Marcus Mariota to have surgery Wednesday, miss 4-5 months
Marcus Mariota believes he’ll come back stronger than ever. And nobody inside the Titans training facility doubts him.
The Titans’ young franchise quarterback will miss four to five months after surgery to repair his fractured right fibula on Wednesday in Charlotte, coach Mike Mularkey said Monday. Dr. Robert Anderson will perform the procedure, which entails placing a plate on the bone to provide stability. The Titans hope Mariota, who was injured in Saturday's crushing loss to the Jaguars, returns in time for organized team activities.
"I’m thinking that, because they start end of May, middle of May, go through June," Mularkey said, "so at least he’ll be a part of some of the OTAs, I would think, but everybody’s different. Every player’s recovery and pain tolerance, again I can’t speak for Marcus, but we’ll see how it goes with him."
Training camp begins in July. Mariota is not expected to lose any mobility and was in good spirits at the team facility on Monday, Mularkey said, noting his own experience with Anderson, who operated on both of the coach’s feet.
Mariota has not been available to speak to reporters since he was carted off the field with an air cast on his right leg Saturday, after being sacked by Jaguars defensive tackle Sheldon Day late in the third quarter of the Titans’ 38-17 loss at EverBank Field.
The result allowed the Texans (9-6) to clinch the AFC South title for the second consecutive season by defeating the Bengals later that night, which eliminated the Titans (8-7) from playoff contention.
Titans left tackle Taylor Lewan did not watch that game, choosing instead and perhaps appropriately to view “Dr. Seuss’ How the Grinch Stole Christmas.”
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But he made sure to speak to his quarterback before switching on the TV.
“Marcus is a one-of-a-kind individual. He’s a positive guy,” Lewan said. “He said — I called him on the phone about 20 minutes after I got home — and he said he’s going to come back stronger from this, which we all believe. If we protected Marcus better, it wouldn’t have happened.”
Veteran Matt Cassel will start at quarterback for the Titans on Sunday when they host the Texans in the regular season finale. Alex Tanney is being promoted from the practice squad to the 53-man roster to serve as the backup.
The Titans (8-7) have a chance to post a winning record for the first time since 2011, when they finished 9-7 and also missed the playoffs.
The Texans are locked into the fourth seed in the AFC playoffs and will host a first-round game the following weekend.
Tight end Delanie Walker, who leads the Titans in catches for the second consecutive season and was voted to his second straight Pro Bowl last week, said Mariota has improved greatly since the Titans drafted the Heisman Trophy winner second overall in 2015.
“I see a lot of improvement out of Marcus from year one until now,” Walker said. “I think he’s just going to get better as he keeps playing and we keep protecting him, keep him healthy. That will help out with him getting better. I see his future being big in this league. There’s a lot of room for him to get better and I think he’s going to take this team to a playoff one year.”
Mariota, who missed four games with knee injuries as a rookie, started 15 games in his second NFL season. He completed 276 of 451 pass attempts (61.2 percent) for 3,426 yards, 26 touchdowns and nine interceptions. He also rushed for 349 yards and two scores on 61 carries, and lost five of nine fumbles, which ties for the league lead.
Mularkey, who was mandated by team ownership to protect Mariota when he took over as interim coach midway through last season, designed the Titans’ run-heavy offense with that goal in mind. The Titans allowed 24 sacks this season, tied for fifth-fewest in the NFL. Mariota absorbed 23 of those hits, after being dropped 38 times last season.
Mularkey said his conversations with Mariota since the injury would remain private, and that he holds the quarterback in the highest esteem.
“Total respect. Love the player. Love the man. Love everything he stands for, everything he does,” Mularkey said. “I’m very disappointed that he got injured. He had a lot of good things ahead of him, and he still does. But I’m sorry to see it end, his season, this way. I’m really very sorry.”
Other injuries: Defensive tackle Karl Klug will also have surgery Wednesday to repair his torn left Achilles.
Rookie cornerback LeShaun Sims is in the league's concussion protocol.
Rookie defensive lineman Mehdi Abdesmad has a high ankle sprain and will miss practice Wednesday, at the very least, and inside linebacker Sean Spence has a sore ankle.
Reach Jason Wolf atjwolf@tennessean.comand follow him on Twitter at@JasonWolfand on Instagram and Snapchat atTitansBeat.
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