New Atlanta Falcons quarterback Marcus Mariota touched on his time with the Tennessee Titans during his introductory press conference on Friday.
Mariota, who was signed by Atlanta after the team traded Matt Ryan to the Indianapolis Colts, was the No. 2 overall pick of the Titans in 2015 but lost his starting job to Ryan Tannehill after four-plus seasons.
The Oregon product recently reflected on his Titans tenure that ended after the 2019 campaign, saying he was “tired” during his final season in Nashville after having gone through a slew of issues, per ESPN’s Michael Rothstein.
“During my time in Tennessee, we went through a lot of different things. I went through coaching changes, went through a broken ankle, some of these things that people would call adversity,” Mariota said. “At that point in time in my career in 2019, I was tired. I was just kind of tired of all the turnover, was tired of being beat up, and I wasn’t playing well, and at the end of the day, this is a performance-based business, and when you’re not playing well, things happen, and I understood that.”
Whenever anyone reflects on Mariota’s time in Tennessee, disappointment is always the first word used to describe it, especially after he looked so good early on in his career.
Mariota’s individual performance no doubt left a lot to be desired and can’t be ignored, but you can’t have an honest conversation about his tenure with the Titans without mentioning all of the things he had to overcome, whether it be coaching changes, injuries, or the team’s failure to give him enough help.
Mariota went on to say that his two years in Las Vegas, where he served as a backup, were a chance for “a great reset” for his career.
“These last couple of years for me was a great reset. I got a chance to take a step back, learn, and I feel like I have and these experiences have created a lot of value for me.”
Now, Mariota gets another fresh start in Atlanta, and interestingly enough it comes with his former offensive coordinator in Tennessee, Falcons head coach Arthur Smith, who oversaw the offense when Mariota was benched.
Despite that fact, Mariota is looking forward to joining forces with Smith once again in Atlanta.
“At the end of the day, it was just more excitement about the opportunity to be here,” Mariota said. “To be with Arthur.”
Whether or not Mariota gets the starting job with the Falcons remains to be seen, but he’s got a very good chance seeing as how he immediately becomes the best quarterback in Atlanta upon his arrival.
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