Marcus Mariota Out For The Season With Injury

New England Patriots linebacker Jamie Collins sacked Tennessee Titans quarterback Marcus Mariota in the first half Sunday in Foxborough, Mass. Mariota was injured on the play.

White caught seven passes for 71 yards, including a 30-yard TD reception, in the Patriots’ 33-16 victory over the Tennessee Titans at Gillette Stadium on Sunday.

Titans interim coach Mike Mularkey ruled Mariota out for this week’s game during his Monday news conference but did not go as far as to rule him out for the season finale.

Mariota will finish his rookie season with 2,818 passing yards, 19 touchdowns and 10 interceptions. Mariota has already missed two games this year with a left knee injury.

The Titans have games remaining against the Houston Texans and at the Indianapolis Colts to close out the season. New England remains in the driver’s seat for the No. 1 spot with a 12-2 record and could potentially clinch home-field advantage for the playoffs as soon as next week, depending on the result of the Broncos-Bengals showdown.

As Alper noted, the Patriots rested players in Week 17 during the 2014 season, including quarterback Tom Brady, and ended up winning the Super Bowl. While Mariota didn’t miss any time with that MCL sprain, the Titans have to be a little concerned about his knee injury history at this point.

“We discussed bringing him back in”, Mularkey said. In five appearances this season, Mettenberger has thrown for 663 yards and three touchdowns. He had two touchdown catches on Sunday, including a 57-yard catch and run where he trucked Patriots safety Patrick Chung on his way to the end zone.

Mariota was the second pick in the 2015 National Football League draft. “If there was any way he was not going to be capable of playing, no way”.

Only three quarterbacks have been sacked more often this season than Mariota. Zach Mettenberger completed 20 of 28 passes for 242 yards, two TD and two interceptions after replacing Mariota. That was one that they had – he’s a defensive end – we were expecting him to rush. In that game, New England did not run the ball enough and relied too much on Tom Brady and the result was their first loss of the season. Belichick must decide whether winning the next two games or being healthy for the playoffs is more important.