Vikings Week 1 scouting report: Tennessee

September 8, 2016 at 1:57AM

scouting report | Vikings at Tennessee

Noon Sunday, Nissan Stadium (Ch. 9, 100.3-FM, 1130-AM)

ABOUT THE TITANS

• After a 3-13 record last season, first-year Titans General Manager Jon Robinson traded the first overall draft pick to the Rams for a boatload of selections.

• Tennessee then traded up to draft Michigan State OT Jack Conklin with the eighth overall pick, giving second-year QB Marcus Mariota a pair of first-round tackles with Conklin on his right and Taylor Lewan on his left.

• An offense-focused offseason continued with the spring trade for ex-Eagles RB DeMarco Murray and the second-round selection of Alabama RB Derrick Henry.

• The Titans also added free agent C Ben Jones, who started 16 games each of the last two seasons for Houston.

• Mariota enters his second NFL season after passing for 2,818 yards and 19 touchdowns with 10 interceptions in 12 starts as a rookie.

PLAYER SPEAK QB Marcus Mariota

• The Titans' rebuilding under second-year coach Mike Mularkey and new GM Robinson is centered on Mariota, the 22-year-old franchise quarterback taken with the second overall pick last year.

• Mariota's 91.5 quarterback rating ranked 16th among all starters last season.

• On his new RB tandem in Murray and Henry: "I'm very fortunate to have those guys back there — the team is. We're going to continue to rely on those guys to make plays, and it's going to be the standard for them."

• On rookie fifth-round draft pick WR Tajae Sharpe starting: "Obviously this will be his first regular-season start. Anybody will tell you that you're going to be nervous. For us, Tajae has done a great job of handling all that and everything we've thrown at him."

COACH SPEAK Mike Mularkey

• Mularkey, a former Vikings tight end, enters his fifth season as a head coach, second in Tennessee after taking over for Ken Whisenhunt in the middle of last season. Under his watch, the Titans had a 2-7 record in 2015.

• On similarities of preparing for both Sam Bradford and Shaun Hill: "Really, their specialty is pocket passing. … They're there to, first, hand it to 28 and, second, off action like that to hit some balls down the field. It's not an extreme difference."

• On Titans second-year assistant Dick LeBeau now calling defensive plays: "It's a little different philosophy, and that kind of goes with the wholesale change and everything we did here — from facilities to players to the coaching staff to the schemes. It's a wholesale change."

ANDREW KRAMMER

about the writer

about the writer

More from No Section

See More
FILE -- A rent deposit slot at an apartment complex in Tucker, Ga., on July 21, 2020. As an eviction crisis has seemed increasingly likely this summer, everyone in the housing market has made the same plea to Washington: Send money — lots of it — that would keep renters in their homes and landlords afloat. (Melissa Golden/The New York Times) ORG XMIT: XNYT58
Melissa Golden/The New York Times

It’s too soon to tell how much the immigration crackdown is to blame.