Marcus Mariota is slowly turning into the leader the Tennessee Titans desperately need at the quarterback position, but they certainly want him to do a little more for them in the coming weeks. Right now, they are wanting to focus on building his pocket awareness up ahead of the 2016 season.
Last year, Mariota was sacked a lot more than the team would have liked, being taken down 38 times in the span of 12 games. The team is looking to work on that, especially after drafting Michigan State offensive tackle Jack Conklin with their first pick in the 2016 NFL Draft.
Head coach Mike Mularkey spoke with reporters and said that they are working on getting Mariota to throw the ball away instead of taking a sack.
“I’ve really emphasized getting rid of the ball instead of taking sacks,” coach Mike Mularkey said, via the Tennessean. “Marcus has been told an incompletion is OK. Live another down. But a sack can be catastrophic, so throw the ball away and move on to the next down.”
Marcus Mariota missed the final four games of his rookie season with a strained MCL. In the first 12 games, he threw for 2,818 yards and 19 touchdowns, while showing his abilities to escape some rushes by running for 252 yards and two scores, including a league-long 87 yard scamper against the Jacksonville Jaguars.
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*Featured Photo (above) credit to USA TODAY Sports
