Yesterday, Paul Kuharsky reported on the extensive list of injuries that Tennessee Titans quarterback Marcus Mariota dealt with throughout the 2018 season. That list includes nerve damage, torn ligaments, cracked vertebra, sprained joints, a neck stinger, a broken rib, etc. etc.. I’d quote PK, but I’m not giving away his content for free. Other outlets can do that, but I’m going to respect his model (even though we aren’t funny and no one knows who we are (inside joke for the SoBro OGs who remember that one)).
The point is that Mariota was pretty damn banged up. Like, if all of that happened to me, I’d be wrapped in bubble wrap in a wheelchair. I might not leave the bed….ever. I’d literally just lay there and die. Okay, maybe that was a bit dramatic, but you get my point.
It marked a bit of a triumphant day for those of us who defended Mariota when a contingent of Titans fans called Mariota “soft” at the end of the 2018 season. Yesterday, I re-tweeted the ever electric Mike Herndon, citing that he was basically in my damn brain regarding the matter.
Here are my three takeaways from @PaulKuharskyNFL’s reports on Mariota’s 2018 injuries:
— Mike Herndon (@MikeMiracles) March 26, 2019
1. Mariota is tough and nobody should doubt that.
2. This makes his up and down on field performance far more understandable.
3. This scares the crap out of me about his future.
So yeah – what a bittersweet morning. At first, it was a bit reassuring. Cue up the “MaRiOtA sOfT mCnAiR wOuLdA pLaYeD” Spongebob memes. We were right! It wasn’t that Mariota didn’t want to play….that he was choosing to sit on the sidelines to preserve his career. It was that his whole fuckin’ body was pretty much broken down.
Some of us took our victory laps – I know I did. Suddenly, his erratic play and perceived regression in 2018 made sense. We could justify it. The hope being, “hey, if he can get healthy, he’ll be the guy we know he can be!”
.…if he can get healthy.
Shit.
That’s a whole lot of things to go wrong in your body in a few month’s time. Maybe Mariota isn’t soft – but does that mean he’s not injury prone? Is this going to keep happening? Better yet, how can the Titans and Mariota prevent it from happening again?
If each injury weakens the body just a bit then you can’t help but wonder just what the hell the cumulative effect of THAT list of injuries will be. And, ladies and gentlemen, the clock’s ticking on Ocho. He’s going into a contract year. The Titans will want a solid sample size to judge his body of work before it comes time to decide on committing to him with another contract or not.
Bottom line: you can stop questioning Mariota’s toughness, but you can’t help but question his durability moving forward. Is one good season enough to warrant a big contract? I’m starting to lean towards Mariota getting the franchise tag in 2020, just so the Titans can get a longer look at him with what should be a better supporting cast and hopefully, for the love of God, better injury luck.
Stoney Keeley is the Editor in Chief of The SoBros Network. He is a strong supporter of Team GSD and #BeBetter. “Big Natural” covers the Tennessee Titans, Alabama Crimson Tide football, the WWE, and a whole wealth of nonsense. Follow on Twitter @StoneyKeeley
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