The Tennessee Titans may have acquired veteran quarterback Ryan Tannehill in a trade with the Miami Dolphins, but that does not mean they are about to make a change under center.
Titans head coach Mike Vrabel has confirmed that Marcus Mariota is still the team's starting signal-caller, saying that Tennessee merely added Tannehill as a means of accumulating as many talented players as possible:
“The message is it’s understood we’re going to put as many guys on the roster as possible that can compete and help us win,” Vrabel said, according to Jim Wyatt of the Titans' official team website. “It only makes guys better.”
Of course, with Mariota having a lot of injury issues thus far in his career, having a reliable backup like Tannehill makes plenty of sense. Still, as long as he is healthy, Mariota will be good to go as the No. 1 quarterback for 2019:
“Obviously if Marcus is healthy, and he’s available, he’s our starter,” said Vrabel. “We just felt like, to be able to strengthen the position, to have a chance to add a player like Ryan, who could help us if Marcus isn’t available, then we were excited to do so.”
Tannehill may had his fair share of struggles in Miami, but it's hard to find a better second-string quarterback than him, and Vrabel seems excited about the depth that the 30-year-old will provide:
“We felt like he’s a proven starter, a starter in this league for a lot of years,” Vrabel said of Tannehill. “We felt like it upgraded the position. Blaine (Gabbert) did a great job. Blaine did everything that was asked of him. Blaine was amazing in the room, after hours, helping out, trying to find ways to do things for us offensively and give us an edge. He was great with Marcus. He got thrown into a couple of tight spots and he competed and did a nice job. We just felt like an opportunity came for us to upgrade the position and we did it.”
The Titans will hope to return to the playoffs after just missing out this past season.
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