Tennessee Titans rookie Marcus Mariota will not play Sunday against Atlanta as he recovers from a sprained MCL in his left knee.
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Titans coach Ken Whisenhunt declared Mariota out on Friday after the rookie missed his third day of practice this week. We don’t have that much tape on him, but at the same time, the plays that we have, he looked great in them.
“It’s a combination of missing practice and not quite being there [physically]”, Whisenhunt said.
Dolphins: Vernon fined for hits on MariotaNEW YORK – Miami Dolphins defensive end Olivier Vernon has been fined $37,363 by the National Football League for two hits on Titans rookie quarterback Marcus Mariota.
Meanwhile, the 5-1 Falcons won both of their road games before losing to the New Orleans Saints 21-31 last week, which was their first loss under new coach Dan Quinn. Kick-off is at noon Sunday. Zach Mettenberger will start in place of Mariota. The linebacker leads the Titans with 4.5 sacks so far this season and is tied for fifth in the NFL. We know the importance of it. We didn’t create any defensively, so I believe that was the first game where we didn’t have a takeaway in.
Odds: Atlanta Falcons is six points favorite with an over/under of 47.5/48.5, per Odds Shark.
If the Titans are planning to trade their second year quarterback either at the trading deadline next month or next spring, this will be a nice showcase where the rest of the league can see what he has.
In two seasons as LSU’s starting quarterback, Mettenberger provided relief for a passing attack that had struggled tremendously in recent years. It has given up 184.0 passing yards per game during that span. A vital part of the game will be if the Falcons can protect their quarterback from Tennessee’s vicious defense. “We’ll have a few four-man rush, or a few five-man rush, but we went back through all of them and looked at pressures, rushes, which fronts are better for us, which ways we can convert better”.
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The 23-year-old Freeman goes against a Titans team that just allowed Miami Dolphins running back Lamar Miller to run for 113 yards, a touchdown as he averaged 5.9 yards per carry. Zach Mettenberger will probably be within the lineup for the 1st time this season, & while in that isn’t one of the best case state of affairs, it is going to be fun. Then, on successive plays, Ryan connected with Roddy White on a 43-yard pass and Turner rumbled into the end zone for a four-yard touchdown. His career totals include 380 1/2 tackles, 35 sacks, 27 1/2 tackles for loss, 18 pass breakups, 13 fumble recoveries and five forced fumbles.
