The St. Louis Rams head to Nashville on Sunday night for the second game on their preseason slate, a primetime matchup against the Tennessee Titans that will mark longtime Titans coach Jeff Fisher’s first return to his former stomping grounds.
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After a rough start, with an interception and a fumble returned for a touchdown, Mariota settled down enough to finish the night 7 of 8 for 94 yards and leading a touchdown drive. “We’ll see how good it gets”.
“Just continuing to build a rhythm with the offense, get first downs and move the chains and score points”, Mariota said this week, when asked about what he wanted to accomplish in his second game. The device worked fine after that.
“He always told me when you’re running with the ball, make sure you’re taking care of it whether you’re inside, outside the pocket, as well when you’re throwing”, Mariota said. After all, at Oregon, Mariota didn’t huddle, didn’t change protections, and didn’t operate from under center-and as much as the NFL has become a heavy no-huddle, shotgun league, quarterbacks must still know how to operate in multiple ways, and they must certainly be able to take care of protection calls and reading defenses.
Nick Foles had a rough outing in three series for the Rams (0-2).
On Mariota’s second drive of the game, the Titans took the ball all the way down to the Rams nine yard line but had to settle for a 27-yard Ryan Succop field goal. It was a attractive 80-yard pass from Case Keenum to Chris Givens. He didn’t register a single turnover Sunday and would have notched a touchdown if Dexter McCluster didn’t drop a pass in the end zone.
Mariota’s night time appeared even higher when it was revealed that the coach-to-quarterback communicator system – which permits coach Ken Whisenhunt to speak to Mariota instantly on the sector – went out in the course of the workforce’s first collection.
“I guess first and foremost I have to extend my appreciation to the entire Titans organization honoring me like they did”.
“The thing reflecting back, it’s the relationships with the players”, Fisher said. “I feel we actually got here collectively as an offensive line. I appreciate their approach and their generosity”. It will be a test for both of these young running backs, and I think it will go a long way to determine who will be the starter this season. Cox, signed to a three-year deal this offseason, got the Titans’ second interception in as many games.
Along with Cox’s landing return, the Titans’ first-team protection blanked the Rams whereas enjoying for simply over one quarter.
Purcell, a practice-squad player in 2013 and for all but the final two games last season, provided the highlight again after his six-tackle day in an August 15 preseason opener loss at Houston.
Though neither of those teams is expected to make a deep playoff run, both are probably superior to St. Louis and would provide a more accurate assessment of Mariota and Mettenberger’s disparate skill sets.
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“I just kind of shrugged it off and figured we needed a good drive and we finished with a decent one”, Mariota said.
