The Tennessee Titans will call on rookie quarterback Malik Willis to start in their Week 8 road matchup against the Houston Texans, as noted by the NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport.

The Titans made the call to downgrade Ryan Tannehill to out on Saturday, which came after they initially listed him as questionable for the divisional game against the Texans. Tannehill has been nursing a right ankle injury that he suffered during the fourth quarter of the Week 7 home win over the Indianapolis Colts. He missed just one snap in the contest, but he left Nissan Stadium on a walking boot.

The Titans have maintained a conservative approach with Tannehill’s nagging ankle injury. They held him out of practice on Wednesday, but he ended up returning to practice on Thursday, where he was a limited participant throughout the session. The one-time Pro Bowler was sidelined from practice on Friday, and after missing Saturday’s walkthrough due to an illness, the decision was made to rule him out against the Texans.

Willis is now set to make his first career start in the NFL. He reportedly “got all the starter reps” in practice this past week. Overall, he has featured in 20 total snaps on offense so far in his rookie campaign. He took part in three offensive snaps last week, but only one came under center.

Willis heads into Week 8 after having put together what he thought was a “pretty good” week of practice.

“I think it went pretty good,” Willis said on Friday. “Just being prepared is probably my best bet, and I've been trying to do that to the best of my ability.”

The Titans head into their divisional clash with the Texans with an eye on moving to a 5-2 record on the season.