Titans' Marcus Mariota on Hand Injury and Nerve Pain: 'I Think It's Close'

Tennessee Titans quarterback Marcus Mariota was unable to play in Week 2 due to an elbow injury and it appears his status going forward remains in question. 

As he explained Wednesday, the problem is the nerve in his hand preventing him from gripping the ball.

"They way they explained it to me, it's like when you strum a guitar string," Mariota said, per reporter Paul Kuharsky. "When that string settles down, that's kind of similar to how my nerve is. My nerve has kind of been strummed and it's going to take it's time to settle down."

The good news is this situation might not limit him too much longer.

"Honestly, I think it's close," the quarterback said Wednesday.

The injury first occurred in the team's Week 1 game against the Miami Dolphins and the effects lasted throughout the next week of practice. According to Adam Schefter of ESPN, Mariota wasn't able to "grip the ball normally."

While he was active for last Sunday's game, he was only there for emergency purposes. Blaine Gabbert instead played quarterback and led the Titans to a 20-17 win over the Houston Texans.

Mariota and Gabbert split reps in practice Wednesday, per Terry McCormick of Titans Insider.

The 2015 No. 2 overall draft pick has never been able to stay healthy for a full season and has been disappointing over the past two years. He threw 15 interceptions with only 13 touchdowns last year and had two interceptions in his first game of 2018.

The latest injury only raises more question marks about his future.