wants Mariota preparing this week as if he’s playing regardless of the final decision.
“Now there may be something you want to see or you want to look at,” Whisenhunt said. “You always balance the factor of potential injury, but that could happen on the practice field, that could happen stepping off a curb.”
Winston practicing despite sprained ankle
TAMPA, Fla. – Jameis Winston has a sprained ankle that the rookie quarterback and Tampa Bay Buccaneers say is not a major concern.
Winston twisted his right ankle during the Bucs’ second preseason game on Aug. 24. The injury has not kept the No. 1 overall pick in the NFL draft off the field.
In addition to playing into the third quarter of last weekend’s 31-7 loss to the Cleveland Browns, Winston continues to practice.
“Pain is temporary. I really don’t focus on that at all,” Winston said Monday. “I played last year at Florida State with a sprained ankle, so that’s the least of my worries. My job is to go out there and play quarterback and fight for the team.”
Cousins named Redskins starting QB
Washington Redskins coach Jay Gruden has named his Week 1 starting quarterback.
And it’s not the guy he said it was going to be six months ago.
“Kirk Cousins will be the starter for 2015, moving forward,” Gruden said Monday.
In February, Gruden announced that Robert Griffin III would be the team’s starting quarterback “moving forward,” despite being benched late in the season for his shaky play.
A lot has happened since then. The Redskins picked up Griffin’s fifth-year, $16-million option for 2016 in April, but that money is guaranteed only if he’s injured.
Cousins has simply outplayed Griffin this preseason, completing 40 of 53 passes for 435 yards with two touchdowns and one interception for a 103.9 passer rating.
Griffin is 6 of 13 for 44 yards with no touchdowns or interceptions for a 54.6 passer rating. Veteran Colt McCoy has also put up good numbers in the preseason, completing 19 of 24 passes for 208 yards with three touchdowns and no interceptions for a 142.4 passer rating.
Eagles’ Tebow, Barkley fight for roster spot
After practice finished on Monday and Sam Bradford and Mark Sanchez retreated to the Eagles’ locker room, Matt Barkley and Tim Tebow remained on the field for a few minutes of extra work.
Barkley and Tebow, in competition for the No. 3 job, must prepare for the final preseason game on Thursday. It will be a “big week” for those playing in the game against the New York Jets, coach Chip Kelly said. The game could determine which quarterback makes the roster.
What might be the most scrutinized No. 3 quarterback competition in the NFL is facing its expiration date. The team must cut the roster to 53 players by Saturday, and Thursday is the last chance for Barkley and Tebow to show who should join Bradford and Sanchez in the quarterbacks’ meeting room this autumn.
Barkley said he would start on Thursday. Tebow also should get a good chunk of work. In the final preseason game last season, Kelly sidelined both Nick Foles and Sanchez. The coach is expected to sit his top two quarterbacks this week, too.
“I’ll be excited — first start,” Barkley said. “Excited to get in a rhythm early on, get my feet going, get the ball moving. … I don’t feel any pressure at all. I don’t think it’s anything but just an exciting opportunity. I’ve been in this place to impress.”
Taylor named Bills starting QB
ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. – Quarterback Tyrod Taylor, who goes by the nickname “T-Mobile,” got the call to be the Buffalo Bills’ season-opening starter.
Though he’s never started an NFL game in four seasons, Taylor’s dynamic dual-threat potential trumped the experience of his two competitors when coach Rex Ryan made his long-awaited decision on Monday.
“It came down to basically that explosiveness that Tyrod brings to us,” Ryan said. “All three guys made it difficult, but at the end of the day, that’s kind of what we went with.”
Taylor won the job over former Bills starter and 2013 first-round draft pick EJ Manuel, and Matt Cassel, a 10-year journeyman who was acquired in an offseason trade with Minnesota.
The decision was made two days after all three quarterbacks played with the starting offense in a 43-19 preseason win over Pittsburgh on Saturday.
Judge will decide Brady’s fate
NEW YORK – A federal judge will rule this week on whether to lift or uphold New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady’s four-game suspension by the NFL after Brady and the league failed to reach an agreement to their seven-month standoff.
Brady and the league’s commissioner, Roger Goodell, appeared Monday before Judge Richard M. Berman, of U.S. District Court in Manhattan, who for weeks had urged them to settle their differences over the quarterback’s role in a supposed plot to deflate game balls deliberately. Despite Berman’s pleas and the appointment of a mediator, the sides were reluctant to budge.
“I have no qualms with everyone’s willingness to make it happen,” the judge said to a packed courtroom. “In some cases, it doesn’t happen.”
Berman said that while the sides had made an effort to settle, they had been unable to agree, and that he would rule by Friday — and possibly by Tuesday.
Steelers wideout Bryant suspended 4 games
PITTSBURGH – The list of key players the Pittsburgh Steelers will have to do without early in the 2015 season keeps growing.
Add second-year wide receiver Martavis Bryant. The NFL suspended Bryant for four games after Bryant violated the league’s substance abuse policy.
The NFL denied Bryant’s appeal on Monday, leaving one of the league’s most dynamic offenses without another playmaker heading into an already difficult opening month.
Pittsburgh will also be without All-Pro running back Le’Veon Bell for its opener on Sept. 10 at New England. Bell also is serving a two-game suspension under the same policy and All-Pro center Maurkice Pouncey is out indefinitely with a left ankle injury.