The Tennessee Titans experienced a nerve-racking moment last Monday during night practice when quarterback Marcus Mariota, regarded as the future face of the franchise, collided with the scout who helped him get drafted.
Mariota quickly rushed to the scout, Marv Sunderland, after the collision to help him stand up before returning to practice.
Sunderland scouts the West for the Titans and was the one who convinced the team to select Mariota in the 2015 National Football League (NFL) Draft.
Mariota has been performing very well during the Titans' offseason workouts, minicamp, and in training camp.
Seeing him go down this late in the offseason with the 2015 season just around the corner will surely give a scare to the team and the fans.
Tennessee hopes that Mariota is the answer to their struggles especially since they had three different starting quarterbacks last season because of injuries and finished with a 2–14 record missing the playoffs for the sixth consecutive season.
During Monday's practice, Mariota completed 11 of 15 passes and has not thrown an interception yet this training camp.
So far, Mariota has performed better in training camp than 2015 first pick quarterback Jameis Winston. The latter threw three interceptions, including two consecutive ones at their team's Monday practice.
The Titans hope Mariota's splendid showing this offseason continues in the upcoming 2015 season.
Early into their organized team activities and minicamp, coaches and teammates of Mariota are already praising him for his performance which all points to good signs for Tennessee.
The last time the Titans were in the playoffs was in 2008 when they finished first in the East with a 13–3 regular season record, but were eliminated by the Baltimore Ravens in the divisional playoffs.
Tennessee will open the 2015 season on the road taking on the Buccaneers as Mariota and Winston go head-to-head.
