Titans QB Mariota ready to run more down the stretch

By foxsports
Published

With four games remaining in the season, Tennessee Titans rookie quarterback Marcus Mariota is finally beginning to show opposing defenses he's equally dangerous running the ball as he is throwing it.

Mariota ran for a career-high 112 yards in last week's 42-39 win over Jaguars, including an 87-yard scamper for touchdown in the fourth quarter.

The No. 2 overall selection in the 2015 draft has picked up 249 yards and two touchdowns running the ball in 10 starts this season, but 20 of his 31 carries have come in the last four games.

"It is just happening that way,’’ Mariota said, per the team's official website.  “I just think the last couple of weeks the defenses have given me opportunities to run around a little bit.”

Mariota ran for 2,237 yards and 29 touchdowns at the University of Oregon last year en route to winning the Heisman Trophy. He's healthy again after missing two games with a sprained MCL earlier in the season and said he's prepared to keep running if it helps the Titans win more games.

"I’ll do whatever it takes to win,’’ Mariota said. “That has always been my mentality.”

This week though, running may prove difficult. Mariota and then Titans face a New York Jets team on Sunday that boasts the NFL's top-ranked run defense.