Mariota’s season over, Titans say QB will not play at Indy

So the Titans (3-12) have made a decision to play it safe and bench him for the final game.

Last week, Mularkey held out hope that Mariota might return for the season finale.

Titans interim head coach Mike Mularkey said Wednesday it’s “not worth the risk” of playing Mariota in the season finale Sunday at Indianapolis.

Mariota suffered a sprained right knee on December 20 at New England when running back Antonio Andrews missed a blitz pick up and Chandler Jones’ sack twisted Mariota’s leg underneath him.

“This was the third day (of him working out) and we’re going to rule him out”, Mularkey said.

This has a chance to be special, and not just because the Colts have a slim playoff chance, and the Titans are pushing for the No. 1 overall spot in the 2016 NFL Draft, which they can secure with a loss. That brings his rookie season to and end.

“He was slowed with the injury”, Mularkey said.

That means that Zach Mettenberger will start on Sunday against the Colts, while former Colts practice squad quarterback Alex Tanney will be the backup for Tennessee.

The Heisman Trophy victor has completed 62% of his passes for 2,818 yards, 19 touchdowns, 10 interceptions and a 91.5 passer rating in his rookie season. It’ll be Mettenberger’s fourth start of the 2015 campaign, and he’s coming off a one touchdown, two-turnover performace last Sunday against the Texans.

“That’s my sole focus every week is to get the win”, Mettenberger said, “and hopefully we play good enough football this week to get that”.