Marcus Mariota Injury: Updates on Titans QB's Knee and Return

Tennessee Titans quarterback Marcus Mariota suffered a sprained MCL against the New England Patriots in Week 15 and missed Week 16 as a result. He has been ruled out for the team's season finale.

Continue for updates.

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Mariota Out for Week 17

Wednesday, Dec. 30

Jim Wyatt of the team's official website reported the Titans have ruled Mariota out against the Indianapolis Colts.

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Mularkey Comments on Mariota's Status

Wednesday, Dec. 30

"Marcus wants to play, but we have to be smart about it," said head coach Mike Mularkey. "As an organization, we decided it was best to keep him out."

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Mariota Comments on Injury

Thursday, Dec. 24

"The frustration of not being able to be out there with the guys bothers me more than what's going on with my knee," Mariota added, per Wolf.

Mariota told reporters Dec. 20 the decision not to return to the game was based on the stability of his knee, adding he wanted to go back into the game. The rookie quarterback also said he doesn't expect to miss the remainder of the season.

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Mariota Flashed Promise in Rookie Season

The rookie had a flying start to his career, recording six touchdowns and no interceptions in his first two games, but since then, he struggled at times, throwing 13 touchdowns and 10 interceptions.

Injury problems haven't helped, either. During Tennessee's Week 6 loss to the Miami Dolphins, Mariota suffered a sprained MCL from a hit by Olivier Vernon that forced him to miss Weeks 7 and 8. 

Despite the struggles, Mariota was showing great leadership and poise for a rookie as he spoke with Wyatt:

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This is the NFL and you can’t expect to go undefeated every year. You just have to take your lumps and bruises, learn from your mistakes and just try and get better and finish off the season strong. You just have to learn from situations. We are a young team. I think that the guys can learn from these situations and build upon it. Once you get a couple of these, it leaves a sour taste in your mouth. You don’t want to go through that again, so we’ll learn to finish games. Obviously we can improve on those things and we’ll go from there.

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With Mariota out, the Titans turned to Mettenberger under center. He came in and completed five of eight passes for 63 yards when Mariota left that Week 6 game against Miami, but he lost both of the games he started in the following two weeks.

The second-year man out of LSU went 0-6 as a starter last season with eight touchdowns and seven interceptions.

With the Titans already at 3-11, they should ensure that Mariota is fully healthy for next season. Sitting him for the season finale is a step to ensure just that.

Stats courtesy of Pro-Football-Reference.com.