Long after he was replaced as the starting quarterback in 2019, Marcus Mariota was still able to make an impact on the Tennessee Titans during his final year in Nashville.
Mariota became the team’s backup last season after Ryan Tannehill was named the starter in Week 7, which is something he handled with absolute grace and dignity.
And not only did Mariota help Tannehill in preparing week to week, he also challenged the team’s defense in practice, and it’s something former Titans cornerback Logan Ryan thought was significant.
On the “Double Coverage” podcast with Jason and Devin McCourty, Ryan says that Mariota was “destroying” the Titans’ defense in practice, which helped it become a better unit (h/t David Boclair of Sports Illustrated).
“He started killing us every single week,” Ryan said. “Like, he started ripping us in practice. Marcus Mariota was the practice quarterback and he was destroying us. And it made us better.”
The Oregon product, who is now a member of the Las Vegas Raiders, also helped simulate quarterbacks Tom Brady and Lamar Jackson prior to the Titans’ two playoff wins.
His simulation of Jackson in particular was something that “impressed everyone” at the time, per NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport.
While the debate about if he was a bust or not will rage on for years to come, there’s no denying that Mariota did everything he possibly could to help his team succeed, no matter what his role was.
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