Mariota Out vs. Texans, Status for Season Finale TBD

Marcus Mariota suffered a knee injury during the loss at New England Sunday.

After Sunday's game, Mariota said his knee got twisted up underneath him on a sack by linebacker Jamie Collins.

"I wanted to go back in right away", Mariota said after the 33-16 loss.

Mettenberger threw for 242 yards with two touchdowns but was intercepted twice in the fourth quarter in New England.

From there, the Titans would get no closer than 11 points, as they struggled to sustain scoring drives following a second-quarter knee injury to starting quarterback Marcus Mariota.

Although the Titans had a rough season, Mariota has had an impressive rookie season. Wide receiver Danny Amendola was a non-factor, catching only one pass for three yards before leaving the game with an apparent knee injury.

Mularkey said the team will re-evaluate Mariota next week before ruling him out in the season finale against Indianapolis.

With LeGarrette Blount and Dion Lewis on injured reserve, the expectation was that the Patriots would turn to Brandon Bolden and James White to carry a heavier load in the running game. Those seven catches came on only eight targets, and went for 71 yards, including an impressive 30-yards touchdown reception on a screen pass from Tom Brady in the second quarter.

As Andy Dalton watched from the sideline with a large cast over his broken right thumb, McCarron threw a 20-yard touchdown pass to Tyler Kroft just before halftime as the Bengals (11-3) forced three second-quarter turnovers by San Francisco (4-10) to take command. They made it 14-0 when Chandler Jones strip-sacked Mariota at the Tennessee 17; Hicks chased the ball and knocked it into the end zone before falling on it for the touchdown. Mularkey and the Titans' staff chose to err on the side of caution.

Missing the final two games likely would put him out of the running for offensive rookie of the year, with Buccaneerss quarterback Jameis Winston, Raiders receiver Amari Cooper and Rams running back Todd Gurley all having stellar campaigns.

Mariota said after Sunday's game he hoped to play again this season. However, instead of taking the low road and forcing Mariota onto the field like some coaches did earlier this year for the Titans, he is wisely protecting the Titans rookie quarterback. He is one touchdown and nearly 1,000 yards behind Jameis Winston, but has fewer interceptions. Gronkowski, who missed practice on Friday because of the death, had five catches for 54 yards. Keshawn Martin had a great outing, finishing a 75-yard kickoff to set up another field goal for Patriots.

Delanie Walker caught two passes, both for touchdowns, for 64 yards for Tennessee.

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